Hayden's Birth Story

Nearly two weeks later, I am finally feeling human enough to turn on my laptop and write up Hayden's birth story. Granted I am doing it one handed with a newborn taking up the other arm. And it will probably be done over several days. But progress is progress, and my standards for accomplishment are low these days.

As planned, Tuesday the 27th arrived. I tried to sleep one last night with little success. I ceased eating and drinking at midnight as instructed. At 5am, my MIL arrived and we left the house full of expectation. Once at the hospital we went to triage where we discovered my blood pressure was high. Like 150-something over 100-something. It had been fine 4 days before. Urine showed no proteins. Blood work was ran and after the platelets count came back fine we moved forward with the c section.

Next up was the spinal block. I really hadn't thought much about the spinal ahead of time. Last time my epidural had been easy and effective. Unfortunately for me that was not the case with the spinal. For whatever reason I was a difficult case and the anesthesiologist had to try three times before getting it to work. The final (successful) time an electrical shock went down my leg so horrible that I cried out in pain. Poor Jeramy was sitting outside and could hear all the commotion but did not know what was going on. Luckily numbness kicked in soon after the shocks, and we were finally ready to go.

After that things moved pretty quickly. Jeramy came in. Dr. C got to work. Several minutes later Hayden entered the world screaming heartily and everybody in the room declared her to be a big girl. After she was cleaned up Jeramy brought her over for me to take a look. Lots of dark hair...more than Jillian had and darker. I think she looks a whole lot like her daddy's baby photos.

Soon afterward Dr. C told me that the blood work showed that my kidney and liver functions were impaired, which coupled with the high blood pressure indicated preeclampsia with HELLP syndrome. Considering that I had been fine when checked just days earlier, it seems that my c section was perfectly timed. Unfortunately this also meant that I had to be put on magnesium for the next twenty-four hours. Those familiar with that drug will understand exactly how much that sucked. It is a central nervous system depressant, and I have never been so horribly groggy and fuzzy in my life.

I was finally taken off of the mag by early Wednesday afternoon and began moving around. Dr. C kept me in the hospital until after office hours on Thursday to monitor my blood work. Since it was headed back to normal ranges, she released us and we got home late Thursday evening.

Hayden has been a very easy baby so far. She seems to be the opposite of her sister who from day one was very alert, did not sleep well and had tummy issues. Hayden, on the other hand, pretty much eats and sleeps. I should be enjoying this, but instead I am constantly on edge waiting for colicky behavior to set in.

Jillian has handled the transition fairly well. She picked up the word baby within an hour and usually treats Hayden with unexpected caution for an 18 month old. What has actually been tougher has been her teething. Within a couple days of arriving home Jillian developed a fever, began drooling endlessly, chewed her pacifier and became inconsolably fussy as her 4th molar started breaking through her gum. No amount of tylenol or teething tablets or orajel or ice seemed to make things better. She has seemed to be on the mend over the past few days, but will still sometimes meltdown for what appears to be teeth related reasons.

I have spent my time trying to feel normal again. Rather than tears, anxiety and a general blah feeling seems to accompany the hormonal craziness and sleep deprivation I experience after giving birth. Honestly I hate it, and I do not feel that I handle it well. Now that I am beginning to get out a little more and resume normal activities, I am finally starting to feel like I'm shaking those feelings. I think I am getting back to speed a little more quickly this time than last thankfully.

I've got lots of pictures to post, and I'll get them up as soon as I manage to get them downloaded from the camera.