Ok, so it's now 2 weeks after the fact, so please bear with me:). There are some valid points worth mentioning, that I need to get off my chest!
JUNE 29, Monday:
4:30 am: I wake up in the middle of the night. One second later, my water breaks.
7:00 am: We head to the hospital. Contractions are about 4 minutes apart.
1:00 pm: I get the epidural. It hurts more than the contractions do.
1:00-10:00 pm: I am in labor for 9 more hours. Joey and I watch 'Stranger than Fiction' and repeatedly ask each other "aren't you glad you're not a Golem?" It is great for laughs. I am not allowed to eat or drink water, or get up to use the bathroom, for the whole day. This is hard.
10:00 pm: I push for about 30 minutes. They tell me to stop b/c my doctor is not there yet. I wait 30 minutes for her to arrive. Pushing doesn't seem that hard, especially w/an epidural.
10:44 pm: Baby R arrives!! She is under respiratory distress due to fluid in her lungs; I immediately start crying. The pediatrician comes to see her, and suctions her for an hour. She finally cries. I cry again, from relief. I receive a few internal stitches. I finally get to hold her. It is an incredible feeling.
JUNE 30, Tuesday:
Sometime in the evening: I stand up & have the worst headache of my life. I wonder if it is a migraine.
JULY 1, Wednesday:
I am discharged. I do not want to go home. I am told that the headache is due to an accidental dural_puncture resulting in a leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (ok, they do not tell me all that. joey does research online at home.) I am told to be on strict bedrest, and that any time spent standing up will prolong the recovery period. I am given a prescription for Tylenol + Codeine, and a liquid diet of Coke.
JULY 2 & 3, Thursday & Friday:
I am drinking Coke, so I can't sleep. I have urinary incontinence, so I am waking up every hour on the dot to use the restroom. My pain level is a 10/10, with the maximum doseage of the Codeine. I contemplate taking more. Breastfeeding is painful. Laying in bed is painful. I have a brand new baby, but I am not supposed to pick up anything heavier than 5 pounds. It is pure misery. I feel sorry for my husband & mother who are taking care of me. I repeat my mantras: 2 Bible verses, Phil. 4:13 and Isa. 40:31. They help.
5:00 pm: I go in for the epidural blood patch. The doctor is Korean & self-confident. The procedure works, & I feel better immediately. I have waited 72 hours for this. Joey wishes that we had come in sooner, & that the hospital hadn't discharged me when I had a problem. We go home, relieved & happy.
*****
PRESENT DAY:
Before giving birth, my greatest fear was the labor & delivery. The unknown. How will a 7 pound baby come out of my body?? How much will the contractions hurt?? Should I get the epidural??
However, now I am scared to death not of the natural procedures of birth that God intended for, but of man-made procedures and complications that can follow. With the anesthesiologist coming off a 48-hour shift + possibly messing up + and my anatomy, I was part of an unlucky 1 in 100 statistic. Do I forego the epidural next time? I know I never want to go through that again. I just don't know.
Photo op with mommy
Grandma Ellie
Pastor Junie
Happy as a clam @ bathtime
P.S. Remember the car accident I was in back in April? Well, this week was my day in court; I just received a check for $500!
