Thursday, July 1, 2010

Welcoming our Rory James


It’s hard to believe that an entire week has gone by since the surprise early arrival of our little guy.  The hours and days seem to fly by, as we all get to know each other and bond as a family. But Rory is indeed officially one week old as of yesterday and on the celebration of his first, and our first Canada Day as a family… I thought it was time to send out an update!!
Most of you know our how it ended up that we delivered 2 ½ weeks early story, but in case you don’t, here are the details in brief.
On Monday of last week, I went to the outpatient clinic at Mount Sinai to have my blood pressure checked as a scheduled visit. It was high, as was the protein in my urine but I wasn’t feeling bad so the nurse let me leave comforted by the fact I had an appointment with my obstetrician on that Wednesday.  She did warn me though as I was leaving that at the first sign of a headache, blurry vision or a host of other symptoms to come back to the hospital immediately. That night I got a headache. A headache that became more persistent over night and by 630am the next day, had moved behind my right eye. So… having had the fear of god put in me, I woke Peter and told him we should go into the hospital for a quick visit. As I went about getting ready to go in, Peter started packing his bag for a hospital stay and grabbing the one my mom and I had prepared for me and the baby.  It NEVER occurred to me we would be staying. I even laughed at Peter, and told him not to bother that we would not be staying.  I even wore a DRESS to the hospital. If I had any idea of what was to come in the next 72 hours, I would not have worn a DRESS to the hospital.  
We were seen immediately at Mount Sinai by a wonderful team that gave us fantastic care the entire time we were there.  And after blood and urine work had been returned to them a duo doctor and resident team came to talk to Peter and me in our triage room.  They told us that the work they had just gotten back, confirmed I had the signs and symptoms of pre-eclampsia.  She walked us through the results and what that meant in terms of my health and then dropped this bomb-shell, “I think it’s time to get things moving. We would like to start inducing you”.  Which I responded, “you mean like today?”   I am quite sure I have never been that shocked. The next 5-10 minutes were spent listening to her explain what was going to happen next, through tears and many questions about the safety of the baby through what I felt was too early of an induction. She assured me that at 37 weeks a baby is considered “term” and fully developed, and when a baby is term and mom is sick the benefits of keeping baby in (to put on a bit more weight) doesn’t out weight getting baby out to help mom feel better. Crazy.    
 So… there you have it. Peter and I took a few moments to gather our thoughts about giving birth ASAP and then I think we called my mom.  It was the only thing I could think of to do.  I think it was the first thing I said. “Peter, I think we should call my mom”.
So things progressed rather slowly from there. The labour and delivery of Mount Sinai was CRAZY busy on Tuesday. Multiple sets of twins, lots of high risk babies being born early, and a lot of people being induced for various reasons. So what that all meant for us was… a wait. A long wait before they did anything.  Typically when you are induced they actually let you go home because it can be a lengthy process. Because of my blood pressure they couldn’t let me go home, thus the wait. They needed to make sure they had the staff to monitor me once they started to induce. So finally at 10pm on Tuesday night, I was given my first gel (to thin my cervix) and another at 5am the next morning. By 7am, my water broke on its own and timing is sort of a blur from there as what had been a long drawn out hospital stay already, started to get a lot busier and full of action.  The next several hours are a blur of awful contractions made longer, more frequent and more intense by the drugs they give you when they induce, the sound of the constant music and massage support from Peter and my mom and then finally the epidural.  Then…honestly, out came Rory!!  And I am not kidding. It literally felt like I had JUST gotten the epidural, was checked, told I was 9cm dilated and to PUSH. And then the nurse yelled to stop pushing because they baby was coming and she needed a doctor?!!!!    So in came the doctor in a rush, and out came Rory. Literally. 
NINE GLORIOUS MINUTES of pushing later, and our precious baby was in our arms. 
I sort of cried when I first held him. But I think I was mostly in shock and in awe that he was really here, and that it was over, and that I had a baby, and that my mom and Peter were there, and that I had a baby.  It wasn’t until the second night in the hospital that I think the emotion over came me. I was up by myself, Rory and Peter were both sound asleep and tears just started streaming down my face without me evening knowing it. I was a mom. I had given birth.  I wasn’t pregnant anymore. Peter was by my side and our baby was healthy and so beautiful. And despite being sore, I felt better than I had in months.  I was just so happy.
Since then… things have been going extremely well. Peter and I both seem more calm and relaxed right now than we have been for months.  Ironic really. We’re sleepy, but we’re both here, we’re totally in love with our little boy and Rory is just so amazing.  He’s eating well, he is sleeping well (well, he sleeps like any newborn) and he only really cries when he wants something; Like to be fed, or changed or held. I am sure it could all change in the blink of an eye, but 7 days in I can tell you that this little family is doing so great.  Meet Rory James Shaughnessy, the love of our lives. Literally.

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