I am wondering how long it will be before I forget every painful moment from the day Jiggs was born and the days that followed. Let's see---
Tuesday - Induction Day! I am not exactly thrilled about it, but the hospital calls at 9am and says to eat breakfast and be there at 10am. Grandma Hogue arrives at the house bright and early to take care of the boys for the next few days. After we arrive at the hospital they begin to give me antibiotics (for GBS) and tell me that at 5pm they will give me the Cervadil to start the induction. The boys come to visit us for a bit. By 9pm the contractions are irregular and nothing exciting going on. I watch Big Brother with Luke and Julie from my cozy hospital bed.
Wednesday - By 1am the contractions are 2-3 minutes apart. I am still only dilated to a 2 so no epidural. The doctor comes in to check on me and he says he will give me the epidural once I get to a 3. (I like this guy) They give me some kind of pain medicine that let's me sleep for an hour. They say I can have 6 doses before the epidural so I am going to get as much as I can so I can get some sleep. I end up getting another dose at 4am. Still only at a 2. Another dose at 6am. The nurse checks me at 6:30 and I am at a 2.5. By this point I am quoting "Smalls" from the movie "The Sandlot" and I mumble "I can't take this anymore!" Luke is sleeping as comfortably as possibly on his couch. Its close to 8am and the nurse finally breaks and agrees I am a 3 and ready for the epidural. The anesthesiologist does his thing...and I am numb. Numb all the way up to my chest. a headache ensues and vomiting. He looks worried....which makes me worried. Within 5 minutes of the epidural I am at a 5-6. The doctor checks me and my water breaks. She suspects the baby is breech. I can't feel a thing! Two minutes later they are performing an ultrasound....and it appears that sometime in the middle of the night the baby changed her mind and turned around. The doctor informs me we have to do a C-section. I turn my head and look at Luke---and I start crying. Not a c-section!
Ugh!
Within 5 minutes I was being wheeled into the OR for a C-section.
Within a few more minutes I heard crying.... and I started crying. It was her...finally. In the midst of everything going on over the past 24 hours I seemed to have forgotten that I was going to be getting a baby out of this deal. Once I heard Baby Jiggs cry, it all became clear again.
Within 2 hours the boys were at the hospital to meet their sister. They were very excited---to say the least. I was so happy to see the boys so happy that their sister was here. I was starving---and ready to grub. I had decided not to eat dinner the night before because I thought FOR SURE I was going to be delivering a baby through the night. As Luke is about to take my food order I am informed by the nurse that I cannot eat anything for 24 hours. Ugh!
Thursday - We made it through another night in the hospital---this time with a baby. I am ready to eat---when I am informed by the nurse that breakfast will consist of water, chicken broth and Jello. UGH! I am ready to have Luke smuggle me in some real food.
By 2:00pm the nurse comes into the room to do another Jaundice test on Jiggs. Shortly therafter another nurse returns and says they are taking Jiggs to the NICU because her Bili Ruben results were high. I am confused and assume she could be back in hours.
Friday - Jiggs is still in the NICU and go over every 3 hours to visit and feed her.
Saturday - I am released from the hospital. Jiggs has to stay. Not the way I wanted to leave the hospital...but I am trying to tell myself that there are a lot worse scenarios. Tubbs is crying all the way home. I pretend to be happy and tell him that she will be home soon. Thankfully my mom and dad arrive in town shortly after I got home. They would make everything better. My parents head over to the hospital with me late that night and my dad gives her a blessing.
Sunday - Got our hopes up after we met with the doctor in the morning. If the Bili reading was under 10 at the 3pm blood draw she could go home. Results came in at 4:30....and it was 10.2. Had to leave the hospital empty handed....again.
Monday - First day of school. I wouldn't miss this---even though I couldn't drive. My mom drives me and the boys to school and Luke meets us there. I call on the way to school to get the results from the 6am Bili draw. The results--- 10.1. Ugh. This was killing me. I went over to the NICU at 9:30 with my mom to feed Jiggs. The doctor gets the results and decides to let her go home. Joy---overwhelming joy is all I feel. Baby Jiggs is coming home. The boys get home from school and see Jiggs sleeping on Grandpa's chest. They are so excited to have her home! Yay!
Tuesday - Let the real fun begin.
Naps for Jiggs and Grandpa
Grandma and Grandpa (aka chauffeur, chef, message taker, door answerer, bug-sitter, errand runner and baby snuggler) and the kids the morning they left to head home.
My little cabbage patch doll
3 comments:
That was so fun to read...yet so scary. I hope your C-section recovery isn't too bad. That is my worst nightmare. She is so cute!
Wow!! What a story! She is beautiful though! totally worth it!!
Thanks for sharing the full story; I love birth stories!
She is simply gorgeous, Luke need not be worried that she looks like him. She does, in the best way. I hope your recovery is going well and that your shopping trip the other day was everything you needed it to be!
Congratulations!!!
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