Our daughter Isla was born Thursday May 18th @ 12:44pm.

You can read that whole story here.

After we settled into our hospital room, I got up to go to the bathroom and felt extremely faint to the point my hearing kept dissipating. I told my nurses I felt super light headed but considering the birth I had just been through, they explained I just needed fluids and rest. For the next day, we awaited our results for Isla’s tests and whether or not her jaundice threat was low enough that they would discharge us. Because she was a meconium birth, we knew we were going to be staying in the hospital for 24 hours. However, near the end of that 24 hours, not only were we still not in the clear with Isla, but I was still feeling very off. All my vitals were normal but I just knew something was wrong with me. I told the nurse that I really felt something was off and they called my midwife to come and check me out. My midwife ordered some blood work for me and that was when we finally began to get some explanation to my lightheadedness every time I stood up. In my blood work upon admittance to the hospital, my hemoglobin was 144. In the blood work one day after birth, it was 78. My care was immediately transferred over to the on-call OB at the hospital and they tested me for a hematoma, internal bleeding, hemorrhage, blood clots, etc. but every test came back negative (thank God). The OB explained that the number for requiring a blood transfusion was 75, so I was only 3 points away. The bottom line was that I had suffered severe blood loss but it somehow went completely undetected - which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because this is something that is very closely monitored in any birth. The conclusion, which is still more of a guess, is that when I laboured, my endometriosis which is basically tissue full of blood, would have been emptied out of my body and it’s possible that tissue was not measured correctly as pockets of blood loss. My OB ordered an iron transfusion for me as it has less risks than a blood transfusion. I began the iron drip through an IV on Friday and finally slowly began feeling better. However, on Saturday my vitals were still wonky so I was monitored closely. My blood pressure would go down quite a lot whenever I stood up and my heart rate would race. My resting vitals were near normal…it was only when my body had to work harder while standing or moving that the results became concerning. This made me incredibly sad because it meant I could not hold my baby standing up or rock her. I had to be very careful for both of our sakes not to overdo it! By Sunday though, with lots of rest and iron and excellent care from the hospital, my vitals were finally outside of concerning ranges, even while standing, and so we were finally able to go home that afternoon, after being at the hospital since Wednesday evening. It felt so great to head home. I still wasn’t 100% and was essentially sent home to resume bedrest, but it still was very exciting to be able to be in my own house. Isla’s tests all came back great in the end and it really turned out that it was me who kept us in the hospital for a few days longer, even though after our birth the medical staff assumed she would need some help and monitoring. It was hard to finally get this perfect little baby and then to have a health scare myself. Thankfully it ended up not being too serious.

Despite the fear of all the complications, our hospital stay was actually super great. The staff were wonderful…and we were so happy to be there. They helped us so much in establishing a great routine with nursing that Isla was able to gain her birth weight back by day 6. We really appreciated the excellent care we received while there and it helped us stay calm, focused and positive despite all the curve balls.

Since getting home, my recovery has been somewhat slow and as of yesterday, has become even slower. I ended up tearing all of my stitches and had to be restitched yesterday at the hospital on day 11. It is supposed to take about two weeks to heal, so now I start again at day 1. I have to say, the pain of being restitched took me off guard but at the same time I didn’t have any pain meds following it so that was rather unfortunate lol. Thankfully advil and tylenol are now doing the trick. Because of my complications, we ended up limiting visits and outings for the first bit so I could try to rest and take it easy.

It’s currently a little hard emotionally for me as I took it easy for the first week, only to tear my stitches anyways. I was so mad at myself and trying to pinpoint what I did wrong but my OB explained sometimes soft tissue like that just doesn’t take well to stitches and it’s nothing I did or didn’t do that caused it. I am so scared to tear again…I am staying put in bed now this week which is such a bummer but it is what it is. We have been very grateful for family and friends who have come out to help us! It is definitely a lot on Scott when I am unable to help with anything that involves a lot of moving. Essentially, my role is the milking cow lol. Many have brought meals or offered to help and we really have appreciated the help...it was totally unforeseen that we would need this much assistance and I think food has been the biggest help so Scott doesn't have to worry about it.

Everything considered, we are adjusting really well to this new life of ours and are so happy to be blessed with this little girl. There are certainly challenging moments with me stuck in bed and it can be hard for me to not feel like I can contribute more…but Isla is seriously the sweetest baby and definitely keeps me busy and distracted and incredibly grateful.

Here are a bunch of photos from the hospital and our arrival home. Thanks for your continuous prayers and support!