Fair warning : this post is probably going to be SUPER long, more for my benefit as i keep it as a journal of sorts and want to remember as much as i can! feel free to just skim haha i won't be offended.
from this.. to this :)
Well i guess this story starts back at 30 weeks. i went to my routine 2 week Dr app where they take your blood pressure, weight measure your tummy and hear the heart beat. well in the past 2 weeks i hadn't gained any weight but i was measuring 32 weeks instead of 30 and i had measured under until now. so the Dr sent me in for an ultrasound just to see how things were going in there.
Got to the ultrasound place and changed into the ridiculous gown and sat on the table. ultrasounds are nothing like they are in the movie. your husband doesn't get brought in till the very end and you don't get to see everything on the screen; your husband doesn't even get to stand by you, he stands down at my feet and holds my foot for comfort? anyways the tech checked me over left the room, came back in left came back in, brought the radiologist with her and he checked me and told her to do an internal ultrasound.. all while telling me NOTHING i just sat there as all the worst things came to mind.and i was alone as they hadn't brought Blake in. i kept asking them if anything was wrong and they kept saying that they couldn't tell me. Finally the radiologist came back in and explained the baby was fine ( Phew!) but they had found a "tumor" on the outside of my uterus that measured over 13 cm by 11 cm. I just about lost it and all i could say was " WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE GO GET MY HUSBAND>?!?" that is all they could tell me and sent me with an envelope to my Dr for her to explain further. We headed straight to the Dr and she told us that it was most likely a fibroid or a cyst but they weren't exactly sure but were sending me in for a better ultrasound at the foothills hospital. That ultrasound they couldn't tell me much either; but the growth of the baby was right on track and the pelvic mass wasn't causing me pain so i shouldn't worry. I went in for an MRI and they still couldn't tell if it was benign or where exactly it was coming from with baby all squished in there and my organs all moved around.
My Dr explained that the mass could block the exit for little Ryker coming in to the world and we may have to end up with a c section. He scheduled me for surgery on march 15th and talked about inducing me early to ensure i get some recovery time before surgery to remove the mass.
Tuesday February 7th - i head into the Dr's and he examines me and I'm not dilated at all but he could feel the mass start to descend along with the baby. He scheduled me for induction for Friday the 10th 9:30 am... i couldn't believe i was actually going to have this baby!
My mom came up Thursday night to help out and make sure we had everything good to go. We were allowed 2 support people so i chose Blake and her. We headed to the hospital where they put me in the triage rooms which are beds the size of tooth picks and as hard as rock and they prop you up on your hip for hours at a time hooked up to the fetal monitor. The space provided was slim and they would only let 1 person be in there with you at a time so my mom had to wait out in the waiting room. around 10 they came in and gave me a dose of gel to help soften my cervix and the contractions started soon after that. they sent me home and told me to come back at 4;30 or if anything progressed. i came back at 4:30 and my contractions had gotten stronger they checked me and i still had not dilated at all; not wanting to over stimulate my uterus the Dr sent me home and told me to come back at 1030 if things hadn't progressed. i came home ate supper and had a nice hot shower and the contractions seemed to be getting less and further apart.. not pleased with that as i just wanted this baby out! i went in at 1030 and they hooked me to the fetal monitor but the Dr never came to see us. turns out there were 4 emergency c sections and the Dr's were all tied up. i sat on this hard bed while Blake sat on the chair until 2:30 am when the Dr came and gave me another dose of gel monitored me for an hour and sent me back home. the contractions were almost back to back it seemed like i had no time to rest in between and there was little room for Blake to offer any relief of my increasing back pain. I still hadn't dilated and my cervix was long.. NO PROGRESS - those painful contractions seemed to be doing nothing but the baby wasn't stressed so they sent me home and told me to come back at 8 am. i got a little of sleep mostly because i was finally in my own bed but as morning rolled around i could no longer walk through the contractions i ate a granola bar and we headed to the hospital where they put me on the fetal monitor and finally admitted me! They told me i could no longer eat or drink anything and i wished i had eaten more then a granola bar.
They took me to the labour and delivery suite that had a labour ball i could roll back and forth on that seemed to relieve my back pain. They offered me morphine and i took it right away after it being more then 24 hours since the contractions had started. After the morphine i got to sleep and they woke me back up telling me they were going to start an IV just in case as i wasn't progressing. The student tried first and pushed the needle right through the vein and out the other side and kept trying to progress it which hurt worse then the contractions so the other nurse put one in my other hand and i went back to sleep. I hadn't eaten or drank anything in so long my mouth was so dry that i asked the nurse if she could bring me something. She brought me this thing that looked like a sponge sucker and i could dip it in the water and rub it in my mouth just to keep my mouth hydrated.The Dr and students came back in and checked me and i was still at 0. He wasn't my regular Dr but explained that the mass was preventing little Ryker from pushing down on my cervix and that we would have to do a c section and he could remove the mass at the same time if it was safe to do so. Suddenly i was so calm; i knew that that was what had to be done. I signed a paper stating i was okay with it and they got me on some antibiotics and Blake changed into scrubs which were an extra small and he could hardly sit down in them. it was just after 2;30 when they walked me down to the OR and i hugged my mom and held Blake's hand as we went to go have ourselves a baby! Blake had to wait outside as i went in and they explained what was going to happen and they gave me a spinal. i lied on the table with my arms spread out and they inserted a catheter. It was so weird i knew they were touching me and i got the touching sensation i just couldn't feel it. i kept telling my brain to move my toes but nothing was happening it was a weird experience. When they got all set up they brought Blake in and he sat down by my head and before i could even say hi to him the Dr said can you feel that? and he had already started cutting me open haha. Blake said he could see blood dripping on the floor and i could see in the reflection of the lights the outline of what they were doing... i kept trying not to look but they were pretty good at explaining what was going on. He was so crammed in there they had to use the vacuum to get him out. 3:45pm our little Ryker was born and the pressure release as they pulled him out was crazy. They told me they were going to sew up my uterus and then work on removing the mass. Turns out it had wrapped itself around my right ovary so they had to remove it too. Good thing Heavenly Father gave us 2! They asked if i would like to see it and i was so curious i said yes. It was HUGE , bigger then the placenta i might as well have been carrying twins definitely bigger then the 11 cm wide 16 cm long and 11 cm deep that the MRI had shown. I was glad to have it out of me and not have to wait a month and come back in.
They brought little Ryker over to my face as Blake held him and he was so content. it was so crazy to think that he was just with Heavenly Father; oh the things he could tell me. He was beautiful and he has these blue grey eyes that look so much older then a babies eyes.
They wheeled me to the recovery room where they told me he weight 6 pounds 1 ounce when really he weighted 6 pounds 13 ounces which i didn't find out till he was 3 days old and the nurse came to my house. they did a check to see if the spinal was wearing off and tested if i could feel the cold of the ice on different parts of my body.The rules at the peter lougheed are only grand parents and siblings of the babies are allowed to come visit in the post par tum. But the waiting room is between the delivery room and the post par tum room so as they wheel you past you can sneak a peak. The whole family was waiting in the waiting room as they wheeled me past and i tried to hold up little Ryker for them to see.
They brought me to my room and transferred me to my bed. I got a private room i was so happy about that! i stayed in there until Monday night when they sent me home. Ryker was really low on the jaundice scale and my incision seemed to be healing really good. They sent me home with some drugs and my baby and i couldn't be happier!
Being a mom has been challenging. If you know me you know how i love my sleep and coping with next to none this past week has been hard but sooo worth it. Little Ryker is a wonderful baby and is so content. He loves to snuggle and be held and hates being naked; just like me when i was a baby!
He definitely has his dads chin and his hair was quite red when he was born but gets blonder every day.
I love my sweet little family and it is such a privilege and blessing to be a mom!
