Hej!
Hope you are well. We're fine!
Just found a link that describes pre-eclampsia including the why, when etc.
Have a look here: http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23069028/
I had a look at how you spell it as I have written a little update for my work newsletter BLINK today, a Stina and Orla update from the seaside. Hope they'll enjoy reading about our fun and games!
The weather is lovely and the tennis is going on...and we are a day older and eating lots, sleeping plenty (mostly at night which is lovely, just means that I don't get much me time during the day some days!) Sean called to say that one of their clients gave him (Orla) a cute soft toy today, very sweet! We also got a parcel from Kate and Jonny in Australia with some great clothes, thanks guys!
We had a nice weekend with a visit from Ruth, Chris and Teri on Saturday. They brought lunch and we went for a walk along the seafront and they got to meet little Orla. Ruth is next up baby wise, very exciting! Sunday we had a quiet day, Sean got in the sea for a bit helping out on the surf course and we had dinner at the Woolleys before watching the football final.
Mormor and Morfar arrive on Wednesday am so we are looking forward to that, very exciting for them and Orla to meet for the first time!
Anyway, bye for now! Will load up some more pics soon as well...! Promise!
Take care,
Love Stina and Orla
Monday, 30 June 2008
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Day 18
Hi there!
I've just finished the loooong blog about our time in and out of hospital....so now I can just write about how well our little one is doing, that the weather is nice, that we are nearly 3 weeks old already and that we're looking forward to seeing mormor and morfar next week!
To find out more about the name Orla, have a look here!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orla_(name)
http://www.babynamesofireland.com/pages/girl-names-n-z.html
http://www.orlakiely.com/uk/ - our favourite handbag Orla!
Love Stina
I've just finished the loooong blog about our time in and out of hospital....so now I can just write about how well our little one is doing, that the weather is nice, that we are nearly 3 weeks old already and that we're looking forward to seeing mormor and morfar next week!
To find out more about the name Orla, have a look here!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orla_(name)
http://www.babynamesofireland.com/pages/girl-names-n-z.html
http://www.orlakiely.com/uk/ - our favourite handbag Orla!
Love Stina
Monday, 23 June 2008
Finally our first Orla entry!!!
Hello there!
Sorry it has taken ages to get blogging again...I have a spare moment as Orla is asleep right now so I thought I'd put something up on our blog! We are fine, day 16 today and our little Beanie girl is doing great! I am also on the mend it seems as I saw my GP Dr Thomas this morning at 8.40am (managed to shower and get us both ready and walked over to College Rd in time!) and when he checked my BP it was 106/72 - so just about back to normal! I am going to reduce my lovely Labetalol to one a day now and check it again on Friday am with my dr. We also get to see Sandy our midwife on Wednesday here at home and our new health visitor Helaine on Friday here at home.
So to summarise our fun and games...
Tuesday 3 June 2008
on Tuesday the 3 June we had an appointment with Sandy at the surgery which was also our due date. My BP was high again (just as it was the first time on 26 May at my 39 week check up) and there were traces of protein in my urine so as I managed "2 out of 3" we were sent to the hospital for blood tests. So we packed the car up with our hospital bag etc, thought we might as well and off we went around 5pm. I felt fine by the way! It's the "lower" part of my pressure that has been high, my record is 110 I think, it was over 100 for a lot of my hospital stay, then got down to the 90's where it stayed for a long time. I was put on a monitor so we could see/hear Beanie's heart beat and any possible contractions of mine...although there were rather absent! Anyway, after a check up by the midwives a doctor turned up to say that he wanted to admit us there and then and that they wanted to induce me, as my BP etc were not what they should be. There was also a bed free that day but there wouldn't be tomorrow?!! Either way after some tea and toast we decided to stay. So we moved from the labour ward over to the Litlington ward. It was now quite late. Another monitor, more BP, urine and blood tests, turns out my trace of protein went up to "++" something as well and I got my first dose of Prostine at 11pm - a lovely hormone pill thing that they use to try and start labour. Managed to sleep I think.
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Day 2...Not much happened over night. Woke up at 4.30am to a very bright and sunny am. Had some tiny little contractions from about 6am. Put back on a monitor. Had a hospital toast for breakfast. Chatted to Lyndsay my neighbour. Sean came back. I got my second Prostine at 11am, after a bit of a wait (have found out that you do a lot of waiting in hospitals!) and then we went for a walk and sandwiches outside, to avoid hospital lunch and to hopefully get things going. Slept for an hour. Monitored again. Had different (not neccessarily stronger) contractions in the afternoon. Soup and sandwiches and Sean went home about 7.30pm, partly to reply to all the emails and texts about whether we'd had our baby yet! Had a bath and didn't feel much in the way of contractions at all...more checks...sat on yoga ball and sent texts...went to bed at 11pm and slept like a log (ie no contractions...)...
Thursday 5 June 2008
Woke up at 7am. More monitoring and checks. Met Dr Ali for the first time, very nice man. Another check and my 3rd round of Prostine took place that am. Off for a walk to Hampden Park, tea and toastie. Sat by the pond in the sun, walked back and had lunch at the Rodmill with Lynn. Back at the ward at 2pm. Slept for 1h. Felt some contractions! Went out again and sat in the sun and walked around a bit. Got ice cream and topped up our stash of nibbles. Got back about 6pm to the midwives looking for us! Dr Ali had decided that he wanted to check my progress and try to break my waters! Good news after all this waiting. So we went back over to the delivery suite and I was monitored again. Baby's heart beat kept going over the limit set on the machine so they re-set it and Sean was allowed to turn it off! Anyway, with some gas and air - what a weird thing that is - a not very nice instrument (I couldn't see it!) was used to try and reach my cervix (which was hiding behind my ear I think!) to break my waters. First attempt didn't work. I felt it but no pain, strange. Second attempt I didn't get a change to inhale the gas for long enough so felt a bit more and didn't take deep enough breaths. It was over in not time though and I was ok. Dr Ali's verdict was that things did not look promising and the c-section word was uttered for the first time since we arrived. Then we were told to pop over to the pub for a drink and some air before putting me back on the monitor again, so we went to the Rodmill again and had a drink in the middle of the quizz night! Back again, monitored again and finally got to bed/home around midnight. We had basically made the decision to have a c-section by now so Dr Ali suggessted that I eat some breakfast at 6am to enable a section to take place on the Friday.
Friday 6 June 2008 - Sweden's National Day!
So it was Friday. Was woken up at 6am to have my toast! I had slept well. Chatted to my other neighbour Jessica. We heard that Lyndsay had her baby boy at 2am! Great news! Had a shower. Sean came in again. Hand over and new lot of midwives and doctors. A new registrar turned up around 9.30am with the news that we were going to start another round of Prostine...That was the opposite to what we had talked about the night before so I was rather speachless and Sean questioned why this decision had been made. I'm still not sure but a midwife's assistant had taken my BP and it was almost normal, this am, so that may have been a reason. Or they always start another round of 3 Prostine's over 3 days if the first round doesn't work. Nobody had told us about that though. Anyway, we said that we were not sure about this and that we would like to think about it. Then Sean spoke to the midwife and told her that we had spoken to the staff and doctor the night before about a c-section so that this was news to us. Some 3hrs later the registrar came back to say that he had spoken to the consultant and that our decision to have a c-section was fine! Shame it took a few hours and quite a few tears of mine before we got to hear that! Then we still were not sure if they could fit us in that day as they were really busy...had a sleep, went for a walk and at 4pm we got the "no" so a sandwich and a yogurt were found for me as I was starving by now! Got the hospital soup and sandwich too and some more of our nibbles. Had my last bath with big bump which was very nice and Sean popped home again for some sleep. Around 11pm the prepping for the c-section started. I was weighed...for the first time in my pregnancy and it looks like I had around 20kg's extra on me! Wow! Also had blood and urine tests again. Got the glamourous knee high socks, a really wonderful shave...etc. And toast as I was to be nil by mouth - again! I was also monitored again. Beanie was busy, no contractions for me...
Saturday 8 June 2008
Woke up at 6.30am. Another lovely day outside! Was put on a drip at 11am. We had been told that they would try to fit us in during the morning...as it was the weekend the normal operating theatres are used rather than the dedicated c-section one, so we had to wait for all other types of surgery it seemed, before it would be our turn. The next time we were told it would happen was 4pm. And as I was attached to a drip and in my gown we couldn't go very far so it was a loooong day of waiting. In the end we started to think that it wouldn't happen today...but then the anesthetist came and did his talk, a very nice guy, and at 9m we were taken over to the delivery suite yet again. Waited in a room and suddenly one of the nurses from surgery came in to say that they were waiting for us and we for them so we were whisked in asap. Sean was all in blue by now with a "dad" sticker on him, I was still in my lovely gown and socks. I got a local in my spine followed by a spinal and it didn't hurt one bit. I also got a catheter and I had a BP arm band thing on all the way through, this hurt the most! They checked whether I could feel anything with a cold spray and in no time I was numb from my chest downwards. We had a different guy doing the drugs, also very nice and the nurses, surgeons and co were all lovley! We also had Lisa the midwife with us. It all happened very quickly, I felt them clean my tummy and the next thing we knew there was a very loud cry! Sean got to have a look and established that we had had a little girlat 10.14pm! She was then detached from me and given a rub down and quick check over by the midwife. Then she came to us! She laid on my chest and was very cute and unreal! Sean then held her as she felt a bit heavy on me for the remainder of my surgery. This took about 1/2h I think but only felt like minutes. Then we were whisked out and in to a recovery room where I could feel my feet and legs very quickly, amazing stuff! Orla laid on my chest, sucked her thumb, had a go at feeding and Sean got to do her first nappie and got her dressed after her check ups. We all felt very tired, relived and happy by now. We stayed in recory until about 3am when we were wheeled back to Litlington. Sean headed home, he was very tired, but made it ok. Myself and Orla had some sort of sleep til about 5am I think, when the room was rather bright and we had one other mum and baby in there so they took turns to cry...!
Sunday 8 June 2008
This morning is a bit of a blur. I felt such relief that Orla had finally arrived and at the same time I felt a bit like I had been hit by a bus. The drip and catheter came out, had a wash and I think I had some breakfast?! I got on my feet at some point but can't remember when...was definitely wobbly...Sean popped down to the beach quickly to see Toby and co do the beach test, which went well, he then got back just as the visitors started to arrive. I had a small panic trying to find something to wear, lost a bra to a bin thanks to one of the midwives, it was later recovered, made it to my seat and felt almost human when Janet and Verity arrived around 1.30pm. Orla was a very good girl for everyone, I guess she was as tired as me! Next up after the Woolleys who got a lovley little teddy for us, it was farmor and farfar Gardiner. Very happy to see their new grand daughter and we did the hold the baby photos etc. Orla also got to have a bath and get a wash followed by a feed. Then Fi popped in quickly while Sean entertained Archie in the hallway as he was not allowed in, got some lovely drinks and nibbles plus pressies and then Mog came as well, with more nibbles! Just as she was leaving I felt a very strange pain in my shoulder...which got worse and worse...in the end I was in tears and could not work out why or how I got this pain. The midwives got some serious painkillers sorted and they found me a bed in an empty room as I felt the need to have my own space (and the neighbouring mum had 25 visitors and they were all very loud which didn't help...). This was perfect. I felt really bad though and sat up in bed as lying down hurt more! Sean was a great help and kept an eye on Orla. The pain was an air bubble, I do remember hearing that one can get "wind" after surgery...well I did and it was awful! It hangs around for 24-48 hours too! So spent the night sitting up! The midwives took care of Orla for about 3 hrs, then she came to me and we somehow fed/slept through til the morning.
Monday 9 June 2008
Had a shower today! Felt 100 times better after that. Sean came in after a sleep in. Auntie Judi came by to say hello. Had another round of bad shoulder pain so got more painkillers...Lynn also came in for a cuddle, with Orla! Managed to lie down in bed finally which was a relief so could have a rest. Orla slept on and off all day, but not during the night! So I had the pleasure of getting up and back in to bed with my stiches and all during the night, which was fun, managed ok somehow.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Woke up at 7am. Packed bags. Breakkie. Talked to mum and dad. Sean came. Orla slept some more...we eventually had a check up each to be able to be signed out, which we really wanted to be! Got the all clear. Unfortunately had to wait until 4pm to get my round of blood pressure tablets, pain killers and iron. Were almost on our way when they magically turned up! So we made it home in time for Sweden v Greece that evening! And we won! Our trip home went well. Sean strapped Orla in and drove us home in one piece. Settled in. Orla fed well. Had cheese on toast. Spoke to a few people on the phone. Orla was a bit unsettled in the evening but we finally all went to sleep and slept like logs til the morning!
Wednesday 11 June 2008
Woke Orla up in the end as she was sleeping away...fed her. Checked emails. fed. Sean and Orla had a snooze. Spoke to Ruth. Jane and Kylie came around noon for our midwife visit. They both took my blood pressure and it was high, again, the lower number was 110...so they said the I had to be re-admitted for monitoring...! So dissappointing! So we packed our bags again and went back to Litlington Ward. Got our own room at least as they don't mix returning mum's with new mum's! Had a great breast feeding/pumping session with Jo the midwife as my boobs were the size of melons and felt like coconuts by now...! And Orla fed beautifully! She always did, she just didn't feed for very long/often in day early on. Ordered pizza and had a reasonable evening considering we were back in hospital. My BP was checked every four hours at this time and I was taking my BP tablets (Labetalol) all along, went up to double doses too from memory.
Thursday 12 June 2008
Well we were ready to go home...again! Was monitored in the am and had my BP checked again and again. Orla was being a star. Had our 5 day check up in hospital rather than at home so Orla was weighed and had blood taken from her foot for 5 tests and she had another 2 tests (from her hand) as the doctor wanted this done. She had lost a little bit of weight and she was slightly yellow but all in all she was great and she didn't mind the needles at all! So we packed our bags again and at about 5pm 2 doctors appeared, the peadiatrician and another doctor we had not met before. We were told that the blood test had come back showing a sodium level that was too high so they wanted to put Orla on a drip to get fluid in to her to reduce the sodium level, over 48 hours as this had to be done very slowly. There was also talk of nil by mouth while this took place. Well we couldn't believe it and it would mean more time in hospital!!! We were taken to the Special baby care unit where the junior doctor seemed far too keen to stick the drip in Orla's arm...and the 2 doctors and unit nurse had what we would describe as an argument in front of us as it was not clear to all of them what they were doing! So felt even worse and was already in tears...We asked the specialist to explain to us again what they were going to do and whether it was really neccessary to put Orla through this. After that we felt that we understood better and they went ahead and put the drip in. Little Orla was a star as they tried it on one arm and failed...and then got it done ok on the other arm. Her arm was sort of strapped in so that she couldn't bend it or touch it. She only cried a little bit when the big needle went in. Then she got her own little room where her fishbowl bed was put. We still felt that no food was impossible and so did the nurses. Once Orla had settled and got to sleep we went home and re-packed our bags, again! I had a shower and Lynn made us sandwiches. We had received loads of cards and presents in the post already. This felt a bit odd but was lovely and made us feel better. Went back in and sat with Orla until Sean went home and I went to bed. I was on pumping duty as we thought we might be able to give Orla my milk by bottle. And at 2am I was woken up to come and actually feed her. The night nurse made the decision as she had been upset and hungry. I did the same again at 7.30am in the morning. Can't say that I slept very well.
Friday 13 June 2008
Orla's came off the drip in the morning. Apparently her levels had gone down even as they put the drip in...no comment! So that was a relief. We were still on limited/measured food intake. New staff and they were really lovely, especially Judi and Pippa from Oz. We continued to breast feed and pump, tried weighing her before and after a feed, tried a cup and a syringe to feed etc. In the end Judi said that we may have to consider using a bottle, which we said was fine. She took to this fine. While this was going on we had different doctors say different things so we went from no food to some food to more food to food on demand! Confusing or what! At least Orla was a good sport all the way through! One more night of pumping and feeding and we had been told that we could go home on the Saturday if all was well...so fingers crossed! We also headed out for a couple breaths of fresh air today and got a moses basket from Fi's and a cuppa tea and we got some tiny baby grows from Lynn and Brian's. Ordered another pizza for tea before Sean headed home to sleep and Orla and I had another night of feeding/sleeping/pb checks etc.
Saturday 14 June 2008
Well the doctor had said that we could go home today if all was well. As I came in to the unit they were handing over to the day staff and I heard the word Sunday mentioned (and the night nurse said see you tonight..).I didn't want to spend another night so felt a bit deflated...Anyway, I fed or did I pump and then I went back and phoned Sean to say that I wasn't sure they'd let us out today after all! When he came in he went up and spoke to them and said that we want to go home today. He ended up being given the third degree about bottle feeding and formula and did we have the stuff at home etc...I must mention that we ended up with a less cheerful lot of staff today as well. So Sean went off to Sainsburys to invest in the bottle feeding gear while I stayed with Orla. The doctors for the day had turned up and were doing rounds so we got a couple of things checked before one of them had to rush off, it was finished later when I had been told by the nurse to go and eat lunch! We were going to be let out if Orla had put on weight (rather than the fact that the sodium had gone down..!) and thankfully she had, a whole 165 grams so the doctor of the day said that we could go but to top her up with formula if needed which was fine by us. There was still paperwork to do and in the end they did Orla's hearing test as well, which was all fine. I also "attended" a "make up formula in bottles" demonstration and Sean was checked on his feeding skills. We basically did everything the nurses asked us to do that day to make sure they'd let us out! Including eating the hospital lunch...Once she was all ours again we just had to get my bp checked one last time and my lower number was thankfully under 100, otherwise they may have tried to keep me again. I would have refused I think. So loaded up the car with the bags, baby and us and went home for a second time. What a relief. Parked ourselves in the sofa, turned the TV on for the football (SWE v Spain) and just relaxed. Lynn and Brian and Janet and Verity came by to say hi as well and Janet had made us tea so we didn't have to cook which was great! Orla slept like a log through the whole noisy visit, I guess she was quite tired, just like us. We all got a good chunk of sleep that night as well as we were all tired and happy to be home sleeping in our own beds.
Sunday 15 June 2008
Got to know Orla more today and had a quiet am. Went for a walk to the beach in the afternoon, was great to get some fresh air! Saw 2 weekend midwives and my bp was ok, not great but not bad so no more hospital trips. Orla was doing fine as well.
And since then we've seen our midwife Sandy again and my bp has slowly gone down and is now almost back to normal. Stiches look fine and most of my bump has dissappeared! Orla is doing well, she had put on weight on the Tuesday and the Friday so that's great. We also went and registered her birth on Tuesday 17 June at the Town Hall. Also showed her off to all my EBC friends and auntie Jill at the same time. Walked through town back and got a couple of things from Steamer Trading, including an Alessi night light! So Orla is now officially Orla Birgit Frantzich Gardiner! Sean went back to work on the Wednesday so we continued on our own and spend our time eating and sleeping, watching tennis, walking, having friends for tea etc. Now that I've finally finished the hospital story I can start writing "nice" updates about how she is changing, how clever she is etc which will be much nicer reading. We will upload more pics as well as she looks quite different now! She'll be 3 weeks old this Saturday already and on Wednesday next week she'll meet her mormor and morfar for the first time!
Until next time, thanks for waiting for my blogging to get going again and talk soon!
Love Stina, Sean and Orla
Sorry it has taken ages to get blogging again...I have a spare moment as Orla is asleep right now so I thought I'd put something up on our blog! We are fine, day 16 today and our little Beanie girl is doing great! I am also on the mend it seems as I saw my GP Dr Thomas this morning at 8.40am (managed to shower and get us both ready and walked over to College Rd in time!) and when he checked my BP it was 106/72 - so just about back to normal! I am going to reduce my lovely Labetalol to one a day now and check it again on Friday am with my dr. We also get to see Sandy our midwife on Wednesday here at home and our new health visitor Helaine on Friday here at home.
So to summarise our fun and games...
Tuesday 3 June 2008
on Tuesday the 3 June we had an appointment with Sandy at the surgery which was also our due date. My BP was high again (just as it was the first time on 26 May at my 39 week check up) and there were traces of protein in my urine so as I managed "2 out of 3" we were sent to the hospital for blood tests. So we packed the car up with our hospital bag etc, thought we might as well and off we went around 5pm. I felt fine by the way! It's the "lower" part of my pressure that has been high, my record is 110 I think, it was over 100 for a lot of my hospital stay, then got down to the 90's where it stayed for a long time. I was put on a monitor so we could see/hear Beanie's heart beat and any possible contractions of mine...although there were rather absent! Anyway, after a check up by the midwives a doctor turned up to say that he wanted to admit us there and then and that they wanted to induce me, as my BP etc were not what they should be. There was also a bed free that day but there wouldn't be tomorrow?!! Either way after some tea and toast we decided to stay. So we moved from the labour ward over to the Litlington ward. It was now quite late. Another monitor, more BP, urine and blood tests, turns out my trace of protein went up to "++" something as well and I got my first dose of Prostine at 11pm - a lovely hormone pill thing that they use to try and start labour. Managed to sleep I think.
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Day 2...Not much happened over night. Woke up at 4.30am to a very bright and sunny am. Had some tiny little contractions from about 6am. Put back on a monitor. Had a hospital toast for breakfast. Chatted to Lyndsay my neighbour. Sean came back. I got my second Prostine at 11am, after a bit of a wait (have found out that you do a lot of waiting in hospitals!) and then we went for a walk and sandwiches outside, to avoid hospital lunch and to hopefully get things going. Slept for an hour. Monitored again. Had different (not neccessarily stronger) contractions in the afternoon. Soup and sandwiches and Sean went home about 7.30pm, partly to reply to all the emails and texts about whether we'd had our baby yet! Had a bath and didn't feel much in the way of contractions at all...more checks...sat on yoga ball and sent texts...went to bed at 11pm and slept like a log (ie no contractions...)...
Thursday 5 June 2008
Woke up at 7am. More monitoring and checks. Met Dr Ali for the first time, very nice man. Another check and my 3rd round of Prostine took place that am. Off for a walk to Hampden Park, tea and toastie. Sat by the pond in the sun, walked back and had lunch at the Rodmill with Lynn. Back at the ward at 2pm. Slept for 1h. Felt some contractions! Went out again and sat in the sun and walked around a bit. Got ice cream and topped up our stash of nibbles. Got back about 6pm to the midwives looking for us! Dr Ali had decided that he wanted to check my progress and try to break my waters! Good news after all this waiting. So we went back over to the delivery suite and I was monitored again. Baby's heart beat kept going over the limit set on the machine so they re-set it and Sean was allowed to turn it off! Anyway, with some gas and air - what a weird thing that is - a not very nice instrument (I couldn't see it!) was used to try and reach my cervix (which was hiding behind my ear I think!) to break my waters. First attempt didn't work. I felt it but no pain, strange. Second attempt I didn't get a change to inhale the gas for long enough so felt a bit more and didn't take deep enough breaths. It was over in not time though and I was ok. Dr Ali's verdict was that things did not look promising and the c-section word was uttered for the first time since we arrived. Then we were told to pop over to the pub for a drink and some air before putting me back on the monitor again, so we went to the Rodmill again and had a drink in the middle of the quizz night! Back again, monitored again and finally got to bed/home around midnight. We had basically made the decision to have a c-section by now so Dr Ali suggessted that I eat some breakfast at 6am to enable a section to take place on the Friday.
Friday 6 June 2008 - Sweden's National Day!
So it was Friday. Was woken up at 6am to have my toast! I had slept well. Chatted to my other neighbour Jessica. We heard that Lyndsay had her baby boy at 2am! Great news! Had a shower. Sean came in again. Hand over and new lot of midwives and doctors. A new registrar turned up around 9.30am with the news that we were going to start another round of Prostine...That was the opposite to what we had talked about the night before so I was rather speachless and Sean questioned why this decision had been made. I'm still not sure but a midwife's assistant had taken my BP and it was almost normal, this am, so that may have been a reason. Or they always start another round of 3 Prostine's over 3 days if the first round doesn't work. Nobody had told us about that though. Anyway, we said that we were not sure about this and that we would like to think about it. Then Sean spoke to the midwife and told her that we had spoken to the staff and doctor the night before about a c-section so that this was news to us. Some 3hrs later the registrar came back to say that he had spoken to the consultant and that our decision to have a c-section was fine! Shame it took a few hours and quite a few tears of mine before we got to hear that! Then we still were not sure if they could fit us in that day as they were really busy...had a sleep, went for a walk and at 4pm we got the "no" so a sandwich and a yogurt were found for me as I was starving by now! Got the hospital soup and sandwich too and some more of our nibbles. Had my last bath with big bump which was very nice and Sean popped home again for some sleep. Around 11pm the prepping for the c-section started. I was weighed...for the first time in my pregnancy and it looks like I had around 20kg's extra on me! Wow! Also had blood and urine tests again. Got the glamourous knee high socks, a really wonderful shave...etc. And toast as I was to be nil by mouth - again! I was also monitored again. Beanie was busy, no contractions for me...
Saturday 8 June 2008
Woke up at 6.30am. Another lovely day outside! Was put on a drip at 11am. We had been told that they would try to fit us in during the morning...as it was the weekend the normal operating theatres are used rather than the dedicated c-section one, so we had to wait for all other types of surgery it seemed, before it would be our turn. The next time we were told it would happen was 4pm. And as I was attached to a drip and in my gown we couldn't go very far so it was a loooong day of waiting. In the end we started to think that it wouldn't happen today...but then the anesthetist came and did his talk, a very nice guy, and at 9m we were taken over to the delivery suite yet again. Waited in a room and suddenly one of the nurses from surgery came in to say that they were waiting for us and we for them so we were whisked in asap. Sean was all in blue by now with a "dad" sticker on him, I was still in my lovely gown and socks. I got a local in my spine followed by a spinal and it didn't hurt one bit. I also got a catheter and I had a BP arm band thing on all the way through, this hurt the most! They checked whether I could feel anything with a cold spray and in no time I was numb from my chest downwards. We had a different guy doing the drugs, also very nice and the nurses, surgeons and co were all lovley! We also had Lisa the midwife with us. It all happened very quickly, I felt them clean my tummy and the next thing we knew there was a very loud cry! Sean got to have a look and established that we had had a little girlat 10.14pm! She was then detached from me and given a rub down and quick check over by the midwife. Then she came to us! She laid on my chest and was very cute and unreal! Sean then held her as she felt a bit heavy on me for the remainder of my surgery. This took about 1/2h I think but only felt like minutes. Then we were whisked out and in to a recovery room where I could feel my feet and legs very quickly, amazing stuff! Orla laid on my chest, sucked her thumb, had a go at feeding and Sean got to do her first nappie and got her dressed after her check ups. We all felt very tired, relived and happy by now. We stayed in recory until about 3am when we were wheeled back to Litlington. Sean headed home, he was very tired, but made it ok. Myself and Orla had some sort of sleep til about 5am I think, when the room was rather bright and we had one other mum and baby in there so they took turns to cry...!
Sunday 8 June 2008
This morning is a bit of a blur. I felt such relief that Orla had finally arrived and at the same time I felt a bit like I had been hit by a bus. The drip and catheter came out, had a wash and I think I had some breakfast?! I got on my feet at some point but can't remember when...was definitely wobbly...Sean popped down to the beach quickly to see Toby and co do the beach test, which went well, he then got back just as the visitors started to arrive. I had a small panic trying to find something to wear, lost a bra to a bin thanks to one of the midwives, it was later recovered, made it to my seat and felt almost human when Janet and Verity arrived around 1.30pm. Orla was a very good girl for everyone, I guess she was as tired as me! Next up after the Woolleys who got a lovley little teddy for us, it was farmor and farfar Gardiner. Very happy to see their new grand daughter and we did the hold the baby photos etc. Orla also got to have a bath and get a wash followed by a feed. Then Fi popped in quickly while Sean entertained Archie in the hallway as he was not allowed in, got some lovely drinks and nibbles plus pressies and then Mog came as well, with more nibbles! Just as she was leaving I felt a very strange pain in my shoulder...which got worse and worse...in the end I was in tears and could not work out why or how I got this pain. The midwives got some serious painkillers sorted and they found me a bed in an empty room as I felt the need to have my own space (and the neighbouring mum had 25 visitors and they were all very loud which didn't help...). This was perfect. I felt really bad though and sat up in bed as lying down hurt more! Sean was a great help and kept an eye on Orla. The pain was an air bubble, I do remember hearing that one can get "wind" after surgery...well I did and it was awful! It hangs around for 24-48 hours too! So spent the night sitting up! The midwives took care of Orla for about 3 hrs, then she came to me and we somehow fed/slept through til the morning.
Monday 9 June 2008
Had a shower today! Felt 100 times better after that. Sean came in after a sleep in. Auntie Judi came by to say hello. Had another round of bad shoulder pain so got more painkillers...Lynn also came in for a cuddle, with Orla! Managed to lie down in bed finally which was a relief so could have a rest. Orla slept on and off all day, but not during the night! So I had the pleasure of getting up and back in to bed with my stiches and all during the night, which was fun, managed ok somehow.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Woke up at 7am. Packed bags. Breakkie. Talked to mum and dad. Sean came. Orla slept some more...we eventually had a check up each to be able to be signed out, which we really wanted to be! Got the all clear. Unfortunately had to wait until 4pm to get my round of blood pressure tablets, pain killers and iron. Were almost on our way when they magically turned up! So we made it home in time for Sweden v Greece that evening! And we won! Our trip home went well. Sean strapped Orla in and drove us home in one piece. Settled in. Orla fed well. Had cheese on toast. Spoke to a few people on the phone. Orla was a bit unsettled in the evening but we finally all went to sleep and slept like logs til the morning!
Wednesday 11 June 2008
Woke Orla up in the end as she was sleeping away...fed her. Checked emails. fed. Sean and Orla had a snooze. Spoke to Ruth. Jane and Kylie came around noon for our midwife visit. They both took my blood pressure and it was high, again, the lower number was 110...so they said the I had to be re-admitted for monitoring...! So dissappointing! So we packed our bags again and went back to Litlington Ward. Got our own room at least as they don't mix returning mum's with new mum's! Had a great breast feeding/pumping session with Jo the midwife as my boobs were the size of melons and felt like coconuts by now...! And Orla fed beautifully! She always did, she just didn't feed for very long/often in day early on. Ordered pizza and had a reasonable evening considering we were back in hospital. My BP was checked every four hours at this time and I was taking my BP tablets (Labetalol) all along, went up to double doses too from memory.
Thursday 12 June 2008
Well we were ready to go home...again! Was monitored in the am and had my BP checked again and again. Orla was being a star. Had our 5 day check up in hospital rather than at home so Orla was weighed and had blood taken from her foot for 5 tests and she had another 2 tests (from her hand) as the doctor wanted this done. She had lost a little bit of weight and she was slightly yellow but all in all she was great and she didn't mind the needles at all! So we packed our bags again and at about 5pm 2 doctors appeared, the peadiatrician and another doctor we had not met before. We were told that the blood test had come back showing a sodium level that was too high so they wanted to put Orla on a drip to get fluid in to her to reduce the sodium level, over 48 hours as this had to be done very slowly. There was also talk of nil by mouth while this took place. Well we couldn't believe it and it would mean more time in hospital!!! We were taken to the Special baby care unit where the junior doctor seemed far too keen to stick the drip in Orla's arm...and the 2 doctors and unit nurse had what we would describe as an argument in front of us as it was not clear to all of them what they were doing! So felt even worse and was already in tears...We asked the specialist to explain to us again what they were going to do and whether it was really neccessary to put Orla through this. After that we felt that we understood better and they went ahead and put the drip in. Little Orla was a star as they tried it on one arm and failed...and then got it done ok on the other arm. Her arm was sort of strapped in so that she couldn't bend it or touch it. She only cried a little bit when the big needle went in. Then she got her own little room where her fishbowl bed was put. We still felt that no food was impossible and so did the nurses. Once Orla had settled and got to sleep we went home and re-packed our bags, again! I had a shower and Lynn made us sandwiches. We had received loads of cards and presents in the post already. This felt a bit odd but was lovely and made us feel better. Went back in and sat with Orla until Sean went home and I went to bed. I was on pumping duty as we thought we might be able to give Orla my milk by bottle. And at 2am I was woken up to come and actually feed her. The night nurse made the decision as she had been upset and hungry. I did the same again at 7.30am in the morning. Can't say that I slept very well.
Friday 13 June 2008
Orla's came off the drip in the morning. Apparently her levels had gone down even as they put the drip in...no comment! So that was a relief. We were still on limited/measured food intake. New staff and they were really lovely, especially Judi and Pippa from Oz. We continued to breast feed and pump, tried weighing her before and after a feed, tried a cup and a syringe to feed etc. In the end Judi said that we may have to consider using a bottle, which we said was fine. She took to this fine. While this was going on we had different doctors say different things so we went from no food to some food to more food to food on demand! Confusing or what! At least Orla was a good sport all the way through! One more night of pumping and feeding and we had been told that we could go home on the Saturday if all was well...so fingers crossed! We also headed out for a couple breaths of fresh air today and got a moses basket from Fi's and a cuppa tea and we got some tiny baby grows from Lynn and Brian's. Ordered another pizza for tea before Sean headed home to sleep and Orla and I had another night of feeding/sleeping/pb checks etc.
Saturday 14 June 2008
Well the doctor had said that we could go home today if all was well. As I came in to the unit they were handing over to the day staff and I heard the word Sunday mentioned (and the night nurse said see you tonight..).I didn't want to spend another night so felt a bit deflated...Anyway, I fed or did I pump and then I went back and phoned Sean to say that I wasn't sure they'd let us out today after all! When he came in he went up and spoke to them and said that we want to go home today. He ended up being given the third degree about bottle feeding and formula and did we have the stuff at home etc...I must mention that we ended up with a less cheerful lot of staff today as well. So Sean went off to Sainsburys to invest in the bottle feeding gear while I stayed with Orla. The doctors for the day had turned up and were doing rounds so we got a couple of things checked before one of them had to rush off, it was finished later when I had been told by the nurse to go and eat lunch! We were going to be let out if Orla had put on weight (rather than the fact that the sodium had gone down..!) and thankfully she had, a whole 165 grams so the doctor of the day said that we could go but to top her up with formula if needed which was fine by us. There was still paperwork to do and in the end they did Orla's hearing test as well, which was all fine. I also "attended" a "make up formula in bottles" demonstration and Sean was checked on his feeding skills. We basically did everything the nurses asked us to do that day to make sure they'd let us out! Including eating the hospital lunch...Once she was all ours again we just had to get my bp checked one last time and my lower number was thankfully under 100, otherwise they may have tried to keep me again. I would have refused I think. So loaded up the car with the bags, baby and us and went home for a second time. What a relief. Parked ourselves in the sofa, turned the TV on for the football (SWE v Spain) and just relaxed. Lynn and Brian and Janet and Verity came by to say hi as well and Janet had made us tea so we didn't have to cook which was great! Orla slept like a log through the whole noisy visit, I guess she was quite tired, just like us. We all got a good chunk of sleep that night as well as we were all tired and happy to be home sleeping in our own beds.
Sunday 15 June 2008
Got to know Orla more today and had a quiet am. Went for a walk to the beach in the afternoon, was great to get some fresh air! Saw 2 weekend midwives and my bp was ok, not great but not bad so no more hospital trips. Orla was doing fine as well.
And since then we've seen our midwife Sandy again and my bp has slowly gone down and is now almost back to normal. Stiches look fine and most of my bump has dissappeared! Orla is doing well, she had put on weight on the Tuesday and the Friday so that's great. We also went and registered her birth on Tuesday 17 June at the Town Hall. Also showed her off to all my EBC friends and auntie Jill at the same time. Walked through town back and got a couple of things from Steamer Trading, including an Alessi night light! So Orla is now officially Orla Birgit Frantzich Gardiner! Sean went back to work on the Wednesday so we continued on our own and spend our time eating and sleeping, watching tennis, walking, having friends for tea etc. Now that I've finally finished the hospital story I can start writing "nice" updates about how she is changing, how clever she is etc which will be much nicer reading. We will upload more pics as well as she looks quite different now! She'll be 3 weeks old this Saturday already and on Wednesday next week she'll meet her mormor and morfar for the first time!
Until next time, thanks for waiting for my blogging to get going again and talk soon!
Love Stina, Sean and Orla
Monday, 2 June 2008
40 weeks/our due date on 3 June - tomorrow!
Hi there!
Thought I'd write a note today...as our due date is tomorrow, 3 June 2008!
No Beanie arrival as yet...We guess that he/she is still happy, warm and cosy on the inside...although it must be a bit cramped by now!
Feel fine...no major signs of things starting...just now anyway...so we will keep you all posted!
Had a nice weekend, went down the beach Sat and Sun, Sean's done a few swims this week in his new summer suit as well, bbq at the club yesterday and we popped by Matt & Tash to drop of a belated pressie for their twins Charlie and Ethan. Very cute little babies and doing well!
Sean is working in Worthing today, he's got tomorrow working at home, then we shall see...tricky to schedule work stuff when we don't know when Beanie will join us!
Well, maybe our next note will be all about the new baby...or it will be a "waiting update"...we shall see!
Until then, take care!
Love from us
Thought I'd write a note today...as our due date is tomorrow, 3 June 2008!
No Beanie arrival as yet...We guess that he/she is still happy, warm and cosy on the inside...although it must be a bit cramped by now!
Feel fine...no major signs of things starting...just now anyway...so we will keep you all posted!
Had a nice weekend, went down the beach Sat and Sun, Sean's done a few swims this week in his new summer suit as well, bbq at the club yesterday and we popped by Matt & Tash to drop of a belated pressie for their twins Charlie and Ethan. Very cute little babies and doing well!
Sean is working in Worthing today, he's got tomorrow working at home, then we shall see...tricky to schedule work stuff when we don't know when Beanie will join us!
Well, maybe our next note will be all about the new baby...or it will be a "waiting update"...we shall see!
Until then, take care!
Love from us
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