It all started on Friday, September 18th. I had a normal scheduled appointment with my doctor. This appointment wasn't going to be anything fancy - just a 'normal' appointment (no ultrasound, no non-stress). I was even going to go into work on my day off to work on my green belt project afterwards with my partner. Everything seemed ok, until my doctor put the Doppler on my belly. She caught the baby and his heartbeat was racing - like over 200bpm which is out of the normal range. She was concerned and decided to do my non-stress test that day instead. I sat down in the chair and could hear the heartbeat and it was racing. I tried to will the baby to calm down, but wasn't happening. The nurse came in and asked if I was nervous, and while I knew something wasn't quite right I wouldn't say I was sitting there totally nervous... I mean it was a comfy chair and at this point I didn't really realize how big of a deal this racing heart rate would turn out to be.
After sitting there for 10-15 minutes my doctor came in and said that she was going to send me to labor and delivery (her office is at St. Lukes, so it was just a walk over) for monitoring. She told me that I needed to call Dan because worse case I would be having the baby that day... um WHAT?!?
I tried to stay calm, I mean of course I wouldn't be having the baby that day, she was just being overly cautious. A nurse walked me over to labor and delivery and straight to a room where I had to change into a hospital gown, get an IV (my first ever... and not the last 'first' of the weekend), and got the monitors hooked up to my belly. Dan showed up pretty fast.
The monitors were showing that baby's heart rate would be normal some of the time and then jump up to a high rate at times with no real warning. The normal heart rate would be in the 130-150bpm and then would jump up to the high rate of 200-230bpm. There was no real sense 'why' this was happening. I tried to remain calm hoping that maybe my excitement was the reason the baby's heart rate was jumping (this was NOT the reason, but you do what you can)
They sent in the doctor that was on the floor to give me an ultrasound bedside. He couldn't quite tell what was going on and since all the high-risk sonographer were at Mercy at a symposium they decided I needed to be transferred to Mercy. Not to mention that if this heart rate issue was a really big deal we would already be at the best place for the baby since the Mercy NICU is big and highly rated. So pretty quickly an ambulance showed up to transfer me to Mercy - my first ambulance ride ever. The moved me over to the ambulance bed, wheeled me down to the ambulance and shuttled me over to Mercy... while being wheeled out the nurses were all saying they thought it would be a boy b/c only boys are this dramatic.
When we got there, my room was already ready, they wheeled me in there and I began the admitting process at Mercy. Dan showed up pretty quickly after that (he drove over separately). Pretty quickly they had me go see a pediatric cardiologist. They wheel chaired me through the maze that is Mercy (the transporter wasn't even completely sure the best way to get me to that doctor's office) and I was soon getting a specialized ultrasound of baby's heart. He watched the baby's heart in silence for what seemed like FOREVER! Finally he told us that at first when he started the ultrasound the heart rate was in one of the normal spurts but then it did jump up to the high rhythm.
He said a lot of medical jargon (and he was Indian which doesn't help understand totally :)) But basically that baby had intermittent atrial flutter. From what he could tell it hadn't been going on very long (there was no fluid built up around the heart and lungs) and that the baby was tolerating the change very well. He said that there was no real way to treat the baby while inside me (some heart rhythm conditions they can give the mom medicine to treat the baby, however with this they would have to give me so much that the side effects for me would not be worth it). He said that there could be a point in time where the baby wouldn't tolerate it well and then it would become a we must deliver NOW sort of thing. He said that he would not be making the call whether this baby would be delivered ASAP but that the high risk doctor on the floor would. Another thing is he didn't talk in detail how the baby would be treated after delivered but that this sort of problem is NOT a lifelong issue and once worked out that he wouldn't have a problem with it. That they would treat with medicine but that if that didn't work the worse case is they would have to give the baby's heart a shock to get the heart back into rhythm.
They were going to wheel me back up to talk to the high risk doctor, but he ended up coming down to the pediatric cardiologist's office. That doctor showed up down there and we started to talk about options. Basically they said that I was in this weird middle spot - I was still considered early delivery at 35 weeks 4 days at that point but not that early and the baby's heart rate while it was an issue, wasn't an immediate issue. They decided to monitor me overnight and make a call in the morning.
The high risk doctor actually wheeled me back up to my room and chatted along the way. He told me that with this heart rate issue that we were most likely looking at a C-section since they couldn't monitor the safety of the baby during delivery with the heart rate jumping all over the place.
I got back to my room and knew that I at the very least wasn't having the baby that day and we'd wait until morning. Dan went home to let the dogs out and grab some things for me and I finally called my family. The day had moved so fast and not really knowing how it was going to end up I hadn't had a chance to call anyone yet. Of course they were a bit shocked and all came to the hospital - my mom, sister, dad and Janet all came up. It was just hard to believe and at this point it really did sound like that I wouldn't be leaving the hospital without delivering a baby.
I hung out with the family and was able to eat finally (they hadn't let me eat or drink since 9am just in case I had to deliver the baby). This was really my first every hospital stay. They kept me on monitors all night, which was difficult to sleep since they would come in and adjust them if my turning over would knock them off. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink after midnight. The nice part was during the day when I was up more they had me on the wireless monitors while at night they had me on the wired monitors so getting up to the bathroom was a bit more difficult with all those wires. Also at one point that night I had TERRIBLE heartburn, luckily they were able to give me something for that to calm down.
When morning came the high risk doctor came in to see me and told me that baby had done fairly well over night. Baby was in the high rate less than 50% of the time and really did seem to be doing well. They decided in the morning that it was better to keep baby cooking in my belly than deliver at this point, but I was still to be monitored all day. I got to order breakfast and hung out most of the day. It was pretty uneventful, however we could tell the baby seemed to jump to higher heart rate a little more often. They did allow me to take a shower (which in hindsight was really good since I wouldn't be able to shower again for a few days).
An interesting thing to remember is my dad watching the baby's heart rate on the monitor, he just sat there and would stare at it watching what the number would be. I mean like full on watching it. It was really sweet.
The day lead into night and again I was monitored all night. I was able to sleep a lot better this night, I guess b/c I was used to the room and routine. They would come in and mess with the monitors at times, but overall I guess I felt more relaxed and was able to get more well rested.
Dan showed up to the hospital early on Sunday and then the doctor came in. He said that the baby's heart rate overnight was in the high rate (flutter) quite a bit overnight and at one point neared a whole hour in that rate. They actually called him overnight and he said that it could wait until morning. He said that at this point we needed to have the baby. Um... WHAT? I texted my parents and told them, but told them it wasn't a rush. Dan went out to the hallway for something and came back and said that the C-Section was scheduled for 10am... at this point it was 9am. So it was happening fast and honestly I was really scared. I started to cry because well it was all overwhelming, we weren't supposed to have a baby for another month, I had a month to prepare more this. I mean I was about to have surgery, have all the things associated with that and have a baby. Things happened real fast when anesthesia came in pretty quickly to start prepping me for the epidural. I changed into a different gown (Dan got a gown of his own). I went to the bathroom for the last time.
Then it was time to get the epidural. I was really nervous about this, but they said I did real good (they probably deal with women in contractions that are hard to hold still). Dan was right there with me as was the nurse keeping me calm. It didn't hurt too bad - the first local hurt the most, but I hardly remember that now. They laid me back and the nurse put in the catheter (the part I was nervous about and didn't feel a thing - go figure). The anesthesiologist kept checking to make sure I was getting numb like I should.
All of a sudden it was time and we were headed to the OR. It was happening so fast and while I was scared it was happening so fast I didn't really have a whole lot of time to process it. They wheeled me out into the hall and I saw my dad and Janet. I was able to say hi and probably looked totally scared as I whisked by to the elevators to take me to the delivery room.
Entering that OR room felt so surreal, I mean you see ORs on TV, but I've never been in one in real life. Everything so bright and all these people all around. I'm so happy Dan was there with me and held my hand through everything. Dan and I don't hold hands often, but I really needed it to stay calm. They got me all situated on the table with my arms out and laying there. And then it all started.
I could hear them cutting and snipping to get down to baby. The anesthesiologist would keep me informed what was happening. She told me there would start to be a lot of pressure as they would be shaking and pushing the baby out of me. And boy was there, I could feel them pushing back and forth and my whole body was shaking. Finally they told Dan to look as he was coming out. They held him up and Dan got to announce to the OR that it was a boy! I could see the excitement in his eyes, he was so happy. We heard Simon grunting/crying (at the time I thought that was a good thing, because you want to hear the baby cry, I guess the grunting isn't really a great, thing, but he was getting air and alive and that's what matters).
Dan showed me some pictures on his phone while they worked on him. I could see him through all the people working on him - getting the gunk out of his lungs and such. They said that he was peeing all over the table :). They weighed him and he was a big boy for being 4 weeks early at 6lbs 13oz (can you imagine what he'd be if he'd gone full term?).
Back to me they got all they needed out and then started stitching me up. They got Simon all wrapped up and brought him over to me and I got to see him and give him some kisses. It was all really surreal, like that's the baby that was in me. Dan went with Simon down to the NICU while I had to get all put back together. That part took the longest and toward the end I could like feel what they were doing even though it wasn't painful. I started to get cold and she gave me some warm air.
It was weird b/c the doctor and resident were just chatting away about where the resident was going to live after he was done with his residency... like no big deal while we are stitching up this person. The doctor told me they just had one more layer to go, and I asked how many layers there was. She said not all doctors stitch up every layer, but she does and there were 5...
Finally that was all done and they wheeled me to recovery. I asked the nurse if my family could come in and my mom and dad came in to see me. Dan had texted them that baby was born, but had forgotten to tell him if it was a boy or girl. So I got to announce to them that it was a boy. I was in recovery for 2 hours, although it didn't feel like two hours. I got the shakes pretty bad (totally normal) and concentrated on how weird it was that I wasn't able to move my toes. They cleaned me up. Then it was down to my hospital room where I moved over to a real bed. They got me all set up and had me on Pitocin to get my uterus to contract back down. They had to push on my belly quite a bit to make sure... um, pretty painful... but hey I didn't have any real contractions I shouldn't complain too much huh?
Normally before you go to your room they take you by to see the baby for some bonding, however they were working on Simon still so I wasn't able to see him. I hung out in my room until I was done with my bag of fluids and then around 8:30 I was finally able to go see him. I didn't get to stay very long to see him very well since he was in a bed high up and standing wasn't working the best for me at that point... but he was here and he was healthy and safe and being taken care of by lots of professionals.
It was not how I pictured my birth experience and I'm still wrapping my head around it in a lot of ways. I didn't really have a vision of the perfect experience and I hadn't had any real expectations for it, but it this wasn't the way I saw it or anything, but it this is how it happened. I went to the doctor on Friday and never came back home. We have a beautiful baby boy. He's doing real well and will hopefully get to come home soon. I've been on an emotional roller coaster about things. I guess I'll try to recap his weeks too.
Hopefully I didn't forget anything important but I'll add it if I do. It was a serious whirlwind of a weekend with information overload. I think about how he was going back and forth in his heart rate that my doctor could have easily put the Doppler on me when he was in a normal rhythm and we never would have known about this flutter. Of course I'm confident they would have found it at my next appointment on Wednesday with either the ultrasound or non-stress test, but we saved him days of being under that stress.
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| First meeting |
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| All wired up |
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| Hospital gowns are super flattering |
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| Sweet baby boy and his Dad |
