The story of Jason's birth...

Well, I am home now & many of you may be wondering "how did it go" since Brad's posts did not include any details. Long story short, not easy & if you are in the mood for a longer read, here you go.

Things started off well, we called first thing in the morning & they told us we could come for 8am. We had breakfast, got ready, spent a small amount of time with Sydney & Nana and headed out the door. Before leaving, Sydney said her good bye to my belly.

Brad & I arrived promptly at the hospital, but not without first having a "quarrel" in the parking garage. Brad says it wasn't a fight because both of us weren't talking, but he was driving around & around- and almost around again- looking for a parking spot for the van. Granted, the parking garage is not conducive to large vehicles- but when you are arriving with a pregnant woman to have a baby- don't DICKER AROUND!

Rather than give you all the details the short facts are this:
1- had to sit around for 2 hours while they first pumped antibiotics into me before getting the show on the road
2- giving me my FIRST epidural after that before they would break my water
3- started the drugs to induce labour & broke my water around noon
4- with the contractions- the baby does not want to come down- at one time "he" was actually moving up. The nurse joked with Brad that it must be a boy, because he does not know which way to go & will not ask directions.
5- contractions started to come pretty strong & realized that the epidural was "patchy" and the only thing that was frozen was my right leg- by this time I am 7 cm dialated
6- called in the anaesthetist to give me another epidural- which frankly scared the hell out of me- because now they are about to stick a needle in my back while I try to control contractions. Thankfully a senior doctor arrived to do it & did a fabulous job & it took no time at all to do or for me to feel much, much better
7- This is where the day starts to go really bad
8- shortly after the epidural starts working, the baby's heart rate drops & they want to take me into the OR in case they need to do an emergency C-section (approx 4:30 pm)
9- they give Brad scrubs to change into while they wheel me into the OR
10- there are LOTS of people there, I can't even begin to tell you the number or all of what went on in the first few minutes- essentially it was decided that they were going to do a C-section so the anaesthetist was going to complete the epidural so that I was completely numb. I'm crying, Brad is pale but reassuring & then all of a sudden they take him from the room because they need to put me under because the epidural "boost" is not taking fast enough & the baby's heart is dropping
11- the next parts I only know from what I am told
12- Brad is in the hallway & hears them say "It's a boy!"(5:03 pm) & then my cardiologist comes out and delivers the news to him & that they will let Brad see him shortly
13- She goes back in, Brad has no idea what is going on, but eventually he is told that I am stable
14- My OB comes out & tells Brad that I am losing a lot of blood & that the only thing she can recommend is to remove my uterus- he needs to consent- so what choice does he have? She goes back in & they finish surgery
15- Brad calls our parents to give them the good news about the baby & the bad news that I was in surgery

While I was in surgery, Brad went with the baby to the nursery to see him be weighed & bathed. Our parents got there to meet Jason & spend time with Brad. Thankfully he did not need to spend all that time alone. I was in surgery until around 7pm & then once I was situated in ICU, they let Brad & Mom into see me which was around 9pm.

When I woke in ICU, I had no idea where I was & people were talking all around me- they told me that I had a beautiful healthy little boy- which truthfully seemed such a foreign concept to grab at the moment. The nurse also kept reassuring me that what I was feeling was normal that I just had major surgery. While he is saying this, I keep thinking...women have C-sections all the time, what is he talking about? Well that discovery came later when I was just talking with Brad. Brad & I always planned on having 2 kids, so when we were sitting there I said to him that he needed to call the doctor's the next day. He asked what I was talking about & I told him he needed to get snipped because I was not going to have any more children. He didn't say anything for a moment & just looked at me. That's when he told me that I had had a hysterectomy. Silence.

I couldn't believe it, my first thought was that I was not even 35 years old & was going to be slammed into menopause right after having a baby- could not grasp it. Then he explained what had happened & why they had to do it & then I cried.

The next morning my OB came in & talked to me about what had happened. She explained to me that after Jason was born that my uterus just said "I quit". There was a great deal of bleeding that they could not stop & they could not get my uterus to contract. She said it was a freak thing & she could not explain it. If I had been a woman in labour for days or maybe an "old" woman, what happened could make sense- but there is no reason it should have happened to me. The best news she gave me is that I still have my ovaries, therefore menopause is not in my immediate future nor is hormone replacement therapy required- the two things I was most upset about. She said that I still have my cervice & some uterine tissue- therefore I may still have some light periods. Doesn't that suck??? You would think that after all that I would at least get to enjoy being period-free for the rest of my life!!!

So all in all, things are not that bad- because they could be much worse. The only "true" impact to my life moving forward is that I can not have any more children- which I did not plan to anyway. So I am thankful that if this was going to happen to me, it happened after we had two beautiful healthy children. Any other time would result in a very different manner of "dealing" with what happened.

Funny, I was going to a high risk clinic due to my heart issues & I sailed through everything in that area- my cardiologist could not have been happier. I am just happy that I was at one of the best hospitals for all this to happen, because I was in the best of hands for care.

That's enough emotional unload for right now- here are a couple of my favourite pictures from the first few days for you.

Jason Patrick Taylor, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces

Support Person #1
Nana & Jason, the night he was born.
Thank you for also being there for Brad.















Support Persons #2 & #3
Grandma & Jason and Papa & Jason, night he was born.
Thank you both for being there for Brad.

My first picture with Jason- I finally got to see him mid-morning on Tuesday.

Daddy & Jason

Big sister & little brother

For anyone who actually made it to the bottom of this entry, thanks for taking the time to read & please accept any spelling errors as I did not have the energy to read through it again.