As I mentioned in my previous post about my pregnancy, I had started having contractions and early signs of labor a few weeks before my due date. I was put on medicine and tried to take it easy as much as possible when you live out of town and have two very active boys to take care of too! The weeks passed and some days were better than others but each Monday brought some relief as we were getting closer and closer to full term and my scheduled c section date of Wednesday, March 12th. On Monday, March 10th, I was 39 weeks and my mom arrived in town. After Bennett and Lila both decided to come before their scheduled c section dates, she wasn't taking any chances by coming the night before this time ;)
We enjoyed lunch with my mom and hung out the rest of the day since the boys were on spring break that week. The rest of the day was uneventful for me besides a few contractions here and there. We all went to sleep that night looking forward to another day of fun with Nana before our newest addition arrived...or so we thought. At 4 am I woke up in PAIN! It was bad. It took me a few seconds to realize it was a contraction but not long after that I had another and another and they were all just as painful. I started timing the contractions and they were 5-6 minutes apart already. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't because they were too painful. After an hour or so, they got even closer together and finally at 6 am I woke Nick up and told him he should go ahead and get ready because I was pretty sure it was baby time. I woke my mom up and tried to tell her no big deal but we were going to the hospital. She, of course, jumped out of bed in true mom fashion haha. Then the "fun" began...
We arrived at the hospital shortly after 7 am and were taken to an observation room and hooked up to the monitors. My contractions were anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes apart and pretty strong. Nick was watching the monitor and said they were in the 100 range...whatever that meant. After about an hour, the nurse came in and checked me. I was still just around 2 cm but she said she didn't want to really force it since my doctor wasn't responding to her page. Another half an hour to an hour went by and she came back in saying Dr. Purdy had called back but was sick and wouldn't be able to come in that day. She said he told her to give me more Procardia (the meds I had been on for weeks to stop the contactions) and watch me and then send me home and he would see me tomorrow morning for the scheduled c section. She left the room and I looked at Nick and thankfully saw the same look on his face that no doubt was on mine. SEND.ME.HOME?! What?!??? We talked about it and agreed we weren't comfortable with that and weren't sure why sending me home was the right thing to do. In the meantime, I texted a friend of mine who was also one of the nurses at Dr. Purdy's office asking her who the on call OB was that day. She responded and also asked if I was okay and what was going on. I explained the situation and her immediate response was "Don't leave the hospital. Seriously." Well, that was enough reassurance for me. We were staying put one way or another.
The nurse returned and I asked her what the plan was. She said the medicine seemed to have lessened the intensity and frequency (they were in the 50-60 range and only 5-6 minutes apart now) so I could go home and come back if they "felt" much worse. I told her I was not comfortable going home and risking a VBAC at home after two c sections and if there was another option with the on call doctor. She said she would send the on call doctor in to see me once she arrived to do her rounds. After she left, I received another text from the nurse/friend that said she spoke to the on call doctor who also agreed (woohoo!) that I should NOT go home and said she would section me that day. Katie (nurse/friend) told me to just stay put, she wasn't sure what time but it was definitely baby day. What a relief?!
Of course as all of this was going on, I was still in the observation room in labor, i.e. pain!!! They moved me to an actual room and started an IV after a failed attempt in my right arm which is still bruised two plus weeks later. The nurse advised my c section was set for 2 pm and Dr. Purdy decided he was going to come and the on call doctor would just assist him. Nick and I were extremely confused. Was he sick or just didn't want to work that day? And if he was sick, why was he coming in to perform a c section and spread his germs? Luckily we found out he had a hypertensive crisis the day before but his meds were adjusted and he was better now but to be on the safe side, Dr. Bender-Ralph would assist in the OR.
At about 1 pm I started to get extremely uncomfortable and not just from the contractions. The room they moved me to was hot and even though Nick adjusted the thermostat, it wasn't cooling off fast enough. I also had the leg compression machines hooked up which only added to the heat. And of course the foley catheter was put in before any pain meds which added to my discomfort. I'm not sure of the exact time but sometime before 2 pm when they took me back to the OR, I started freaking out! I was MAD!!! I was so hot, sweaty, uncomfortable, and in pain that I was over it and getting really pissed that no one was moving faster to get me back to the OR and at least give me the spinal! I am not sure what I said to Nick but he just let me freak out and agreed with me and tried to fan me with the tiniest piece of paper the nurse gave me that was so helpful (note sarcasm!). I didn't understand why I had to sit there for so long just waiting and laboring.
After what seemed like a lifetime, they finally wheeled me back to the OR. The team was AWESOME! Once I actually got back to the OR, everything went smoothly. During my last c section, this was when I had an anxiety attack and lost it but this one was very different. The CRNA and the anesthesiologist were ah-mazing! From the second I met them, they were both so attentive and calmed my fears. They made sure to work around my contractions instead of during them and I hardly felt a thing! Right before and during the surgery, they talked to me about everything that was going on and everything that had nothing to do with the surgery. They really helped ease my anxiety about the c section and make me feel comfortable. A few minutes passed and then Nick was by my side again and we were ready to start! I do remember "feeling" more during this c section than the other two. I felt a lot of jostling around and pressure but of course no pain. It also seemed like it took longer to get to the baby. I remember asking a couple times what they were doing because I felt like they had been in there for quite some time already. Then finally I heard Dr. Purdy say the head was out and that I would feel one more major pressure push and then release and he was out. And SCREAMING!!! Oh boy, did he have a set of lungs on him! At 2:39 pm we welcomed our third son, Maddox Thomas Kelly into the world. The doctors moved the curtain up so I could see him all fresh and new covered in gunk, something I had requested a couple weeks prior. I also wanted to attempt a little skin to skin right away but that didn't happen. Of course as soon as I saw him, the floodgates opened and I was in love. They took him to the side of the room and wrapped him up as quickly as possible while he screamed his baby head out. Then they brought him back over to me and put his face right next to mine and let me give him a kiss and touch his head and he quieted down for those few seconds. It was one of the best moments of my life. Of course after that he left with Nick to go to the nursery and I had to stay in the OR while they closed me up. We were waiting to hear his stats and had to call the nursery to find out. He was 7 pounds 3 ounces (our biggest son!) and 18.5" long (supposedly...see next post re: first pedi visit).
On their way to the nursery they stopped by the nursery to introduce Maddox to his big brothers and Nana who were anxiously awaiting the news of his arrival and the big reveal of his name!
Thankfully, they were done in the nursery and I had no complications post surgery so we were all back in the room about an hour later and I was able to nurse. Maddox latched on right away! I couldn't believe it but was so thrilled and relieved. Once I finished nursing, Maddox got a bath and all cleaned up right there in the room with us while his dad and brothers watched. We all just hung out for a couple hours before Nick took the boys to dinner and back home for the night.
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