So, this was my second pregnancy. The whole pregnancy was different. I got pregnant first try, which did not happen last time. I was sick this time. I made it to my due date this time. All in all, it was just a different experience. Boy vs girl pregnancy? Maybe. I think every pregnancy is just different.
With my son, I made it to week 39 and then he came into the world. Lydia was not coming early. I was due on Thursday, April 18 and honestly shocked when I made it to that day and went in for my 40 week appointment. My doctor is truly amazing (Dr. Patel at UTMB if you are looking for a great doctor) and she wanted to be supportive and do whatever I felt was right. She did tell me I couldn't go more than a week overdue. She gave me the option to come in that night or Sunday night or Monday.... as long as I did it soon. I was so torn. I was scared, honestly. My water broke the last time and I was still induced with Pitocin but I have heard horror stories about inductions and I just wasn't sure. The husband and I headed for a Target run and discussed it. (Doesn't everyone go to Target when you are stressed? LOL)
Luckily, we had packed bags just in case. We started thinking about our options. We ultimately decided to go ahead and go into L & D that evening after one last good dinner. We headed to Chili's (this turned out to be a bad idea later) to have dinner with his parents and Landry before heading to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital and I was in the room at 7:30. We met the doctors that were on duty that night and I was hooked up to a monitor. Immediately the nurse noticed something that didn't look right. She told me the baby was having a variable in her heart rate. Her heart rate would take a dip and stay there for a minute or two and then go back up. I was also having crazy long contractions- 5-6 minutes long. I really wasn't feeling these. These drops in heart rate were happening with the contractions. This is when the doctor came in and started explaining other options to us, in case we had to go that route. I knew then that this was not going to be easy. The plan was to give me some medication to help my cervix prepare for birth, but they chose not to go that route and use the bulb to help open it up instead. That was inserted. The heart rate drops continued to happen. My doctor arrived. We discussed more options. They had to stop making me contract, so they gave me some medicine for that. Everyone was so supportive and wanted to let me know we could keep trying for a vaginal birth. My doctor knows me. She knows I can't make a decision. She knows I just need her expert advice. She was honest and told me she felt the baby would not handle the stress of labor. It could be caused by so many things. She could be holding on to the cord, the cord could be wrapped, etc. The main problem was contractions. I have to contract to be able to give birth and when I did, the heart rate dropped. It wasn't likely going to work. We began to talk about a c-section. I am not one of those moms that goes in having an elaborate birth plan. I don't get my hopes up or stress out when things don't go as planned. I just want a healthy baby at the end of it all. Whatever you have to do to make that happen, I am game for it. Tyler and I talked it over and we chose a c-section. The chances that I would endure 12, 14, 18 hours of labor and then have to have an emergency c-section in the end were high, so we chose not to wait on that and have it be a panic situation. We chose to just go ahead and opt for it. We wanted to get the baby here and not put her through anymore stress.
As soon as the decision was made, things happened very quickly. They started prepping me for the OR. Tyler got ready. They took us down to the OR and set me up. I was given a spinal tap and it began. No more than 10 minutes after it started, at 11:16 p.m., Lydia was crying and it was over. The scary part was that the cord was not only wrapped, but wrapped THREE times around her neck. I would not have been able to deliver her without causing her stress and likely a c-section would have happened anyways. We made the right decision.
I think of what could have happened. What if I had waited a few more days? What if I had chosen to keep trying for a vaginal birth? What if...what if... I know God was guiding us in the right direction. I am so thankful that we went that night. I am thankful that I had an amazing team of doctors and nurses that took great care of me. I am thankful Dr. Patel is so amazing! I am thankful that my baby girl is here with us, unharmed, healthy and happy.
The worst part of my recovery to this day was throwing up that Chili's after the c-section. This was caused by the anesthesia. It was awful. If I could go back, I wouldn't have eaten. Other than that, I am on the mend. I have to take it easy and can't lift things or do much. That is hard for me to do, but I am trying. I plan to do more posts about vaginal vs c-section, the differences in my pregnancies, etc. More to come.
