Week 38: Lark's Arrival

 

WOW! It's hard to believe Lark has already been with us for 18 days now. I'll explain why this has taken so long to write in my one month blog, but for now... I need to write this all down so I don't forget!

On Friday, December 31st, Daniel and I had the day off of work for the New Year holiday. Frankie still had daycare, which meant we got a day off together alone! We joked that we were going to make it a "get this baby out" kind of day and do several old wives tales to see if we could get labor started.

First, I went and had a pedicure after dropping Frankie off for daycare. I was pretty emotional and weepy for no reason during the pedicure. I think I was just exhausted and uncomfortable and super over pregnancy. But the pedicure was very needed and afterwards, I went back to the house to pick up Daniel. We drove up to the Asheville mall to do some shopping and walking. After that, we went for some spicy Mexican food for lunch. On our way home, we decided to stop at the local park and walk around some more. 

It was over 70 degrees in December, so we ventured out along one of the nature trails at Fletcher park for nearly two miles. I was wearing sandals and kept getting gravel in my shoes, Daniel complained that I was going to go in labor simply from having to stop and shake my shoes out every few steps. Eventually we got back to the car for an hour of quiet time before we needed to go get Frankie.

As soon as we got home, I began to feel off. I laid down in our bed for a few minutes, took my blood pressure, and saw that it was higher than usual. I asked Daniel to please go get Frankie from daycare and called Mark and Susan to warn them that I may need them to come stay with Frankie while we get checked out with the doctor. I called my doctor and explained my symptoms. I was feeling light headed, very nauseous, my face and tongue felt swollen, I was not able to breathe well through my nose. I was having contractions, but nothing that was consistent and the pain was manageable. She asked me to go in to the ER and get a covid test before heading to labor and delivery to be assessed.

Mark and Susan made it to our house around 6:30 and we took off for the hospital, about 20 minutes away. Once inside the ER, we were stopped by the staff and they let us know that our doctor had called ahead. We needed to take a covid PCR test there in the ER and wait for results before they would let me go to labor and delivery. The nurse checked me in I was shuffled to a room where they did the nasal swab. The nurse administering the swab and checking my vitals was really shocked they wouldn't let me go to L&D. She told me to let them know if my contractions got any worse, but that we would be waiting about an hour for results.

We sat in the waiting room for three hours total. My contractions were getting pretty intense, but still were not regular and were only about 7-9 minutes apart. The worst part was this crazyyyyyy cervical pain after each contraction that felt like I was being stabbed in the crotch. Daniel kept asking if I wanted him to go tell the nurses my contractions were worse, but I kept talking myself out of it. I wanted to cry and go home. The poor people in the waiting room around us probably thought I was going to have the baby right there. Finally, after about three hours, the ER staff called me back into a room, told me my test was negative, and apologized profusely that they had to even administer the test with me in so much pain. They wheeled me up to L&D to be monitored immediately. 

Once settled in the triage room, I was given an IV of fluids, Zofran for my intense nausea, and a shot of Toradol in my hip for pain relief. The idea was to get me hydrated and let me sleep for a few hours to see if the contractions would die down. The nurses checked my cervical progression and it was not even a dimple.... just like Frankie. I tried to explain that my cervix had NEVER been cooperative- in any embryo transfer, procedure, or my prior birth. It would not be dilating and that I was 38 weeks and could I just go have the baby, please? Despite my annoyance, the nurses were kind and kept track of everything, calling my doctor intermittently to update her. By now, it was a little after midnight. Daniel and I kissed and said Happy New Year as the clock passed midnight. I slept fitfully, and I'm sure Daniel did, too. Around 3 am, I woke up in more intense pain. I was sobbing at this point, because my contractions had begun to space out more, but the nausea and pain was still on a 7-9 scale when they happened. The nurse said she was going to call my doctor one more time and that she wasn't sure she would do the surgery before 38 weeks. I quickly corrected that I WAS 38 weeks and a day! She went to call and correct her previous error that I was only 37 weeks. 

At about 4:20 am, a nurse came in and asked Daniel why he wasn't already suited up for surgery. We were obviously confused. She explained that our doctor was on the way and that we were heading to the OR to deliver Lark! We actually shouted with joy! A New Year's Day baby! And that I would be out of this pain! Daniel got into the way-too-small surgical gown they brought to him and moved our belongings into what would be our recovery room. The doctor arrived and let us know we'd be getting started soon. I walked to the OR because I knew it was the last time I'd be doing that for a little bit.

This next part is pretty blurry because I really did not feel well. Daniel and I were both exhausted. He was so stressed from me being in pain and not being able to help, I think we both just blanked out a bit during this part. The room was so noisy, but not in a happy way. It felt like there were 30 people in there, all talking at once. The spinal block made me MUCH more nauseous than I had been before and the room began to spin as the surgery started. The anesthesiologist was potentially the most annoying doctor I'd ever met and would NOT stop chattering on and on and on. I just wanted it to quiet down a little. It wasn't until they had already begun surgery that I heard the staff discussing that they were out of morphine at the hospital and that I would be taking a lesser pain medication (terrifying after major surgery for me). Daniel felt nauseous and had to excuse himself for just a moment before the big moment. I can't blame him! I felt like crap, too, and would have happily excused myself in that moment. He came back quickly, though, and we got down to the business of getting Lark out.

Finally, at 6:24 AM on Saturday 1/1/22, Lark was born! She IMMEDITATELY screamed and didn't stop crying. She was 6 lbs and 3 oz, 19 inches long. I saw her briefly before she and Daniel were whisked into a different room for recovery and I was stitched up. I was also having my tubed removed at this time, so the process was going to take a little bit longer. Once Daniel was out of the room, I literally asked the anesthesiologist to please leave me alone and let me close my eyes. I couldn't take another word out of his mouth!

Drowsy and numb, I was wheeled into recovery, where I found Daniel and Lark. Lark had literally not stopped crying and was rooting around on Daniel like a mad woman, trying to find some food. I was able to nurse her immediately without any issues. I was so proud of her! Daniel and I spent some moments in a small recovery room (almost like a hallway) with a few nurses before they moved us back into our room. There we began our few quiet days in recovery with Lark! We were exhausted, but happy, and the days went by too fast. We did our best to soak in all the moments we could with her. The nurse on day three commented that she hadn't seen her in the bassinet once because we just couldn't stop holding her and snuggling her.

Some things I want to remember:

-I immediately noticed Lark's dimples, just like her daddy.

-C section recovery the second time is MUCH harder... especially without morphine. Percocet and Ibuprofen did an okay job... but the two weeks after birth were no joke.

-Lark kept setting off the baby-stealing alarm because her ankle bracelet wouldn't stay put.

-I couldn't stop calling her Frankie... so much so that Daniel started keeping a tally of how many times I messed it up.

-Our paper towel dispenser was absolutely haunted.

-Being able to nurse immediately made me feel like a super hero. Lark is HUNGRY all the time and she never wants to be put down. So different from her sister.

-We could never seem to get food delivered to us because the hospital had us written as covid quarantined, even though we had tested negative

-My doctor was still convinced I was sick, not in labor, so she had ALL kinds of tests run- flu, strep, etc... all were negative. Eye roll.

-When the doctor was performing surgery, she said it was clear I had been in labor after all. I don’t know how one can tell things like that, but she said it. Also something about my uterus being thin where my previous incision had been. 

-When we went in to the hospital on Friday night, it was over 70 degrees. When we were discharged on Monday, it had snowed an our power was out! Our first night home with the baby was actually spent at the in-laws house... a story I'll save for the next blog.

-Frankie LOVED meeting her sister. And she was great for her grandparents. Such a weird time of upheaval for her... she has done great. I missed her a lot while in the hospital. I'm sad I didn't have that *moment* with her, where I said goodbye knowing she was about to lose her only child status, but this pregnancy and birth had NONE of those moments anyway. Lark's pregnancy and delivery and Frankie's could not be more different, in my opinion.

I wish my birth experience and first weeks home with Lark had been as positive as Frankie's but.... in the end, I am happy its over and I can just move on with the process of getting to know my daughter. Pregnancy is pretty miserable, especially this one, and having here here in my arms is a big enough reward that I don't really care how she got here. She is adorable and cuddly, with a shock of dark brown hair and steel grey eyes so far. Those dimples are to die for. She's a squeaky baby, too... very talkative and noisy. I just absolutely adore her and she makes our family complete.

Okay, pictures!