The Big Day-12/15/08

Calissa was due on 12/31/08 but we had scheduled a c-section for 12/26/08 because Dr. Bolin advised us that I might not be able to deliver her through my pelvis. I was off work on 12/15 and 12/16 using up vacation days and this worked out because Calissa decided to come a little early! 12/14 was a Sunday and that evening my Braxton Hicks contractions kept me up most of the night. They continued through the next day and were getting closer together, but they were not painful at all. After talking with Dr. Bolin’s nurse, I decided it was not true labor and stopped timing them.

John got home from work around 5:00pm on 12/15 (Monday) and ran to the post office to pick up a package that I had missed that day. I started some laundry and walked upstairs and then I felt a “gush” that I had never felt before. My water had broken! (This happened at 5:30) I called John and then called the doctor on call. I was happy when it was Dr. Bolin that called me back. She said we should head in to the hospital to get checked out. She said that the Braxton Hicks contractions could have caused my water to break. We packed up a few more needed items (we already had our hospital bag packed and in the car) and then headed to the hospital. On the way, I started having real contractions. I could tell they were different than what I’d been having because they were lower in my pelvis.

We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 and got checked in and taken up to a triage room. The nurse got me set up in the bed and on the monitors and we waited for the resident to come examine me. During this time, I was still having mild contractions every few minutes and water continued to “leak” out of me. I was pretty sure this was the real thing!!! When the resident started my exam, water gushed all over, so she didn’t even finish the exam. She said my water had definitely broken and that she would call Dr. Bolin and they would get us into the OR as soon as they could. We had called my dad on the way to the hospital and he and Becky came to be with us.

We were not considered an emergency c-section, so we had to wait on some other patients to get through the OR. Our process started about 10:30pm. While we were waiting, my contractions were getting worse and harder to breathe through. I also had really bad heartburn and I could not eat or drink anything, so that was pretty uncomfortable. While we were waiting, the anesthesiologist came to talk to us about the options and how that would work. She was really nice and helped me stay calm through the surgery. When they were ready for us, John had to put on a gown, mask and booties and wait while they wheeled me back and prepped me for surgery.

As soon as I got up on the operating table, I started to get the shakes. The nurse held my hands and tried to keep me calm as the anesthesiologist did the spinal block. It really didn’t hurt much at all, but it felt very strange as my legs warmed and then I could not feel them at all! They moved me flat on the table and put up the curtain so I could not see what they were doing. They started prepping instruments and Dr. Bolin told me she was shaving the area for the incision. Before they started the surgery, they went to get John and came to my side and held my hand. I could feel a little pressure as they started the surgery, but no pain. All of a sudden, it felt like I was lighter and then I heard crying! Cali was here!!! I could not see her, but John asked if he could go over and see her and I said that was fine. They were weighing her and checking her out and then John got to bring her over to me. I touched her for the first time and I was crying! She was beautiful! John said she didn’t have my thumb, so that was a good sign that she did not get my anemia. She weighed 6 lb 9 oz and was 20 in long. The nurse asked if we had our camera and John told her he didn’t know if he could bring in into the OR. I guess we could, so the nurse went out into the waiting room and got our camera from grandpa. So John was able to take pictures of Cali during her first minutes in the world and the anesthesiologist took some photos of the three of us.




The rest of the surgery seemed to take forever! I was getting antsy laying there and not having control over my body. I started to feel nauseous as well, but the anesthesiologist gave me something that helped with it. Finally, we were finished and they moved me to another bed to roll me into recovery. Dr. Bolin told us it was a good decision to do the c-section because Cali had not even dropped into my pelvis yet and she didn’t think she would have been able to clear it. I held Cali while they wheeled me into recovery.

We spent several hours in recovery. I still could not feel my legs – the feeling did not come back for several hours, after we had moved to our room. While in recovery, Cali got her first bath. Grandma and Grandpa Denbo went home while we were in recovery. They moved us to our room a few hours later and the nurse got me on a pain medication drip where I pressed a button to release it. I was on this for about 24 hours. I guess it made me kind of loopy as I don’t remember much of Tuesday, but John didn’t realize I was so out of it at the time. I was having trouble concentrating on nursing and he could figure out why, so he got a little frustrated. But later we figured out what the problem was since I was more myself after getting off this strong medication.

We were in the hospital through Thursday and the nurses took really good care of me and Cali. We took advantage of the nursery Tuesday and Wednesday night so that we could get a little sleep. I was off my pain drip by Tuesday evening and on an oral medication but stopped that by Wednesday. On Tuesday, I was able to get up and go to the bathroom and on Wednesday I took a shower, with John’s help. I had a blood transfusion on Wednesday because my counts had dropped lower than Dr. Greist liked.

Cali passed all her tests with flying colors and we were both released on Thursday to go home. Cali’s test for DBA even came back negative so that was good! We had been watching the weather alert and there was supposed to be winter weather coming that evening, so we planned on leaving after lunch. We left around 3pm and brought Cali home. We stopped at Starbucks on the way home and boy did that taste good! (I hadn’t been able to have sugar for 2 months)

The first week at home has been so much more challenging than we expected! John and I both have had our moments where we broke down in frustration, but at least they were never at the same time so we could encourage each other. Thankfully, I have healed well, except for an allergic rash that I got from some baby detergent that we found out I and Cali are allergic to. But everything else has been a big adjustment! The breastfeeding has been pretty difficult for me and I didn’t realize it would take so much time. Cali eats every 2-3 hours and it takes 45-60 minutes for each feeding. So I am basically on a 1-hour on/1-hour off schedule, which is tiring! The nights were really hard at first, but Cali had her days and nights mixed up. That seems to be getting a little better, though, and she sleeps for 2-3 hours 1-2 times during the night, which is helpful. The pediatrician told us we could give her one bottle of formula each day to give me a break, so I have John give that to her as the first feeding during the night, so I can get some rest. Cali lost a lot of her birth weight and was down to 5 lb 11 oz at her 1-week check-up. But she has gained a few ounces over the last few days (we’ve had several weights checks at the pediatrician’s office) so hopefully she’s on the right track. It took longer than normal for my milk to come in but that seems to be doing ok. We check her again this Friday.

The other thing that is difficult is knowing what to do when she is crying. Sometimes she is just fussy even though she has been fed, burped and changed and we don’t know what to do. We’ve been giving her a pacifier (pediatrician said ok) and this definitely helps. She must just be a big sucker! (I can attest to this from the painful breastfeeding)

I am so glad that John has been home these 3 weeks to help me through this time. He has been great and I know he will be a wonderful dad. We look forward to Julie arriving this week to be with us for 10 days. Then I’m on my own until I go back to work! I don’t know how I will make it through that time, but I guess I will figure it out. No need in worrying about that now.

Cali is a perfect little gift from God and I look forward to seeing her grow up. I have faith that this difficult time will pass and we will be looking back on it and wondering where the time has gone!