Welcome Baby Madeline

This baby has been all about surprises. I was able to surprise Lehi (finally) about being pregnant, the gender was a surprise, and....an unexpected complication towards the beginning. I tested positive for the "big E antibody" during my early blood work and was told I needed to see a specialist. Of course, Lehi and I turned to Dr. Google for some information about this antibody, but there was little to nothing. Dr. Smith explained that it can cause fetal anemia. In my mind, I associated anemia with low iron and thought, "Ok, so not that bad" but then when looking more into it, I discovered it entails destroying the baby's red blood cells, which could lead to a loss of life. We were devastated and had more questions than answers. The specialist appointment was one of the most anticipated of my life. I tried to stay positive, especially not knowing details or really having answers, but it was really hard to do. The specialist was awesome and explained why the antibody was so dangerous. I developed this antibody (most likely) during my pregnancy with Brielle. If this baby had the antigen to the antibody, then my antibodies would cross the blood barrier and attack the antigen, housed on the red blood cells. If the levels of antibodies in my blood increased throughout the pregnancy, I would need to either have weekly ultrasounds to look at the baby's blood flow to the brain/heart OR I could have the amniotic fluid tested. If things looked bad, the baby would need frequent blood transfusions until delivery. It was scary,I cried a lot initially but there was a lot of comfort in having answers. So each month, I had my blood drawn to monitor this big E antibody (every 2 weeks during the last trimester). Thankfully, it never increased and didn't raise any alarm. During the last 8 weeks of pregnancy, I did weekly stress tests at the hospital, all of which went just fine. Dr. Smith was not concerned about the health of our baby and anticipated a healthy, normal, c-section delivery. 

6 weeks ago, I was in my OB office, chatting with Dr. Smith and we scheduled the c-section for noon on 9/9, a great date to remember! Let me tell you just how lovely 9/9 has come to be....

Yesterday, we got a call from the hospital, saying there was an opening for a 7:30 am c-section, so they asked if we could bump up the time. I was all for it, so I committed Lehi and I to be at the hospital at 5:30. I got up at 4:00, took a soak in the tub, made sure I was all packed, then woke Lehi up at 5:00 to get ready. At 5:10 (5 minutes before we said we would leave), I get a call from the hospital, saying they didn't have any rooms for us anymore and to call back at 9--shooting for a 12:00 surgery time. I called, they were still figuring things out and said they would call me back. At 12:30, I got a little impatient (and was starving since I had to fast starting at 10 the night before)...no status change, but they were hopeful. The anesthesiologist said I could have clear liquids up to 2 hours before the surgery, so I could have something to "eat." They were targeting 5 or 6:00 now. Lehi ran to the store to get me some jello and I cooked myself up some hearty chicken broth. 1:50 they call saying to be at the hospital at 3:15 and the c-section would happen between 5 and 6. Finally! We arrive a few minutes early and are brought to our room (which is the biggest hospital room I have ever been in/seen) nurses start the IV, never-ending questions, and paperwork. About an hour later, my nurse, Leah, came in and asked "do you want the good news or bad news?" I said, whichever. The good news: I could have some more clear liquids. ...at this point, I start connecting the dots....the bad news...since I have this awesome big E antibody, they have to send me to another hospital for my blood match in case I bleed out during surgery and have to do a transplant. New ETA, 10:00 pm. Thank goodness for Mom and Dad holding down the fort and taking care of dinner/bedtime, since we anticipated Lehi being home for at least bedtime. We turned on the Patriots vs Cowboy's game--the first game of the regular season and tried to be patient. I told Lehi to leave and get some dinner (not before bringing me a slushie from the snack station). He ate his Rasin' Canes in the car so I didn't have to smell it. Bless him. I read and did some grading. Dr. Smith came in, sat on the "couch" next to me, and apologized for the delay--I apologized for making him stay at the hospital so late. I talked to him about my previous reaction to the adhesive used on the steri-strips used with the staples and he asked if I would like to have super glue used (in addition to dissolvable stitches) to be on the safe side. We both agreed that would be a good idea. We chatted about the football game a bit, he expressed his dislike/respect for Tom Brady and told me he would see me in a couple of hours. Lehi and I watched the game and talked about possible middle names for a girl (If it was a boy, he would be Riggs Lehi or Riggs Benjamin). Leah came in for a shift switch with Larissa, and said "sooo....there are 2 c-sections in front of you. Hopefully, 10:00 still happens, but it might be later since they have to sterilize between each of them."

 At 9:30, Larissa and a nurse in training came in to do some surgery prep and we walked out of the room at 9:45 (of course there were about 3 minutes left in the game and it was CLOSE!) It was really nice being able to actually walk to the OR rather than being wheeled in a wheelchair when I was perfectly capable of walking. Lehi got his "gown" on and waited in the hall while I was given my spinal & put on the operating table. The anesthesiologist was fantastic--the spinal was as good as it can be and he was great about giving me medication to help increase my blood pressure when I was feeling nauseous (he said often nausea is caused by a drop in blood pressure and to just tell him if I was not doing great). I was really close to up-heaving, Larissa was waving an alcohol prep pad in front of my face--something that sometimes helps people I guess--when the blessed mixture of meds kicked in and I started to feel better. The anesthesiologist said his children were close to the same ages of mine when they had their fourth, were the same genders, and they also didn't find out what they were having on the 4th! How crazy, right? Dr. Smith came in a few minutes later and asked me if I wanted to know how the end of the game went. Too funny! He told me Brady pulled it off and drove down the field to score a TD to win it. Lehi came in a bit afterward and sat next to my head. Dr. Smith asked "can you feel that" and I said "nope" and he told me he was pinching my stomach. I was scrubbed clean, cathetered, nausea under control, and ready to be cut open when the surgery tech (and the tech in training) started to do their count "three scalpels, two gauzes, four...." Dr. Smith lost it and chewed them out. "This should have been done before we ever had a patient on the table. She has been waiting all day, it is late, and this is not acceptable." They agreed that it should have proceeded quickly, and the cutting began. I have to say it was pretty cool having the two training persons in the room because I got to hear their training happening, both during the surgery and all the prep, too. The anesthesiologist asked if I wanted some music--I said sure--and he put on "today's hits"....none of which I recognized. This was the first surgery where I smelled the cauterization happening and it was pretty gross. Lehi and I talked to each other about how terrible it smelled. Lehi popped over the curtain a few times. Larissa asked if he wanted to announce the gender or if he wanted the Dr. Smith too. We were both fine with Dr. Smith telling us. Before I knew it, Dr. Smith said "we are going to push down by your chest, there will be a lot of pressure" and then seconds later, I heard the (very quiet) cry of our baby. "It's a girl!" they announced and Lehi said, "she has a lot of hair!" They showed me her over the curtain, Lehi gave me a kiss and said, "I am going to be with the baby now." (I didn't blame him, considering I would just be laying there getting sewn up). 

Madeline Mary. 10:18 pm, 6 lbs 10 oz, 19.5 inches of perfect. The nurses commented on how soft and quiet her cry was as they got her cleaned up. At one point, I caught a reflection of my stomach being sewed up on the nurse's phone around her neck, and I wasn't totally grossed out like I thought I would be. Dr. Smith apologized for taking a while when stitching and explained that he could see the previous 3 scars and was cutting them all out and making one new one. I appreciated his attention to detail and willingness to make it all look better. Lehi held our sweet baby girl by my head and I swooned over her. I was switched from the OR table to my hospital bed and we were on our way back to our room. 

Recovery was a bit rough--I threw up continuously for about 8 hours. I actually went through all the puke bags in the room and they had to go get more. It started when I sipped a tiny amount of water and then it was all downhill from there, even though I didn't drink anymore. I would be good for about 20 minutes and then throw up a lot for the next 5-10 minutes and the vicious cycle continued. Lehi held the bag while I was nursing and I did both throughout the night when he left to be home with the other kiddos. Luckily, my nurses were great and took good care of me. We tried a nausea patch...which did not work and then some meds which eventually did help. I was so excited to be able to eat and drink again! 

The rest of the hospital stay was fairly uneventful, just the typical monitoring. Lehi and my mom were the only visitors allowed (due to COVID restrictions) and they were great company. Lehi did get sick from the "celebration dinner" and threw up that night. Poor guy! I talked to the on-call doctor to release me early and we were able to get out of the hospital in two days--about 48 hours--which is a record for me! Little did I know, that night, Lehi was invited to a BYU football game with Austin's in-law season tickets AND it was the "holy war" game. It was the perfect storm of events, I couldn't tell Lehi no, so off he went to a game the night Madeline and I got home (but details there are for September's blog). 

It is certainly bittersweet thinking this could be our last baby. My last newborn snuggles and the last time in Labor & Delivery for me. Madeline is a beautiful, healthy, perfect baby girl and I am trying to soak it all in!

Side note--while finding out our baby was a girl was SO exciting...a nurse kinda let it slip during one of my weekly monitoring tests. She had asked me how many kids I currently had and I said, 2 boys and a girl, and then she responded, "and then another girl." ....awkward pause from me..."I actually don't know what I am having yet. We want it to be a surprise." ...awkward silence from her. Needless to say, I tried to convince myself that she was just monitoring baby and wasn't doing an anatomy scan, so she could have been wrong. I never told Lehi what she said, although I told him, "I think a nurse might have slipped and I could know what we are having." (But I never broke to him, no matter how hard he tried!)