Alyssa Marie Yingling

Since this is my very first attempt at creating a blog, I suppose I should backpedal a bit and talk about my new baby, Alyssa. Most of you know the story behind the labor and delivery, but for those of you who don't, I will give you a rundown. 

I was scheduled to begin the induction March 8, 2009. Justin and I checked in to Arrowhead Hospital at 7pm and they quickly began the whole process; insurance, wrist bands, etc. We got to our room on the L&D (labor and delivery for those of you not privy to hospital lingo) floor and the nurse helped me get situated. About 30 minutes after getting settled in our room they began the induction. First comes this gel. They shoot it up into your...err...area...and make you lie flat on your back for an hour. Then you have to walk for an hour. Then back to the room for another 2-3 hours. Around midnight my nurse came in to give me my second blast of gel. Lie flat, walk, rest. 5am was my third and final round of gel. I laid flat and then got up and walked for only about 15 minutes before the doctor came in to check me. I was slowly beginning to dilate so they began the Pitosin at 6:30am on Monday March 9. At 7:30am the doctor came back and broke my water. I thought that I would definitely begin active labor at this point so I was nervously anticipating awful, painful contractions. Contractions that never came. Well, I take that back. It's not that I never got contractions, I just didn't got the kind of contractions I was expecting. Mine came in the form of achy waves in my low abdomen. Don't get me wrong, they were NOT comfortable and definitely worse than PMS cramps but they just weren't the kind of contractions you see on television. I would be in the middle of speaking and would stop talking and start moaning. This would last about a minute or so and then I would continue my conversation. Two hours later, at 9:30am I was introduced to the anesthesiologist.  This man was going to put in my epidural.  "Oh I don't need it, I'm not really in pain. See, it looks like my contractions have stopped. You can give it to me when I'm having them again."  You see, I was TERRIBLY afraid of an epidural. I had no idea what to expect so I expected the worst, most painful scenario.  In all reality, the IV hurt worse. I'm not kidding. I worked myself up for almost nothing. The epidural hurt a tiny bit, but NOTHING close to what I had pictured in my head.  After this was done, I was able to nap, watch TV, and relax. Throughout the day, the nurses kept checking my progress and I was being told I was not moving along as fast as they wanted. Around 4pm, as I was talking to my sister and dad, I suddenly began vomiting. I had no idea I was about to because my stomach was numb, so it just started coming out! My sister grabbed an emesis basin a bit too late but was able to catch a little. The nurse came in and told me I was now running a fever of 100 degrees. She gave me some Tylenol and kept checking me periodically. Later that evening, I started throwing up again but my fever remained around 100. At 9pm Monday night, Dr. Erickson came in to check my progress and told me I was only dilated to 8cm. He informed me that he could probably get me to 10cm but it would take a while and that Alyssa's head was beginning to mold as she had moved down into the birth canal. At 9:20pm, they decided it was best to just to a c-section. This is where it gets interesting. Within 10 minutes, they were tossing scrubs to Justin and getting me prepped for surgery. 5 minutes after that, they were wheeling me down the hall to the OR. When I get nervous, I shake. I looked like I had Parkinson's Disease!! The anesthesiologist told me it was also a side effect of the spinal block I had received, but it was awful! I thought I was going to jump right off the table I was shaking so bad! I had to be taken in to the OR and prepped before Justin could come in, but once he sat down, it was probably less than 10 minutes before I heard Dr. Erickson say "Here she is" and hold her above the partition separating me from the slaughter that was taking place 2 feet below my face. I always thought I would be a blubbering idiot during the birth of my child, but I was surprisingly stoic. When my OB held her up for Justin and I to see, I chuckled and said, "OH!" I THINK Justin was teary eyed but I can't say that with certainty. A moment later, the nurse brought him over to meet our still unnamed daughter. He cut the remaining cord (they had cut most of it already) and took pictures as the nurses cleaned her off. Justin brought "Peanut" over to show me and I got to give her a kiss before they whisked both of them to the nursery. As the doctor was finishing sewing me up, I felt this wave of nausea wash over me and I told the anesthesiologist, "Um I'm going to be sick." He said OK, turned to get a basin, and very casually informed the nurse that they were out of emesis basins. "NOW!" I demanded and no sooner did he put the dish under my cheek did I start vomiting yet again. At that moment, I heard the doctor say that my blood pressure was dropping and my fever was going up. They gave me some medication in my IV and I suppose it helped because I didn't get sick anymore. When Dr. Erickson told me was finished putting me back together, I asked the other doctor how long my epidural was supposed to last. "About another hour or so. Why, are you in pain?" At that precise moment, WHAM, it hit me! This hot, searing sensation shot through my pelvis and I thought I would go through the roof. "Uh...yeah. Lots," I replied. He told me he would give me a little something to dull it but it wouldn't take the pain away completely. Apparently I got very agitated because they put an oxygen mask over my nose and the rest is a little blurry. I remember them telling me they were giving me Demerol and that's really about it. The next thing I remember, Justin and I were back in the L&D room and I was telling him how confused I was. Most of that night was spent in and out of consciousness. I do remember officially meeting the baby the next day around noon or so.  Over the next few days, I got to know my daughter and slowly began feeling better. It was a slow process but I was released from the hospital on Friday March 13. Justin, Alyssa, and I went to stay with my parents for a few days while Justin and my dad moved our stuff out of our apartment and in to my biological father's rental house. Having a baby at the same time you are moving is not the easiest thing in the world, let me be clear. Actually, it was awful. I couldn't go back to our apartment again, the place that I had called home, I couldn't help pack up our stuff, and I had absolutely no say in where anything went in our new house. So, not only did I have to focus on a new baby, recovering from a c-section, and trying to breast feed (which didn't work out for either of us), I had to move in to a completely new place and had no idea where anything was. They say the "baby blues" are very common after childbirth but I felt completely out of sorts! More about that in my next blog.