Raven's Story: Day 1

Friday, October 4, 2013
Continued...
After being assessed in the OR, Raven was swaddled and handed to Tyler.  He held her near my head so I could touch her.  We were able to get a few pictures (our anesthesiologist happily volunteered, it is something he loves to do apparently).  While I was being stitched up, Raven and Tyler headed off to the nursery.  The anesthesiologist gave me something that made me incredibly sleepy.  It also took care of my stuffy nose, which had been miserable throughout the delivery.  A normal side effect of the spinal, apparently.  I slept through most of the post-birth surgery and was still pretty drowsy in the recovery room.  I kept waiting for Tyler and Raven to arrive.  Even in my drugged state it seemed to be taking a really long time.  Finally, Tyler showed up.  Alone.  He said that Raven was having some trouble breathing so they had her under oxygen.  The hope was that she would stabilize soon.  He sat with me for a while and then headed back to the nursery while I was being moved from recovery to the post-partum room.

It was several more long minutes before Tyler arrived.  I was still hoping he would show up with baby Raven, who I had only seen and touched for a few brief moments in the delivery room.  He said the pediatrician was on her way to check out Raven.  Tyler wandered back and forth and I dozed off and on.  I really wanted to see the baby and was hoping she would appear with someone soon.  Tyler told me afterwards that he was really worried.  Every time he tried to touch her she would flinch and cry.  She also looked like she was really struggling to breathe.

The pediatrician came in a short time later and recommended that Raven be transferred to the NICU at Huntington hospital.  She explained that Raven was showing classic signs of breathing trouble, including rapid breathing and grunting.  Her concern was that Verdugo Hills didn't have the resources she needed if she started to get any worse.   She said she would call the transfer team.  Tyler said she spent the rest of the afternoon in the nursery until the team from Huntington arrived.

Much of the afternoon was spent in tears by both Tyler and I.  At one point my OB came in and discussed options for me, including possibilities of an early discharge or transferring to Huntington.  He said the latter option might be really expensive since we would probably have to pay for the ambulance out of pocket, so his hope was to get me recovered and out instead.  Even if I decided to be transferred he didn't want to try it that same day since my surgery had just occurred and I was still all hooked up to IV's, a foley cathedar, etc.  He said he would check in tomorrow and we would make decisions from there.

The transfer team brought Raven in before they took her away.  They handed us a "Quick Reference Guide" with phone numbers to call the NICU.  Also a pink booklet, titled, "Your NICU Baby".  They transfer team tried to wheel the isolette near the head of my bed, but due to the angle, I could barely see her.  They opened one of the portals so I could touch her.  I tearfully told her it was going to be okay.  She reached her little hand out of the isolette and curled her fingers around mine for just a moment.  I watched through tears as they wheeled my baby away only 5 hours after being born.