I thought something was different while standing in line at Fred Meyer after work. I wasn’t sure if my water broke. I called the on-call doctor on the way home and he said if I still felt the same way after an hour os so, to call Labor & Delivery (L&D). Brad and I had dinner and I was still feeling the same so I called L&D. Come on in so we can confirm, was the response. I took a shower, Brad filled the animals’ water, and we left feeding instructions…probably not needed, but just in case.
We arrived at L&D around 9:15pm and by 10:00 they confirmed my water had, in fact, broken – but just a bit. By 11:00 I was admitted and they started to induce. By 10am Thursday morning, the contractions were pretty strong and as they were getting the epidural ready, my water really broke! once the epidural was in place, it was just a matter of waiting. This was the first time in over 3 months that I was able to get some real sleep!
Around 6pm the doctors confirmed that I was making progress but still had a way to go. A little after 1am Friday morning, the doctors finally said we needed to start considering a c-section and said if I couldn’t get past 9cm by 3:30 am, they would proceed in that direction. Brad and I both got in a good nap (the nurses were great about quietly adjusting my medications, etc.), and at 3:30 the doctors checked again – still 9cm!
Just as they were starting to discuss the next steps for a c-section, Blueberry’s heart rate dropped significantly. The doctor called for assistance and within minutes they had me on my hands and knees on the gurney (to help with the baby’s heart rate) and I was rushed off to the operating room. Brad had to stay behind and was asked to put on the operating room attire. Once in the operating room, Blueberry’s heart rate returned to normal so everyone was able to take a few minutes and slow down before starting the c-section. Woe! This was the scariest moment of my life! Brad sat by my head behind ‘the screen’ and they got started.
At 3:43am, Mackenzie Lynne Kuhn was born – a very healthy and beautiful baby girl… Or, as Brad said to the doctor, ‘not as ugly as most babies’!
Although I couldn’t see much, Brad was able to see the monitors and watched my blood pressure drop to 58/38 and noticed the suction catching a lot of blood. Later, we found out that they nicked an artery in my uterus and I lost about a liter and a half of blood . Another scary moment, but all turned out well.
