Birth Story

The last three months have been kind of a nightmare! A lot has been going on and I am relieved that it is over. I found out that I had placenta previa again at my 20 week ultrasound on December 11, 2013. I had no faith that it would move. From that point started planning for a C-section. But was not excited to have to go through one. I hoped down deep that it would move but knew that I shouldn't plan on it. At 26 weeks I had another ultrasound to confirm that it hadn't moved and it hadn't. My parents had just gotten home from a cruise and my mom was having some health issues we were trying to help her with. Then my dad found out he needed surgery. On March 3 I started bleeding, went to the dr and all seemed to be ok, I was put on "modified" bed rest and told to watch for more bleeding, that it would happen and would probably be worse the next time. That night my husband went to a volleyball game by my request that he get out of the house and do something fun to relieve the stress. It was like we were reliving the nightmare after syd was born.  About a half hour after he left I started to hemorrhage. it was about 8:45 and there was so much blood and it wasn't slowing down at all. I called the hospital and they told me to call the doctor on call. I called him and he said that I needed to go in to the hospital to be seen. I called my mom and dad to get a ride to the hospital and someone to be with my kids, then called Andy at the game to have him meet me there. The dr called back after I got off the phone and asked if i was on my way. I explained that I was home alone and was waiting for my ride. He asked if the bleeding had slowed down and I told him no. He said, you are worrying me and I think you need to call an ambulance, now. Terrified I had my mother call an ambulance since they had just arrived at my house. The bleeding had started to slow down a little. I changed my clothes and waited what seemed like forever for the ambulance to get there. I was admitted to the hospital in the women's center and was told that I had to have no bleeding for 24 hours before I could go home. I was there until 3/6. When I got to go home I was on strict bed rest. I had someone at my house 24/7 for the next time I were to start bleeding, which I was told would happen... it was just a matter of when... and again it would be worse. We had the emergency services aware of my situation and ready for it to happen again. My anxiety was through the roof! 3 weeks I felt like I was waiting around for an emergency. I couldn't go anywhere without worrying about it happening again. And because of what happened after syd it felt like I was waiting to die... sounds dramatic, I know. I also had the baby to worry about too. It wasn't just me this time. I started spotting the first monday I was home. Somewhere in there we found out my mother had breast cancer. And needed to have surgery to remove the cancer. SO SCARY! I was an emotional wreck! After 3 weeks of bed rest at one of my very regular appointments I asked when I could be done. My anxiety was getting worse, she said that she was surprised I had made it that long and was feeling more comfortable doing the C-section early and making sure it wasn't an emergency than waiting for the emergency. We agreed. My C-section was the next day at noon. It ended up being a little earlier, Maxx was born at 11:47am. He was 7 lbs 13 oz 21 inches long at 4.5 weeks early!! And I decided that I hate C-sections! They are NO fun! I also hate having a baby in the NICU. His IV kept going bad, the 10 days he was in there, he had 7 total IVs and bruises everywhere! He had a hard time breathing at first, and wouldn't eat. We finally got him eating and were able to bring him home. That was an adjustment too. He was used to it being light all the time and pretty warm too. After a week he started sleeping so good! going somewhere between 5-7 hours between feedings at night. Then he started loosing weight or not gaining enough weight and I started supplementing him. My mom's surgery  was scheduled for the 21st. Then my sister went into labor with her baby early too. Her baby was born at almost 37 weeks on April 24th. The next day we found out the the tests they ran on my mom's lumpectomy that the abnormal cells were not cancer after all! So many prayers were answered! Angie's baby is doing good, they named her Reecelyn Rose Madsen. She was 7 lbs 7 oz had a little bit of a hard time remembering to breathe at first. And thinks it takes too much energy to eat. She is so cute though! 2014 has been a little rough for my family, I hope it gets better.