Ooooh Baby Part 2

As I stated earlier, my two deliveries and babies couldn't be any more different.   We were very fortunate and were able to get pregnant pretty much on the first try both times.  So when we started talking about baby number 2 we were hopeful that we would get pregnant fast again.  I found out I was pregnant with Addie while I was training for a 1/2 marathon, I would be 9 weeks along the day of the race and was secretly hoping that my Dr would tell me I had to stop training, but she didn't so I ran the race and have yet to run since.  So here is the story of baby number two.

Lil' Miss Addie
  When I went in for my first ultrasound at 9 weeks, immediately I knew that something looked different.  There just seemed to be a lot of empty space on the screen.

9 week ultrasound

My Dr said that it appeared that I possibly was originally pregnant with twins and that the second sac didn't form, they call it a vanishing twin.  She said it's somewhat common and it should absorb back into the other sac, so we scheduled for a followup ultrasound 2 weeks later.  I must admit I cried when I left that day, I think especially after you have had a baby and truly watched the evolution that unfolds in your body you have a much deeper feeling on life (at least I did.) I was sad for the twin I maybe lost because for some reason Jason and I both were thinking twins. 

So I went back 2 weeks later and the sac was still there just as large and the baby was still doing well, so she referred me to a high risk pregnancy Dr for follow up ultra sounds.  After my initial appointment at the new office it was apparent that I did not have a vanishing twin but instead had something in my uterus, what we did not know.  So I continued getting ultrasounds there every 4-6 weeks for 4 months.  What was nice about it was that I would get to have these 1 hr ultrasounds on a big screen TV and get to see the baby growing and detailed, it was at this office that we found out we were having a baby girl.  Because we didn't know what the thing was in my uterus we just monitored the baby.  Regardless there really isn't a whole lot that can be done while you are pregnant and baby girl (that's what I called her) was growing and thriving so there was no urgency to investigate more.  Throughout every ultrasound though baby girl was always breech, always.  She was measuring ahead just like Augie but I had no intentions of having a c-section even though I was given the go ahead because of the size. 

As my due date was slowly approaching it was becoming more evident that she would not be flipping.  We tried just about everything except for version, I had no desire.  I would throughout the day rub my belly in a clockwise motion calmly telling the baby to follow my hand, Jason on the other hand would yell to my hoo-ha "come towards the light baby girl, come to my voice", neither worked.  The thing with a breech baby especially a big breech baby is it really feels so weird, your body is designed for the baby to be head down, and baby girls head was protruding to the left all of the time she moved and it looked like an alien sometimes.

We scheduled a c-section for 1 week before my due date about a month in advance just to get me on the books, we had our final ultra sound the week before my scheduled date just to make sure she hadn't flipped.  She of course did not listen to her poppa to follow the light.  My Dr and I kind of guessed that because of the thing in my uterus it may have been blocking her a little to move as freely as she would like.

On May 21st I went in for my c-section.  If I'm being totally honest I will tell you this, I HATED the c-section.  We dropped Augie off at daycare and got to the hospital around 10am for a 12pm c-section.  I delivered once again at OSU (Ohio State University Medical Center), and when you are prepping for a c-section you are in a pre-op room with 4 or 5 other people divided by a curtain.  Remember the coat closet recovery room I was left in after Augie?  Well I found out that it wasn't the coat closet it was the pre/post op room but I was facing all of the scrubs.   So Jason and I are in pre-op anxiously awaiting when they wheel in "Randi" with an "I", well she just had had an emergency c-section on her 5th child.  When the nurse was asking her her medical history and asked if she smoked her response was " well I quit 3 days ago so you could say that I'm not a smoker" (in my best WT/RN accent.)  She then explained that she was "gonna go get myself fixed if this baby makes it through ok."  I think that is a fabulous idea.  Jason and I just looked at each other and I said she's really messing with my zen right now.  I think it's funny that when you have a vaginal delivery they set you up in this serene stress free room but then with a c-section they treat it just like a surgery. 

I was taken back at noon and Jason had to wait in the hall while they got me prepped.  This is one of the reasons I hated it, I received the spinal which is a crazy experience, it really does completely numb you from the chest down.  I kept telling myself to wiggle my toes but I couldn't and then I thought "wow an epidural has nothing on a spinal!".  But as everyone was working diligently to get me ready I had nothing to take my mind of the fear and nervousness I had for this major surgery.  No music, no TV, no Jason just to talk to me.  I think people forget that c-sections are major abdominal surgeries they aren't just some in and out thing, and having Augie too I have to say I was really scared that something may happen to me.  So all these thoughts were running through my head and I started to get really uneasy and started to cry, I looked at the anesthesiologist and asked "can my husband please come in now"  so they went in and got him.  As soon as he came in the surgery began, Addie was born around 12:45 pm and was a petite 8 lbs 13 oz.  And when I say petite I'm not being facetious she looked tiny compared to Augie.  And just like Augie I got to see her for a minute and then they whisked her off to the nursery and Jason followed and once again I was left alone in the O.R.

I was in the O.R. for over an  hour, we had issues with my placenta and she could not get it detached from the uterine wall.  This was kind of to be expected because of my previous placenta accreta.  The thing with c-sections is that although you are numb you still feel everything, it just doesn't hurt.  So as they were trying to get it detached they were pulling and tugging on my insides while I was still cut open.  I began to get really nauseous from the roller coaster from within, they gave me a shot of something because the thought of throwing up was just another nightmare in itself.  So as I was laying there I finally started to relax after the shot and started talking candidly about "Randi" with an "I" and how she was messing up my zen, and also that they should think about having some music or head phones or maybe just knocking the mom out during this whole section, because it was brutal.  I was finally wheeled back to the coat closet and after 2 hours apart Addie and I were reunited.

Addie took right to breastfeeding and did an awesome job, from the start she had no desire to take a paci.  My milk came in by the time we left the hospital and little missy miss became a 10 min nurser.  Because of the complications after Augie we already had my prenatal visit and ultra sound scheduled.  My milk supply was never in abundance but it was enough to satisfy my little peanut.  So when I went in 6 weeks later we found that my uterus was still filled,  we were going to do an MRI but at 8 weeks Addie was still refusing to take a bottle.  If a bottle touched that child's lips she would arch back and scream, we tried every bottle and nipple type, we tried to get her hungry, tried when she was sleepy tried to trick her, she wanted nothing to do with anything!! She hates bottles and paci's still to this day.  So I went in for my MRI with contrast and told them that I couldn't do it because they said I would need to pump and dump for 48 hrs.  When I went back to the Dr 2 weeks later we did another ultrasound and scheduled for a D&C.  So there I was at 8 weeks PP still bleeding and having a D&C again.  I had to pump and dump for 24 hrs and it was the longest 24 hrs ever.  Addie refused to eat from a bottle, we had to force feed her with a medicine dropper.  She ate about 6oz that whole day.  SO when someone says "they will eat when they are hungry" they have never met Addie Mae!  After my D&C we followed up with another ultrasound 4 weeks later and I still continued to bleed.  When we had the ultrasound we found a mass.  I  finally had my MRI about 4 mos PP and once again Addie went on a 24 hour hunger strike, and after the MRI and another biopsy it was concluded that I have a fibroid. 

So I somehow developed a fibroid in between having Augie and getting pregnant with Addie.  The fibroid grew on the scar tissue that was left after the placenta accreta with Augie and the placenta from Addie adhered to the fibroid.  So that's where we stand today.  I'm scheduled for another ultrasound next month to see if anything new has changed.

WHEW!!! Well there it all is, I think.  Thanks for reading all the way to the end.