One year ago tonight, I went to the hospital not knowing that I'd be meeting my son just hours later. I can't believe it's already been a whole year...
My Birth Story
On Feb. 24, I went to my 37 week appointment and found out that the baby was measuring in the 91st percentile and that they recommended I have a planned c-section at 39 weeks, or at the very least an induction. The doctor told me about all of the risks to very big babies in a vaginal birth, so I was about 90% sure I was going with the c-section, though I wasn’t completely decided. I would have to tell her for sure by my appointment the next week.
Except I never ended up making it that far. I was nesting big time all weekend, and went to work on Monday March 1st just like normal, came home and nested some more. Eventually it was 9:30 and I realized I hadn’t even sat down all night when I got this terrible pain in the left side of my back. It was excruciating and not letting up at all. I immediately thought I had kidney stones. I had had an episode a couple months prior that the doctor thought was kidney stones and this pain was similar, only worse. I tried to breathe and move around to lessen the pain for about a half hour, but it was not getting any better at all and I started vomiting, so I told Justin we needed to go to the hospital. I got there around 10:30 and was admitted to Labor&Delivery. There, the nurse checked my cervix and took a urine sample. My cervix was soft but pretty much closed tight. She told me she was sure I wasn’t in labor and once they got the results back, they could call my doctor and get an order for pain meds (which I was begging for at this point).
Finally at 1:30am, she called my doctor. I had still been vomiting from the pain and even though the contraction monitor showed I was having contractions every few minutes, they were still pretty convinced this was kidney stones and not labor. My doctor ordered me Nubain and ordered an ultrasound of my kidneys and uterus. It took them 3 tries to get the stupid IV in, but finally they gave me the pain meds. The Nubain made me feel drunk and eased the pain enough so that I could talk, but it was still really bad. They wheeled me to do the ultrasounds, and just moving hurt so much worse. When I got back, I told the nurse the meds weren’t working, so they gave me more plus some phenergan, which managed to knock me out, at least for a little while. When I woke up, the pain actually seemed to be subsiding at times and then starting back up. It was still bad, but it was so nice to have a break in between. I watched the contraction monitor and realized that the pain was coming with each contraction, which were about 2 minutes apart now.
Around 7am, the new nurse came in and told me that the ultrasound showed no kidney stones, and though it still showed my cervix was completely closed, I was definitely in labor, and I had developed pre-eclampsia. My BP was very high and we needed to get the baby out now. Everything after that was a blur. The doctor came in and explained what was going on and that they would be doing a c-section in an hour. Then the anesthesiologist came in and explained the spinal to me. Justin and I scrambled to call our families to tell them that Landon was coming within the hour.
Then they wheeled me into the operating room. The anesthesiologist was great. I was so nervous about the spinal but he completely calmed me down. The spinal itself was nothing. So, so easy. A tiny burning shot, and then my legs felt warm and the pain was finally gone. It was amazing. Then they put the catheter in and Justin and the doctor came in. She said hi to me and then went to work. I had no idea they had even started. I was feeling some tugging and pulling, but the doctor was talking to the nurse about their route to work, so I didn’t think anything was really going on. Next thing I knew, the anesthesiologist told me I’d feel some pressure, and I heard them say “baby out!” and then I heard him cry. I couldn’t believe how quick it was. Landon Stephen Ramirez was born at 8:26am March 2nd, weighing 7lbs, 5oz, and 19.5 inches long—far from the “huge” baby that all of my ultrasounds predicted him to be. They brought him over and I got to give him a kiss and then off he went to the nursery. They sewed and stapled me up and I think that part seemed to take way longer than any other part of the day so far.
Recovery was a bit rough for me. They were a little worried about Landon’s breathing, so I didn’t get to hold him until 5 hours after he was born. My BP also wasn’t going down, so they had to put me on magnesium so that I wouldn’t have a seizure. The side effects were awful, but it did its job, though I did have to go home on BP meds because the pre-e apparently didn’t leave my body with the birth like it normally does. All in all, it was about as far from what I was expecting as I could have imagined, but I have a beautiful, healthy baby boy to show for it, so that made every second worth it.
