As I mentioned, my regular OBGYN was not in town for this birth. That in itself made the night uneasy. I needed familiarity, and he was supposed to be there for the scheduled induction the following Friday. Our sweet Lynley wasn't about to wait until then. She was ready to make her entrance into this world now.
Let's just say that after the epidural fiasco during Harrison's birth, I was beyond nervous about effect of this one. They made me wait a LONG and PAINFUL hour before they gave me one. Even after the epidural, I was ONCE AGAIN in major pain. One side of my body (the opposite side than with Harrison) went a little numb, but I had full feeling in the other side. I also felt a lot of pressure and wanted to push, but trying to convince someone that the epidural didn't work fully and that I thought I was ready to deliver was about as fruitful as the last time I tried it. At this point in time, you'd think your husband would be your biggest supporter, but that would be other people's husbands....not mine. When a medical professional says something, then that's the law. Bear in mind that I'M the one about to birth this child!!!!! God love him!!!!
After giving me the epidural, they asked me to wait 20 minutes to feel the effect and they would check me again at that point. I tried to convince ANYONE I could that I was about to deliver this baby. Here's where my husband lost his candidacy for "husband of the year." When I tried to tell him that I was still in mucho pain and that this baby was coming, like it or not, he told me (lovingly, of course) to "put my legs together and wait 20 minutes like the nurse said." Had it not been for some friends in the room who actually believed I wasn't kidding and got the nurses ASAP, I would have delivered that baby right then and there without medical care. Miss Lynley Morgan Pierce came at 12:47 A.M. (before the 20 minutes were up, by the way).
The birth was painful (that's all I'll say), but a few minutes later, I was holding perfection in my arms. She stole her mommy's heart at that minute and she's had it ever since. She did have a heart defect and Down's Syndrome, but she was absolutely perfect.
I got to hold her all of about 15 minutes before they wisked her away for tests and monitoring. They took her to the NICU which I have nicknamed, "prison" (because it takes MANY heartfelt appeals to get out of that place). I ached to hold that baby and to have her in the room with me. I felt like they had ripped that baby out of me and taken her away. I needed to talk to her and comfort her. That's my job as her mommy. Instead, she was floors and a half of the hospital away from me!
As the night wore on, my pain became absolutely unbearable. Of course, after delivery, you expect to be in pain, but this pain was more than I could take (and I consider myself pretty tolerable of pain). I know only having one prior birth under my belt hardly qualifies me as an expert, but I KNEW something was seriously wrong here. When I began biting the bedpost (I'm NOT kidding) from extreme pain, the doctor (not mine, remember) came in the room and ordered morphine for me after they had tried various other things. As they pumped 12 FULL doses in me in about 10 minute segments and there was NO relief, my husband and I got extremely worried. The doctor told me that I should feel better shortly, because he gave me enough morphine to "kill a horse." Really? They kept checking me for all sorts of things, but no one could give a reason for the pain. Panic set in on Jason (I would reconsider him for husband of the year now) and he had a nice, firm, come to Jesus talk with the doctor. I wasn't in on it, but it proved effective. They checked me one more time, and within minutes, a swarm of nurses came flooding into my room to prep me for emergency surgery. They had found a hematoma. The only thing I remember after that point is my husband squeezing me with all his might and love and my short conversation with a nurse. I asked her if I was going to be okay. She looked at another nurse and asked her how to respond to my question because she wasn't sure I would make it. I cannot put into words my feelings at that point. I was in pain, away from BOTH of my precious children, and this may be my last few breaths on this earth....
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