Monday, September 20th, was a big day. Not only did it mark seven years since Doug and I had first started dating, but we had all the last minute appointments. Doug's mom, Julie, escorted me. First, we went to Rockford Memorial Hospital for our pre-admission interview. We toured the hospital and made sure everything was a "go" for Wednesday. After that, we went to my weekly NST and doctor's appointment. Hunter looked great, no contractions and I joked to the doctor that I would not see her Tuesday, since we see each other so much, but that I would, in fact, see her Wednesday. On our way out the door, Dr. Shah, our secondary care provider, asked if we'd done the type and cross test at RMH, to determine my blood type for sure and have the six bags of blood on hand, in case I needed a transfusion. We had not done this, it wasn't ever ordered, so thank God we saw her. She immediately had it ordered and back to RMH we went. Finally, after being gone on appointments all day, I got home around 3:30pm and took the night easy. We grabbed Tom & Jerry's for dinner and headed to bed around 8:00pm. At bed time, I started to feel really sick. I was crampy and felt like I was going to throw up. We had a similar episode about three weeks ago, which resulted in a wasted trip to L&D, so I just toughed it out and felt better when I got up in the middle of the night.
The next morning, Doug awoke to a phone call from a friend of our's. While he took the phone call, I used the restroom and noticed there was blood. Of course, I panicked, as one of the things we've had harped on us is that blood is not good, due to the placenta previa and any sign of blood should send us immediately to the hospital. I wasn't gushing blood, so I wasn't overly panicked, but I knew we didn't need to waste time. So, we packed Cole and our bags in the truck and left the house as a family of three for the last time. After dropping Cole off at Doug's parents, we went to L&D.
At labor and delivery, they decided that since the bleeding wasn't persisting and the baby looked excellent, they would keep us over night to monitor us, go ahead and get all the IV's ran in case something catastrophic happened, but would still go ahead with the planned c-section on the 21st. I was contracting about twice an hour at this point and was in no pain at all. My doctor told us this and left to perform another c-section. About ten minutes after she walked out the door, I felt a gush. At first, I thought I was gushing blood, but there was no red. Then, as any pregnant woman knows is highly possible, I thought maybe I'd had an accident. But, when the water kept coming, I knew my water had, indeed, broken. I had Doug get me back to my gown and my mom went to get the nurse. My doctor was out of surgery before too long and was able to get out\r entire team (which was a HUGE team and a seemingly impossible task) in place within an hour to perform the c-section.
The anesthesiologists came in to place two IV's and a line to monitor my blood pressure internally (an art line). They also explained that due to the increased risk of hemorrhage and the need to a hysterectomy, they would not be able to due a spinal and would need to put me under general anesthesia to ensure the safest approach. Essentially, the spinal would lower my blood pressure and if I should need to go under general, it would be more difficult with the compromised blood pressure. As sad as I was that I wasn't going to see Hunter right away, and that Doug would miss out on his birth, we needed to do what was best for me and the baby. This also meant that I was going to be awake and have full feeling while they placed the ureter stints.
Once we got in the operating room, they placed the stints. It was uncomfortable, but bearable. Especially considering the risk there would have been to Hunter if I would have been alseep while they placed them, increasing the time he was exposed to the anesthetic. After those were in place, they quickly threw up the sheet, cleaned my tummy and to sleep I went, as I said the Lord's Prayer.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up to Dr. Sesslar telling me that Hunter was born and came out screaming, which meant his lungs were good (one of the risks associated with premature babies is under developed lungs. I had been given steroids to mature the lungs, and apparently they worked!) The first thing I asked her, knowing that my baby was okay, was if I had to have a hysterectomy. She said no - when she squeezed my uterus, both placentas detached perfectly!! In other words, it was as normal a c-section as it could have been. The only huge difference for me, was she had to cut my uterus "up and down", since she didn't want to run the risk of cutting the placenta before Hunter was out by cutting it across, as is normally done. What this means is we have to wait two years before getting pregnant again (if we choose to have more children), because the uterus needs more time to heal. It also means that if I get pregnant again, I absolutely cannot have contractions, as it would cause the uterus to burst and put my baby and I at an obvious risk. To avoid this, they would plan the c-section for around 37 weeks.
Hunter did have to spend some time in the NICU, as he was having some issues sucking and getting his blood sugar and temperature regulated. After being released from the recovery room, I went from the bed right to the wheel chair to go meet my baby!! When I saw Hunter, with his perfect chubby cheeks and head full of dark brown hair, I was overwhelmed. I had tears as I held him in my arms for the first time, something I wasn't sure if would ever happen with all of the "what if's" we were faced with. I thanked God right then and there, for giving me such a perfect baby and for making the surgery go so well. I held my baby close, I kissed him and I prayed thanks for him...and I have held him close, kissed him and prayed thanks for him every day for 29 days now, as I will every day for the rest of his life.
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The name issue: As you know, we were waiting on Lane, but now we're happy for Hunter. When we met our sweet baby, he just wasn't "Lane". We debated all three days we were in the hospital about what to name him. We considered dozens of names. In the end, Doug and I decided on "Hunter", which was the name we liked while trying to conceive. I really like to have at least one name have familial significance, so I picked "Lee" for his middle name, which won over "Ray". Lee is after myself (Danielle LeeAnn), my paternal grandmother (Bessie Lee) and an uncle who I love very much (Terrence Lee). So, hence - our beautiful son, Hunter Lee Heath, born Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 2:37pm. He weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 18.5" long.
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