Life ~ Love ~ Lexi

Well this is officially my last week off with my baby girl. I start work again on Monday. In a way I am ready to get back to work, but I will miss my precious time with my sweet little girl. So, since it is my last week home, I FINALLY convinced Chris to to shave off his nasty mustache and cut his overgrown hair...so we could get family pictures and Calli's 1 month old pictures. There were several good ones and many not so good ones, but we only chose 3 poses to purchase. Here are the results:

The last 3 poses are the ones that we ordered.

I cannot believe that she is already a month old! Crazy how fast time flies. She truly is a blessing from God and we love her so much! :)

UPDATE: I went back to the doctor today, and did not receive a pathology report. I did talk to the office manager (who handles all the medical records) and she had trouble accessing the hospital files and put a call in to the doctor who actually did the surgery. I forgot to mention that in my birth story...my doctor was also pregnant with her first child (a girl) the same time as me and actually delivered her baby girl on the 16th of October, 10 days before I delivered Calli, so I got the doctor who was filling in for her at the time. This was also a disguised blessing, for I am told that the doctor who delivered Calli is actually the best (OBGYN) surgeon at the hospital. Lucky me. Not that my doctor isn't qualified, I am sure she is wonderful. So that also I believe has added to the confusion of me receiving my results on the cyst. The Office Manager assured me that she would get the results and call me. I will let you all know when I find out.

That is somewhat of an understatement of a title to describe the day that Calli entered this world, but that is the best I got. Her birth story goes like this:

Sunday night my mother-in-law came into town to be here when our precious wonder arrived and so to preoccupy my time from over-thinking the upcoming day of being induced into labor we watched the Proposal before bed. Well my MIL is somewhat of a night owl and I had no urge to sleep seeing as how I would get to meet my daughter the next day and I was full of nervousness, excitement, fear, etc. We stayed up chatting in the living room until about 1:15AM and that is when I decided that I needed to go get in the shower and get ready for bed, since I had to be at the hospital at 5AM for my "appointment".

I get in the shower around 1:30 and by the time I get out around 2AM, I realize I am having contractions. Consistent and painful and breathtaking -- not necessarily in a good way. I attempt to sleep through them (which by the way did not work), but I got NO SLEEP. Chris wakes up early to hear my labored breathing and realizes that I am in labor and wonders why I did not wake him up. I calmly explain that we are supposed to be at the hospital at 5 anyways, whats the rush? He is ready to leave immediately, but I choose to endure the pain and get my make up on and my hair fixed. I knew that several photos would be taken of me this day and I did not want to look hideous.

We arrive at the hospital at 5AM and check in, they put me in a room and explain to me that the doctor that ordered for me to be induced left no "orders" as to what they were to do with me when I got there...great. They didn't even bother to ask if I was in active labor and I guess I forgot to mention that to them. I get all dressed in the lovely hospital gown and lay down on the bed and continue my painful breathing. I can hear the nurses chatting it up out in the hallway and laughing all the while. Chris finally decides to let them know that I am in pain. The nurse comes in and says "honey, are you having contractions?" I respond "yes", "well, when did they start?" "2AM" "why didn't you say anything, we need to check you!" So she checks me and guess what? I am in active labor, already dilated to a 4. So she states that they may not have to induce. I find this somewhat of a relief at that point, but this is the first thing that didn't go as planned.

Finally the doctor gets there around 7AM, he checks me and I am between a 6-7 by that point, ready to go, he sees no need to induce. I am still in a lot of pain and trying really hard to breathe, I forgot to mention, I threw up earlier, who knows what time, but that is a tid bit I am sure you are glad you know now.

I am attempting to decide if I want an epidural. They scare me, I wasn't sure I wanted one, but I was really hurting and the nurse talked me through my fears so I decided to get one before the anesthesiologist got involved in a c-section and I wouldn't be able to get one for another hour and a half! I would have to say "THANK YOU GOD" for the epidural...I needed it. I relaxed after that point. I could no longer feel the horrendous contractions and Chris and I were able to enjoy this part of my labor. The doctor and nurse kept a close eye on me and I progressed to a 8-9, fully effaced by noonish, but she wasn't dropping into the birth canal. The doctor explained that he could break my water, but that he was afraid her umbilical cord would come out first and cut off her life line, so he opted not to. He said he would check me again in an hour and if she hasn't dropped, he would be doing a c-section.

I was tired, stressed and fully ready at 40 weeks to have my baby in my arms, rather than in my belly. But I still wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a c-section.

A little before 1 he came back in, checked me again and decided that she was not going to enter my birth canal because my pelvis is too small for her to pass through. So prepare for a c-section! Second thing that didn't go as planned...

I was scared, but ready to meet my baby girl, so the show must go on! Chris got all prepped and dressed for the operating room, I was wheeled in there first and prepped for surgery. They start cutting me open before Chris gets in the room and I am afraid that he will not get in there before they get her out, because they seem to be moving rather quickly. I can smell my burning flesh (yuck) and feel them cutting me and then feel them pulling my organs out. In case you did not know that, during a c-section they do in fact remove your uterus from your body to get your child out. I feel them moving things around, it doesn't hurt, it is just weird that I can feel it all. The doctor and surgery assistants (I have no idea what to call them) are chatting away about their weekend and their upcoming plans.

Chris comes in, I hear her cry and cry, but cannot see her. I instructed Chris that his job was to photograph her first few moments in this world and he did a good job. Here are a few shots of her:

Crying baby girl:

Chris getting to hold her for the first time:

Showing her off in the nursery to the family:

Her very excited visitors getting to see her for the first time:

I finally get to see her after what seems like an eternity. She is cute, but swollen looking -- and big!

This is when I get another surprise. The doctor then shows Chris all of my female organs, explaining what a normal ovary looks like and how my right one has a giant cyst on it and needs to be removed. Would I like him to remove that while he is in there?? Um...what am I supposed to say to this...yes! I do not want to have surgery again anytime soon, thank you, so go ahead and remove the sucker. The nurse explains it is the biggest cyst she has seen in a long time...thank you, that is reassuring...my mind is whirling but attempting to stay calm. I hear them tell Chris while they are discussing the cyst that we may want to get pregnant again soon...also not something I needed to hear at this moment in time. They proceed to remove my right ovary and fallopian tube while Chris goes to the nursery with Calli. They remove it, the nurse shows it to me, it was about the size of a softball. Hard to imagine that being inside me and not feeling any pain from it...although I was pregnant and attributed a lot of my pain to that, so who knows if I felt it or not.

I have not heard anything regarding the cyst...the pathology report had not come in the last time I was at the doctor. I called them about it and left a message, but have not heard back.

I had a very rough day the day my adorable daughter was born. I would not trade her for anything, mind you, but I kind of wish the process when a little smoother. My MIL explains that it was the hand of God that allowed me to have a c-section so that the doctor would discover the cyst and remove it too. And, now, after the emotionally and physically tiring day that I had, now that I can think more clearly, I believe that it was God who allowed things to go the way that they did to protect me from any further complications. Praise the Lord for knowing the full picture and taking care of me and my little girl.

So I was working off of no sleep, a crazy surgery, very emotionally drained and had a fever before the evening was over, I thought I was seriously sick, but it turns out I was recovering fine. I still cried and do still when I talk about the cyst, so I don't really care to discuss this issue face to face anytime soon, I am still trying to wrap my head around it, so prayers would be appreciated. Sometimes I feel like I am an emotional crazy person, crying randomly, but I am told this is also normal after having a baby.

Thanks for reading my extremely lengthy story of Calli's birth. I am tired now and need to take a shower before my precious little girl wakes up again and decides she is hungry...

Here is one of me getting to hold her for the first time in the recovery room: