August 20, 2010 - Riley was due to be delivered on Tuesday, August 24th. So, Chris and I planned to have our last date day on Friday, August 20th before all the family arrived in town that weekend and Riley would make his grand arrival. We started the day off by going to our regular weekly doctor appointment at 9:30am and I gave myself a shot of Heparin at 10:00am just like I did everyday to thin my blood and prevent blood clots from forming. After our appointment Chris and I set out for our day. We went to Bread Winners for brunch and began to talk about our plans for the rest of the day. Chris suggested we go to Build-a-Bear to make a gift for Riley. If we felt like it, we planned to see a movie in the afternoon. Everything we planned had to be indoors since we were in the middle of an 18 day heat wave of temperatures 100 degrees or higher.
A short while after ordering our food I began to feel kind of off…I was having cramps in my lower abdomen and overall felt just awful. But, since this was a special day for Chris and me, I was determined to make the most of it and enjoy the day together. Once our food arrived I was beginning to feel particularly bad. I excused myself to the bathroom where I discovered I was bleeding! A little panicked and very much afraid, I went back to the table to let Chris know we needed to head back to the hospital. At this point in time it was about 11:15 and I hadn’t gotten to eat any of my food that had been delivered and it had just been a little over an hour since giving myself the Heparin shot. On our way back to the hospital I called my doctor who told us to go straight to Labor and Delivery and they would meet us there. We arrived and they immediately got us set up in a room, they gave me a gown to put on and hooked me up to all the machines.
It was very quickly revealed I was having contractions 5-7 minutes apart. Since I was scheduled to have a c-section the following Tuesday at just past 38 weeks the nurses began to prep me for surgery. Unfortunately, since I had given myself the shot at 10:00 not enough time had passed for me to get an epidural. We were informed that if they decided to proceed I would have to be given a general anesthesia and Chris would not be able to be in the OR. Fortunately, we had a wonderful nurse who became our advocate. She knew how desperately I wanted to be awake and Chris wanted to be present. She spoke with the anesthesiologist who said potentially I would be able to receive an epidural 6 hours past administration. At 4:00 they would do a blood test and if my levels were low enough we would proceed with the c-section. So, we called all the family and they began to make the journey to Plano.
4:00 o’clock arrived and blood was drawn. A short while later, my doctor returned to the room and I knew by the look on his face that it was not good news. The levels were still too high. He spoke with the anesthesiologist and they made the decision that since my labor was not progressing we could hold out. Since it was not an emergency situation it would be too risky to perform the surgery while my blood was thinner. They gave me a shot of Stadol to help me relax and slow the contractions. This allowed me to get a little relief and I was able to get some rest.
After a long, emotional day my doctor finally made the decision that we would deliver Riley on Saturday morning at 9:00. My contractions, while not slowing, were not speeding up. Riley was doing great and he was not concerned about the safety of the baby. So, the family all arrived and had plenty of time to get settled before our sweet little baby would make his or her arrival on Saturday morning.
A short while after ordering our food I began to feel kind of off…I was having cramps in my lower abdomen and overall felt just awful. But, since this was a special day for Chris and me, I was determined to make the most of it and enjoy the day together. Once our food arrived I was beginning to feel particularly bad. I excused myself to the bathroom where I discovered I was bleeding! A little panicked and very much afraid, I went back to the table to let Chris know we needed to head back to the hospital. At this point in time it was about 11:15 and I hadn’t gotten to eat any of my food that had been delivered and it had just been a little over an hour since giving myself the Heparin shot. On our way back to the hospital I called my doctor who told us to go straight to Labor and Delivery and they would meet us there. We arrived and they immediately got us set up in a room, they gave me a gown to put on and hooked me up to all the machines.
It was very quickly revealed I was having contractions 5-7 minutes apart. Since I was scheduled to have a c-section the following Tuesday at just past 38 weeks the nurses began to prep me for surgery. Unfortunately, since I had given myself the shot at 10:00 not enough time had passed for me to get an epidural. We were informed that if they decided to proceed I would have to be given a general anesthesia and Chris would not be able to be in the OR. Fortunately, we had a wonderful nurse who became our advocate. She knew how desperately I wanted to be awake and Chris wanted to be present. She spoke with the anesthesiologist who said potentially I would be able to receive an epidural 6 hours past administration. At 4:00 they would do a blood test and if my levels were low enough we would proceed with the c-section. So, we called all the family and they began to make the journey to Plano.
4:00 o’clock arrived and blood was drawn. A short while later, my doctor returned to the room and I knew by the look on his face that it was not good news. The levels were still too high. He spoke with the anesthesiologist and they made the decision that since my labor was not progressing we could hold out. Since it was not an emergency situation it would be too risky to perform the surgery while my blood was thinner. They gave me a shot of Stadol to help me relax and slow the contractions. This allowed me to get a little relief and I was able to get some rest.
After a long, emotional day my doctor finally made the decision that we would deliver Riley on Saturday morning at 9:00. My contractions, while not slowing, were not speeding up. Riley was doing great and he was not concerned about the safety of the baby. So, the family all arrived and had plenty of time to get settled before our sweet little baby would make his or her arrival on Saturday morning.
Getting settled in Labor and Delivery
The last belly shot - 38 weeks!
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