Post 9 - A Series of FORTUNATE Events (part 1)

Nathan was going to take Lucas to lunch then go back to work. He decided to come back because he had "a feeling."  I called him and said "I need you to come home, right now." I was bleeding. A lot.

Nathan packs the kids in the car, I call his mom to meet us in the parking lot at the Hospital.

We drive to the hospital. We had just had 7 inches of snow the night before, but most of it was melted and it was sunny out and the roads were mostly clear. I start having contractions. I am panicked but kept my cool for the kids. I was spelling everything that I was feeling to Nathan which is starting to become an issue because Lucas is sounding out what I am saying from the back seat. I start breathing through. The hospital is 40 minutes away (the special hospital) but I am going to make it.

We pull up to the hospital and I am completely soaked. Nathan puts me on a wheelchair and runs me to the elevator and then goes back to the parking lot to wait for his mom.  As I get to L&D there are 6 nurses 2 OBs and 2 men to carry me if needed waiting in the foyer. I have soaked 11 pads in 30 minutes. The OBs decided today is Baby #5's birthday. 

I am crying a little, I am not ready. I didn't even shave my legs or make a bag. Nathan walks up and they told him I am having an Emergency C/S in 30 minutes.  They had double the staff on hand this particular day, everyone was joking that today was the perfect day to have the baby because there were so many hands on deck.

The anestheseologist was a cute chick named Serena. She was so comforting and nice and walked me through what was about to happen. Because this was C/S #3 they had to do a spinal and an epidural. She explained everything to me, and was a pedatric anestheseologist for years prior so that gives you a hint into her demeanor.

The OB's were the ones I saw the last time, so they knew me and were nice. All the nurses introduced themselves and then the NICU team came in - 15 just for my sweet baby.  I hadn't eaten all day. I had 2 glasses of water before getting there which was perfect for the C/S.  Except that they tried 6 times to get an IV in and ended up leaving 3 in, just to be safe.

I go in, get the spinal/epidural procedure and then Nathan came in. There were TONS of people waiting to get the job done. Everyone talked me through the whole thing. I needed to know what was happening as it was happening.  I had blood in my tracts so I needed a vertical incision, I told them that my husband digs scars and would think it was sexy. Got a good laugh at that. We guessed weights. I said I would love 3.10, but 3.2 was my guess. 3.5 was Nathan's and the OB's guessed 3.7.

They went in and its a good thing it was vertical because baby was up in my ribs and wedged so bad they would have had to cut me again to get him out.  He came out and my placenta nearly broke.  It was in 3 pieces and had 2 giant holes in it. It looked very very bad. They sent it to pathology for testing. I was so grateful it (the placenta) did its job for so long.

Baby came out and was not breathing. There were a lot of tears and silence and then a little meow. Once they got him breathing the first thing they said was "holy cow, look at those legs!" I waited patiently and said "Nathan what do you see?" He laughed and was interrupted by the Primary NICU Pediatrician "What a cute chin!" A sigh of relief - that was the only feature I really wanted him to have, then Nathan said "He has a TON of hair, and it looks curly to me. Bridget is going to be happy." YAY!!! A Brunette with a cleft chin and tall! 

They whisked him out, I made Nathan leave but he really wanted to stay with me. I wanted a million pics and someone to be with baby boy.

My insides looked pretty good. They were amazed that I had little to no scaring from the previous C/S and I asked if I could have more children (just for the reaction) and both OBs looked over with Huge Eyes and said  "seriously?" I laughed it was so funny...to me. Hahaha.  I was in unusually good spirits until they were interrupted by another OB who came in to ask a question and I could start wiggling my legs. I was freaking out. I asked if they were almost done because I could move my feet. They were shocked that my body metabolized the spinal that fast. (we were on hour 2.5 at his point) of me being open. They finished up, stapled me back together and then it was over. I went straight to recovery waiting to hear about our new son.
The whole procedure was 3.5 hours.

***

Nathan comes into the room and was all smiles.

Mason Philip Witte

Born: December 2, 2011---1:56pm

Our little 30 weeker was 3 pounds 10 ounces.

16.5 inches long and almost breathing on his own!

What a miracle.

They labeled him the fat kid in the NICU.

Here are a few pics...

 Look at that HAIR!

He is doing amazing for being so early. They can't believe  that after 24 hours he was taken off the ventilator and put on CPAP but is still doing it all by himself.  He starting eating through the feeding tube and seems to be doing okay. They are amazed at his progress and are hopeful he will just be in the NICU for growing and eating.

I was a little down that I didn't make it to the day they wanted but I could have died. 

My placenta basically burst and it could have been fatal to me and Mason.

The timing of today and the little miracles that happened along the way were truly blessings from God. I felt his love, hand, and presence with us today.

This was only the beginning...