Birth Story 3

Well, if the others were somewhat normal, this one made up for them! I have to back up to the pregnancy to tell this story.

During my first sonogram of this pregnancy a large cyst was found near the baby, but outside the uterus. It was clear fluid, so it wasn't a mass, just a somewhat mysterious cyst. It would remain a mystery, too until delivery because any means used to investigate it could threaten the pregnancy. To rule out an enlarged ureter (posing as a cyst), I was sent to a urologist.

I had an appt set up but in the mean time I had unrelenting pain so my primary doctor sent me to a different urologist, Dr. D, who had an immediate opening. I love this man! It's a good thing, too, since I had to see him monthly through the entire pregnancy.

I'm trying to keep these stories brief, but this one is just plain medically interesting (to me anyway). I found out all kinds of things at my urologist's office. He kept me there for two hours the first time, poking and prodding, sonograming and testing. We found out that my bladder doesn't empty fully, has debris floating around in it, and that the bilateral reimplantation surgery I had as a child resulted in my ureters (the tubes from the kidneys to the bladder) being criss-crossed--who knows why the surgeon did that. The cyst was pressing on my right kidney, causing it to decrease in function. I almost had a stint put in to drain it, but thankfully with monthly monitoring, Dr. D decided I was okay without it. Off to the big city I went each month though to have a sonogram done of my bladder and kidneys by a guy Shane and I swore was Albert Einstein. We always tried to get him to give us a glimpse of the baby, but he wouldn't do it!

By 20 weeks, the cyst had grown to the size of a softball. It kind of bothered me that we can have things in our body that size and never know it. My very thorough nurse practitioner even missed it in my prenatal exam. Scary.

So, we all wondered what this would mean when it came time to deliver the baby. Would delivery cause the cyst to burst? We just waited to closer to the end, and Dr. T warned me about a possible C-section.

It turned out, this older wise doctor was right. Bethany wouldn't turn--couldn't turn--because the cyst was in her way. That sealed the deal. Dr. T wouldn't risk turning her himself, possibly causing the cyst of unknown origin to burst.

I like to say she was born on her due date, too, since we planned a C-section and she was indeed born on that day. I believe it was about a week before her due date, though. I was so nervous. Surgery isn't a small deal, even if it's done daily in that hospital. I had my little funeral requests written out for Shane, just in case. (I told you I'm slightly type A.)

With this baby, we'd decided to not have her eyes treated with ointment since I don't have an STD and she wasn't even passing through the birth canal and we opted to hold off on the Hep B vaccine, which together caused a little tension with the nurse, but all ended okay, right Andrea?

Andrea was there, taking great pictures. Shane looked great in the royal blue paper gown/hat/shoe covers. It was the strangest sensation to have her pulled from my body. It felt like my ribs were coming out, too. It didn't hurt, but it was weird. The epidural, of course, was mandatory, but I lived through it-even though the room was ice cold and I was shivering through the insertion of the needle. There is nothing like the warm sheets Ann covered me in though! Someone, Amy probably, the baby's nurse, brought Bethany to me for a moment, then Shane took her on to the nursery. Our little ones were so excited to see her through the glass. Little almost-3 yr old Hope just motioned over and over through the glass that she wanted to touch her, "Just let me touch her, Daddy!"

Drs T & A then removed the cyst. It was attached to the fallopian tube, was just a fluke kind of thing. During the sewing up, I felt very weird, like I could feel my pulse throughout my entire body. I was about to ask what was happening when it stopped, and I still don't know what that was about.

I had a short stay in ICU and while I was there, Bethany was evaluated. They discovered she wasn't breathing well through her nose and if she didn't start, she would be transported to a specialized Children's hospital an hour away. Thankfully, she passed the nursing test-if she could breathe while nursing, she would be cleared of any problems, and she could. Nurse Ann told me "that baby just needed her Momma."

Recovery was NOT fun with a C-section. Shane was helping me clean up in the hospital bathroom later that night and I started to pass out. He had to carry me back to the bed. He was scolded by the nurse but told her his hands were a little full; he couldn't call her. It was a slow process of healing at home. I hated having to ask for help just to turn over in bed. Even a couple of years later, when Bethany would pat my lower belly to get my attention, it would hurt a little.

I started worrying about future deliveries shortly after having Bethany. I didn't want another C-section but was afraid of a VBAC. I researched for hours but never found a peace about it.

Then I found out I was pregnant with baby number four and had to make a decision...but that's a story for next time!