Baby Elia

May 19th at 3:50am

I was actually hospitalized because of a very bad case of kidney stones... It seems like it is not rare to get these awful rocks during pregnancy. What is a little less common is to not be able to eliminate them! One of them got stuck in my urethra and completely blocked it causing the pressure in my kidney to rise and cause lots of pain. I spent 3 days at home with that pain before doctors could figure out what was going on with me. Tracy was so helpful during this time... I was confused and was not sure if I was in labor or what was going on and she helped me make some informed decisions and I am really thankful!!

I got admitted Tuesday night, they gave me narcotics (I must say I had a pump and it was very hard for me to push on that button. Every time I used it felt guilty, but I had to use it...) and got an intervention called a percutaneous nephrostomy on Thursday evening. They installed a catheter in my back straight to my kidney to release the pressure and hooked a bag to it to collect urine. There are other ways to treat stones, only not during pregnancy...so that tube was a temporary solution until after delivery, which actually ended up happening faster than expected. (I only kept the nephrostomy bag for about a week and a half. Not super convenient, I had to stop working, but it really relieved my pain.

On Friday evening, I started having real contractions. I was able to time it and they were about 7 minutes apart; I did some laundry, finished my hospital suitcase and then I decided to try to sleep on it, which I managed to do. The pain was very similar to period cramps for me, mild at first and more and more intense with time. In the morning, the contractions had subsided, but it did not take long before I started having them again. First, every 15 minutes. I had plans to spend the afternoon/evening with a friend just hanging out and watching movies. So I stuck to it, call it my way to stay connected to real life. We watched movies until 10:30pm. I ended sitting, standing, breathing throughout, but waited until the end of a movie to go back home. There, I took the time to take a shower and then really started timing the contractions. When they were 3 minutes apart for about an hour and the intensity was up there, I made the decision to transition to the hospital. My support people, my Mom and Brittany, both being in Europe, my husband stepped up and helped me out. He actually started helping during the whole kidney stone episode and I am so thankful he did.

At my arrival at the hospital, they did a vaginal check right away and I was 3 cm dilated, moving very fast. I was admitted at 1:20am and my little angel Elia joined us at 3:50am. The contractions were incredibly intense, which is why things moved so fast. I had no real relief between contractions, I did not even have the time to switch positions and I ended up on the bed on all fours during the whole labor. I had envisioned things as a marathon, but really, it ended up being a two and a half hour sprint for me. I had to have a round of pain medication to take the edge off...it was a hard decision to make and I cannot really tell if it actually helped me physically, but I guess it did psychologically!

I felt the urge to push pretty early and as Tracy had said, they asked me to try not to bear down - good luck with that! I did a lot of grunting, panting, breathing throughout and very soon I was given the green light to push. No worries there ladies, it comes as naturally as you could hope for. I put all my energy into it, got good guidance from the nurse and after 10 minutes of pushing my daughter was born. It seems rare to have such a quick labor and delivery, especially for a first child and Doctor Raphael, who is the one who helped me, could hardly believe it! He was great by the way ;) I ended up with a second degree tear, but honestly once baby is here nothing else matters!!

Baby had been having a slow heart rate for 8 minutes prior to being born (a mix between medication, my position and the speedy delivery), so they could not delay cutting the cord and took her to the warmer immediately. Her oxygen levels were low, so we could not do skin-to-skin right away. The doctors debated about taking her to the NICU, which broke my heart. They chose to try to put her on my chest to see if it would help her and it did! After a bit, she started stabilizing and they took her to the nursery instead of the NICU. My husband went with her. They gave her some oxygen and did all the routine procedures on her.

After about an hour and a half, they brought her back to me. I decided to immediately get her on my chest and actually felt the need to try breastfeeding her. She latched right away on both sides. We spent lots of time bonding. I could not stop looking at her. I still cannot! From then on, it was all about feeding and bonding! It is fantastic. I still cannot believe this beautiful little being grew in my tummy! I love her so much and I cannot stop giving her kisses.

Next week, I will be getting surgery to get rid of my kidney stones. The one stuck in the urethra passed during delivery, so they were able to take the bag away. I still have the catheter in my kidney as a precaution until next week, but I don't really notice it anymore!

We got discharged on Tuesday and are now back home. Elia seems content and feeds well! My bottom is sore and yes it is a bit uncomfortable, but after delivery it is so insignificant and it seems like my body is healing well. I am feeling better and better every day. My milk started coming in and my nipples too are a bit sore, but again nothing too bad so far!! :D As far as aesthetics, for those of you ladies who wonder, I still have a little belly. It looks kind of flabby, hey, it took nine months to extend, but I am not worried that it will look more normal very soon ;)

This is the most unique experience I have ever been through. I am not going to lie, it is intense and painful, and it probably is the most difficult thing I have ever done, but what a reward in the end. The pain, the doubts, the fears, everything just melts away as soon as baby is here. It is such a miracle, there is nothing like it. There is no better medication and healing process than looking at your little one's face. Seeing her open her eyes to look at me for the first time, watching her smile for the first time, looking at her being startled by the noise of me pulling up the zipper on her outfit...little things that mean more than you can even imagine.

I hope this helps and get you a better picture of what can happen. Every birth is unique and most likely no one will experience it the way I did, but for those who are delivering at Cottage, know that the staff is very good. The nurse that accompanied me in delivery, Becca, was simply fantastic and I am forever thankful that she was able to guide me throughout labor. They tried to follow my birth plan and I love that they really acknowledged it, but be prepared to be flexible because they are so many variables at play, and even if every thing did not go as I was hoping for it was still a wonderful experience!

Rose