Hospital Round 2

On September 11, at 9 days postpartum, I had a regularly scheduled doctors appointment to check up on me and Phoebe. Because the appointment was during nap time Becky so graciously took Jack. I went to the appointment and told them I was feeling really good and had stopped bleeding in the last 12 hours. They checked over Phoebe and let us know we looked good and could head on our way. As I was getting Phoebe packed up to go I had a sudden gush of blood. I called the doctor back in and let her know that I had soaked a pad in minutes. She said that if I soaked another in an hour I should give them a call and think about going to the hospital. I went to the bathroom to change my pad and started having intense pain. I sat in the bathroom for about an hour not really knowing what to do. I was in too much pain to drive home. The pain eventually subsided and I realized I had passed a large amounts of clots. I figured it was just a big gush that was over. I headed to the pharmacy that was in the building. While standing there for the 5 minutes it took to fill the prescription I soaked another pad. I decided that I really couldn't go home with out talking to my doctor again as I would just worry. I went back into the clinic and talked to my doctor. My blood pressure had spiked and I was continuing to soak pads. The decision was made that I needed to go to the doctors office. I called Chrissy to come pick me up as I was starting to have a headache and feeling dizzy. By the time I reached the emergency room I really wasn't feeling good. I was light headed and the pain was starting to ramp back up. Tim arrived shortly after I did and was able to take Phoebe as I didn't feel safe holding her. After going through triage and waiting to get seen the pain really intensified. I lay down on a little couch and shed a few tears while trying to breathe through the pain. It felt like I had a contraction that wouldn't go away. Tim was really stressed out and trying to find somebody to get me seen as fast as possible. The kindest lady approached us and held my hand. She said she had also had a postpartum hemorrhage long ago with her daughter and she knew how scared I was. It helped to take my mind off the pain. She said, "I know how weird this is but I am going to leave you my pillow for a little bit of comfort." She had been a patient and was just being a kind human. I couldn't have appreciated her more and the pillow was super nice to have while at the hospital. We were finally taken in and seen by a doctor. The ER doctor felt that I had a bit of retained placenta. I was given some pain management, dilaudid, and sent for an ultra sound. While at the ultra sound I could hardly move I was in so much pain. Going from the wheelchair to the table was more than I could take and put me into full shakes. Unfortunately nothing was seen on ultrasound so the ER doctor did an internal exam and removed a bunch of clots. This helped to relieve some of the pain but I was still bleeding. Dr. Albrecht, a high risk OB, consulted and made the decision to admit me as I would need a D&C. She was fabulous and managed to get me a private room so that Tim and Phoebe could stay with me. This was great so that I could continue to nurse Phoebe. 

Side Note: The med student with Dr. Albrecht took my history and asked what meds I was on. I told him what I had been on for pregnancy and that now I was just taking the prenatal vitamin. He was shocked and thought we were trying to get pregnant already.... The next day I was taken in for the D&C. I was told that the procedure would take about 10 minutes. I came out of the OR about 2 1/2 hours later feeling like I had been run over by a bus. Dr. Birch had taken over my care from Dr. Albrecht. During the D&C, the blood and clots were cleaned out but I started to really bleed and they couldn't get it stopped. They had to put in a Bakari uterine catheter. This applied pressure to my uterus to slow the bleeding. Dr. Birch estimated I lost 500ml- 1000ml of blood. When I went into the OR the my Hgb was 83. When I came out of the OR my Hgb was 63. I received 2 units of blood. The 2 units were incredible and made me feel so much more alive. The next morning I was taken for another ultrasound. Due to the large amount of blood loss during surgery Dr. Birch wondered if I had an atrio-ventricular malformation (AVM). This is where an artery and vein grow together and eventually rupture. They saw a bright spot of bleeding but not necessarily an AVM. Regardless they couldn't get the bleeding to stop so they decided they would have to do an angiogram with ablation. I went down to the angio suite where they did the procedure. It was super crazy to see all my arteries light up. They were able to locate my uterine arteries and shoot this foam in that blocked the blood flow to stop the bleeding. They mentioned in the beginning that it might be slightly painful when the foam went in but I could possibly have something for pain. When the time came I asked for more pain management. My body was exhausted and I did not want to deal with anymore intense pain. Through out this entire process we kept thinking just this one more procedure and I will be fine but things kept getting worse. Tim and my Uncle Mark gave me a blessing of peace and comfort before I went for the angiogram. I was starting to get stressed and panicked. I had a lot of postpartum hormones coursing through me and all I wanted to do was feed and care for my sweet little baby. Tim was amazing from the very beginning. He went to the NICU and knocked on the door to the RT room. The RT's took care of us and gave us diapers and bottles. My family also stepped in and cared for Jack. Tannis came down that night and stayed with Jack. Tannis then packed Jack up and took him to Edmonton where he stayed for a week with the Dudley's. I missed Jack and was really looking forward to our family being together but I could not have Jack with me as I was in far too much pain and things were changing too fast. People from our ward brought meals and took care of our food drive route. We were blessed beyond measure and truly had a village taking care of us. 

Not too sure what to think of the bottle. She took it like a champ. Unfortunately once I was able to return to breastfeeding she was no longer interested in a bottle. 

 Grandma to the rescue. 

After 4 days I was so ready to go home. 

We sure love cousins. Apparently Jack slipped right back into his old routine. He is obsessed with Quinn going to school and continues to tell us on the regular.

Massive thank you to all those who came to our rescue. We literally couldn't have survived without all the help. 

Week 1

Jack is so obsessed with Phoebe. He continues to call her Harper. We have even tried Facetiming Harper and it just throws poor Jack for a loop. 

 First bath for Phoebe.

 This little lady is lovely. She snuggles in so nicely, is very bright eyed and eats like a champ. She slept really well her first night home but it has been downhill from there. She has a bit of day/night confusion and insane amounts of gas. I have to rub her tummy regularly and she really explodes! We are still getting to know each other but I am seriously in love with her. 

 I still can't believe these two are mine. 

 You know you are loved and accepted by your brother when he shows you his guns. 

 The weather is still so nice and I have been feeling really good. In the evenings Jack and I have been going on short walks/quad rides to the park in the townhouses. It is nice to get out of the house. I will be so sad when the weather cools off and the snow flies. 

 So grateful to the Dudley's. They made a speedy trip to Airdrie to pick up Jack and meet Phoebe. Erin wanted to come to my delivery but unfortunately she was working another night shift. Maybe next time....??? 

 While Jack was gone Tim and I went out for supper and played games. It is amazing how easy it is to go out with a baby that sleeps all the time and can't run away. We might as well enjoy it while we can! 

We also soaked up all the baby snuggles. 

 On Friday we made a quick trip to Edmonton to pick up Jack. Quinn and Tannis were pretty excited to meet her.

 Having a girl is a pretty big change. We are going to have to up our bow game. 

 Family time on Sunday. We made caramel popcorn and enjoyed hours of football. 

It still hasn't really sunk in that I have two kids. I am a little nervous to be left alone with them but I am looking forward to finding our new normal. 

Phoebe Arlene Wright

On September 2, 2017 at 3:29 AM, Phoebe Arlene Wright made her grand entrance into the world. She weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz, length 20 inches (52 cm), and head circumference 35cm.
I had my membranes stretched for the second time on August 31. I was exhausted and desperate for anything to work. Nothing exciting except for lots of Braxton Hicks. On September 1 the Braxton Hicks continued. Tim asked me a few times that evening if I thought I was in labour but I had given up hope of this baby coming on her own. Jack and I went on an evening walk to enjoy the last moments of summer sunshine. We came home and got ready for bed. Tim and I enjoyed our current obsession of the TV show Downton Abbey. At this point it was about 10:30 PM and I was starting to be quite uncomfortable. Tim kept asking if I was in labour but it was so hard to say as nothing was very regular. I relaxed for a bit in a bath but nothing seemed to change. Tim went to bed around 11 but I couldn't relax enough to go to sleep. I cleaned the kitchen and listened to an audio book. Over the next hour and a half my contractions became more painful and 5 minutes apart. I downloaded a contraction timer that told me multiple times to, "Pack your bags and head to the hospital!" I didn't believe it because I was handling the contractions really well by walking through them and my water still hadn't broke. I sat down on the couch and was able to have periods of sleep. My contractions went 12-15 minutes apart. I thought for sure things were slowing down and this was the end. Tim woke back up around 12:30 to check on me and help where he could. We turned on a movie and tried to just relax and see where things went. Between 1:00 -1:30 my contractions suddenly ramped back up and I believe I started to transition to the end stages of labour. I started to feel like I couldn't do it and threw up into the toilet. Tim called his mom and she came as fast as she could. She got there just after 2:00. The last thing I did was go upstairs and give my sweet Jack a kiss and told him how much I love him. It was hard to believe that when I came back home things would be different in a good way but Jack would no longer be my only baby.
We loaded into the car and as we drove I was starting to feel a bit of pressure low in my body. My water still had not broken and I thought there was no way this is what they talk about when women say they need to push. Tim drove as fast as he safely could to the hospital. The Foothills hospital is under so much construction and it took us forever to park. We parked pretty much as far away as possible and then the doors were locked to the building. Tim had to buzz a few times but security finally answered and let us through. As we reached the main floor elevators I felt something slip and my water broke everywhere. I did a quick check to  make sure my baby wasn't between my legs and hopped on the elevator. When we reached triage at 3:05 I was in between contractions and started to answer there questions of name, how many weeks etc. As another contraction started to build I felt immense pressure to push and realized we were at the end. I let the nurse know and they rushed me back into triage, did a quick check and confirmed that my baby was right there and ready to come out. I died a little on the inside as I was really wanting an epidural. I did ask for one but was promptly declined. They wheeled me back into a delivery suite and told me not to push. This was basically impossible but the doctor and nurse were ready pretty quick. Tim was in the corner not sure what he was supposed to do. The nurse asked him if he had a camera. Tim said that he did. The nurse replied that he had better get it out and come to my head because we were having a baby now. Tim was shocked. He thought he still had a few hours.
The pain and pressure was so intense and hard to push through. I was mentally not ready for a natural birth and kept repeating to the nurse that I did not want to do this, I really did not want to do this! I really wanted an epidural. My nurse was amazing and told me that my baby was doing fine and I could take a second to breathe and when I was ready I would push a baby out. 25 minutes after checking into triage Phoebe entered the world. It was pretty crazy and very overwhelming. I had an insane amount of adrenaline pumping through my body and couldn't stop shaking. Phoebe screamed for the first while, had a good eat and then slept for the next few hours.

 Love this little family of mine. Jack was so excited to come visit. He kept calling the baby Harper. He was right jazzed to come eat some pizza and snuggle Phoebe. It really is crazy how much bigger Jack is and how he makes Phoebe look so small. He doesn't understand how life has changed. I think through his eyes he is on a great adventure. Lots of family around, treats at every turn and going to new places.

 We enjoyed lots of visitors and quiet hospital snuggles. 

 Because I had a natural delivery we didn't have to stay in the hospital very long. Once Phoebe had a pee and poop diaper we were free to go. We left that night around 9:00. It was fabulous to go home and sleep in my own bed.

August Bits in Between

We literally squeezed every last drop out of summer. We couldn't have asked for better Summer weather. It was so much fun to spend all our days outside. We hit up all kinds of parks with all different friends. A lunch was packed just about every day and eaten outside at varying locations. Life was good and magical. 

On the rare moments we were at home things usually got destructed. 

Doctor appointments really cramped our style. We had to go all the way into Calgary for them. On the upside there was a really good park kitty corner to the office. After the appointments we would play until I knew it would be an easy bedtime. 

Chasing a ridiculous amount of bunnies while we waited for Stake Conference to start. 

Solar Eclipse! I didn't do research and thought I could just watch it while at the park. Good thing I texted a friend and she invited me over to watch with a welding helmet. Turns out staring at the sun isn't good for your eyes.... duh! I wasn't really sure what was supposed to happen so it is a good thing I had a friend who did slightly more research than me. It was pretty neat to see it through the welding mask. For about a short time it seemed like dusk out. So crazy! 

Last day of work. I love my job. I love the people and the babies. I will miss using my brain in a critical thinking kind of way but I look forward to this year to refocus and add to our current adventure. 

Squeezed in a little bit of time for nesting. I have discovered a new GF flour and it is the bomb. I am not normally one to support MLM marketing but this flour is amazing and has allowed me to cook so many more foods and no grainy texture. Thrive GF flour you are king! 6 chicken pot pies were made. It took far more effort than I imagined but I assume it will be worth it as the one eaten for supper was delicious. 

Bedtime shenanigans. This kid is obsessed with pumpkins, 

Park with friends.