Road of Miracles

Warning: This gets a little graphic so read with one eye closed if that kind of thing bugs you.

I saw the midwife on Thursday, Aug. 19 at 1:30. I was 39w5d. She checked my cervix and said I was 2cm dilated, 50% effaced. She stripped my membranes, said she had done a thorough job of it, and I should have some cramping after that. I went home and had some cramping but nothing remarkable.

At about 5:30PM, I noticed the cramping more in my back, moving around to the front. I watched the clock and this was happening every 7-9 minutes, lasting about 30 seconds each time. I had a bowl of cereal and then went to bed at 9PM but was unable to get comfortable for fall asleep. At 11:30, I got out of bed and watched TV in the living room. The waves about 5-6 minutes apart, some 4 minutes and some 7-8 minutes, lasting consistently 60 seconds in duration. By 1:00AM, contractions still varying 4-6 minutes apart, most about 5-6 minutes, lasting 50-70 seconds.

I went back to bed at 2:00 and was able to doze on and off until Audrey woke up at 4:15. I brought her down to the living room and got her a sippy of milk and we watched some TV. The contractions were now intense enough that I couldn’t handle Audrey by myself so I woke up Akiva at about 4:30. When he got up, I had him call the midwife. I talked to her on the phone and she suggested taking a shower and calling back at 6:00AM with an update.

I had a shower and the contractions increased in frequency very quickly. I didn’t time them but it seemed they were coming every 1-2 minutes. The hot water felt great. When I got out of the shower, the contractions were 2-4 minutes apart, lasting 60-80 seconds each. Akiva called the midwife who said to meet at the birth center at 7:00. He also called my parents to come over.

My mom got here at about 6:30 and watched Audrey while Akiva showered. My dad also arrived shortly after she did (they drove separately so they’d have two cars here). Akiva was out of the shower and ready to go at about 6:45. I was very much out of it at this point, wandering around the house and then stopping to bend over the dining room table or staircase for contractions. We gathered up our things, left Audrey at home with my dad, and left for the birth center (Akiva and me in one car and my mom following in her car).

Akiva says he drove aout 50-60MPH on the city streets (where the speed limit is 30-35MPH). Fortunately, it was early enough in the morning that there wasn’t much traffic and the birth center is not too far away. I had a few contractions in the car and that was not fun since I couldn’t stand up and bend over something (which is what I wanted to do since that’s what was working at home).

According to the midwife, we got to the birth center at 7:05. I went directly into the birthing room and bent over the side of the bed. I had one contraction standing there before my water broke. I was definitely feeling like pushing so the midwife helped me get my pants off and up onto the bed. I got on my hands and knees and rocked back and forth with contractions. After only two pushes, Tobiah was born at 7:17AM, exactly 12 minutes after we walked in the door of the birth center.

My mom hadn’t even arrived yet (she was driving the speed limit!) and neither had the midwife assistant, so it was just the midwife, me, and Akiva there. We got settled on the bed and got Toby nursing right away. After my mom arrived, she called my dad. My brother and his fiance went to our house to take care of Audrey so my dad could come to the birth center. After he arrived, they went to Starbucks and got me a hot chocolate and scone. We hung out at the birth center for about 3 hours before heading home. I was feeling faint and pale but insisted on going home. We got home at about 11:30 and I laid down on the couch right away.

Very quickly, I started to feel awful. I was so faint that I couldn’t sit up at all without my vision going black. I couldn’t hear anything because my ears were ringing. I felt like I was floating away in a dream. I could feel my bleeding increase from a trickle to a major river and it was soaking through my clothes and all over the place. Akiva paged the midwife on call (the one who delivered Tobiah had left for a camping trip directly after my birth). He talked to her and explained what was going on and she came right over.

She later told us that she was pretty scared when she got here and saw me because I was very much going into shock. She gave me herbs for bleeding but that didn’t do anything so she gave me several pills of Cytotec. She also started an IV for hydration (I had two bags total). She massaged my uterus and expelled several clots, including one the size of a large orange. I didn’t see it but my mom did and she said it was about the size of another placenta. I was unable to sit upright at all without losing consciousness so she also started a catheter. Our living room became quite a disaster area with all of the blood and medical equipment.

After several hours, I was stable enough for her to leave. I was on bedrest for 3 days. The midwife who delivered Toby come over today to check me out. I’m feeling better, although still pretty weak and tired. Nursing is going great, though and Toby is a good baby so far. I have lots of help from Akiva and my parents so I’m happy for that!

Tobiah arrived quickly and easily at 7:17AM on August 20! He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and is 20″ long.

Last summer, I bought Audrey a pair of baby sunglasses. She refused to put them on and has continued to refuse to put them on, but the last few days, she’s been more okay with them! Last night, she wore them for a few minutes before pulling them off.

Yesterday was Audrey’s follow up cardiology appointment after the MRI and echo that was done two weeks ago.

Dr. S. reviewed the MRI and echo pictures and said that her tortuous aorta is still tortuous. Because of that, he wouldn’t want to do the catheterization surgery to fix the valve right now. However, her condition is stable enough that he also does not want to do open heart surgery right now. The plan is to wait another 3 months and then come back for another echo to check on things. At some point (he guessed maybe when she’s closer to 2 or 3 years old), she will need surgery (either the catheterization if her aorta grows enough or open heart if it doesn’t) but there’s no rush to do anything right now. The next appointment is in mid-October so for now, we can relax and enjoy early toddlerhood!

In addition to the words that I posted about Audrey saying a few weeks ago, she can now say the following:

Kah (Kyle, cow)
Zahr (Sarah)
Ats (hat)
On (arm)
Hass (hands)
Mats (mouth)
Ehs (ears)
Neck
Hi-yah (challah)
Meck (milk)
Buck (bucket)
Dowel (towel)
Baaa (sheep’s sound)
Booh (book)
Pits (pants)
Bock (box, blocks)
Beck (bag)
One
Mets (mess)
Nuck (stuck)
Guy (got it)
Back-oh (back up)

Today was the day Audrey had her cardiac diagnostic procedures at Children’s Hospital.

It was a rough morning since she couldn’t eat after 7:00. My mom came over and helped distract. We also went grocery shopping and Audrey had a nap. We arrived at the hospital at 12:45 and got checked in and settled in a day hospital room, complete with a baby hospital bed and a TV. Audrey was not impressed with the nurse who wanted to take her blood pressure on all four extremities, but she did get a cute Looney Tunes hospital gown to wear. We met with the anesthesiologist and when it was time, we took Audrey to the prep area and held her while she breathed in the anesthetic gas. Once she was asleep, they inserted her IV for the sedation medicine and we went back to room to wait.

The MRI took almost two hours and then Audrey was brought back to the room. She was still sound asleep. The echocardiogram tech brough in a portable machine and did the echo right in the room. The anesthesiologist stayed in the room and monitored her medication and vitals. After the echo was done, she slowly woke up.

Audrey was pretty hilarious when she woke up. She was making silly faces, unable to coordinate getting a cracker into her mouth, and tipping over unless held upright. I called her “Audrey After Anesthesia”, just like “David After Dentist”.

While she was recovering, the cardiologist surprised us with a visit. We weren’t supposed to see him until the follow up appointment on July 27 so I was shocked to see him today. He said that he took a preliminary look at the MRI and echo images and wanted to tell us his initial thoughts.

If you remember back to a few months ago when we last saw the cardiologist, the point of today’s appointment was to get some good images for the cardiology team to determine which kind of surgery Audrey will need to correct her heart defect. The two options are either via catheterization or through a chest incision. The first option would be less risky and involve a shorter hospital stay than the second option.

When we saw the doctor today and he gave us his preliminary opinion, he said that he thinks there’s an 80% chance they can do the surgery via the catheterization option. They still need to go over the images again and we’ll find out for sure on the 27th.

But for now, that’s good news!

We’ve had quite a heat wave this week. Audrey hasn’t seemed to mind. We gave her a bucket of water on the deck yesterday and she splashed a bit in it. I filled the bucket again today and she got a little more adventurous!

Look what I caught Audrey doing on the deck:

I finally contacted the patient advocacy office at Childrens Hospital and expressed my frustration over not being able to get Audrey’s cardiology appointments scheduled in a timely manner. Less than an hour later, I received a call from a cardiology scheduler, apologizing for the delay and promising to get back to me as soon as possible with appointment dates.

Just a few minutes ago, the scheduler called me back and we’re now all set! Audrey’s cardiac MRI and echocardiogram (both sedated) will be on July 13. Then we’ll go back 2 weeks later, on July 27, to see the cardiologist, discuss the results, and talk about next steps.

And now, here’s a picture of Audrey with a diaper cover on her head: