Birth story--Day 3-5
My apologies in advance—this is a long post with very few pictures. Due to the complications, we didn’t take a ton of pictures these first few days.
The day of Ainsley’s birth. About an hour and a half after Ainsley was born the doctors were finally ready to fill me in on what happened during the birth. Due to the use of the vacuum delivery tool and Ainsley turning her shoulders during the birth process I experienced third degree tearing and required quite a few stitches—the doctor said I even had some muscle tears. The doctor also mentioned that she had to manually remove my placenta since it did not delivery on its own—at the time I didn’t think much of it, again I was so happy Ainsley had arrived and was healthy. I later learned this manual removal of my placenta would land me in the hospital just five days later. I also have read that it is rare for doctors to need to manually remove the placenta. After learning all of that news, I realized I would have some recovery time ahead of me, but I was SO hungry after not eating for over a day my thoughts turned to eating!
Ryan’s parents (Larry & Linda) went to McDonalds (the only place open at 3:30 am) and brought us some food. By the time they arrived, I was no longer hungry and was feeling very weak. I thought I was weak due to low blood sugar—I tried to eat a few bites, but was just literally exhausted. The nurse got me ready to move rooms from Labor & Delivery to the Mother & Baby unit—just across the hall on a different wing. When she stood me up to transport me, I became very light headed and told her I needed some more time to rest. After resting for a few minutes, I realized I just wanted to get to my new bed and go to sleep—so I told the nurse I was ready. She pushed me in a wheelchair and I kept my eyes closed the entire time because I felt like I was going to pass out.
Once I got to my new room and met my new nurse, I asked to use the bathroom. She took me to the bathroom and I was feeling a little weak. As soon as I sat down in the bathroom, everything went black and I told my nurse I didn’t feel well and immediately grabbed on to her. I then passed out and later learned from Ryan she did an excellent job of holding me against the wall so I wouldn’t fall and hit my head and then pulled the emergency cord. The next thing I remember was waking up on the floor of the bathroom with 10 doctors and nurse surrounding me. I opened my eyes and said, “what should we do next”…they all started laughing (because I went from passing out to being totally coherent) and said that I gave them a good scare.
I don’t remember much of the next six hours. They some how got me back to bed and I fell asleep.
The next thing I remember is waking up to a young male resident doctor doing round and he came by to let me know my blood counts were extremely low..6. Normally they are 12. He said that a blood transfusion is very risky and I was young and would build up my blood volume over time. The whole time he was talking to me I was flat on my back—every time I sat up I would get light headed. I remember being confused by this news thinking how will I take care of my baby if I can’t even get out of bed. I fell asleep again, had no energy.
The next thing I remember, they brought me Ainsley and my doctor (Dr. T) stopped by to check in on us. I remember seeing Ainsley for the first time after delivery—I hadn’t seen her for several hours due to me passing out and not being able to sit up. The doctor unwrapped her blanket and I remember saying, “oh, her tiny legs”. I hadn’t seen my daughter’s legs and she had been in this world for almost 12 hours! I wanted to count her toes and make sure they were all there—my doctor immediately handed me Ainsley and I spent some time laying with her and hugging her. I remember thinking to myself—this was not what I had planned. I didn’t know that all of these complications could happen. I had packed so many outfits and cute things for Ainsley in the hospital and I could barely sit upright to hold her without passing out.
Here is a picture of Ainsley when she came to visit us--I made this tag for her hospital crib.
After holding Ainsley for a bit, my doctor talked with me about the blood transfusions. She took one look at me and said, she strongly recommend the blood transfusion. I was very pale and she explained that I had lost almost half of my blood volume. I said YES, YES, YES—bring on the transfusions, I was so thankful my doctor was there and she quickly got the orders going for my transfusion. I received two units that day and was finally able to sit up and walk without getting light headed.
Sunday
I remember taking a bath this morning. I was so thankful to be able to walk and not get dizzy or light headed. They drew my blood for testing that morning and with the transfusions I was around 7.8 blood volume—again 12 is normal. My doctor recommended 2 more units of blood. I remember thinking, I felt so much better after getting the 2 units yesterday and simple math told me I needed to keep working my way up to 12 so I said YES yet again.
I was finally able to eat around lunch time—I finally was hungry. Here are some pictures of me eating lunch—not the most flattering picture, but you can tell I have a little bit of color coming back.
That evening we were able to give Ainsley her first bath--again, no photos, I remember being really weak when we gave her a bath this night, so no pictures. We did take pictures of her first bath at home (at the end of the post). Here is a picture of her post bath--all clean! You’ll notice she has a baby IV. I was running a fever during the end of my labor—so they attributed that to an infection since I was in labor so long. They gave me IV antibiotics during the birth and for the days that followed. They also gave Ainsley IV antibiotics as a precaution.
Our new family--one of our only family photos in the hospital. This was taken on Sunday--we were exhausted, but so excited Ainsley was here!
Monday
Ainsley and I both headed home on Monday morning. I had lots of pain meds and iron pills since I was still recovering from the tears at birth. I felt weak, but was so excited to be home and to start caring for Ainsley! This is a picture of A and me Monday evening. You’ll notice I look very puffy—still look pregnant. What I didn’t know then was that my body still thought I was pregnant since I had retained placenta in my uterus which would land me back in the hospital by Thursday of that week.
Tuesday
Ainsley's first bath at home!
Ainsley's first full day at home--so peaceful!
The day of Ainsley’s birth. About an hour and a half after Ainsley was born the doctors were finally ready to fill me in on what happened during the birth. Due to the use of the vacuum delivery tool and Ainsley turning her shoulders during the birth process I experienced third degree tearing and required quite a few stitches—the doctor said I even had some muscle tears. The doctor also mentioned that she had to manually remove my placenta since it did not delivery on its own—at the time I didn’t think much of it, again I was so happy Ainsley had arrived and was healthy. I later learned this manual removal of my placenta would land me in the hospital just five days later. I also have read that it is rare for doctors to need to manually remove the placenta. After learning all of that news, I realized I would have some recovery time ahead of me, but I was SO hungry after not eating for over a day my thoughts turned to eating!
Ryan’s parents (Larry & Linda) went to McDonalds (the only place open at 3:30 am) and brought us some food. By the time they arrived, I was no longer hungry and was feeling very weak. I thought I was weak due to low blood sugar—I tried to eat a few bites, but was just literally exhausted. The nurse got me ready to move rooms from Labor & Delivery to the Mother & Baby unit—just across the hall on a different wing. When she stood me up to transport me, I became very light headed and told her I needed some more time to rest. After resting for a few minutes, I realized I just wanted to get to my new bed and go to sleep—so I told the nurse I was ready. She pushed me in a wheelchair and I kept my eyes closed the entire time because I felt like I was going to pass out.
Once I got to my new room and met my new nurse, I asked to use the bathroom. She took me to the bathroom and I was feeling a little weak. As soon as I sat down in the bathroom, everything went black and I told my nurse I didn’t feel well and immediately grabbed on to her. I then passed out and later learned from Ryan she did an excellent job of holding me against the wall so I wouldn’t fall and hit my head and then pulled the emergency cord. The next thing I remember was waking up on the floor of the bathroom with 10 doctors and nurse surrounding me. I opened my eyes and said, “what should we do next”…they all started laughing (because I went from passing out to being totally coherent) and said that I gave them a good scare.
I don’t remember much of the next six hours. They some how got me back to bed and I fell asleep.
The next thing I remember is waking up to a young male resident doctor doing round and he came by to let me know my blood counts were extremely low..6. Normally they are 12. He said that a blood transfusion is very risky and I was young and would build up my blood volume over time. The whole time he was talking to me I was flat on my back—every time I sat up I would get light headed. I remember being confused by this news thinking how will I take care of my baby if I can’t even get out of bed. I fell asleep again, had no energy.
The next thing I remember, they brought me Ainsley and my doctor (Dr. T) stopped by to check in on us. I remember seeing Ainsley for the first time after delivery—I hadn’t seen her for several hours due to me passing out and not being able to sit up. The doctor unwrapped her blanket and I remember saying, “oh, her tiny legs”. I hadn’t seen my daughter’s legs and she had been in this world for almost 12 hours! I wanted to count her toes and make sure they were all there—my doctor immediately handed me Ainsley and I spent some time laying with her and hugging her. I remember thinking to myself—this was not what I had planned. I didn’t know that all of these complications could happen. I had packed so many outfits and cute things for Ainsley in the hospital and I could barely sit upright to hold her without passing out.
Here is a picture of Ainsley when she came to visit us--I made this tag for her hospital crib.
After holding Ainsley for a bit, my doctor talked with me about the blood transfusions. She took one look at me and said, she strongly recommend the blood transfusion. I was very pale and she explained that I had lost almost half of my blood volume. I said YES, YES, YES—bring on the transfusions, I was so thankful my doctor was there and she quickly got the orders going for my transfusion. I received two units that day and was finally able to sit up and walk without getting light headed.
Sunday
I remember taking a bath this morning. I was so thankful to be able to walk and not get dizzy or light headed. They drew my blood for testing that morning and with the transfusions I was around 7.8 blood volume—again 12 is normal. My doctor recommended 2 more units of blood. I remember thinking, I felt so much better after getting the 2 units yesterday and simple math told me I needed to keep working my way up to 12 so I said YES yet again.
I was finally able to eat around lunch time—I finally was hungry. Here are some pictures of me eating lunch—not the most flattering picture, but you can tell I have a little bit of color coming back.
That evening we were able to give Ainsley her first bath--again, no photos, I remember being really weak when we gave her a bath this night, so no pictures. We did take pictures of her first bath at home (at the end of the post). Here is a picture of her post bath--all clean! You’ll notice she has a baby IV. I was running a fever during the end of my labor—so they attributed that to an infection since I was in labor so long. They gave me IV antibiotics during the birth and for the days that followed. They also gave Ainsley IV antibiotics as a precaution.
Our new family--one of our only family photos in the hospital. This was taken on Sunday--we were exhausted, but so excited Ainsley was here!
Monday
Ainsley and I both headed home on Monday morning. I had lots of pain meds and iron pills since I was still recovering from the tears at birth. I felt weak, but was so excited to be home and to start caring for Ainsley! This is a picture of A and me Monday evening. You’ll notice I look very puffy—still look pregnant. What I didn’t know then was that my body still thought I was pregnant since I had retained placenta in my uterus which would land me back in the hospital by Thursday of that week.
Tuesday
Ainsley's first bath at home!
Ainsley's first full day at home--so peaceful!
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