Friday, May 17, 2013

Birth Story...Finally :)

It took me long enough to finally update my blog and after a few "reminder" emails and texts I finally decided to update :). I am LOVING motherhood. Being a mommy is the best especially to my sweet Collins. She is the best baby! Obviously I am a bit partial however she is breast feeding like a champ and sleeping a lot at night. These past 2.5 weeks have gone by so fast but have been amazing! 

Now onto our birth story. The Thursday before Collins was born I had two appointments one at Dr. Fonts and then at Dr. Khaters. After seeing Dr. Font he decided that we would be taking out the cerclage on Monday. He wanted to speak with Dr. Khater first but ultimately decided that it would be best that if I dilated at all that he would want to do a section immediately. Let me tell you, after hearing that in my head I just knew Collins was going to be here. However it was getting Dr. Khater on board which I knew could be difficult considering he was all about getting me to 39 weeks. As we were leaving Dr. Font's office we could hear him speaking with Dr. Khater telling him he wanted a section done immediately following the cerclage removal. His main concerns were cord prolapse or my water breaking and going into labor when she was breech all along. I wasn't seeing Khater until later that afternoon so I had to wait a bit to see what would be happening. 

Walking into Dr. Khaters office I was both anxious and nervous. Please let him tell me that he was OK with Font's decision and that not only I'd be off bed rest but that I'd finally meet my daughter. Sure enough, Font got Khater on board! As long as I dilated, even if only to a 1 or 2 they would do a c-section! So we scheduled the cerclage removal and potential section for Monday April 29th at 7:30am. I needed to be there at 5am to get registered and prepped. 

Monday came slowly but surely. That whole weekend, Marty and I got everything ready to bring our daughter finally home! We got to the hospital right at 5am and I was brought to our room to get registered. They set me up with an IV and started administering antibiotics for the section. My mom and dad made it around 7am and right on time Dr. Khater came at 7:15am to go over what would be happening. Cerclage removal first, then prep for c-section if any bleeding or dilation. So there I went, back to the OR. To say I was scared would be an understatement. I think I was more afraid of the cerclage removal more than anything. Marty had to stay outside of the operating room while I had my cerclage removed. They would get him once it as out and we were prepped for the section. I got onto the operating table and prepared myself for the removal. Little did I know, the anesthesiologist was actually prepping for my spinal. Huh?! Was I really going to get lucky and have the spinal before the cerclage removal. Yes mam! Spinal was a breeze, I had one with my cerclage placement if you remember and this time it was even easier. They laid me down and Dr. Khater started removing the cerclage. Clearly feeling nothing, all I heard was, "OK it's out, we have dilation to 2cm and bleeding, let's proceed with the c-section." Holy Crap! I immediately started to tear up and start to imagne what was about to happen. Collins was about to come into this world. I am finally going to meet my daughter. As they started to prep my belly Dr. Khater came down to me and reassured me that everything was going to be OK. That this was it, everything we had been through, it was finally the end and beginning to our new adventure. With in minutes Marty came into the room and sat next to my head. They then put the sheet up and advised Marty not to look just yet. I felt absolutely nothing, I was more in a daze and just anticipating hearing my baby cry. The cerclage was removed at 7:30am and at 7:51am Collins Elise Mitchell was born!

 
 
 
All I remember thinking was so this is what it should be like. This is what it is like having a healthy baby girl. We were immediately in love. She came out screaming! Even before he had her completely out she was screaming. It was the moment I had been waiting for since I was pregnant with Sloane. 6lbs 7oz and 18.5 inches with a full head of hair! She was beyond perfect.
 
I had to be stitched back up so Marty was in charge of Collins and headed with the nurses to the nursery. Collins did amazing and scored a 9.9 on her APGAR test and when they finally brought her to me in recovery she immediately latched to eat. After 20 minutes on each side they needed to take her again to the nursery for her bath and let me know that she would meet me back in my room with in the hour.
 
We ended up having to stay in the hospital until Thursday because I had spike a fever of 103.6 from my lungs not expanding correctly when I would breathe. Other than that, both Collins and I were doing as expected. I was getting up quicker than usual walking around (what do you expect I had been on bed rest for 6 months). Our stay at St. Joes was great though. We had an amazing nursing staff the whole 4 days and were well taken care of.
 
I will say that the c-section itself was easy, however the recovery isn't so much fun. Almost 3 weeks later and its still hard getting up and down and out of bed but I am pushing through it. Breast feeding is still going good as well. She hasn't had a bottle, or formula, just strictly breast feeding. I will admit it isn't easy and Collins and I are learning as we go. We just need to work on latching because I am a bit raw if you know what I mean.
 
So would I sound crazy if I told you all I'm ready for another baby :)
 
 


 
 

 
 
 

 
 

3 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness Ashley! She is a doll! So happy for you guys and so thankful everything turned out wonderful! :)

    XOXO

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  2. she is so sweet! i am so glad youve had this time with her! enjoy mama!

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  3. Congratulations Ashley... What a perfect ending to your long journey!

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