Isla's Birthday Story. Part 2.

part 1.

my memory is very fuzzy, at best.  so i will hopefully remember everything. 

dave had just dropped me off at the er and had gone home to drop ian off with our friend nickie (who, bless her heart, was also very pregnant), and pack up some things for us.  a nurse had gotten me from the er and taken me to triage in l&d.  i was given my bracelets- name and allergy- which they put on very loosely for me, thank goodness.  when i got into triage, my bp was taken again and the top number was in the 190s.  i was immediately started on an iv of magnesium sulfate to prevent seizures and given my first exam so they could try and figure out where baby was.  the nurse couldn't "find any presenting parts", so they had to call someone in to do a quick ultrasound to find out whether or not she was head down.  luckily, she was.  i sat in the room alone in triage for a while and i remember the tv not working and a guy came in to try and fix it for me, but nothing happened.  so i just remember waiting alone and bored for dave.  my phone had died while we were at dinner and i was all alone.  dave finally showed up and i was moved into an actual l&d room because they were going to start the induction at midnight.  so at midnight on june 16, 2013, it was father's day, i turned 32 and my labor began.  since i wasn't dilated any more than a 1, i had to be given cervadil to soften up my cervix before the real stuff would begin.  that was pretty much the worst thing ever.  i pretty much had to be pinned down to be given the dose- it was awful.  i was induced (by choice) with Ian, and after having him and learning more about pregnancy and delivery I had decided that i absolutely did not want to be induced again- i wanted to go into labor on my own and have this baby on my own.  that was the first of many things that just didn't work out for this delivery- but then again- nothing was going the way i had planned.  sometime after the cervadil i was given a catheter b\c my urine output had to be monitored b\c of the preeclamsia.  that pretty much ties cervadil for the worst thing ever.  i had blood taken, which started 5 straight days of having blood taken 2x a day from the same place in my arm (also awful).  i am pretty sure we were able to sleep a little bit after this- the magnesium sulfate made me pretty drowsy, so it's hard to really know. 

my parents arrived sunday afternoon.  that day my friend kristen also came and gave my disgusting feet a pedicure.  i remember her making jokes about how gross my feet were before i passed out.  i also had my 2nd dose of cervadil at noon.  during all of this, i wasn't able to eat- so no birthday cake, which made me really unhappy.  at some point, i managed to talk a nurse into bringing me food- and i got a turkey sandwich from the nurses lounge.  when i ate this thing, it was like i hadn't eaten in years.  i still joke with dave about how it was the best turkey sandwich ever.  nurses kept changing shifts, and every time one would leave me, i would be so sad because i was going to have someone new.  at some point on sunday i decided i would also have an epidural.  this was another thing i had not planned on- i really wanted to wait and play things by ear with my un-induced delivery.  by sunday afternoon i was exhausted and in a lot of pain from the catheter, and the cervadil- i hoped the epidural would help something and it did- after getting it, i felt the most alert and awake i had been since arriving.  i think i had dilated to a 2 around this point and i may have started the pitocin (or maybe it was monday).  my blood pressure remained high, which i knew because i had to have it taken EVERY 15 MINUTES.  :(

my sister in law and brother in law had picked ian up at our house and taken him to fathers' day brunch and to hang out at their house for a few days.  this kept me from worrying and freaking out about where he was going to be, and he probably forgot we existed. 

dumb side story- it was sometime during this day that i had found out that kim kardashian had delivered her baby.  i remember i found out that she was pregnant shortly after i found out that i was pregnant and that she was due around the same time i was.  i knew she had to be delivering as early as i was- and i remember seeing that terrible picture of her swollen feet during the summer.  so we had the same thing at the same time and delivered a day apart.  too bad she has done little to nothing to bring awareness to pre-e.

i will have to finish this in a part 3 because i'm tired now.  here are some photos from my 2nd day in the hospital...

 me in my l&d room. hooked up to a blood pressure monitor and magnesium sulfate drip.  i am so swollen.

 i think as a pregnant person, i thought the rest of me looked like me.  when i see these pictures, i can hardly recognize myself. my face is so swollen i can hardly smile.  even my arms and hand look huge.

 preeclampsia gets a big ol thumbs down.  

 seriously.  my giant face.  i am so swollen that i just have slits for eyes.  ugh.

 i think i'm napping here.  or faking  my arm bracelets keep getting tighter b\c i keep getting more and more swollen.  

 i feel like crying when i see my feet... and what used to be my ankle.  

ow.

i'll try not to take 3 months to write the next part...

back to work

Well, not what i was expecting January 4th. I was expecting to be freaking out about my husband going back to work while leaving me alone for the first time with our sweet baby boy. Obviously we are all going back to work though. It still appears I will not be back at Target though until after baby comes. I called Target the day of my failed induction to tell them to cancel my leave of absence and then also went to the store to get put back on the schedule (which comes out on Thursday). I had already missed the opporunity to be on the January 3-9 schedule, so I was hoping to get on the newest schedule of January 10-16. Either my supervisor forgot, or I was not back in the system yet, so I'm not on that schedule either. Basically it's a moot point for me to even go back on the schedule b\c the next week starts on the 17th, and I am due on that Tuesday, the 19th. So i'm going to see what my options are for reactivating my maternity leave. Why are these things so difficult? Anyway, i'm lucky enough that I have been working with my in-law's at their practice, so while I'm not getting hours at Target, I can at least work some there to make up for what would appear to be 3 weeks of lost money. And speaking of which, it's time for me to head that way.

Tonight is our hospital tour, it's one of the 2 things we get to do with baby not being here. Saturday is the other- our childbirth class. Dave is thrilled. He was hoping we'd miss these 2 fun adventures b\c when I scheduled them in SEPTEMBER these were the earliest dates for us that actually fit into our schedule (ie: before the baby came, or at the actual hospital we are delivering at). I'm exciting about the tour. We tried to do our own at my last Dr's appointment and got lost. Sherman is a new hospital and it's HUGE!

Welcome Annabella! Stay! Baby McFadden!

After a couple weeks of will they or won't they induce her- my sister-in-law's water broke Tuesday morning. They headed to the hospital, and we anxiously awaited word, so we could go up and meet baby Annabella (well, we hoped she'd be baby Annabella, they never knew for sure). Of course, we soon found out that only parents and grandparents were allowed to visit, so that bummed us out a bit. I had been feeling icky all day. Every time I stood up, my stomach was tightening up- Braxton-Hicks contractions- I didn't really think much of it until I got in the shower though- my stomach refused to soften back up. I thought it was a little weird, but I got ready for work, and headed that way. Work was miserable. It was my first day back after our Atlanta trip, and I knew i'd be a little worn out, but we were super-busy and since I of course have to stand all the time, I was having the same thing I had earlier- the constant Braxton-Hicks contractions. My stomach was so tight I was having trouble moving around. I finally got a break, so I decided to call my mother-in-law and ask her what she thought about it, and she suggested I call my Dr. Of course, I called the Dr. and instead of an answering service I could page the Dr. on call for an emergency. I didn't really feel like I was having an emergency, so I waited. I went back inside and asked a girl I worked with who had just had a baby not too long ago- she also suggested I call- no matter what- and then another girl from work was coming in- and she also suggested I call. I went ahead & had the Dr. paged- I was glad it was Tuesday b\c I knew my Dr. was on call on Tuesday's and I'd get to speak with her. She called me back pretty quickly, got me to somewhat calm down, and told me I should go to the emergency room to have things checked out. I couldn't reach Dave, but I knew he was at my in-laws doing homework, so I pulled myself together and drove there to pick him up. We got to the emergency room, and they put me in a wheelchair and got me checked in. Labor & Delivery were waiting on me- and they put me in a triage room. There it was the usual- put on this gown, pee in this cup, etc. My nurse, Liza, came in, and she was pregnant too! She got me hooked to the fetal monitor, and asked me a million questions. Then came the fun part- the pelvic exam. Luckily, it revealed that my cervix was closed. After all this fun, I was allowed to just chill out a bit. Dave & I watched the last 5 minutes of The Biggest Loser, and then we watched old episodes of The Office. Liza came back in after a while, and told me I was having some contractions, but my tests came back negative, and I was ok to go home. She said more than likely I was just dehydrated, which can cause the contractions, so she brought back 2 ginormous cups of ice water for me to chug. After I finished chugging my water, I was allowed to dress and check out with instructions to take it easy and to keep drinking plenty of water! Hopefully baby has learned his lesson about trying to arrive early. I told him, "only 1 grandchild per month." I worked a really long day on Wednesday- which I shouldn't have, but work seems to not really care, and then I had a shorter shift last night. I have today off, but I work the next 5 days, up until Thanksgiving, and then we start the holiday rush.

My sister in law was released from the hospital today, and her and her husband brought Annabella by so they could gather up their things before heading back to Indiana. I was the only one who was lucky enough to have time off to meet her. She is precious! I was able to hold her a while, and she just slept and made cute little noises and faces. Can't wait to see her again at Thanksgiving! Here is a preview photo of her, but I have many more pictures on my camera that will probably be uploaded onto fb.