Post Surgery to Kennedy's Birth
October 20th, my Grandma Mary came to stay with me at the Ronald McDonald House. Aunt Bobbie had to go back home to Atlanta. On the 21st of October I mentioned some changes I'd had in my pregnancy to my Doctor and he confirmed I had a slow high leak of Amniotic Fluid. He didn't seem alarmed, but said we'd monitor it. I was a little concerned that the situation was more serious than the Doctor had made it out to be. On the 23rd, I went to Labor and Delivery Triage and was told that yes I did have a slow high leak, but my membranes hadn't ruptured/my water hadn't broken. The Doctor I saw in L&D did an ultrasound and confirmed my fluid level went from an 11 on Monday to a 9 that day. She did say it could be something as simple as Kennedy having a full bladder during the ultrasound. I was told to take it easy and to rest as much as possible.
I did just as the Doctors had suggested, taking most of my meals in my room at RMH. On Monday, October 28th, I went in for my bi-weekly Doctor's appointment. My fluid level had dropped to between a 4-6. My Doctor confirmed my water had broken/membranes had ruptured. He said he had no choice but to admit me to the hospital where they could monitor me 24/7. Immediately I was sent via wheelchair over to L&D Triage where they prepped me for admission. I received the 1st of 2 steroid injections that would help strengthen Kennedy's lungs. The following morning I received the 2nd shot.
On Wednesday, October 30th, we had a scare when I lost quite a bit of fluid in a very little time. I was put on the monitors, so the Doctors could see if I was going into labor, or just losing more fluid with no onset of labor. Luckily I didn't have any contractions and things looked ok. I began drinking more water to try and replenish what fluid I was losing.
Things settled down quite a bit for the rest of the week. On November 7th, I began having contractions shortly after lunch. One of the Doctors training under my Doctor ordered that they put me on Magnesium Sulfate to try and stop the contractions. At 3PM I was started on the Magnesium drip. I immediately began to feel sick. I told my Grandma to go back to the RMH, because I knew I had to sleep or I was going to be sick. The Nurses brought me a couple ice packs to help with the overheating and being light headed. I slept from about 5PM to 9PM. At that point the contractions returned and were stronger than they were before I'd started the Magnesium. However, they were not as close together as they had been before. The plan was to take me off of the Magnesium at 3AM. At 1AM my O2 Sensor was going off every 10-30 seconds. The nurse came in and I explained that when I was on the Magnesium post surgery, I'd developed fluid on my lungs shortly after they turned it off. Immediately the Nurse called the Resident and they agreed to stop the drip. About an hour after stopping the drip, I was able to breathe to full capacity again. Unfortunately they wouldn't take me off of the monitors and I wasn't allowed to leave my bed, so they wouldn't take the catheter out either.
Friday, November 8th, when making his rounds my Doctor came in and told me that if he'd have been here the previous day, I would have been taken to the OR for my C-Section. He knew the labor I'd endured wasn't aggressive enough to call for an emergency C-Section, giving Jonathon enough time to arrive from Evansville. Unfortunately though, in my Doctor's eyes this meant that another labor would be imminent and much stronger. He basically told me that Jonathon probably wouldn't be able to make it next time. I was crushed and selfishly had wished the Doctor had been there the day before. I was still having contractions, though not as strong, and I was miserable. At Noon that day, I had my last contraction.
Saturday, I was finally taken off of constant monitoring, and I was able to have the catheter taken out. Something about being able to get out of bed really put me in a good mood. Not to mention, one of the girls from my August 2011 Birth Board was nice enough to come visit me from Indianapolis. She was so sweet to bring me some Chick-Fil-A and a sweet goody bag for Kennedy and I. We had a great time visiting.
On Monday, one of the Doctors who works with my Doctor came in on rounds and ordered another round of Steroid Injections. For the first time since Friday, I was so thankful that Kennedy had not been born on Thursday. I was so thankful to have another round of steroids, giving her a fighting chance at breathing on her own when she did arrive.
Randomly throughout the week I had contractions, but nothing constant or too serious. On Thursday night I started having consistent contractions starting at 11:30 PM. Upon the urging of one of the Doctors after my first bout with labor, I started writing down the time every time I had a contraction. By midnight I'd had 9 contractions. I called the Nurse who then called the Resident. I was put on the NST monitors. After a few minutes of monitoring the Resident came in and told me they were going to call my Doctor and one of his partners. I asked if I should call Jonathon and they said yes. I called him and told him he needed to get to Cincinnati. We knew he wouldn't be there in time for the C-Section, but he was going to try to get there before they transported her to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. I called my Grandma and told her to come to the hospital. The nurse came in and prepped me for surgery. The contractions started getting pretty intense, so they decided to go ahead and wheel me down to the OR. When in the OR I was prepped further for the surgery. My Grandma came in with the Doctor and sat with me on my side of the blue sheet. I was so happy to have her with me, because Kennedy would be her 13th Great-Grandchild and the first one she'd be there to welcome into the world. At 1:33AM Kennedy Hope Abner was born. She weighed 4lbs, 2oz and was 15.9 inches long. They let me see her shortly after they took her, but then took her to another room to clean her up. My Grandma went with her while the Doctors closed everything up.
After I was stapled back together, I was wheeled into the recovery area. When I was there I called Jonathon and told him Kennedy's stats. He was still 45 minutes away, but was doing 100+ to try to get there before she was transported. Just after I got off the phone with him, they wheeled Kennedy in to see me. She was so precious and so tiny. They opened a side of her isolet so I could hold her hand and touch her. I asked the paramedics if Savannah would be able to come see Kennedy and they told me no one under 2 was allowed back there. About a half an hour after they transported Kennedy, Jonathon arrived. He came back with me to my room and we tried to sleep. I've never been so exhausted, but felt so alive in all of my life. We are so blessed that she came out as well as she did for as gestationally young as she was. She came out swinging and has been impressing the Doctors everyday.
I will be posting NICU updates in a separate post.
I did just as the Doctors had suggested, taking most of my meals in my room at RMH. On Monday, October 28th, I went in for my bi-weekly Doctor's appointment. My fluid level had dropped to between a 4-6. My Doctor confirmed my water had broken/membranes had ruptured. He said he had no choice but to admit me to the hospital where they could monitor me 24/7. Immediately I was sent via wheelchair over to L&D Triage where they prepped me for admission. I received the 1st of 2 steroid injections that would help strengthen Kennedy's lungs. The following morning I received the 2nd shot.
On Wednesday, October 30th, we had a scare when I lost quite a bit of fluid in a very little time. I was put on the monitors, so the Doctors could see if I was going into labor, or just losing more fluid with no onset of labor. Luckily I didn't have any contractions and things looked ok. I began drinking more water to try and replenish what fluid I was losing.
Things settled down quite a bit for the rest of the week. On November 7th, I began having contractions shortly after lunch. One of the Doctors training under my Doctor ordered that they put me on Magnesium Sulfate to try and stop the contractions. At 3PM I was started on the Magnesium drip. I immediately began to feel sick. I told my Grandma to go back to the RMH, because I knew I had to sleep or I was going to be sick. The Nurses brought me a couple ice packs to help with the overheating and being light headed. I slept from about 5PM to 9PM. At that point the contractions returned and were stronger than they were before I'd started the Magnesium. However, they were not as close together as they had been before. The plan was to take me off of the Magnesium at 3AM. At 1AM my O2 Sensor was going off every 10-30 seconds. The nurse came in and I explained that when I was on the Magnesium post surgery, I'd developed fluid on my lungs shortly after they turned it off. Immediately the Nurse called the Resident and they agreed to stop the drip. About an hour after stopping the drip, I was able to breathe to full capacity again. Unfortunately they wouldn't take me off of the monitors and I wasn't allowed to leave my bed, so they wouldn't take the catheter out either.
Friday, November 8th, when making his rounds my Doctor came in and told me that if he'd have been here the previous day, I would have been taken to the OR for my C-Section. He knew the labor I'd endured wasn't aggressive enough to call for an emergency C-Section, giving Jonathon enough time to arrive from Evansville. Unfortunately though, in my Doctor's eyes this meant that another labor would be imminent and much stronger. He basically told me that Jonathon probably wouldn't be able to make it next time. I was crushed and selfishly had wished the Doctor had been there the day before. I was still having contractions, though not as strong, and I was miserable. At Noon that day, I had my last contraction.
Saturday, I was finally taken off of constant monitoring, and I was able to have the catheter taken out. Something about being able to get out of bed really put me in a good mood. Not to mention, one of the girls from my August 2011 Birth Board was nice enough to come visit me from Indianapolis. She was so sweet to bring me some Chick-Fil-A and a sweet goody bag for Kennedy and I. We had a great time visiting.
On Monday, one of the Doctors who works with my Doctor came in on rounds and ordered another round of Steroid Injections. For the first time since Friday, I was so thankful that Kennedy had not been born on Thursday. I was so thankful to have another round of steroids, giving her a fighting chance at breathing on her own when she did arrive.
Randomly throughout the week I had contractions, but nothing constant or too serious. On Thursday night I started having consistent contractions starting at 11:30 PM. Upon the urging of one of the Doctors after my first bout with labor, I started writing down the time every time I had a contraction. By midnight I'd had 9 contractions. I called the Nurse who then called the Resident. I was put on the NST monitors. After a few minutes of monitoring the Resident came in and told me they were going to call my Doctor and one of his partners. I asked if I should call Jonathon and they said yes. I called him and told him he needed to get to Cincinnati. We knew he wouldn't be there in time for the C-Section, but he was going to try to get there before they transported her to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. I called my Grandma and told her to come to the hospital. The nurse came in and prepped me for surgery. The contractions started getting pretty intense, so they decided to go ahead and wheel me down to the OR. When in the OR I was prepped further for the surgery. My Grandma came in with the Doctor and sat with me on my side of the blue sheet. I was so happy to have her with me, because Kennedy would be her 13th Great-Grandchild and the first one she'd be there to welcome into the world. At 1:33AM Kennedy Hope Abner was born. She weighed 4lbs, 2oz and was 15.9 inches long. They let me see her shortly after they took her, but then took her to another room to clean her up. My Grandma went with her while the Doctors closed everything up.
After I was stapled back together, I was wheeled into the recovery area. When I was there I called Jonathon and told him Kennedy's stats. He was still 45 minutes away, but was doing 100+ to try to get there before she was transported. Just after I got off the phone with him, they wheeled Kennedy in to see me. She was so precious and so tiny. They opened a side of her isolet so I could hold her hand and touch her. I asked the paramedics if Savannah would be able to come see Kennedy and they told me no one under 2 was allowed back there. About a half an hour after they transported Kennedy, Jonathon arrived. He came back with me to my room and we tried to sleep. I've never been so exhausted, but felt so alive in all of my life. We are so blessed that she came out as well as she did for as gestationally young as she was. She came out swinging and has been impressing the Doctors everyday.
I will be posting NICU updates in a separate post.
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