: : : Karli's Birth Story : : :

 (Scroll Down for Photos from her Birth and Hospital Stay)

We woke up around 7:30am on the morning of Thursday, August 5th. My cesarean section was scheduled for 11:00AM.   I wasn't able to eat or drink anything after 3am.  It didn't take long for the butterflies to start dancing in my empty stomach. I was so nervous. Nervous about the surgery, the health of my unborn baby girl, and nervous about leaving my sons for three days.  Uncle Dean showed up to watch the boys and we left for the hospital at 8:30AM. We were told to check in at the Admitting Department by 9:00AM. With Chase we ran a little late and caught some grief about it, so I made sure we were early this time. And boy were we early.  Things moved very very slow the first hour.

Once we were up in Labor and Delivery, I changed into the hospital gown, and waited for the nurse to come in and ask me a few dozen questions.  Time seemed to be moving so slow, and there wasn't anything exciting going on to help the time go by, so Ken went down to the gift shop to buy some cards so we could play Rummy.  After a few hands, the nurse who was going to assist in the surgery room came in and introduced herself and put my IV in. I have to say that was the first time that the IV wasn't killing my arm afterwards.  Usually it hurts when I bend my arm or hand, and for once it felt fine. I thought to myself...maybe this was a sign of more good things to come.  We played some more Rummy and about 10:30AM - my Mom, Ken's Mom, Dad, and Aunt Linda, showed up.

The anesthesiologist came in and went over the procedure for my surgery. I explained to him how I have a hard time getting spinals and that I always end up needing to get poked many times.  He promised to do his best and that he would hopefully only have to stick me once. At this time I felt myself really start to get nervous.  The nurse had come in and told me that my doctor was running a bit late.  More nervous.  No more playing cards, I couldn't focus.

My doctor arrived and checked in with me to be sure all was okay before they brought me back for surgery.  I was caught off guard by her "Hello, let's go" demeanor. I wanted to tell her to slow down...but I knew that there was no preventing the inevitable.  My baby girl was going to be born that day...may as well get it done. Ken dressed in scrubs and my family gave me hugs and kisses and left for the waiting room.

As I was wheeled back through the double doors, about 11:50AM, I couldn't help but feel like I had just done this. Sure it was 20 months prior, but it sure felt like yesterday.  I said some last minute prayers and tried to fight back the tears. For some reason I think I was the most scared than I ever was with any of the boys.  In some ways the whole moment felt like a dream. I kept telling myself that it was real. I was about to have the baby girl that I have always wanted.  As the anesthesiologist started to prepare my back for the spinal I kept telling myself that over and over.

Poke number one. Not good. Poke number two. Not good either. Three? Nope, no go. One more time the doctor had said. My OB doctor and the attending doctor were on each side of me, making sure I didn't move. The attending doctor kept trying to talk to me, but my answers were real short. There was nothing that was going to distract me from what was happening to my body. The anesthesiologist then said that he was going to try to move farther down my back to see if he could find a better spot.  I kept thinking all these bad thoughts. I was going to die. I would never hold my daughter. I was a mess. Just then I felt this jolt of the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life down my back, down my left leg, all the way down to my toes.  I can't even describe it other than it was sort of like a jolt of electricity or something. I jerked my leg and right away all three doctors knew what happened. I started to cry. Not just tears, but out loud. I let out all the fear I had bottled up inside my body along with the pain I had just experienced. I no longer wanted to be strong. My OB doctor explained that the doctor had hit a nerve, that is why I felt the pain. But the spinal worked and everything would be okay. I told her that I was scared. The pain was gone, my tears were from the fear and I don't think anyone understood that.  She assured me everything was okay now, and they told me I had to lay down right away. As the anesthesiologist apologized for the 3rd time, they put my catheter in and started to prep my belly for surgery.  Ken came in and I had to fight back another burst of tears. I told him what happened and being able to tell him made me feel better.  I didn't feel so alone anymore.

I believe it was about 12:10PM at this point.  The doctors began their magic. Just as with Chase, I had a lot of scar tissue. So much that they went through several pairs of scissors. You could hear the sounds of the snipping and the doctors talking back and forth about how long it was taking.  Normally the whole entire procedure takes about an hour and here we were already pushing an hour just trying to deliver my daughter into the world.  I felt a little nauseated here and there and the anesthesiologist was able to control that with a medication he put in my IV. I felt some tugging, and pushing, it began to get a little uncomfortable, but before I had time to think about it...

Karli Reese was born at 1:03PM. She began crying instantly.  I honestly can not even remember what was said by Ken or the doctors at this point. All the years I have dreamed of having a baby girl and having someone say "It's A Girl" in the delivery room and I can't even remember who said what.  I went to my own little place at that time. Thanking God. Feeling thankful. Blessed.

After they cleaned Karli up a bit and did their vitals and such....they moved her bassinet over in my view so I could watch what they were doing while they sewed me up.  Her Apgar scores were 8 and 9. The nurse gave her a bit of oxygen in between using the syringe to suck out the mucous from her mouth. For awhile I had no idea what was going on on the other side of the blue cover hanging across my chest. I was focused on my baby girl. Looking at her hair, her face, her tiny body.  She didn't cry too much, but when she did, it was more of a low whimper.  She was beautiful. Perfect. Everything I could ever want and more. I wanted to hold her so bad. I wanted to smell her and kiss her.  I wanted to see if it felt any different to hold a baby girl.

After hearing the doctors making some comments that made me feel like they were having problems, I started to ask Ken what was going on. He told me that he they were trying to close my uterus back up but there was a lot of bleeding. I actually didn't get worried until the anesthesiologist started to ask me if I felt any pain. That didn't seem normal to me, why would I feel pain? Just then I realized that it had been over an hour already. Then I heard my OB doctor ask the nurse to call for a surgeon to come into the room. I started to try to play close attention to what was being said between all the medical staff.

Once the surgeon came in the room my doctor had asked for his opinion.  She couldn't get my uterus to stop bleeding.  He told her that she just needed to keep doing what she was doing. He began to help her a bit. I heard something about how I could not put my body through this again. I believe it was the surgeon that suggested that my doctor tie my tubes right then. My doctor said that she hadn't even seen my tubes with all the bleeding going on.  I asked Ken to describe to me what was going on. He said that every time my doctor tried to stitch up an area, another spot would start bleeding again. There were many burn spots on my uterus where they cauterized it in attempt to stop the bleeding. 

I began to feel pain so they started to administer pain meds through my IV. I think I had to ask for pain meds about 3 times. And each time they gave me a dose, I had to get something to stop the nausea too. Finally two hours after Karli was born they had my body put back together.  I was disappointed when my doctor told me that she had to use staples instead of the dissolvable stitches for my incision.  I had staples the first time and it hurt a bit when they pulled them out.  Things could have been worse though, so it was not a huge deal.

FINALLY I got to hold my baby girl! I was then wheeled into the recovery room and Ken and I began bonding with Karli.  I nursed her right away and she did great. She was a real good sucker! No problems there at all. Ken went and got our family and the two grandmas each held her for a couple of minutes.  I began to itch from the pain medication and it took ages for them to get me some Benedryl.  It didn't seem to work that much anyway. By the time I was in my regular room I starting feeling nauseated again too. By the time they brought me a medication for that, most of the nausea had passed. I did get sick a couple of times, but I was thankful it passed quickly. 

I began to feel really sleepy. The nurses had Karli down at the nursery to bathe her and let the pediatrician check her.  By then it was just Ken and my mom there in my room and both of them left around 5pm so I could rest.  With all the nurses coming in and out nonstop I think I slept all of 20 minutes and then I started to get visitors that evening.

Karli didn't cry much that first day. She liked being wrapped up tightly and her eyes were closed the entire time. I nursed her about every 2-3 hours even if she wasn't fussy, just to get a pattern going and to hopefully help my milk come in.  That night I got up to clean up a bit before bedtime. I was very surprised that I didn't feel much worse than I did considering how tough the surgery was. I think I was most thankful to get the feeling back in my left leg. I kept thinking that I was going to be paralyzed or something!

The rest of my hospital stay went pretty good. I was able to function on my own by the second morning and was so happy to get everything unhooked from my body so I could move freely.  I can't stand that the nurses have to come in and take your vitals so often, especially at night. It is bad enough that you can't sleep good with a brand new baby, let alone them coming in to wake you up. There is something about being able to take a shower for the first time after surgery too. It feels great! The fact they have a chair that you can sit down in the shower is a nice added touch too!

 Ken brought the boys up the second day and they were in awe of Karli.  I loved the feeling I had when they were there. I felt so whole and complete.  I had to explain this to the attending doctor who assisted with my surgery who insisted on telling me over and over that I should not have any more babies.  We already made the decision that this was our last baby, but me telling him that was not enough. He kept saying that he can not emphasize enough how bad it would be for my body.

I ended up staying in the hospital 3 nights instead of 2, like I did with Blake and Chase. I felt that I could use the extra day to rest and relax, because I knew things would be hectic at home.  Besides who doesn't like having someone cook and clean for you, and watch your baby when you need them to! Sunday, when we prepared to go home, the nurses thought that Karli looked a little jaundice. Her pediatrician felt that she didn't look jaundice enough to test her though. She was nursing great. My milk came in that morning. She was sleeping most of the time and still not wanting to open her eyes. It was time to leave and begin life with our new addition.

Ken and I brought our baby girl home. Words I never thought I would be able to say.