July 24th, 2018
I hated that I had to let Jenn walk into the OB Triage alone, but I still had to work. I told her to keep me updated. Too much time had passed by. I was getting worried. Then, Jenn called me to let me know that she was being admitted to the L&D unit for an undetermined amount of time. I was concerned, but I kept my voice solid as I could. I needed to be the rock. I let her know that I would be coming to join her shortly after I got off work. I planned on going home and grabbing some items first. (Shower products, clothes, phone chargers, other essentials)
After finally getting there, I sat down as she began to update me with everything that happened. (During the pregnancy, I wrote all of Jenn’s vitals- blood pressure, O2 levels, pulse and weight.) It wasn’t a surprise to me, since I watched them climb.
My parents and sisters came to see us later in the evening. Afterwards, we settled in for a night we would not forget. We decided to order some snacks. (Which we would regret. The hospital has a no sugar diet, so things like pudding tasted grainy as if you were chewing on sand.) I told Jenn that tomorrow I would bring better snacks. With her in the hospital bed, I sat in this chair that was decently comfortable and we watched “Rules of Engagement.” We thought a sitcom, would help distract us and help us relax; and it did in fact work.
Finally, the night shift doctor came in. I had questions, wanting to get extra information Jenn was not given. The doctor talked extremely fast; she explained everything over a course of 20-30 minutes, and barely took a breather. After that, sleep was basically non-existent. The staff was coming in every 2 hours, and the chair that I was given, formed into a bed, but it was not wide enough for me. Just barely the length of my shoulders. The remainder of the night was needless to say, sleepless.
July 25th, 2018
We woke early in the morning, I still made the choice to go to work. That morning, we shared a moment together that I don’t believe we had yet- Jenn and I ordered breakfast from the Cafeteria and ate breakfast together. Ironically the first time on a work day we eat together and it’s due to a hospital stay. I gave her a kiss then drove to work. I spent the whole day with her and our daughter on my mind; documenting all vitals that were taken as Jenn told me they were being done.
When it came to my lunch, I got permission for an extended lunch hour and went to see her, she filled me in on the day’s events up to that point. Shortly after, my mom (who works at the hospital) went to see Jenn during her lunch.
After I got off work, I ran home real quick, grabbed some additional items (I grabbed the wrong shampoo) and returned with dinner. (Carl’s Jr – unhealthy but tastier than hospital food) When I arrived at the hospital, made my way through all security, I found that Jenn and her mother were having a conversation. I let them talk while I set out dinner for Jenn and me. After sometime her mom left, as it was getting late, we sat down to watch “Rules of Engagement” once more. The night followed as the night before; minimal sleep and minimal comfort.
July 26th, 2018
As we tiredly got up and prepared for our day, we had no idea that just in a matter of hours, our world would be turned upside down and shaken around in so many ways. We had hopes that Jenn would be going home, but waited to hear word. Just like the morning before, we had breakfast and I went on ahead to work.
Time had passed and I was finally able to reach Jenn. At first she only mentioned that they were thinking of transferring if her blood pressure didn’t get better. My lunch time came and of course I drove to the hospital to see her. We had some time together and she filled me in on the day’s events.
As I left the hospital, I saw a family of ducks walk by, parents and little ducklings. Grabbing my phone real quick, I took a video and sent it to Jenn. Her response was the most amazing thing. She was so happy and ecstatic to see the video. It was the first taste of outside in days.
About two hours later, she told me the doctor was contemplating transferring her to a better equipped hospital. Another 30 minutes later, she told me they were putting the transfer through. I bolted from my chair and let my bosses know. (They basically threw me out of the office, not giving me time to explain fully, but ensuring I was ok to leave and asked for updates) When I got to the hospital, I ran down the hall to the room Jenn was staying in; moving through a sea of nurses I joined her and my mother. The staff confirmed with us one last time that we were in fact being moved to a new hospital.
With this information, I went through the room we were in, grabbing all of our items (snacks included, they were important). Joking with Jenn, I said,. “pulling me out of work to send me back to work, not fair” (She was being transferred to the hospital I work at).
I double checked, triple checked and even rechecked our bags multiple times, before sitting to wait for medical transport to arrive. Once they arrived, nurses and EMS exchanged information, then took Jenn to the ambulance. As they did, my mom helped me with the rest of our personal items and we took them out to the car. Once everything was packed I loaded up the car, dropped my mom back off at her job (across the street) and headed to the hospital we were being sent to.
Jenn texted me with the room number as I was parking. I went to Labor & Delivery, signed in and was walked through the maze of hallways until I arrived at her room. The room was twice the size of what we stayed in, at the other hospital. Jenn was getting hooked back up to all of the machines that she had just been unhooked from, and they went over all of her information from the hospital that transferred us.
The hours passed on; around 6/7 o’clock the room was filled with company. With both of our families were there in the room with us, we were joined by two providers. One was specifically for Jenn explaining how things would go for her and that she would be under his care during her stay. The second doctor explained that he was there for (and if) our daughter was born during our stay at the hospital.
We spent about a good hour discussing care, and having questions answered. (Like how our daughter would progress through life, and the slight chance for things like ADD, ADHD etc. Which we understood was possible, but didn’t mean probable.)
After the doctors left, everyone said their goodbyes and headed home for the night. I was brought my bedding for the pull out couch (which I will admit I was extremely excited for since it gave me room to move and roll over.)
Once food was mentioned, we ordered, giving Jenn some time to try and eat. She ended up getting some soup and was so hungry that we ordered a second bowl of it for her. I think they move pretty fast for Labor & Delivery since it arrived in no time what so ever.
Close to 10:30pm, Jenn started having some more issues, ones we did not want to have happen. Her blood pressure slowly began to rise, and at one point she complained of a headache. I alerted the night nurse immediately, she came in to do an evaluation then brought in the night shift doctor. During the evaluation, Jenn interrupted stating that she saw spots. The night doctor called it and requested an OR room be set up immediately. I stopped dead in my tracks when that statement was made, I could tell Jenn was shocked too.
Things began so fast at that point, I was pacing back and forth, making phone calls getting my family and her family back to the hospital. Papers were signed, then I gave Jenn a kiss, and they rolled her to the operating room. I was put in charge once again with grabbing all of our belongings (that I just unpacked) and repack them for a change of rooms. As they rolled her away, my family had arrived. I gave them an extremely quick synopses of what happen. After a little bit, I joined Jenn in the OR, to which later I had to leave as she did not respond well to the epidural. A nurse was kind enough to take my phone with her, and took photos of our daughter when she was born with a time and everything.
After the birth, I was lead to the NICU portion of Labor & Delivery (again transported through a maze of hallways) until I was finally brought into the room my daughter was staying in. That moment was utter chaos to my eyes. She was in an opened incubator, nurses all around her, examining her and getting her hooked to machines.
They noticed me and invited me in, stepping aside so I could look at her. She was so small. I reached out slowly and touched her, she immediately grabbed my finger and wrapped her tiny hand around it. For an extremely brief moment the world stopped and it was just her and I.
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