Last week in a nutshell

Last week was the craziest and most surreal week I've ever experienced. It all started last Saturday, May 7th, at 1 am. I was woken up by an intense contraction and then felt some wetness, at first I thought I peed the bed, so I went to the bathroom to clean up and noticed there was a pink tinge on my bottoms and in the toilet there was "the mucus plug"(sorry in advance, but there will be some gross stuff written here). I was really tired, so I didn't freak out I just changed my bottoms and went back to bed. In bed I had 2 more pretty strong contractions and then a gush of something. I was like, "Oh crap, what's going on?" I went back to the bathroom, but this time there was lots of blood, like a period. Now, I started to freak out. Was I having another miscarriage, was I going into labor? I had no idea what to do. It was 1:30 in the morning, I didn't want to go to the hospital, I just wanted to go back to sleep and pretend everything was fine.

I decided to call my doctor and just see what she had to say. She said that I should definitely go to the hospital to the labor and delivery area. I woke up Mason and told him what was going on, we debated on who to call to watch our girls (thank you Yeates) and then we went to the hospital. Once we got to the hospital, they quickly checked me into triage, hooked me up to some monitors, gave me an IV, did a quick ultrasound, and gave me a shot to stop the contractions that I was consistently having. They couldn't find wrong with me, except that I was bleeding and that my cervix was soft and dilated to a 2. The ultrasound did show that I was measuring small, about 3 weeks behind, but there was no rupture to the placenta or placenta previa. The doctor decided to admit me and put me on continuous monitoring. After about 24 hours, my contractions stopped and everything seemed to be fine, but they still wanted me on bed rest. They decided to move me to the antepartum part of the hospital, where the nurse would only check on me every 3 hours. During this time they gave me 2 steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs faster, just in case he were to come early. Those steroid shots hurt! It felt like getting a really bad charlie horse or punch in the bum. I hung out in the antepartum room for a couple of days, bored out of my mind. I was like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse now, falling into insanity and going stir crazy.

The nurses checked in on me and would hook me up to the monitors for an hour here and there, just often enough to prevent any good sleep. Everything seemed to be going fine. I thought I was going to be able to go home, but then they told me that they wanted to keep me there until I had the baby, or until I was 37 weeks and then they'd deliver the baby. I was pretty bummed, but I knew it would be best for the baby. On Monday, May 9th, I had another ultrasound to check the blood flow in the umbilical cord and to do some other tests. Everything came back with great results. Later that day the nurse was doing her normal routine monitoring around 7 pm. I started to have contractions here and there, but nothing painful. The nurse told me that she wanted to keep me on the monitors for another hour because there wasn't much variance in the baby's heart rate. I guess the line is usually more wavy than his was. This continued for another hour, so they called the doctor. The Doctor was also concerned, and so they moved me back to the labor and delivery room. The doctor explained to me that during each of my contractions the baby's heart rate would drop. This was a big concern to her, so she had me put back on continuous monitoring. During this time Mason was at the airport picking up his brother Matt, who decided last minute to come and help out. I called Mase and told him that he should come back to the hospital after he drops Matt off at our place. By the time Mason got to the hospital, the doctor notified us that they would have to perform an emergency C-section. I watched the monitors and saw the baby's heart rate dropping every time I had a contraction. I started crying because I never wanted to have a C-section. I was so scared, but I knew that I wanted my baby to be safe.

Mason got dressed up in scrubs, they prepped me and took me into the operating room. It was freezing in the room. The anesthesiologist came and talked to me about everything he was doing. He was very comforting and gave me all the drugs I needed. I thought how crazy it was that I was totally awake and aware of what was going on, but I really couldn't feel anything except some tugging and pulling. Such a weird experience. It all happened so fast and before I knew it, I heard the cutest little cry. Baby Ruka was born. I couldn't help but cry. I was so happy. They came around and showed me Ruka, then took him to clean him. I got to touch my baby for a little bit before they took him to the NICU. Mason was able to follow them and stay with the baby, while they sewed me back up.

After waiting for 3 hours to ensure that I was OK after the surgery, Mason and I were able to go up to together (they wheeled me in my whole bed) into the NICU to see Ruka. He is the most beautiful little boy and super tiny. Fortunately he never needed any breathing assistance and has been doing really well.

Now I am home and it is all a matter of healing and making frequent trips to the hospital to feed and be with our little boy. I can't wait for him to come home.