Olivia Beth Foreman

Olivia Beth Foreman born November 1, 2013 at 8:18 pm.

and now our little Oompa Loompa....

Remembering the birth, Part III

Part III:

If you or your loved one is pregnant or squeamish, read at your own risk.

Recap: No epidural, All natural.



Wes told me I pushed for 20min. The midwife Theresa Buell told me I was holding her in. Olivia was born at 8:18 November 1^st. Once the head was out, everyone was splattered with blood, the midwife, Wes, nurses, and me. I think I asked later if that was normal, and they said no. The intense pain was gone once Olivia was out, but I was still uncomfortable. The midwife pulled out the placenta because I was bleeding so badly, I believe. Once the placenta was out I felt better. The midwife stitched me up. It hurt QUITE badly. She had given me only a couple shots of numbing cream. I was shaking so much from the pain. Because of that and all the blood, it took her a bit longer to stitch me up.



She worked on me for about an hour and got the bleeding slowed. Then she called in a surgeon to finish the job. The surgeon was much more generous with the numbing shots. She also told a story. Her professor in college said that two vaginas in a room will always find each other. The body has a wonderful way of healing there. They told me I had three tears inside: bilateral tears and a tear on top. I soaked 40 gauze pads and filled a pan with blood. I don’t know what degree of tears; they never said.



While they were working on me, there were 5 or 6 neonatal doctors/nurses working on Olivia and checking her out. I had prepared myself, prior to birth, to have 5 or 6 doctors/nurses present during labor, but I was not expecting a dozen! The neonatal staff was there since I was only 35 weeks and not full term. Later my mom reminded me that birth was so easy for her, and she didn’t understand the women who screamed. Wes had to inform her that I was a screamer. Makes me wonder what all those extra spectators thought, not that I care! Ha.



After the surgeon left, they brought us supper. We ate, and then two nurses picked me up to help me to the bathroom. One of them asked if I felt dizzy after we only took two steps. I told her yes. I don’t remember them laying me back in bed. Our room nurse examined my stitches. She told me it looked like I had a hematoma, bleeding behind the stitches. The surgeon came back in the room and asked if I wanted to have the stitches redone in the room or taken to OR. I figured just get it over with and do it here. She cut open the stitches and got splattered with blood. She took one look at it and said, “This is worse than I thought. We’ll have to take you to OR.” That was about 10:00pm.



I vaguely remember being wheeled out of the room. And the next thing I vaguely remember was being wheeled to Olivia’s room in the NICU. This was after surgery. They told me later I asked how her sugars were, but I don’t remember asking.



Wes had watched me get wheeled out of the room, and since Olivia was gone, he felt bereft. He wasn’t sure where to go, so he decided to go see Olivia. At 4:00am I was wheeled into the post delivery room after surgery. Wes had gotten there about 2:00am.



The next day the midwife Theresa Buell came to our room and examined me post-surgery. She said I was very swollen. She told us since I didn’t clot and wouldn’t quit bleeding, they had run tests. They found out that I had HELPP Syndrome. This is a severe case of Preeclampsia. This caused my blood platelet count to be very low, so I couldn’t clot. I had to be given two blood transfusions in the OR.



The only symptoms I had of HELLP syndrome were swelling and nausea. I had gained 11 pounds in the last week of pregnancy and felt nauseous the day before giving birth. On Tuesday, October 29^th, two days before I started contractions, I had been in for an ultrasound appointment. They had done a urine test because my swelling was so bad. It came back negative for protein in the urine. Also my blood pressure was always good, every appointment!



This is common for HELPP that many of the symptoms don’t show. I remember sending my sister a picture of my swollen ankles, and her coworker was Very concerned that I had preeclampsia! After I lost the weight post-pregnancy, I remember looking down at my ankles, shocked! “Were my ankles always this skinny?” I had to ask Wes. Also it was fun to hear at the 6 week post checkup that I had lost over 14% of my body weight. That was easy! If only pregnancy could have been so easy!



Theresa Buell told us that my chances for getting HELPP again are VERY slim. It usually happens only in the first pregnancy. Also it’s more common to reoccur if it starts early in the pregnancy like at week 20. Another midwife came in the next day. She told me they (not sure who exactly “they” refers to) had been discussing what happened to me. She said, “You had a guardian angel looking over your shoulder. You were very, very lucky.” She told us that 25% of women of have HELPP syndrome die from it.



Many times Wes and I have said we are SO thankful that we were in Sioux Falls. We just don’t think that the local hospitals are equipped well enough for something such as that. And with all the issues that Olivia had, we are firm believers in Sioux Falls care.



Our 2^nd day in the post-delivery room, a little old lady stopped. She was a volunteer for the Community Blood Bank. Since I was given two pints of blood, she requested me to ask family to donate. One day Wes and I walked over to the blood bank room, and Wes had “major surgery.” The needle was so huge he “could see light through it.” 



When Olivia was born, she sounded like a smoker (?). They said that happens if a baby has fluid in the lungs. So they put her on a respirator just through the night. The next morning she was fine. Her blood sugars were low, so they tried finding a vein. They couldn’t get one, so they put the IV directly into her umbilical cord. I think she was on that about a week, and then they took the IV out and just monitored her sugars for the next week. The whole time she had to be on a feeding tube. She would only eat 5cc by mouth and had to be tube fed the rest which was 55cc for 2oz total.