The Thursday before we had Katherine I had failed my stress test. The stress test had indicated that she was moving less. I had noticed that Katherine was moving around less. I just figured it had to do with her getting bigger and having less space. A radiology technician came up and did an ultrasound right away. She scored perfect on the ultrasound test, so they sent me home. We thought everything was okay.
Monday morning I woke up bleeding. Here I thought that I had been sweating. I have been a furnace since 7 months. I am glad that I got up and checked it. When I stood up the blood would not stop running. So I woke Duane and told him something was wrong and to grab me a towel. I told him we needed to go to the hospital right away. So I wrapped myself in the towel and he grabbed the delivery bag then out the door we went.
Luckily we are only about a 1/4 mile from the hospital. It was really scary. I wasn't feeling her move. I couldn't help think how awful it would be to loose a baby at 40 weeks, especially since she was old enough to survive outside the womb. I said a little prayer and felt comfort everything was going to be alright.
Once we got to the hospital they rushed me over to the birthing center right away. The nurses put me on a heart monitor. I was so relieved when I heard her heartbeat and knew she was okay. Doctor Richards got there a few minutes later. He told me that I needed to have a c-section. I was actually relieved.
It turns out the problem I had with the placenta was not resolved. The placenta either had a tear or ruptured. Luckily for us my cervix was still closed. It is also good this happened before I had gone into labor. It could have been really bad for both us. The nurses told us it was good we got to the hospital so quickly. Since we were able to respond so quickly, the baby was not compromised by the problem with the placenta.
Because of the bleeding the staff prepped me for an emergency c-section. They were worried that I might have to be put to sleep for the procedure. Luckily I was able to be awake for everything. Within an hour of leaving home we had Katherine. The minute she was born was the most amazing moment in my life. Words can't explain it. I am thankful that we were both well and I could be awake to experience it.
Recovery wasn't too bad. I had the baby shakes for a while. I was glad when that passed. The medicine they gave me really cut all of the pain. Later that day I got up and walked around the birthing center. Each day I tried to walk more and more. It has made all of the difference in my recovery. The fourth and fifth days were the hardest. After that, it got considerably better. Thank heavens for our recliner. It was so much easier to get in and out of than a bed. It is going to be a while until things are back to normal. However, for the most part it isn't too bad. I really thought it was going to be a lot worse.
My mother-in-law came and helped us for a week. That really made the transition from the hospital to home much smoother.
The lesson I learned from this whole experience...The only thing certain in life is that nothing is for certain. In the blink of an eye everything in our life can be turned upside down. I am thankful and grateful for God's mercy and his blessings. Ultimately he is calling the shots, we are just along for the ride.
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