Birth Story for #10

Here is the short version...went to ER with severe stomach pains, got a c-section-baby weighing 6lbs 2oz and was 18 1/2" long, stayed in hospital for 4 days, at home slowly recovering.

Now for those of you who wonder "WHAT? Gen, a very outspoken opponent to cesareans, got a cesarean?" I need to know more.

Here is the long version...
It all started around Christmas when I started having swelling in my feet and legs. About a month later my blood pressure went up to an average of 150/100. A week before I went to the ER my OB put me on modified bed rest. So I did the best I could being a mother of 9.

On Friday, February 20th, I started having abdominal cramps and I thought was the stomach flu. However, it kept getting worse throughout the day and I started seeing spots in my vision. I called my midwife and she suggested we go to the ER and not to expect to go home. The ER is a different post altogether.

Once we were in Labor and Delivery they took my blood pressure. It was a whopping 217/116! I wasn't going anywhere. They also checked me and I was only at 1cm, with a hard cervix and the baby was floating at -2 station. There was a ton of protein in my urine and the pain behind my ribs was horrid.

For those of you who have labored before, you know the pain you feel at the peek of a contraction- well, that is what I was already feeling - with no relief of the contraction ending. It was incredible!!! On top of that my head was exploding with pain. I couldn't breathe or talk. The L/D nurses called my doc and they put a magnesium drip in my IV to keep me from having seizures.

Once my doc showed up she said my liver enzymes didn't match the pain I said I was in and suggested we induce labor and try to have this baby as natural as possible (via pitocin and an epidural). I said there was no way I could live through contractions on top off the pain in my ribs.

I said to everyone there, "I can't believe these words are coming out of my mouth, but I WANT a cesarean" Dan was in total agreement.

I got prepped for OR, entered the room at 10:34pm and #10 was born at 10:53. The epidural they gave me masked the pain in my ribs. Once the baby was born and they were sewing me up, the headache climaxed and went away after I closed my eyes for a few minutes. It was the fastest delivery I ever experienced.

I have to tell you that when they started the surgery the baby started running on my ribs. It felt like she was trying to run away from the doctor. Really cute.

While everything was taking place I was saying the Jesus Prayer. There was a faint song being chanted in the background. You know how that is. You don't realize there is a song in your head until you pull it up front.

It was the hymn to the Theotokos, Greater in honor, but it was in Greek. I also thought I heard, O Champion General, also in Greek. Later our oldest told Dan that the Abbess at St. Paraskevi told her that the Panagia (Mother of God, the Ever Virgin Mary) was with me in surgery. I believe that with my whole heart, without her help I would not be here.

The poor baby screamed from the minute the cool air touched her. Which is probably a good thing considering the problems some newborns delivered by C/S have with fluid on their lungs. She cleared them right out. Dan went over and held her hand and said her name and she stopped screaming.

I stayed on the mag-drip for the entire next day. My enzyme levels matched my pain before surgery when they drew my blood again a few hours later. I cannot stress the amount of pain I was in when I made the decision to have major surgery to deliver my baby. I would have tried pitocin and the epidural had it not been for the terrible pain I was already experiencing.

I got to stay in the hospital until Tuesday thanks to my BP not going down to an acceptable level. They put me on BP meds to get it to go down and they suspect it will within a few weeks. It general does in these sort of situations. As quickly as it appeared, it should go back down. The funny thing is, I kept asking ifthe meds were safe for the baby if I breastfeed. "Oh yes of course," was their answer, but when it was time to be discharged I was advised to stay clear of caffeine and alcohol because whatever I consume goes to the baby through breast milk.

The meds are o.k. but stay clear of coffee?

It was determined that I had preeclampsia. Which ironically is more common in first-time moms. The doc also discovered the cord wrapped around the baby's body and looped over the top of her head in front of the cervix with the potential of becoming a prolapsed cord.

No, this is not God's way of telling us it is time to stop having babies. We will prayerfully consider what our future holds and continue to give God the glory for the miracle of a new baby. We are blessed and our life is full of immeasurable treasures through these beautiful gifts from Him.

Introduction

This blog is being set up for all of our friends and family who might like to know what is going on in our lives. As you all know we just had our 10th child. Hence, the name of the blog. We will be married for 18 years this July. Our oldest daughter is 16 and is currently preparing to take her SAT's. Our oldest son is 15 and a Freshman doing Senior Math so he is not far behind her. Of course we home school but our kids can take much of the credit for keeping on track. We use the Robinson's Curriculum which we would highly recommend seeing the results it produces. We have 5 more being schooled at home right now. Each one is doing well for their grade level. We have a 2 year old and a 4 year old who ransack the house while the rest of the kids do their schoolwork but we prefer that to having them sit in front of the television :) On nice days the two of them go out back to play on the swingset where we can view them and can only imagine what they are saying. Our newest edition, pictured above was born on Feb 20th. The birth story will follow shortly.