Surgery {5.10.12}

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Emmaline has Hirschspung's Disease.

The only treatment is surgery.

Surgery? On my 2 week old?

I had panic attacks. I cried. I prayed.

But it absolutely had to be done.

Thankfully, we went home for 2 weeks so she could grow a little (still awful sounding, but surgery on my one month old had a slightly less gut wrenching tone to it). During that time we had to irrigate her 3 times a day (her intestines weren't working properly and she couldn't poop but by irrigating her we bought ourselves sometime).

With HD there is a section of the intestines that is absent of some very important nerve cells. That section must be removed. Since the nerves migrate downward the section is often very small and located at the very end of the large intestine (colon).

A biopsy is done just inside the colon to confirm the absence of the nerve cells and more biopsies are done during surgery to see how much of the intestines is effected.

So we couldn't even know before the surgery how much of her colon she would lose.

{Stressed}

Then our surgery day came and I was praying (along with many) that it would just be a very small section.

Hours passed as we (nearly my ENTIRE family) sat nervously in the waiting room until Dr. Brandt came to deliver the news.

"I'm sorry but Emmaline's entire colon and 20% of her small intestines is absent of the nerve cells."

{Heartbreak}

My poor one month old. I don't think I have ever been so sad or so scared.

Dr. Brandt said that she would be fine. He life will be different but she said that she had plenty of intestines left. She said that she would have an ileostomy (small intestines  brought out to the surface of the abdomen and a stoma, opening,  created for waste to leave the body) and we would discuss her pull through (reconnecting the remaining intestines to the rectum) at a later date.

{Wow}

Can we say...overwhelmed?

As if that even covered it.

Seeing my baby after surgery was hard.

Of course, I wanted to...couldn't wait.

I was scared of how I would react to the hole in her belly.

Mom of the year...I know. 

 But it didn't have any effect in me at all. I was so thankful that she was alive and that she could keep living.
 She recovered well and we learned to cover her ostomy and soon it started to work (after gut surgery the bowels need time to wake up and start working).

 My baby could poop! You may find this funny...but we seriously celebrated poop in a bag. Like, my entire family was standing around looking at the poop.

 It. Was. Awesome.

Our sweet girl after surgery...poor baby. 

 Anyway, that is that.
 Very rare disease.
 Even more uncommon to have the entire large intestine affected.
 And the small intestine is almost never involved...
oh and Hirschsprung's is more common in boys.
 Emmaline is quite literally a rare gem...
One in a million (seriously, her aunt did the math)!

4 Months Old

Wow. 

I. Can't. Even. 

Emmaline has been with us for FOUR incredible months!

She is such a blessing to us. 

She has helped me see what I'm really made of.

I've done things that I never dreamed that I could do. 

Emmaline is the sweetest little baby!

She lights up our world with every smile and laugh!

She is genuinely happy all of the time. 

She isn't letting her disease slow her down one bit.

She gets bigger, stronger, smarter and more active every day...

and more beautiful!

She is so alert and inquisitive.

Everyone that meets her falls in love instantly. 

{Can you blame them??}

I look forward to everyday we spend with her. She really is such a good baby. 

{HAPPY 4 MONTHS SWEET EMMALINE!}

Mama and Daddy love you too much!

Labor and Delivery {4.5.12}

I really loved being pregnant.
Obviously, there were some aspects that were quite unpleasant and I did my share of complaining.
But, overall it was pretty enjoyable.

I even enjoyed giving birth.
Call me crazy. It was seriously incredible.

I planned to labor and deliver naturally...not only vaginally but without ANY medication (it is the belief of some that natural birth just means not having a c-section...so just to be clear).
I also planned to go on my own and not be induced.

Here is how it really went down...

I had a very healthy and very uneventful pregnancy. I was doing yoga most everyday, walking with Will a few nights a week and spending an hour on the elliptical 2 times a week. I was determined to be ready for that natural birth!
Until about 30 weeks. I was suddenly hit with gestational diabetes and low amniotic fluid. This meant halting the workouts, strict diet, checking sugars 4 times per day and bi-weekly exams that would include ultrasounds.

Sigh. Not what I had planned for my last 10 weeks...but in doing all of those things the baby and I stayed safe. During those last week's I had 3 hospital stays where the baby and I were monitored due to low amniotic fluid. Many times I feared that I would be have to be induced early.

Yet, after all of the close calls week 40 came and went!

At 40 weeks and 5 days my Doctor convinced me be induced. It didn't appear that the baby was in trouble but it is common for gestational diabetes babies to be very large in the chest and shoulder area and they can get stuck.

Well, I wanted no part in that. There were other risks and benefits laid out for me and in the end we both felt it was time.

Let's timeline this a little...shall we??

April 4th 3p.m. - check in at the hospital .
                  5p.m. - foley bulb inserted (if you are being induced but want as little medical intervention as possible talk to me about this...it basically stretches the cervix to dilate you and some women progress on their own after this)
April 5th 5 a.m. foley fell out and I'm 5 cm dilated
                  6 a.m. Pitocin (drug that mimics the hormone that the body releases to induce labor) Contractions come on almost instantly!
                  8 a.m. contractions coming 3 minutes apart but I can talk through them and handle them with little concentration. Also, Mama and I finished the door hanger...last minute much.
                  9 a.m. Doctor broke my water...
                 11 a.m. Still 5 cm and 75% effaced with longer harder contractions that are requiring more concentration...still about 3 minutes apart.
                 12 p.m. At this point I started losing my concentration with each contraction and getting very tired so I decided that I needed some help. I really didn't want any medication but I was discouraged by my lack of progress and wanted to save up some energy for the final stages so I opted for the I've drug, nubain. The nurse informed me that it won't take away my pain like an epidural but would help me rest between contractions. It was just what I needed. I snoozed between contractions and was able to focus on laboring and letting my body do what it needed to do. I do wonder if I would have needed the nubain if I had been allowed to go into labor on my own. Anyway...
                1:45 p.m. 7 cm dilated and 90% effected and the effects of the Nubian were long gone. Contractions were very close and so very hard. I was beginning to wonder if I could really do it without the epidural. I had decided that I wanted it or wanted the option so the anesthesiologist was called. But when he came in I immediately sent him and his cart full of scary things away! All of a sudden I was sure that my body would break in two and about one second later I knew  that could do it! I believe this is called the transition stage. Suddenly my contractions felt different. Hard and painful but manageable.
                2:15 p.m. Really feeling the urge to push so we called the nurse and she said that I was only a 7 so I had to wait. So I resisted for a while but we called her again and this time she said I was complete!!!! She let me push to see if I could move the baby and just like that she was crowning!
               2:30 p.m. Doctor is in and I'm actually smiling! This part of labor was so amazing! A few pushes later....
               3:07 p.m. 7 lbs 8 oz 20.5 inches of beautiful baby was placed on my chest!

               {Happiest Moment of My Life}

There you have it...how Emmaline Candis Worthen came into the world!!

PS Do ask me about preparing for natural birth...It was a wonderfully hard experience. I know it's not popular but if you are curious I would love to share.