The Arrival of Our Beautiful Baby Girl and the Unexpected Complications

I would like to start off by saying that though I know my typical posts are littered with humor and sarcasm, I feel that I could not adequately express the events of the past week without a great deal of seriousness.

The entire chain of events began last Wednesday, October 7th with our regularly scheduled doctor appointment. We arrived at the appointment and after the normal testing, found that I was in fact suffering from preeclampsia and the doctor wanted me to go for an ultrasound to determine how the baby was doing and if induction should be the next course of action. On the way to the ultrasound, our doctor called and informed us that after the ultrasound she wanted us to go straight to the hospital to be induced. We were excited but also overwhelmed as my bag was still at home.

The ultrasound revealed more news, the baby though very healthy was still breech. She could not be turned so instead of checking in at the hospital for induction it would be for a c-section. This was a little upsetting and scary but I was dealing with it. The doctors in OB assured me that I was a great candidate for a future V-BAC(vaginal birth after cesarean) which was a huge comfort as that is something I truly wanted to experience with future children.

That evening at 5:30 we went to the OR for the delivery. I went through the medication and the c-section with very normal results. We were even joking with the doctors and singing, it was actually fun. At 6:10PM our baby girl, Layla Corinne Trahan, made her appearance and we were overjoyed! She was perfect in every way and I loved her instantly. I saw her very briefly on the way to be checked out by the doctors. They then handed her to Matt and he sat with me for a little while while they worked to finish the surgery. They then told Matt it might take some time and that he could go out and spend time with the baby. About 2 minutes after he left, everything changed. There was a definite turn in the doctor's demeanor and I was starting to get scared. I heard them begin to move faster and call for more blood. More doctors started entering the OR and shortly after that, they said I needed to be prepped for a hysterectomy. I panicked and began to lose it and cry uncontrollably. That is the last thing I remember before I was put out so they could try to save my life. A surgery that typically takes an hour stretched to almost 5 hours. The doctors worked furiously to save me as I hemorrhaged. In the end, I lost 4 liters of blood (over half my blood volume), all of my clotting factor and to my devastation, my uterus.

I woke up at 2AM in the ICU with a tube down my throat, which they removed relatively quickly and the first words out of my mouth were, "did they take my uterus?" Matt told me they did and we both cried. That was probably one of the hardest nights of my life. The next day was a blur of faces coming to see me in the ICU, Matt and doctors and Matt's family as I drifted in and out of consciousness. They asked me regularly if I wanted the baby but I was not ready to face her, I was so out of it and really could not carry a coherent thought. The next day I was moved up to the Postpartum unit and the baby moved in with me. I was still too weak to hold her so for almost two days I just looked at her. Both my parents flew out immediately along with Matt's parents and siblings. It was so helpful to have them there.

Physically, I had a lot of recovering to do and I was not even ready to deal with the emotional part. I began improving relatively quickly but several days in I had pain in my back and some trouble drawing a deep breath, it eventually went away and I forgot about it. Matt and my mom took turns sleeping at the hospital with me and Layla was discharged from the hospital on Sunday, October 11th. She still stayed with me during the day but I sent her home at night so I could sleep, which was torture as I had started to hold her and didn't want to be away from her.

Then on Monday, October 12th I was hit with more rough news. After a CT scan to determine the source of mild fevers I had been having, they found that I had 3 blood clots from the surgery, one near my right ovary, another in a major vein in my belly and a third thrown from the second, in my lung(the source of my back pain from a few days prior). This was a scary and frustrating diagnosis that sent me back to the ICU. Luckily they placed me on lots of medication to thin my blood and help the problem and I only spent a full day in the ICU before I was moved back up to postpartum yesterday.

Things are improving now and I am supposed to be in the hospital for another 4 or 5 days just to ensure that they get my blood thinning medication right before they send me home. I am feeling better but I still have a long way to go before I am well. In addition to the physical issues, I am now starting to deal with the emotional aspects(not by choice of course as I would hope to remain strong and never think about it, however, it is just not possible).

I never anticipated this is how my pregnancy, which was relatively smooth, would end up. I am absolutely beyond devastated at the loss of my uterus at the age of 25 and am trying to figure out how I will deal with that. I have always wanted many children and looked forward to future pregnancies. Regardless of how many options I may have, I feel that a grieving period is necessary to try to move forward. I do however, feel so so so so fortunate not only to be alive, but also to have a beautiful baby girl who is perfect in every way. I was told by every doctor involved that the typical person would not survive what I went through. It as been quite a ride and I look forward to being at home with my new family.

I would like to thank all of my family and wonderful friends for their well wishes, prayers and concern. I look forward to being able to see everyone at some point and we are still planning a trip home to Chicago for Christmas as well. I feel so fortunate to have such great doctors and to be here to tell the story. I hope that you all will forgive me for not being able to communicate as I try to recover. I love you all and look forward to sending lots of pictures.
<3 CT

Nothing But a Waiting Game Now

Hard to believe we have come so far! We have just hit the 38 week mark and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our daughter. We are now going to weekly doctor appointments and can't wait for some new developments. I have started having contractions much more often. They come on pretty strong at night and last for hours at a time, however they have yet to become intensely painful or at any sort of regular interval. I am also having them during the day but with less frequency.

Matthew and I are hopeful that this means my body is preparing for delivery in the near future. I am still 13 days from my due date, but we are both hoping that she will make her appearance before then. We are so ready to meet our little one and are excited about moving on to the next step in our lives. At the same time we are doing our very best to enjoy every moment that we have left as just the two of us.

This weekend we celebrated Matt's birthday. We started off by having some friends over on Friday and then had dinner out at one of our favorite places on Saturday night. Unfortunately, Matt ended up having to work for part of the day but it allowed me to take the time to nap (they are so important these days as I am constantly exhausted). It was a wonderful time out and we're now feeling very ready to become a family of 3.

We are back at the doctor this week and are hoping things continue to progress as the waiting is a torturous process!