Hallie LaRue Peters a Birth Story, Part 2

09/22/14

Do you know that I was embarrassed to announce my pregnancy this time? I didn't even tell Steve for several days.... do you want to know why? Both Em and Ry took such a long time to conceive and Hallie did not. Em took around 18 months with a miscarriage prior, possible loss of her twin as well (not confirmed, just speculated by the doctor). Ry took around 2 years, with a miscarriage before as well.... Hallie was conceived the very month I went off birth control, and I felt guilty. Very guilty. I know what it's like to have a hard time conceiving and then have other people's pregnancies thrown in your face, and I didn't want to do that to anyone. I knew people would know we got pregnant fast because of how soon it was after Ry was born, only a month after his first birthday. So, I thought it was important to get that out, because I actually experienced that guilt for most of the pregnancy.

Now onto the rest of the birth story.....

Today is the morning of my induction, I wake up feeling the same as I have for the last 2 weeks, but more pressure and actually a little bleeding. We got both kids bathed, Em ready and off to school on the bus. We had the kids bag packed for over a month now. Also, made arrangements for the bus driver to drop Emarie off at my step-dad's place (they're only a couple blocks away from us), we were going to drop Ry off there on our way to the hospital.

Finally, after relentlessly cleaning and trying to organize things to kill the time, the hospital finally called a little after 11:30 and told me to check-in at 12:45. So we finished up all the last minute prep, and got going, dropped Ry off and headed to the hospital. Once I was all dressed down and hooked up, a nurse checked me and I was surprised that I was nearly a 4, so labor was finally beginning anyway! They still started pectocin anyway just because things had taken so long to get to that point, and the plan was to have my doctor still come and break my water when he got a moment. I was glad about that, because it doesn't seem like anything really happens until my water breaks. And he came a couple hours later, and I still hadn't dilated any more, even on the pectocin, that was about 3:30. By 4:30 I was feeling a lot more pressure and strong contractions that were mainly in my hips. The nurse checked at that time and declared I was a 7, and thought the baby would be here within a half an hour.... Figured it was time to text Lacey to let her know she needed to be there soon if she was going to get pictures. She was still in Provo, but said she could head to American Fork as soon as she dropped off her husband. Less than 20 minutes later, I knew it was time, and the nurse confirmed I was fully dilated, and went to call Dr. Haskett, which they had a hard time getting a hold of him, the hardest part was trying not to push as I felt the urges. My doctor wasn't there, and my photographer was doing everything she could to make it in time, luckily it all worked out AGAIN! Just like with Ryker's birth. Lacey walked in about 3 minutes before my doctor finally made it. I pushed 4 times max and again for only a couple minutes and she was out by 5:02 pm. I knew she was bigger than my first two because I actually had pain pushing her out (even without an epidural, I didn't feel much pain pushing Ry out and I didn't feel Em at all), it still wasn't that bad, and for the first time ever, even with a baby a lot bigger than what I'm use to, I didn't tear at all, so no stitches. I think I can chalk that up to all the Evening Primrose Oil I'd been using in hopes of inducing labor myself! So, Dr. Haskett was in the delivery room less than 5 minutes! I guess he raved about me in the office the next day and said I was his easiest delivery ever.... at least that's what his associate told me when she came to check on me the next day.

Hallie came out so fast that she was quite swollen and had some bruising and petechia, she still has small hints of this even 3 weeks later, mostly in her eyes. Most of the comments from the doctors and nurses were about her full head of long, black hair! In fact, when I stated that her head was harder to push out than my other two, Dr. Haskett said, "It must be all the hair!".... I remember the nurse who took her to wipe her down said, "Oh she has a dimple!" I was SOooo excited about that!! It is one of my favorite features about myself and I have always hoped one of my kids would inherit them.... even if she only has one, I was so happy! Dr. Haskett thought it was funny I was so excited about that and said, "I figured you'd be most excited about all the hair?".... I told him, "Eh, my babies always have hair!" Hahaha.

She came out screaming her entrance and was the first of my kids to not have the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, so Steve actually was asked for the first time ever if he wanted to cut it, which of course he declined! I'm still surprised he stays in the room for the birth of our babies, he gets really queasy and doesn't like the thought of the pain it must cause.... funny, huh?! My labors with both my girls have been extremely painful, but birthing them is not.... nothing about Ry's labor and delivery were very painful.

I got a lot of skin to skin time with Hallie and she took to breastfeeding great and right away! I couldn't decide who she looked like, but Steve thought she looked more like Emarie than Ryker, and I started to see that too. She mostly gets comments on her hair and her lips. It's debatable where those lips came from since Steve and I both have pretty full lips, but her hair definitely came from me since I had a full head of black hair when I was first born as well. Either way, we both agreed that she is beautiful, and BIG! She came out weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz beating her brother by a pound and her sister by 2 pounds! Quite long again at 20.5 inches (which is what Ry was as well, but a pound less). Her complexion was pretty dark coming out like her brother's, so I was pretty sure she'd be showing some high bilirubins like he did as well, and I was right, but I'll get to that later.

Her first visitor other than Lacey, was my mom that came just an hour two after her arrival. Other than that we didn't have any more visitors until the next day. We had a perfect first night together (Steve went home so that Em and Ry would be able to sleep in their own beds). She breastfed every 2-3 hours through the night, and snuggled with me. They gave me two vaccines that night, a flu shot on my right arm, and per a strong suggestion from them since my asthma was reported to be pretty bad during my pregnancy, a pneumonia vaccine. I had never had one of these before, and also have actually never had pneumonia, but I didn't think too much of it. I regretted getting it though!

Our next day was nice, Steve came and brought the other kids to meet their new little sister the next morning, and we had a few other visitors throughout the day (Steve's parents, grandpa Mitch ((my step-father)), my grandma and grandpa Wilde and my cousin Alexis). That night is when things started to go south. I had been feeling great postpartum (I usually do feel pretty well since I have such difficult pregnancies, I usually feel so much better when I'm not pregnant), actually I felt better than ever since I didn't have any stitches, so really just had the postpartum contractions to deal with, but even they were not very bad and didn't last nearly as long as they usually do. I actually wasn't taking any narcotics, just the ibuprofen. But that all changed when I woke at 2 am on the 24th..... I had the most searing pain in my arm where I'd got the pneumonia vaccine, I could barely move my arm, couldn't put any weight on it (to pull myself up in the bed), and honestly the pain was liken to a broken bone. I called the nurse and when she came in, I let her know that something wasn't right. So, she checked it and said, "it does look awful red, they can become irritated, I'll grab you a heat pack".... Irritated??! No, my flu shot area was irritated, this was WAY worse! And yeah, the heat pack didn't help much and I was rating my pain at 9 at this point. The nurse knew then that something was off, because she could see in my chart that I hadn't rated my pain above a 4 since having my baby. So she called the doctor and they suggested it was probably an allergic reaction and ordered benadryl. I still wasn't terribly satisfied with this, but being as I'd never had a reaction to a vaccine before, I didn't know what to expect. The benadryl knocked me out though, so I fell asleep until Hallie woke up again at 5 am, that's when I took this picture....

                                                

It started with two bright red, thumbprint sized welts and the pain was unimaginable. I knew when I saw it that it was infected. But still no one would listen to me. Every time the nurses came in, I was rating my pain and saying it was only coming from my arm. I kept saying I thought it was infected, they gave me more benadryl, even sent in someone from the pharmacy to train me in reactions and what to avoid. I told her that I knew it wasn't a reaction, she told me to keep an eye on it. By the time I was getting ready to be discharged that afternoon, the two little welts had morphed into a large red patch, but still they gave me more benadryl, then sent me home.

By that night, I spiked a high fever, tremors, was delirious and exhibiting other flu-like symptoms, so Steve took me to the ER where I was diagnosed with a serious case of cellulitis. I was given an IV and an infusion of an antibiotic, as well as started an oral antibiotic and was sent home even though the doctor said he would normally admit me under the circumstances, but with all the sickness they had and likely my immune system was compromised when it was doing all it could to fight this infection, he didn't think it would be safe for me there. So I was given the script for the orals, then given instructions on going to outpatient IV therapy.

                                 

We took Hallie's newborn pictures up in Salt Lake the next day since we already had the studio reserved. I didn't feel well all that day even after having the two different antibiotics in my system. I went to my first outpatient infusion that night and after getting home, I felt horrible, and that's when Steve noticed how much the redness had spread on my arm. It was also incredibly swollen at this point.

                                            

I was so exhausted, I ended up falling asleep, but woke up in the middle of the night with such pain in my arm and now feeling it in my side and back, so I went back to the ER at 4 am. They added another oral and another infusion. He told me that these were the strongest antibiotics I could be on, so if they didn't work, he wasn't sure what the next step would be, I became pretty scared at this point. So I went to IV therapy morning and night for up to 3 hours at a time for a total of 8 days of treatment. It took until I took my very last oral antibiotic for the pain to completely go away, but my skin is still darkened (bruise-like) where the infection was the worst, it took the longest to get out of my elbow. But I finally feel better from it all, though it was one of the hardest things medically I've gone through, and definitely wasn't fun dealing with it right after I had a baby.

                                             

                                                          My picc line I had for 8 days

All of this pretty much made Hallie completely shy away from breastfeeding, so once again I'm exclusively pumping and she is getting bottled breastmilk. So, once again my supply is ridiculously abundant and I'm making way more than she's eating. So far I haven't had any signs of infection, but that could be that I still have a lot of antibiotics in my system.... but I hope not. I've already begun donating since I'm putting more than 40 ounces in the freezer on top of what she's eating everyday. She is getting her lip tie revised next week, and I'm hoping to go back to lactation and hopefully get her back to breastfeeding again.

And yes, she had pretty high elevated bilirubin levels, actually got above the 20 mark, but thankfully our pediatrician took pity on our situation (when I was getting treatment), and she never had to go under the lights even. We just did our best to make sure she was getting enough food (and it really helped when I just gave up and let her have bottles for every feeding) and keeping her near the window and even taking her outside once and awhile. Her complexion is still quite dark though, and I know Ry's had completely corrected itself at this point, so I don't know if it is part of her coloring now.... so, we shall see.

But that's it, now for the good part.... here's her birth video (G rated again!), pictures were all by Steve and Lacey Lynn.


   

Hallie LaRue Peters a Birth Story Part 1

9/21/14

My last full day of pregnancy... Tomorrow I will be induced for the first time ever. I'm feeling very indifferent right now. Part of me is sad that this is most likely the last full day I will be pregnant. I'm guessing that part will become more pronounced once this is all truly over. But mostly right now, I mostly feel immense relief that it will be over soon. 

Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks since I started labor.... Labor that doesn't do what it's supposed to do, as in, I'm not dilating. It is the same thing that happened with Em, and I'm not sure I can truly portray to you how awful it was then. Only those that witnessed it firsthand can really know. That would be mainly Steve, but my brother and sister-in-law who were living with us at the time, were front row witnesses too. Though when the worst was going on, it was right after their baby was born, so they had more to focus on. But I consistently contracted with her for two weeks.... Yes, that means I had strong contractions every 5-7 minutes for 2 weeks straight. The last 72 hours before she was born, was pure hell. I had hard labor contractions (those are what are considered the pushing contractions at the very end, not supposed to last 72 hours, and not suppose to start before you've even dilated), these contractions were on top of each other, so I couldn't sleep, eat, or even feel like I could breathe, it was terrible. 

I can't even tell you how many times I went to the hospital during that time, only to be continuously sent home. The nurses felt awful because they could see the contractions, but my doctor wouldn't do anything because I wasn't progressing, I still was not dilated even a half a centimeter, only about 40% effaced, my water hadn't broken and I wasn't past my due date. I was offered shots of morphine, but I quickly learned that they didn't help much, so I began declining them. The last time I left there before being able to stay, I remember the nurse saying to come back if it got any worse, after all it was finally my due date... But I remember thinking that if it got any worse, I'd probably be dead. 

That night I kept switching from our jacuzzi in the master bath (I miss our house) to the bed. Steve was rubbing my back and applying counter pressure to my hips. I was so exhausted, but amidst the biggest contraction yet, I finally exclaimed that we could go to the hospital and they wouldn't be able to send me home! Steve asked why, and I said, my water broke! He asked if I was sure, and I said I was positive. Seeing it though, Steve asked if it was supposed to be that color.... Green and a lot of blood, I told him I didn't think so, and we should probably get there soon. I hopped in the shower real fast, still heavily contracting, but with a new found energy and adrenaline knowing the end was finally in sight. Steve got us to the hospital at lightning speed, and when a security guard saw us coming in, he quickly grabbed a wheelchair and escorted us up. 

It was rather slow that night (most people plan better than to have their baby's birthday on Christmas Eve I suppose... But probably people who don't have problems conceiving), so I was able to get my epidural within 15 mins of arriving. When checked, I still was barely a half a centimeter, so the nurses told me it would probably be awhile and that I should get some rest. I didn't need to be told twice... But my nap didn't last long, I woke up and there was a nurse in there because she was concerned about her heart rate. I told her I felt like I was going to throw up, so she got me a bucket, and then lifted the sheet to check the monitors on my belly. She then panicked, saying if you throw up, your baby will be out, and I don't have a doctor. She then hit buttons for medical emergency and in came a full team, turns out they were concerned about the fluid color as well, and the fact that this happened so fast. I went from not dilated hardly at all, to baby crowning in 15 minutes. And little miss Em pretty much birthed herself, I never even pushed, which is probably good since I don't think I contained the strength to do so. 

Em was born under complete distress, with a low heart rate, pretty much listless and not breathing. It felt like an enternity to finally hear her strained cry. They kept trying to suction and vacuum out her lungs, but were having a really hard time, and that's when they discovered her cleft and all her other issues and whisked her to the NICU before I could even get a good look at her. We didn't see her again for 6 hours and most of you know the rest... 

Of course I had anxiety about Ryker's birth being that bad, but his was actually perfect in hindsight. I had maybe 2 days or contractions and dilated fine. My doctor did break my water, but I was already a 6 by then, but my cervix still hadn't moved from it's extremely posterior normal position. But once my water was broken, things really progressed and he was born about 2 hours later, with hardly any pushing as well. So after that, I chalked Em's horrible birth to being related to her special needs.... But I'm doing the same thing now, so it's enough to make anyone anxious about the outcome. 

Thankfully though, this one hasn't been nearly as bad as all that. But still really hard. The contractions are more pressure contractions that start below my ribs, and are like a strong wave that goes all the way down to my legs. Some are a lot more painful than others, they are lasting 1:30-2 minutes and coming about 5 minutes apart. But I'm still a 2 like I've been for the past month now. My doctor has taken pity on me, but not soon enough in my opinion, but at least it will be over tomorrow and I can finally meet this little girl who's been causing all this trouble ;)

I got a call a little after 5 this evening from the hospital wanting to know if I was still planning on coming in the next day, unfortunately they couldn't give me any kind of time frame, only told me which number I was on the list. I hated not knowing, but what could I do.

To be continued.....