July 29th crept up on us faster than we had expected. I only had two weeks from learning baby and I were candidates for this surgery to be outside as much as possible and to go out and do things each and every day. After this surgery I was told by the doctors that I would be on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy, which could last up to 14 weeks; meaning going out and walking around was no longer an option.
Luckily Mike and I were able to take off the weekend before the surgery for New York to celebrate the wedding of close friends of ours and we had a BLAST! It was an amazing wedding and we were so lucky to be able to see our friends and spend time with them before this life changing event.
July 29th came and it was time to head to the hospital. Mike and I walked into the Von Voightlander Women's Hospital at the University of Michigan (http://www.uofmhealth.org/our-locations/womens-hospital) and checked in. It was amazing to hear all of the people who were awaiting our arrival. This is a major surgery and I had so many, about 18 different doctors and surgeons who met with me that day to talk to me about what they would be doing in part of the surgery. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful all of my doctors are and how thankful I am to have them in my life and the life of my baby boy. If I could tell you all about them, I would, but for names sake, that's between me and my docs. ;)
After hours of prepping with IV's, an epidural for pain medicine to be injected rather than taken orally for the first couple of days following surgery, and being told what would happen it was time to go into the O.R. In a nutshell, here is how the surgery would work (in what I had researched). I would be cut open as well as my uterus in a much bigger and thicker area of muscle than that of a C-Section. Think of it as a 't' or a plus sign. My uterus would be cut vertically and my stomach horizontally. Truth be told, the surgery was on the baby and I was just in the way and needed to be cut to get to him. I would be under a deep anesthesia that would essentially put him under too so he wouldn't feel the pain of surgery on his back.
Once I am cut and the uterus is pulled into place and retracted it's time to work on the baby. One doctor actually placed her hands in and held the baby so that his back was exposed and could be worked on. (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014379) It was at that time of being exposed where the neuro-surgeon had to place the baby's nerves that were out of his body and in the amniotic fluid from his spine and place them back into the body, cover that area with a mesh to heal, pull the skin where the hole is to close up the exposed part of the body, and then stitch the skin up so that the nerves would stay in the body than out in the amniotic fluid, which is considered toxic to the nerves in the spine of a baby.
Mike was updated constantly with the nurses on staff and they were letting him know what was happening while baby and I were in surgery. Overall surgery took about 6 1/2 hours and I woke up drowsy and sore. We were told that the surgery was a success and that both myself and the baby did a great job. I remember the first question I had asked was, "Is he alright?" and with relief they said yes. My water had not broken in surgery which was also great news because this meant that I did not have to stay in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy and could eventually go home.
We were told that even though everything went smoothly the 24 hours post surgery were the most crucial for the baby and my healing process. It is during this time that loosing the baby was the biggest risk and that my uterus could rupture and open after stitching me back up. Due to that, I had the most amazing nurses and the same nurses for the first three days after surgery; my nighttime and daytime nurse. For the first 24 hours I was woken up, if I was sleeping about every 20-30 minutes to see how things were looking and to be checked up on. The Wednesday after surgery, I had all the doctors I met Tuesday afternoon before surgery come to see how I was doing and how things were looking. This picture is showing you my scar on the outside of my stomach where I was cut open before getting to the uterus and my baby boy.
When I woke up I was hooked up to about five different IV's and had oxygen pumping through me to help make sure I was breathing, which I was, and let me tell you that was one of the worst things. I did not like the breathing mask, nor did I enjoy the tubes they had pumping through my nose and shooting oxygen in me. This was probably because I was breathing really well for just having major surgery (Or so I was told) and trying to breathe on your own while also having machines breathe for you isn't too much fun. Although I know the procedure to make sure I am safe, it was still hard.
Each IV had something different running through me; most were fluids because I didn't get to eat past midnight on Monday the 28th before surgery and the first meal I could eat wasn't until Thursday, two days after surgery. I was also hooked up to a machine to check and make sure that I wasn't having contractions as well as being on Magnesium which is good to help control and make sure that contractions don't happen too soon. However, a side affect of the Magnesium is that is makes you VERY groggy and hot. I mean scorching hot. While poor Mike was trying to sleep in sweatpants, a hoodie, socks, and multiple blankets, I was sleeping in only the hospital gown with ice cold washcloths all over my body because of the heat. I was fortunate to have the Magnesium eventually taken down and out Wednesday night because I was not having any contractions which was another great sign!
.JPG)
The epidural was in my back until Thursday at which point it was taken out and I could begin to take pain medicine orally.
All of the doctors, including my main doctors that I see every week were very happy with the progress of the healing that both myself and the baby were going through. Each morning we had an ultra-sound to see how he was doing and healing up. Every six to eight hours we were able to check his heartbeat and watch it rise back up following the procedure. It was nice to hear his heart getting stronger after the surgery he had just endured. Doctors had told me before the surgery that I would be staying in the hospital for about a week afterwards; meaning I would be able to leave the next Tuesday or Wednesday. However, due to the fact that we were both healing so well, doctors said that we could be discharged on Saturday!! This meant that baby and I were only in the hospital for 4 days total, a true blessing.
I was very lucky and fortunate enough to have a lot of great friends and family come visit and spend time with me in the hospital. It definitely made time go by faster. I knew that I would have to be on restricted bed rest when I got home but it was nice to know that everything was going well and that I was able to go home, even if I don't get to drive around or be outside.
After going through all the paper work, talking to the doctors, and getting information about the pain medicine and contraction medicine I would need to take while I was home, it was time to leave. Mike and I packed up, thanked everyone who played a part in helping us, and said goodbye to our hospital room. On August 2nd, it was time to go home!
Luckily Mike and I were able to take off the weekend before the surgery for New York to celebrate the wedding of close friends of ours and we had a BLAST! It was an amazing wedding and we were so lucky to be able to see our friends and spend time with them before this life changing event.
July 29th came and it was time to head to the hospital. Mike and I walked into the Von Voightlander Women's Hospital at the University of Michigan (http://www.uofmhealth.org/our-locations/womens-hospital) and checked in. It was amazing to hear all of the people who were awaiting our arrival. This is a major surgery and I had so many, about 18 different doctors and surgeons who met with me that day to talk to me about what they would be doing in part of the surgery. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful all of my doctors are and how thankful I am to have them in my life and the life of my baby boy. If I could tell you all about them, I would, but for names sake, that's between me and my docs. ;)
After hours of prepping with IV's, an epidural for pain medicine to be injected rather than taken orally for the first couple of days following surgery, and being told what would happen it was time to go into the O.R. In a nutshell, here is how the surgery would work (in what I had researched). I would be cut open as well as my uterus in a much bigger and thicker area of muscle than that of a C-Section. Think of it as a 't' or a plus sign. My uterus would be cut vertically and my stomach horizontally. Truth be told, the surgery was on the baby and I was just in the way and needed to be cut to get to him. I would be under a deep anesthesia that would essentially put him under too so he wouldn't feel the pain of surgery on his back.
Getting ready for Surgery!!!!
Once I am cut and the uterus is pulled into place and retracted it's time to work on the baby. One doctor actually placed her hands in and held the baby so that his back was exposed and could be worked on. (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014379) It was at that time of being exposed where the neuro-surgeon had to place the baby's nerves that were out of his body and in the amniotic fluid from his spine and place them back into the body, cover that area with a mesh to heal, pull the skin where the hole is to close up the exposed part of the body, and then stitch the skin up so that the nerves would stay in the body than out in the amniotic fluid, which is considered toxic to the nerves in the spine of a baby.
Mike was updated constantly with the nurses on staff and they were letting him know what was happening while baby and I were in surgery. Overall surgery took about 6 1/2 hours and I woke up drowsy and sore. We were told that the surgery was a success and that both myself and the baby did a great job. I remember the first question I had asked was, "Is he alright?" and with relief they said yes. My water had not broken in surgery which was also great news because this meant that I did not have to stay in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy and could eventually go home.
We were told that even though everything went smoothly the 24 hours post surgery were the most crucial for the baby and my healing process. It is during this time that loosing the baby was the biggest risk and that my uterus could rupture and open after stitching me back up. Due to that, I had the most amazing nurses and the same nurses for the first three days after surgery; my nighttime and daytime nurse. For the first 24 hours I was woken up, if I was sleeping about every 20-30 minutes to see how things were looking and to be checked up on. The Wednesday after surgery, I had all the doctors I met Tuesday afternoon before surgery come to see how I was doing and how things were looking. This picture is showing you my scar on the outside of my stomach where I was cut open before getting to the uterus and my baby boy.
Where I was cut open for part one of the surgery.
When I woke up I was hooked up to about five different IV's and had oxygen pumping through me to help make sure I was breathing, which I was, and let me tell you that was one of the worst things. I did not like the breathing mask, nor did I enjoy the tubes they had pumping through my nose and shooting oxygen in me. This was probably because I was breathing really well for just having major surgery (Or so I was told) and trying to breathe on your own while also having machines breathe for you isn't too much fun. Although I know the procedure to make sure I am safe, it was still hard.
Each IV had something different running through me; most were fluids because I didn't get to eat past midnight on Monday the 28th before surgery and the first meal I could eat wasn't until Thursday, two days after surgery. I was also hooked up to a machine to check and make sure that I wasn't having contractions as well as being on Magnesium which is good to help control and make sure that contractions don't happen too soon. However, a side affect of the Magnesium is that is makes you VERY groggy and hot. I mean scorching hot. While poor Mike was trying to sleep in sweatpants, a hoodie, socks, and multiple blankets, I was sleeping in only the hospital gown with ice cold washcloths all over my body because of the heat. I was fortunate to have the Magnesium eventually taken down and out Wednesday night because I was not having any contractions which was another great sign!
Enjoying hospital life!!
All of the doctors, including my main doctors that I see every week were very happy with the progress of the healing that both myself and the baby were going through. Each morning we had an ultra-sound to see how he was doing and healing up. Every six to eight hours we were able to check his heartbeat and watch it rise back up following the procedure. It was nice to hear his heart getting stronger after the surgery he had just endured. Doctors had told me before the surgery that I would be staying in the hospital for about a week afterwards; meaning I would be able to leave the next Tuesday or Wednesday. However, due to the fact that we were both healing so well, doctors said that we could be discharged on Saturday!! This meant that baby and I were only in the hospital for 4 days total, a true blessing.
I was very lucky and fortunate enough to have a lot of great friends and family come visit and spend time with me in the hospital. It definitely made time go by faster. I knew that I would have to be on restricted bed rest when I got home but it was nice to know that everything was going well and that I was able to go home, even if I don't get to drive around or be outside.
After going through all the paper work, talking to the doctors, and getting information about the pain medicine and contraction medicine I would need to take while I was home, it was time to leave. Mike and I packed up, thanked everyone who played a part in helping us, and said goodbye to our hospital room. On August 2nd, it was time to go home!
All of my wonderful meds. once getting home... I'm a pro now!
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