BRIANNA ELIZABETH SOTO
Born: March 28, 2014 at 7:48pm
Hello from the world of mommyhood!!!! It has been quite the exciting journey! Today Brianna is officially 11 days old and is quite the perfect baby ( im sure all moms think that)! I dont know how often I will do this or how if I will ever blog again, but its worth a shot.
My due date was March 28th. All throughout the pregnancy I was monitoring my blood pressure and although it was not "high" it was still somewhat of a concern since my blood pressure is usually pretty low. On my due date, I woke up with a blood pressure of 147/88 and decided to lay back down to see if it would lower. When I took it again after waking up from a nap, it was at 143/88. My brain felt like it was going to explode and I called the doctors office. They told me to come in to have my pressure checked there since the machine I was using at home was an automatic machine and those are not always reliable. When I arrived at the office, my pressure was at 160/73. They made me lay down on my side for 30 min and when they took it again it had not changed.
The doctor came in and looked at me and said " clinically, there is nothing alarming about you, but you dont look good.. I think we need to get you induced"... IT WAS MUSIC TO MY EARS!!!! I was tired of being pregnant and wanted to meet my daughter!!! I told him I was going to go home and take a shower and wait for my husband to get out of work.. He told me I needed to go straight to the hospital and I did just that.
When I arrived in the parking lot of Baptist Hospital, I semi-froze and waited 20 mins before getting out of the car. I could not believe that the next time I would sit in my car, I would be sitting with a baby on my way home.. A baby that would be with me forever and that I would forever be her mommy.. After sitting in shock and praying for a healthy baby, I decided to get out of the car... Fortunately, I had packed EVERYTHING and had it in the trunk so I got down with all the luggage.
When I arrived at L&D, the line to go through security was huge ( it was 5:30 and everyone was getting out of work and going to visit newborns). In line, an older couple told me "pobresita.. esta aqui para parir sola sin familia"... I was first shocked at how filterless they were, but then I realized that I did look pretty ridiculous with all that luggage alone standing in the line. I explained to them my situation and the lady even offered to go in with me until my husband got there ( THERE ARE STILL GOOD PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD)
After checking in, they send me to L&D room 7.. When I got there, there were 4 nurses in the room already.. One said, " Hi I am Tiffany, we were waiting for you"... It was like a scene out of some kind of scary movie.. in a good way though ( if that makes any sense).. They had me go into the bathroom and change and when I got out had me lay on the bed and immediately began connecting me ( apparently the doctor had called in and told them about my case and placed orders for me). I felt like I was having an out of body experience. I had one nurse putting in an IV, the other a foly cath ( yes, a pee tube because I was going to be put on magnesium for the blood pressure and it can make you so dizzy that you shouldnt walk), the anesthesiologist asking me about my family history, and the other nurse preparing the babys cradle..
My husband FINALLY arrived ( in uniform because I made him suare that he was going to come straight over and not go home to change- I had packed clothes for him) and I felt like I could breathe again... They explained to me that they were going to give me one strong dose of magnesium which they call bolus that would last 15 mins then continually drip magnesium in 4 hour intervals.. That 15 min bolus almost KILLED ME! I began vomiting and sweating and literally felt like I was going to go into convulsions... When it was over, this nurse Tiffany who is an ANGEL literally had to take a towel and bathe me down because of the sweat and vomit ( dont mean to be grosse... just being real ;) )... I fell asleep and woke up about 2 hours later to the doctor in the room. They started be on a medication to ripen my cervix and I began having contractions. THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THE PAIN A CONTRACTION CAUSES).. You feel like someone is ripping you out from underneath ( graphic I know).. I would literally squeeze my husbands hand and ask him to tell me when he saw on the monitor that it was starting to go down.. I tried to hold out to the contractions and not take pain meds but the following morning around 9 am I was only 1/2 cm dialated and thought I was going to die so I asked for drugs ;)
They told me they were going to give me a medicine called stadol which was not as strong as an epidural but would help with the pain through IV. Once again, another horrible reaction. I was vomiting and trembling so much that they gave me something to put me to sleep so that I would feel better when I woke. The contractions eventually got worse and although an epidural seems like the scariest thing in the world because you cant imagine anyone pinching your spinal chord, at that point, you dont care if they pinch your eyeball as long as the pain goes away.. and within 10 minutes of the epidural I was pain-free and happy as a clam.. They finally started pitocin and was dilating 1 cm to 1 1/2 cm every 2 hours. At around 3:00pm, I had reached 7 cm and when they came back in 2 hours later, I had not progressed at all. The doctor told me he was going to come in and check in an hour.
15 minutes after the doctor left the room, three nurses and the doctor came in and started telling me to roll to one side and then the other because the baby was "behaving bad". I OBVIOUSLY began to panic because that to me means danger. The doctor wrote down the times and strengths of my contractions and when he had written down about 20 of them began doing this crazy math equation on a napkin. When he was done, he said "Melissa, we have to do a c-section.. babys not behaving well".... I asked him with tears in my eyes " ok when?"... NOW
They gave my husband clothes to change and immediately wheeled me into the OR. While being wheeled, they gave me one more bag of penicillin but with an open hose ( meaning no timed drip) which caused me to go into crazy tremors.. I FELT LIKE I WAS FREEZING and kept asking for blankets.. they kept telling me I was going to be ok that it was just a reaction of the med... They wheeled me into the OR and turned on the radio ( POWER 96 to be exact) and one nurse shouts "time out"... Everyone backed away from me and the nurse came up to my side of the curtain and said... "What is your name" Me "Melissa Soto" Nurse-"And why are we here" Me-" Because I am having a c-section"... All the nurses and doctors shouted "agreed" and began cutting me open :/.....
I tried to hear what they were saying but the radio and the lowness of their voice made it impossible... about 5 minutes in, the doctor tells me.. "look to the left.. HERE COMES YOUR DAUGHTER!"... AND THERE BEGAN THE WATERWORKS!!!
They took her to the table, cleaned her, brought her to me.. and within 5 minutes took her away to the nursery!!
The rest of that was a blur.. The only thing I remember about recovery was that my angel nurse Tiffany came in to tell me congratulations and that she had seen Brianna and that she was beautiful!!! The next time I woke up I was in my own room in a semi-Cardio ICU kind of floor. This was because of the magnesium that they had me in that room. I was still with the cath and about 20 cables monitoring my heart so I wasnt able to do her first diaper change, etc. Thankfully, I HAVE THE MOST AMAZING HUSBAND WHO WITHOUT FEAR CHANGED DIAPERS, FED HER, CARRIED HE TO ME EVERY TIME SHE NEEDED TO BE HELD, ETC. The next morning, I had a small attack and literally unclipped all of the heart monitoring cables from me because I NEEDED TO CARRY MY DAUGHTER and feel her on my chest WITHOUT having to be careful of the cables pinching her, etc. The machines began beeping and the nurses ran in to tell me I couldnt do that. I explained to them that I needed 20 minutes cableless to be able to hold my daughter without being scared of pinching her and they let me. I did this everytime she needed to be changed or fed. The nursery nurses had told me that Brianna couldnt sleep in the room with me because I was in a fragile state but I begged and told them my husband was staying and they let me as long as I promised to wake up for her feedings regardless of the magnesium, WHICH I OBVIOUSLY DID
Later that day my OB Dr. Davis ( who is amazing) came in and although I begged to be disconnected from the cath and the heart monitor she told me I needed to be on it for 24 hours since Brianna's birth. SO AT 7:48PM i paged the nurses and told them 24 hours had passed and that they needed to disconnect me.
They did!!!! and I immediately asked to have them help me walk the hallways of the hospital. The nurses suggested against it, saying I was going to be too dizzy, but I begged and they helped me. The nurse kept asking if the hallway seemed blurry to me and although I told her no, it took like 6 laps to be able to see normal. I then asked to be showered, which again they suggested against. But if anyone reading this has had a c-section, you know how much you need that shower to wear your own pajamas and undies and feel like yourself again ;).
I walked every night I was at the hospital and left there feeling semi-descent. It was still difficult to sit and stand but once I got walking I would feel better!!! We brought her home 3 days later and have been in heaven ever since.
I highly suggest Baptist Hospital!! They are Gods angels on Earth! The staff made the whole experience so special, from the nurses to the volunteers that came to visit Bri and give her a bracelet to the doctors. Also, if you are looking for an OB, Dr. Davis, Dr. Esserman, and the whole staff are AMAZING!!!!! There was never a time I called that they werent more than ready to help answer my questions, being a first time preggo, believe me you have A LOT of questions!!!!
OB's office
7867 SW 88th St, Miami, FL 33156
UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!!
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