Rylie's Birth Story and the Complications After

Warning!  This post may include some information that is TMI.  It's really not too bad, I promise but I do feel the need to post this warning just in case.

I feel the need to post this, because if my situation can help at least one person, going through any part of this to feel like they are not alone, then it's worth sharing this personal story and struggle.

It's taken me a while to be able to post this.  There are a few reasons for this.  One is that I haven't had easy access to a computer to type this up.  Shawn has a laptop for work and we have a desktop in the bedroom but since we don't like the kids playing in our bedroom much, that computer doesn't get used much.

Another reason I haven't posted this is because I'm still dealing with the lasting effects of the complications and new things keep popping up.

When I had Ben, I was induced and after about 8 hours of intense labor his heart rate started dropping dangerously low.  They ended up having to do an emergency c-section.  My doctor, as I'm sure most doctors do, likes to do c-sections after that first one because there is an increased risk to the mom and baby.

This pregnancy was a difficult and somewhat stressful pregnancy.  You may remember the early complications right after we found out we were pregnant.  If you don't remember, you can read about it here.  These complications led to restrictions and a lot of worry and anxiety throughout the whole pregnancy.

Tuesday, February 14th, we all got up nice and early to go have our new baby girl.  Shawn's father stayed with Ben and Sydney at our house and Shawn and I, as well as his mom, my mom, my sister, and my brother, all headed up to the hospital.

I got changed so they could start doing all the tests and getting me ready.

Then it was Shawn's turn to get dressed.

My husband is such a goofball, and also a little to big for the paper scrubs they gave him.  He was so nervous about ripping the pants that he had to have his mom put his booties on for him.  He's always good for calming your nerves because he's quite the comedian. 

Before long it was time for the walk back.  To me this is the scariest part.  It's the part I dreaded the most, well maybe next to the spinal.  (I'm not a needle person.)

When they take you into the OR, they make your spouse sit outside while they get you prepped.  They give you a spinal and are setting up the room all around you.  Before long you are laying on a table, numb from mid chest down with a big sheet pinned up blocking your vision, so you have no idea what's going on below it.  That's when they let your spouse in to sit right next to your head.  

As soon as I got the spinal, my blood pressure dropped.  I've never really had blood pressure problems before and it dropped so low so fast that I had no idea what was going on.  It was the weirdest feeling and probably one of the scariest feelings I've ever experienced.  I felt nauseous, and like I pretty much had checked out.  I couldn't see, my eye sight had gone really blurry and it took serious concentration to keep my left eye looking in the same direction of my right, and I felt so exhausted all I could do was zone out. They had to give me several different meds in my IV, and by shots in my leg to help with both the blood pressure and the nausea problems.  I didn't have any reactions even close to like this with either of my other deliveries.

Still, Rylie Jane Tiemann was born healthy.  This is the first delivery that Shawn got to cut the umbilical cord.  I was really excited for him to get to do that.

While in recovery, I battled with some nausea again as well as itching from the morphine they gave me.  Luckily this didn't postpone any of the time that I got to spend loving up and feeding Rylie.  This is where they start the torturous pressing on your belly to check on your uterus and your bleeding.  It's absolutely painful and they do it quite frequently for the next few days. 

After I was taken back to the room, the Grandmas, Aunt Courtney, and Uncle Andy got to meet Rylie and before long Grandpa Andy was there with Ben and Sydney.  They had gone out and gotten beautiful roses and made beautiful cards to welcome Rylie on Valentine's Day.  It was so sweet.

That evening, I started experience excruciating chest and shoulder pain.  My doctor came in and both he and the nurse didn't know what was going on.  That didn't make me feel too good to hear, but they put me on some kind of pain medication through a pump.  

By the next day I was doing better, but I was still not able to get up out of the bed without getting really dizzy.  Shawn and the kids came up to visit.  I was so happy that Ben and Sydney love their little sister so much.

They ended up having to give me a blood transfusion.  I just don't remember which night exactly.  When you're in the hospital for 3 nights, it all sort of runs together after a while.

By Friday, it was time to go home and I was getting around pretty well.  The whole rest of the family however had caught a cold.  When we went home it became the fun game of keep the baby away from the sick family.  By Tuesday, I had started to come down with whatever they had.  Also, I had turned black from hip to hip and from my belly button all the way down to my incision and my whole abdomen was tender to the touch.  I called my doctor and they wanted to see me pretty much immediately.  He put me on an antibiotic and after calling in an associate he said that in 15 years, he'd never seen bruising like this.  

The bruising finally started to get better after the next couple of days, but the tenderness was taking longer to get better.  Also, I had started having problems with cramping when I ate.  I would eat about 2 or 3 bites and my stomach would cramp up and I couldn't eat anymore.  He put me on some medicine hoping that would work and they sent me in for a CT.  

I've had a CT before, but only of my foot, not of my stomach and pelvis so I guess I really didn't know what to expect.  I thought I would be in and out.  I had no idea that it would take about 3 hours.  They gave me this huge big gulp sized cup filled with a drink that tasted like crystal light.  I had to drink it pretty quickly and then wait for about 45 minutes.  Then, they took me back to a prep room where I was given an IV and had blood work done for some more lab work.  Then they take you in to actually get the CT done.  It takes all of 10 minutes tops, but then they take you into recovery where you are watched by nurses and they give you something to drink and a little snack.  It turned out that I had a pretty large hematoma in my stomach which had caused the bruising and the pain.  

Through all of this I was battling some other issues.  I was so excited for the new baby and our new family but I was stressing about not having a place to live at the end of the month and also fighting my hormones.  I felt like everything Shawn said or did was a personal attack on me, and everything made me cry.  Even as I type this now, thinking about it makes me cry.  The kids walking in on me two minutes into my shower made me burst into tears to the point where I was crying so hard I couldn't breath.  

I'm still battling all of this.  The emotional roller coaster, the stomach cramps when I eat, anemia, and still a little pain from the actual surgery itself .  I'm now taking medications all of these things.  It's been rough but I know that with my support system, my amazing children and husband, as well as our close friends and wonderful extended family, I'll get through it.