Kiana's Birth Story
by Mommy
As soon as we found out we were pregnant with Kiana, we started weighing out the "birth options" --- a VBAC or a repeat c-section... After much deliberation, research on the Internet, and taking into account Dr. Kurkjian's recommendation, we decided on a repeat c-section to be scheduled sometime the week before our due date (should Kiana not arrive sooner - which we felt was unlikely since her big brother was 5 days late).
Two weeks prior to delivery, we found out that I tested positive for Group B Strep (which scared me terribly). Basically, since we were having a scheduled c-section, the risk of Kiana contracting it was slim to none, but to be safe, I would receive antibiotics in the hospital. Dr. Kurkjian and Liberty (her assistant) were great about easing my fears.
Two days prior to surgery (April 10th), I had two pre-op appointments. One with Dr. Kurkjian and one with the Hospital. The appointment with Dr. Kurkjian was pretty routine. We discussed surgery and I signed some release forms. She also did a mini-physical to make sure I was ok. The second appointment was at the Satellite Lab in the 2500 building of Washington Hospital. At that appointment, I completed paperwork and was given final instructions before coming to the hospital. They drew some blood and put a wristband on me to wear to the hospital the day of delivery... Yes, I wore the wristband for two days! I had to put saran wrap around my wrist when I washed dishes, gave Ry a bath or when I showered... It was quite annoying but I did it --- if the band came off, they'd have to draw my blood again -- didn't feel like being a pin cushion again... :-)
The night before surgery
We did a family dinner at Umi Sushi in Newark. (Ry loves tofu in miso soup.) Then we hit Safeway to pick up snacks for Ry to take with him to Lola Eden's house where he'd be staying over for two nights. We dropped him off at around 7'ish... my big boy was becoming so independent... when we left he didn't care! He blew a kiss and waved "bye!" No hugs or kisses...
Because I was so emotional, Stan took me to get some World Class Chocolate (a tempting mix of white chocolate mousse and milk chocolate ice creams) at Baskin-Robbins around the corner from the house. At 8pm, I finished the ice cream as I did some last minute packing, took my shower and sat down to watch Survivor: Marquesas (TiVo'ed of course! can't stand commercials!) At that point, I did my obessing over not having anything to eat or drink until 2 hours after recovery (can you believe that's all I was worried about in anticipation of the c-section? didn't worry about being opened up or having a spinal block or anything... just being thirsty!)
Stan & I went to bed at around 11pm. Of course, I didn't sleep much. I got maybe 3 hours of sleep total. I started getting excited about meeting our little girl (and HOPED that she was in fact a little girl since her room was VERY pink)... I thought about my sweet little boy becoming a big brother... I imagined Stan holding his little princess in his arms... I stared a lot at the portacrib in our room --- and thought about how we'd have another little one to keep ME awake in just a few hours... I wondered how long I'd have to stay in the hospital - hoped that it wouldn't be more than 3 days... So much was running through my mind...
At 3:30am, I finally accepted that I wouldn't get any sleep - I turned on the TV to see the news of the day (Colin Powell was in the Middle East and there was a bombing) then I got online and posted messages to my friends (July 2000 & April 2002) on pregnancy.org & babycenter. At 4:15am, I started getting ready... I woke Stanton up at 4:30am - he actually got up quickly (which is HIGHLY unusual since he's usually going to bed around this time) and started getting ready. We left the house at 5:15am...
Birth Day - April 12, 2002
We arrived at Washington Hospital a little before 5:30am - the time we were told to check in with Admitting. After we were admitted, we went up to 2West and got settled in our room. We were taken care of by some very nice nurses - unfortunately, I can't remember all of their names. My vitals were checked, I was hooked up to monitors and asked a bunch of questions for the files (info was entered into the computer). After all the pre-op stuff was done, we met Katherine Robinson (our OR Nurse - small world - she and I are both the reps for our departments on WHEA - Washington Hospital Employee Association). Katherine & the Ohlone nursing student who was shadowing her (we never were told her name now that I think about it) took care of us from there. I took the yucky shot of anti-nausea medicine... Stan was told to get into his bunny suit and I was brought to the Operating Room while Stan was brought to the waiting area.
At 7:45am on the nose, I was brought into the OR. I remember the room was very bright. Lots of lights. It was very cold. I had to ask for a blanket to keep me warm... There was loud Latin music playing. The people in the room (there were a lot of people in the room!) said that it was a CD that Dr. Kneler (the father of the intern I worked with over the summer - Eric Kneler) had brought from a trip he'd taken. Dr. Menasas was my anethesist. He was excellent! He administered my spinal block. He walked me through every action and let me know what to expect every step of the way.
The spinal block was bizarre... felt much different than the epidural. But then again, I'd had the epi for a long time and had labored a lot so my memory may be a little fuzzy. Anyway... as I laid on the table slowly losing the feeling in my legs, I started to feel anxious and panicked... (Literally! My heart started racing... I mentally told myself not to freak out... the problem was that my body wasn't listening... I kept trying to move my legs and move around - when it didn't happen (at least I couldn't feel it), it was like I was going to have an anxiety attack...) I told Dr. Menanas about it and he said that it was a normal reaction to feel that and he gave me something to counteract the anxiety. After I became numb and the anxiety wore off, I started to relax a little more. I closed my eyes and just focused on my little one... I couldn't believe that she would be here soon... for a few moments, I thought about Stan in the other room - wondered what he was feeling... then I thought about my little Ryan and how this was all going to change his life... I hoped he had a good night at his Lola Eden's house... then I started to cry a little.
At that point, Dr. Kurkjian came in... she asked if I was ok and I told her that I was just a little overwhelmed but all was OK... She talked to me a little before they got started. She'd seemed a little nervous earlier because they had trouble finding Dr. Aleman-Martin.
Strange thing I remembered... while I was laying there, waiting for Dr. Kurkjian to return... and for Dr. Aleman-Martin to arrive, I listened to Katherine teaching her student how to clean the area that was to be cut... then hearing Katherine get annoyed because she had to do it over again when someone accidentally touched my belly with their elbow - which was considered contaminating the area... I also remembered someone counting the surgical equipment (which was something I was quite aware of when Ryan was born, too!)...
Dr. Kurkjian & Dr. Aleman-Martin arrived shortly after. They made the first incision... then brought Stanton in...
At 8:09am, Kiana Joy made her grand appearance... I was thrilled to hear her first cry... I was relieved that she was actually a girl (I'd been worried that the u/s may have been wrong...) At first sight, I couldn't get over how much she looked like her brother... then I was amazed at how much she looked and sounded like a little girl... I didn't think there would be a difference but there definitely was! Kiana weighed in at 8lbs and measured 20" long. Her Apgar scores were 8, 9.
After checking her vitals and doing whatever those tests are that they do after delivery... the pediatric team and Stan took Kiana into the recovery room to do some more tests - they would meet me there after I'd been "closed up."
I closed my eyes and decided to rest... in between lapses of consciousness, I remembered listening to Dr. Aleman-Martin & Dr. Kurkjian talk about shopping and eating in a downtown area somewhere... and then them having a later conversation about some drama in their office... then talking about their kids... Dr. Kurkjian every-so-often gave me updates on how things were going and how much time they expected it would be before I'd be done... At about 9am, they finished and I was wheeled into the recovery room.
When we got into the room, I immediately fell asleep --- I was exhausted... I was really ITCHY too! I reacted to the Duramorph... I decided not to have any medication to counter the itching put into my IV, though, because Katherine said it may lessen the effect of the Duramorph. The itching would only last a short time. I guess when I was asleep, I'd been scratching a lot... especially my nose... it was as red as Rudolph's!!!
Fortunately, Stan had the video camera going while I was "out" and I got to see and hear a lot of what I'd missed... apparently, there was a lot of talk about "typical Filipino stuff" like the last supper and huge fork & spoon in the dining room and Katherine performed a River Dance... I sure did miss a lot! hee hee hee!
We recovered nicely... Stan stayed with me the first night... Lena stayed the second night... We were released at around 10am on Sunday, April 14th...
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