Welcome Nicholas Joseph

Hi Everyone,

So I'm going to try to explain Nicholas' birth story as best as I can :)

On Monday March 12th I had a follow up doctor's appointment due to my high blood pressure stay over on March 8th & March 9th. I saw Dr. Bass at my appointment who sent me back to the hospital as my blood pressure was still to high. He wanted me to get some lab work done and be monitored for awhile. Nick's sister took me to my appointment as Nick had an important work appointment that day.

I was set up in the Labor & Delivery Unit and had blood work drawn by around noon that day. Awhile later I was thinking I would be released because the results came back so quickly, and instead a nurse came in with a johnny telling me to get changed as I would be having a baby that day. HOLY CRAP! Alexis almost started crying (and wanted to call people)and I started sweating so bad that I thought I actually broke my water. Nope, just sweat. I called Nick to tell him I was going to be induced and he went crazy. I called him back to let him know he had time to go get our overnight bag, check on Dexter, etc.

I was moved to another room where Dr. Fortune (who delivered Quinton as well as delivered Nicholas for us) explained what was going on. I'm not good at the medical specifics, but basically my blood work was not looking very good. On top of my blood pressure, my platelet count was very low and there were issues with my liver and some other important bodily functions (kidneys?). The doctor basically explained to me that I could have a seizure if I gave birth vaginally and was recommending that I have a c-section. It wasn't an "absolute" emergency, but I was told I could wait it out and things still may not change, or suddenly get worse. I could go through trying to have him vaginally and still need a c-section. After talking to Nick's mom (for those of you that dont' know she is a delivery nurse at Lowell General), I decided to move forward with the c-section. I called my family and friends to let them know and my parents decided to leave later that night.

I was started on an IV of magnesium sulfate due to the preeclampsia. Basically what this does is inhibit your body's ability to go into labor, but helps prevent me from having a seizure. I had to stay on this for 24 hours after the delivery to make sure everything was ok. The side effect of this drug is basically that I feel like I'm going through menopause. Within 2-3 minutes of the drip starting, I was hot, sweaty, nauseous, and wanted to kill everyone (good times!). I received a large dose pretty quickly and then it was slowed down for the remainder of the time. One of my nurses, Laura, was so incredible. I had to pee SO bad and was terrified of having a catheter put in until I had my anesthesia (the spinal). I was not allowed to get out of bed because the magnesium has started, so she was able to let me use a bed pan just once and I was so very thankful to her for that!

Nick put on his "sterile" suit and I was wheeled into the operating room. Laura was with me the whole time - I held onto her while getting the spinal - I couldn't believe that it did not hurt AT ALL. You know when you go to the dentist and get novocaine in your gums? The spinal hurt less than that. Laura told me everything that was going on while it was happening and made me feel so comfortable. Once I was laid out on the table Nick was allowed to come in and be by my head.

The only thing I felt were my legs being moved slightly so the catheter could be put in, and then the marker being used to draw where the incision would go. I felt light pressure (like someone pushing gently on my stomach) and that is it. One thing I'm pretty sure I felt, when Nicholas was about to be removed, I think he was kicking up high in my belly, and that was pretty amazing. Then, he was out...I was able to look at a clock the whole time and the surgery took 15 minutes! He cried instantly and was shown to me - all I said was THANK GOD HE IS CUTE. Nick was allowed to follow them back to watch him be cleaned up, and I think it took about a half hour to "put me back" together. Once I was moved to a recovery bed, Nicholas was laid on my chest - I can't even explain what it felt like and how I felt. Amazing. That's all I can think of. It just felt so good and so right.

Although Nicholas' birth may not have gone how I thought it would, I'm so thankful to the amazing doctors and nurses at Lowell General for doing such an amazing job. I'm so proud of Nick for not crying (when they talked about what was going on with my body) or passing out (when we saw lots of bloody gauze and he accidentally got a glimpse of what was on the other side of the blue curtain) and being next to me the whole time. My friends and family are so wonderful and I know everyone loves Nicholas (almost) as much as we do.

I have many many pictures to come, but just wanted to get this story blogged because a lot of people didn't know what happened. My recovery has been good so far, the pain is manageable and I just keep moving and that really seems to help.

Thank you to everyone for your love, kind words, and support.

xoxo