Its been over a year since I updated but around the time of my last post was when we found out we were pregnant. So, after 9 loooooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggggggg months,
Liam Christopher Dossett
was born. There is and was a lot of drama surrounding the whole situation, so in order to tell the birth story, I'll catch you up on a few key details you'll need.
1. This birth had to be a c-section because with the girls' c-section, they did a horizontal and vertical cut on my uterus (inverted T incision) so the chances of having an abruption (tear) are much higher. The Dr.s told me that we would do the c-section at 39 weeks so I wouldn't go into labor, basically I shouldn't be having contractions.
2. The due date is offcially August 12, making the c-section set for August 5th.
3. Toby got an internship with Chevron for 3 months in Midland, TX. Those 3 months happened to be the last trimester of this pregnancy. This made it impossible for us to move to TX with him so he was in TX for 3 months and the kids and I stayed here. He was set to start driving home on the 2nd of August and be home on the 3rd.
4. My mom came out a few weeks before the due date incase there were complications and we needed extra help without Toby being there.
Ok, onto the birth story.
I'd been having painful contractions all night but they were not at all regular. Unfortunately, even though they weren't regular, I still didn't sleep much. So, in the morning, i told my momma and we agreed to get someone to watch the kids and she'd go with me to my NST and OB appts. At the NST, baby's heart rate was fine but they like to see small accelerations. If there are no accelerations that could mean a possible problem with the placenta. Well, after trying for over a half an hour, and after his heart rate dropped during the contractions, they sent me upstairs to Labor and Delivery. The Drs. said they were 85% sure I was gonna have the baby.
Upstairs, they started monitoring me and I kept having the contractions but his heart rate stabailized and he has accelerations, so they weren't concerned with that. Anyways, we kept trying to get ahold of the Dr. but she was busy with another c section so we couldn't tell if they were just gonna try and stop my contractions or do the c section. Anyways, 2 hours goes by... very slowly because i'm not allowed to eat or drink and I'm dying of thrist and my sugars are getting low and its just making me frustrated.
Then all of a sudden, the nurse comes into the room with an anesthesiologist and announces that they're gonna take the baby in the next hour. HOLY CRAP! I was not prepared for that. I thought it'd be at least a few hours. but they were concerned with the intensity of the contractions and didn't want to wait.
I was happy to be done being pregnant but even more so, I was frustrated and sad that Toby wasn't going to be able to be there. As soon as he heard that I might be in labor, he got sent home, packed up, checked out of his dorm and started driving home. So, when we got into the delivery room, he was able to be on the phone with us and hear Liam be born.
I was kinda anxious the whole time, getting the epidural and just waiting for it to kick in. I got really worried and nervous and again, frustrated that Toby couldn't be there. They put me on oxygen and when I couldn't stop shivering and shaking, they put some warming "tubes" on me. it was like a warm air filter or something. I felt better after they started and things were looking good and I realized that this c section was not nearly as stressful as the last one.
Liam was born at 1:36p. He weighed 8 lb. 9 oz. and was 19 in. long. I got a glimpse of him as they whisked him out of the room to make sure that he was stabilizing because of my diabetes. They brought him back in for a few minutes so I could see him but I couldn't hold him.
After surgery they wheeled me back to my room which served as my Recovery Room. They made me stay there, being monitored for about an hour during which I didn't get to see Liam or hear about him. Longest hour, ever!
FINALLY, they took me downstairs to the Mother/ Baby unit where I would stay the rest of the time I was in the hospital. The rooms downstairs are SO much smaller than the labor and delivery rooms. Barely enough room to turn around, I swear.
Anywhere, next comes the scary story, so if you don't like reading intense, scary things, then skip this next part.
So, anyways, I was getting settled into my new room and my new nurse, Susie, is checking me and making sure all my vital are stable when she notices that I'm starting to hemmorage. She immediately calls another nurse for assistance and then pretty much chaos erupts in my room. Quite a few other nurses rush into the room and everyone is rushing around scrambling for supplies and for medication. they called my OB, who rushed down from upstairs to run things. They keep checking and rechecking my blood pressure and oxygen levels and making sure I wasn't passing out. But after everything they did and every medication they gave, I still kept hemorrhaging. Calls and pages were being ignored by my Dr and the nurses because I was losing so much blood. One nurse was specifically in the room to hold my hand and keep me talking. They were really worried I would pass out, even though I never felt like I would. All day, I'd been drifting between exhaustion and being kinda alert. I hadn't slept much the night before so I was really tired and sometimes it was hard to keep my eyes open. During the chaos and rush of my situation, I still was so tired that I would almost fall asleep, making it seem like I was going to lose consciousness. They kept "rolling" me on my sides so they could change the absorbent pads under me. Sadly, they were changing them almost every 5 minutes. They were also shooting me up with a drug used to stop heavy bleeding. I guess I could only have 4 doses and but they could be given every 15 minutes apart. So after being given each dose, they would start to get nervous because they wanted to give me the next dose but not enough time had passed. In my tiny little room, there were at least 10 nurses working. It was really frustrating, not being able to do anything and especially for not being able to see my baby. At one point, my mom came to the door, wondering what was going on and they asked if I wanted her to come in, but even being with me in the c-section made her a little sick and traumatized. So I told them not to let to her in. Plus I wanted someone to be with Liam. Finally, after about an hour things finally started getting better. The bleeding slowed and my uterus was staying "firm" (not real sure what that means, but apparently being "soft" is bad.)
Through it all, I kept praying, not only that things would get better, but that I would be able to get better enough to hold my baby again. Its really the only thing that was on my mind. Its interesting though, because all the nurses were surprised that my epidural had not started to wear off yet. iT'd been almost 2 1/2 hours after they pulled the meds and I should of started to be able to feel my toes and move them but I honestly couldn't feel anything below my waist. That turned out to be a HUGE blessing. one time, when they had me rolled on my side and were changing the pads, a thought came to me and it was basically, that the epidural was still working because I would need the pain medication to get through the hemorrhaging. The nurses were all amazed that it was still working but many commented that it was a blessing because I would most certainly be in a lot of pain if I hadn't had it.
Nurses were talking about the experience for days afterwards. Nurses I didn't even recognize would tell me that I was looking so much better and they were all glad I was doing well. One even commented to Toby while they were in the nursery with Liam that it was a very scary situation and things got pretty hairy. Crazy. When everything first started going down, I asked if I would need surgery and they said it was a possibility if the bleeding didn't stop. Thanks goodness that it did, I certainly didn't want a hysterectomy, even though that probably is the very last resort.
Anyways, things got better after that. Liam was able to come and I was able to hold him and nurse him. he took to nursing like he's been doing it for months. We had absolutely no trouble getting latched and getting him to eat. He was a champ for sure. And an excellent snuggler. He loved being held and rarely cried. Although, he did hate having his diaper changed. He screams blood murder every time his diaper comes off.
Ok, now Toby didn't make it back in time for the delivery but he was driving straight through from Texas. He stopped once to take about a 2 hour nap but I didn't want to call and ask if he was on his way again because I didn't want to wake him. The next morning, about 7 or 8 ish, he walks in the door! It was a very nice sweet surprise! I hadn't seen him in a month and the first time I do, he gets to meet his son!
We had a neighbor watch the kids and our best friend, Hannah, was able to take off work and come down and stay the night with the kids so that my mom could stay the night with me in the hospital. Its a good thing she did because they wouldn't remove my catheter so i couldn't just get up and change him or get up at all, even if I wanted to. So, it was extra special that Hannah came to stay and that my mom was able to be with me all night.
They decided to give me 2 transfusions of blood because I'd lost so much. They were a little hesitant at first but I told them that I would take as much blood as they would give me. When we lost baby Michael, I lost a lot of blood then, too, and they erred on the side of no transfusion, and it took me months to recover from that, physically. After getting those two units of blood, I feel 10 times better. I was able to get up and walk around, even though my feet and calfs were so swollen that it felt like I wasn't even walking on my own feet.
So, the Drs. wanted me to stay the full 4 days in the hospital to make sure I wasn't going to start bleeding again and to make sure I was well on the way to recovery. They wanted me to get up and walk around and able to take care of myself. So, I loaded Liam in his rolling bassinet and we walked the halls of the mother baby unit. We would walk past the nursery and see all the little babies, they were so cute! of course, not as cute at mine, but still. We went slow, but we made lots of rounds around that place.
I was so grateful for all the nurses that took care of me. With the exception of one, they were all very nice and always asking about my other babes and made sure that I was taking care of more than just physically. I will always be grateful for Melanie, my L&D nurse; Susie, my first M/B Unit nurse who was the primary nurse while i was hemorrhaging; Bonnie, my first night nurse who was very standoffish at first which we later learned was because she was very nervous that I would start bleeding again. She opened up a little with that confession and she checked on me religiously and because I was such a big case, another patient actually got a new nurse because most of her time was focused on me. Also, my discharge nurse, Krista, who was my nurse many times. Like I said, I loved all my nurses, but these women will always stand out as being the best!
So there it is. Liam's Birth Story plus extras. yeah, I know, I like details. lol
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