Pregnancy Does WHAT to your Gallbladder?!?
So I'm fresh out of the hospital (again) after being admitted from the ER Wednesday for an emergency surgery to remove my infected gallbladder. Pregnant women beware! After enduring this ordeal, at least five women that I know have come forward and said, "Oh yeah, that happened to me, too!" WHO KNEW.
The procedure was laproscopic, so although in a great deal of discomfort, I'm recovering nicely and expect to be back to my old self in no time at all. Minus the gallbladder.
On to the birth story, shall we?
Mom took this picture of Audrey and I the day before we headed to the hospital to be induced. She was so excited for little sister to come out of my tummy. Little did she know it would require mom to be out of commission for so long!
Jason and I overslept. He apparently turned the alarm off instead of hitting snooze, so we both flew out of bed and ended up only being 10 minutes late to the hospital. Not a bad start! After finishing registration, a nurse walked us back to our room, and gave me the famous backless gown to dress in. Someone else came in and started my IV, and before I knew it I had pitocin dripping into my arm and I was contracting like a champ.
My wonderful OB suddenly appeared and announced he was going to break my water to get things going. Having been through this before, I knew he wasn't joking. When I was in labor with Audrey, the breaking of the water was the moment that everything got really intensely painful. Luckily for me, he was UNABLE to break my water. After some heck-a-uncomfortable prodding and reaching, he announced he scratched the bag pretty good, so it may rupture at any time, but if not, he'd be back on his lunch break to break it.
What an interesting existence these OB's have. Breaking women's amniotic fluid sacs on their lunch breaks? Wild. Let me just add here that both my doctor and the nurse were literally ASTOUNDED at the amount of fluid I was carrying that baby in. No wonder I lost 40 pounds by 2 weeks post-partum! In two weeks, I've lost 2 gallons of water, plus another gallon I was carrying around IN MY FEET, a 10 pound baby, and a gallbladder full of stones. Back to the story.
As promised, we saw the OB again at noon, and this time around, I knew to put in a request for the epidural as soon as my water was broken. The anesthesiologist was there in no time, and got me back to feeling comfortable.
As those of you who are on facebook know, I was able to update my facebook status between contractions. In what seemed like no time flat, I went from 6 to 9 cm and was ready to push. Val got there just in time, and out came a healthy 9 lb 14 ounce Alexandria Rose. They put her on a blanket on my stomach and it was the most incredible thing ever. I highly recommend it, despite the obvious pitfalls of such endeavors.
So this story has a happy ending. We now have two beautiful, healthy girls, who could ask for more? Even when the going got tough, both my mom and Jason's mom were here to help us get through it, not to mention multiple offers of help from friends near and far. Thanks everyone!
Alexandria's jaundice/biliruben number went from a 10 to an 18 after we were discharged from the hospital, so our pediatrician had us rent this super little machine called a wallaby or something, that had a hose with a connecting light that could lay right on the baby's skin to help her break down the extra red blood cells in her body.
So somebody may be stuck with the nick name "Glow-worm" for the rest of her life. Cute, huh?
The name may stick, but the jaundice didn't. She got a great report at her 2 week well-baby appointment today, so we are ready to rock and roll into the sunset with our family of four!
Thanks again all for your prayers, well wishes, love, and helping us welcome our new little princess!
