Things have calmed down considerably today... so I thought I would spend a little time catching up.
The surgery... was unlike anything I've ever experienced. For all of those that have done C-sections, I have a new respect for you. Once done, I looked at Tom and said, "I don't EVER want to do that again." The whole morning was a "hurry up and wait" scenario so it felt as though we would never get it done. They transported, we waited, they prepped, we waited, they questioned, we waited, they prepped some more, we waited... FINALLY we got in the OR. I had a spinal block and it worked for the most part, but I began to feel quite a bit during the last part of the surgery. I'm not sure that was supposed to happen. The best part was when we heard two little cries... Adalynn was born! The pediatrician and nurses whisked her away to get assessed and cleaned up. Tom got to follow Adalynn pretty soon after and was told that they thought she would be a LOT sicker after being "PROM" for so long. The doctor and nurses were pleasantly surprised.
Back in the OR, the doctors started to review my situation to see how much placenta had adhered to the uterus. It was "unusually adherent" according to the specialist (we were very thankful that he was in the surgery the entire time). But fortunately, most of the placenta came out--a small part was left in. They had to determine at that very moment whether or not to do a hysterectomy. The doctor said it was truly a miracle that they didn't have to do one. Because of the ablation, the uterus wasn't vascular enough and there wasn't much bleeding. If we would not have done the ablation, a hysterectomy would have happened for sure. And with the blood clotting disorder that I have, that would have been quite risky. Soooooo... it was a big BLESSING to have the surgery go the way it did.
Following the surgery... the morphine pump apparently stopped working. I kept asking the nurse if the medicine should be taking the edge off the pain... I just didn't feel any relief! And it got worse and worse. She kept saying to just give it a chance to start working, etc. I WAS trying to be patient, but I was QUITE uncomfortable--rather, it down-right hurt!! Finally, Tom went out in the hall and found a different nurse and asked her to come in and see if there was a problem with the morphine pump. She came in, looked at it and said, "this pump is not even on!" UGH! I think it had been over an hour at this point PLUS the discomfort during the surgery... needless to say, I was pretty uncomfortable. So this wonderful, dear and very patient nurse reset the machine and got the drip to finally work. Relief came. Whew. I'm sure I wasn't very good company up to that point! :) I was only supposed to be in recovery for an hour and we ended up being there for three. Lots of ice chips were consumed...
They took me back to the room at this point and Adalynn had gone to the NICU. Tom, the boys, Mom and Dad all got to see her there. The doctors and nurses kept a close eye on her, she had a breathing tube and was hooked up to a billion things... She also showed signs of jaundice so they needed to stick her under the "lights" to get her billiruben level right. She looked like she was on a tropical vacation! And getting quite a tan...
Notice her sunglasses, the tropical lights and how she's reclining... :)
Adalynn's vital sign monitor. Top number is heart rate, next one is oxygen level and the bottom number is her respiration's per minute.
Adalynn's foot with a little oxygen sensor. I just love her toes and feet!
Tom and I finally got to hold Adalynn in the middle of the night (12 hours following surgery). That was a sweet, sweet moment getting to spend that time with our little girl...
We'll get caught up more tomorrow, but in the meantime, I wanted to say a special Happy Birthday to my oldest baby, Crist. He's a big 14 today! Can't believe our boy is 14 years older than his brand new baby sister. Crist is having a special day with his brothers, cousin Miranda and his grandparents--going to the lake, pontoon boat and Shogun tonight. I'm so thankful for Memaw and Grandpa making his day so special when Tom and I aren't able to be there. Once again, this is probably the hardest summer ever...being apart from family, missing events. Crist knows that we are planning a special birthday for him when we get home. I miss my boys.
Birthday cake hand delivered to the NICU by Lindsey Phillips on behalf of the entire Phillips family... what a treat! Thank you, once again, Phillips family!
Tomorrow I'll be checking out of my hospital room and checking into Adalynn's... I'll write more then...
The surgery... was unlike anything I've ever experienced. For all of those that have done C-sections, I have a new respect for you. Once done, I looked at Tom and said, "I don't EVER want to do that again." The whole morning was a "hurry up and wait" scenario so it felt as though we would never get it done. They transported, we waited, they prepped, we waited, they questioned, we waited, they prepped some more, we waited... FINALLY we got in the OR. I had a spinal block and it worked for the most part, but I began to feel quite a bit during the last part of the surgery. I'm not sure that was supposed to happen. The best part was when we heard two little cries... Adalynn was born! The pediatrician and nurses whisked her away to get assessed and cleaned up. Tom got to follow Adalynn pretty soon after and was told that they thought she would be a LOT sicker after being "PROM" for so long. The doctor and nurses were pleasantly surprised.
Back in the OR, the doctors started to review my situation to see how much placenta had adhered to the uterus. It was "unusually adherent" according to the specialist (we were very thankful that he was in the surgery the entire time). But fortunately, most of the placenta came out--a small part was left in. They had to determine at that very moment whether or not to do a hysterectomy. The doctor said it was truly a miracle that they didn't have to do one. Because of the ablation, the uterus wasn't vascular enough and there wasn't much bleeding. If we would not have done the ablation, a hysterectomy would have happened for sure. And with the blood clotting disorder that I have, that would have been quite risky. Soooooo... it was a big BLESSING to have the surgery go the way it did.
Following the surgery... the morphine pump apparently stopped working. I kept asking the nurse if the medicine should be taking the edge off the pain... I just didn't feel any relief! And it got worse and worse. She kept saying to just give it a chance to start working, etc. I WAS trying to be patient, but I was QUITE uncomfortable--rather, it down-right hurt!! Finally, Tom went out in the hall and found a different nurse and asked her to come in and see if there was a problem with the morphine pump. She came in, looked at it and said, "this pump is not even on!" UGH! I think it had been over an hour at this point PLUS the discomfort during the surgery... needless to say, I was pretty uncomfortable. So this wonderful, dear and very patient nurse reset the machine and got the drip to finally work. Relief came. Whew. I'm sure I wasn't very good company up to that point! :) I was only supposed to be in recovery for an hour and we ended up being there for three. Lots of ice chips were consumed...
They took me back to the room at this point and Adalynn had gone to the NICU. Tom, the boys, Mom and Dad all got to see her there. The doctors and nurses kept a close eye on her, she had a breathing tube and was hooked up to a billion things... She also showed signs of jaundice so they needed to stick her under the "lights" to get her billiruben level right. She looked like she was on a tropical vacation! And getting quite a tan...
Notice her sunglasses, the tropical lights and how she's reclining... :)
Adalynn's vital sign monitor. Top number is heart rate, next one is oxygen level and the bottom number is her respiration's per minute.
Adalynn's foot with a little oxygen sensor. I just love her toes and feet!
Tom and I finally got to hold Adalynn in the middle of the night (12 hours following surgery). That was a sweet, sweet moment getting to spend that time with our little girl...
We'll get caught up more tomorrow, but in the meantime, I wanted to say a special Happy Birthday to my oldest baby, Crist. He's a big 14 today! Can't believe our boy is 14 years older than his brand new baby sister. Crist is having a special day with his brothers, cousin Miranda and his grandparents--going to the lake, pontoon boat and Shogun tonight. I'm so thankful for Memaw and Grandpa making his day so special when Tom and I aren't able to be there. Once again, this is probably the hardest summer ever...being apart from family, missing events. Crist knows that we are planning a special birthday for him when we get home. I miss my boys.
Birthday cake hand delivered to the NICU by Lindsey Phillips on behalf of the entire Phillips family... what a treat! Thank you, once again, Phillips family!
Tomorrow I'll be checking out of my hospital room and checking into Adalynn's... I'll write more then...
Congratulations, Tom and Karen! Adalynn is sooo very beautiful! Thankful for husbands that tell nurses when pain medicines don't work!!! Way to go, Tom! Praising God for a safe delivery and peace! Love to all.....
ReplyDeleteAaron and Marque