Hi everyone,
I haven't been online since Wednesday, but my girlfriend Nicole told me she posted here that I ended up having my baby this week, very unexpectedly.
Since I last posted, I see we've had a birthing boom on our board -- many, many congratulations to all our new babies!
You all might remember I was asking about induction methods, etc. in case I had to be induced early b/c of high BP. Well, actually, my BP had stablized nicely by Wed. and I had a great OB appt. -- Sophia was really active and kept kicking the fetal doppler when we tried to listen to her -- and was feeling downright optimistic at my chances for a full-term birth, even if it was no longer likely I'd be getting to have my much-wanted homebirth.
Then, on Thurs. morning, I realized I hadn't felt her move for about 12 hrs. I drank some OJ. Nothing happened. I started poking my 35-wk. preggo belly. Still nothing.
Concerned, I called my OB and was sent to the hospital for monitoring. That's when things got bad...
Long story short: Sophie was in significant distress (we still don't know why, and probably never will) and I ended up having an emergency c-section. We had a VERY close call and almost lost her -- she had to be resuscitated at birth; her heart rate was in the 60s and her apgars were 1,3, and 5. She's doing much better now, thank goodness, but will be in the NICU for several weeks.
The other unexpected piece of news is that Sophie was born with Down Syndrome. We won't have an official diagnosis for another week or so, but it seems very likely that this is the case. We love her dearly already and are thrilled to welcome her into our family, but also have a lot of knowledge-gathering to do in the coming weeks and months, since we had no idea this was on the horizon.
I just got home from the hospital this evening. I'm hanging in there, but honestly, I've having a hard time processing everything that has happened to me in the past few days.
I planned a home waterbirth --
I ended up with an emergency c-section, my first c/s in five births. Heck, my first surgery of any sort in my entire life.
I planned for a full-term delivery --
My baby was born at 35w. I am reliving my two previous NICU experiences (DC #1 and #2) all over again, to my complete dismay.
I planned to have a healthy baby --
My child very nearly died during birth and was born with a genetic defect.
I was doing pretty well until I walked out of the hospital this afternoon into the parking lot and it hit me that the last time I'd seen the sky, I was still pregnant, that I should still BE pregnant. I started to cry. Then, we arrived home and I went into my bedroom and saw all my maternity clothes strewn about and a whole new wave of sadness hit me. I'm just not ready to be DONE being pregnant yet.
Anyway...thank you for your well wishes and I wanted to update you on how it all turned out.
Kind regards,
Guin
I haven't been online since Wednesday, but my girlfriend Nicole told me she posted here that I ended up having my baby this week, very unexpectedly.
Since I last posted, I see we've had a birthing boom on our board -- many, many congratulations to all our new babies!
You all might remember I was asking about induction methods, etc. in case I had to be induced early b/c of high BP. Well, actually, my BP had stablized nicely by Wed. and I had a great OB appt. -- Sophia was really active and kept kicking the fetal doppler when we tried to listen to her -- and was feeling downright optimistic at my chances for a full-term birth, even if it was no longer likely I'd be getting to have my much-wanted homebirth.
Then, on Thurs. morning, I realized I hadn't felt her move for about 12 hrs. I drank some OJ. Nothing happened. I started poking my 35-wk. preggo belly. Still nothing.
Concerned, I called my OB and was sent to the hospital for monitoring. That's when things got bad...Long story short: Sophie was in significant distress (we still don't know why, and probably never will) and I ended up having an emergency c-section. We had a VERY close call and almost lost her -- she had to be resuscitated at birth; her heart rate was in the 60s and her apgars were 1,3, and 5.
She's doing much better now, thank goodness, but will be in the NICU for several weeks.The other unexpected piece of news is that Sophie was born with Down Syndrome. We won't have an official diagnosis for another week or so, but it seems very likely that this is the case. We love her dearly already and are thrilled to welcome her into our family, but also have a lot of knowledge-gathering to do in the coming weeks and months, since we had no idea this was on the horizon.
I just got home from the hospital this evening. I'm hanging in there, but honestly, I've having a hard time processing everything that has happened to me in the past few days.
I planned a home waterbirth --
I ended up with an emergency c-section, my first c/s in five births. Heck, my first surgery of any sort in my entire life.
I planned for a full-term delivery --
My baby was born at 35w. I am reliving my two previous NICU experiences (DC #1 and #2) all over again, to my complete dismay.
I planned to have a healthy baby --
My child very nearly died during birth and was born with a genetic defect.
I was doing pretty well until I walked out of the hospital this afternoon into the parking lot and it hit me that the last time I'd seen the sky, I was still pregnant, that I should still BE pregnant. I started to cry. Then, we arrived home and I went into my bedroom and saw all my maternity clothes strewn about and a whole new wave of sadness hit me. I'm just not ready to be DONE being pregnant yet.
Anyway...thank you for your well wishes and I wanted to update you on how it all turned out.
Kind regards,
Guin
Life is SO unpredictable, it's crazy. I'm glad baby Sophia is doing well and improving. Congrats on a darling new baby~~!
