LAST LITTLE

My last little is here. And she is already a week old. Needless to say, life has been a blur and has come with a myriad of emotions.
It's funny to me; when I was pregnant with my first, I thought I KNEW how labor and delivery would happen. Not even close. But I figured by baby number six, I would have a much better idea as to how it would happen. I mean... IT WAS MY SIXTH. I've done this a few [i.e. half dozen] times.
As with my previous littles, I was needlessly worried that I would need to be induced. But, as in the past, labor started on its own. I woke up in the wee hours with contractions 10 minutes apart. Figured it would only be an hour before they were down to 3-5 minutes apart, as with past pregnancies. Three hours in and contractions were still 10 minutes apart, but lasting as long as 3 minutes apiece. It was time to go in. We called my mom to come stay with the kids so we could head to the hospital. Registration. Triage. Labor & Delivery by 6 am. I was brought into L&D faster than my records could be transferred, so the anesthesiologist told me she wouldn't give me an epidural. My nurse FOUGHT for me to receive my epidural immediately (& won), but it left the room very tense. A procedure that should have only taken two needles in the back ended with me being poked four times (during the mother of all contractions) since the local anesthetic wouldn't take. Luckily, the epidural was effective. Immediate relief. Fast forward to half past noon. We held off delivery to coincide with my OBGYN's lunch schedule; I'm convenient like that. Since contractions were STILL only 10 minutes apart, I had to push 3 times while not having a contraction. And she was out. My last little, sweet as can be. As before, I immediately grabbed my camera and clicked away.

Olivia Hazel

January 7th at 12:35 pm

7 lbs 6 oz, 20.25 in

This is really the only shot I got at the hospital; things went south before I had the opportunity to take more photos. About 8 hours after delivery, a headache set in. Painful, but bearable. At 10 pm, I sent my little love to the nursery to get some sleep. I figured ibuprofen and some rest would kick the headache. When I woke up at 3 am, it felt as if my head had been hit by a truck. The worst pain imaginable. I got up to use the restroom and was clutching the walls for support by the time I was headed back to bed. I couldn't think. I could barely walk. The moment I was back in bed lying flat, I felt fine - as if I had imagined the whole thing. Any time I sat up, the overwhelmingly painful headache would return. It was then that everyone realized that I was experiencing spinal headaches. My spine must have been nicked during the epidural procedure and I was now suffering as a result. For the next 11 hours, nurses, CRNAs, and anesthesiologists were in and out of my room, trying various methods of relief. Nothing. Throughout this entire time, I only saw my baby once. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even handle holding her. Finally, it was decided that I needed a blood patch. The mr. barely made it back to the hospital in time to comfort me during the procedure. Blood was taken from my arm and placed into my spine via another epidural. The pain to my lower back was intense, but my headache was IMMEDIATELY gone. Miraculous. I was discharged a couple of hours later and went home. Unfortunately, the relief only lasted a day and a half before the headaches returned. I had to go back to the hospital Saturday afternoon to have a second blood patch. More needles. More back pain. More restrictions. Bed rest for days. But this time it took. And I am now [head] pain-free. Even though this experience has come with its own little nightmare, I still enjoyed the process. Oddly enough, I'm going to miss this...