Milo's Birth Story

Milo Olson

Born 15th February 2013 at 12.30pm - 4 weeks premature

Emergency C - Section delivery at Frances Perry House

Weight 2.7kg (6 lbs)

Length 47cm

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So the week started off pretty well. I was 35 weeks 5 days pregnant when i had my OB appointment on Tuesday.  I took a sick day from work and went to my appointment with my typical list of notes.  At the end of our appointment my OB knew i had my notes in my iPhone  ready to ask away.  One of the notes was "itchy".    I mentioned to her that i was feeling itchy, but didnt think much of it because we are renovating and we have the dogs inside, so i just assumed it was something to do with that.  She looked concerned and asked me where i was itchy and when i said the bottoms of my feet she turned to her computer and started typing.  She said she wanted me to go for a blood test after our appointment and get tested for a condition known as Cholestasis.

Cholestatis -

 Cholestasis is a relatively rare condition, occurring in 1 in every 1000 pregnancies. This is a liver disease which only occurs during pregnancy, with some women more prone to developing it than others.

Bile salts normally flow from the gallbladder where they are stored in readiness to be expelled into the digestive tract. During pregnancy, high levels of hormones interrupt this process so that the bile salts then build up in the liver and spill over into the bloodstream. Instead of being directed to the gut they then become deposited under the skin. Intense skin itching is the predominant sign of this condition.

Unborn babies cannot cope with their mother’s elevated levels of bile salts. It is important that they are included in pre-term surveillance and monitored for how they are managing.

• Some mothers become jaundiced with a yellow discolouration to their skin and the whites of their eyes. This is not a common symptom though.
• The lower levels of vitamin K can lead to blood clotting problems, increasing the chances of a mother and/or her baby bleeding. For this reason, mothers may be given additional doses of vitamin K (Konakion) either before her delivery or after the baby is born.
• Increased risk of foetal distress, premature delivery or stillbirth.
• There is an increased risk of developing Cholestasis in future pregnancies if it has already occurred. Some sources claim the risk is as high as 90% of it recurring.

I went across the road not thinking too much about it because at this point i didn't know what it was.  Usually i would ask the OB a million questions but for some reason i didn't even ask what it was or what it meant!  She didn't tell me either which seems strange but i think she thought it was best not to scare me by telling me what it was unless she needed to.  Well later that night i couldn't sleep so i decided to Google what it was .... i shouldn't have done that.  i got NO sleep after that, i was nervous and a little teary... the next morning i went to work with it on my mind.  I couldn't concentrate on anything!  9am rolled around and i called my OB to see if the results had come in.  The receptionist said she could see results so she would let my OB know and she would contact me back ASAP.  Not long after that i received a phone call saying the results were positive and if i could come into the clinic in a few hours.  As soon as i got off the phone i started crying.  a lot.  I called Eben and he said he would meet me at the clinic.  That whole day was a bit of  a blur.  At the OB clinic i had a CTG scan to monitor the baby's heartbeat.  It was really comforting to hear the heartbeat when i was super stressed out.  I had a bit of Ebens Slurpee when i arrived so the baby was going crazy at the beginning! Then the little guy settled down.  Everything looked good so then we went into my OBs office and had a chat about what it meant.  She wanted me to come in for monitoring twice a week and she explained that because the condition can be unpredictable they would induce me 2 weeks early just to be safe.  I felt so strange after the appointment.  Eben and I had to think about getting everything ready ASAP because we just had 2 weeks cut off our due date and our house wasn't up to scratch.  I was obviously worried about the safety of my baby inside my belly.  In a way I felt like my body was letting me down!  So close to the birth of our baby and NOW my body decides to throw a spanner in the works.  It was also the unknown.  I didn't know of anyone that had this condition and so Google was my only source of information.  I had to stop looking at Google though.  I knew it wasn't going to do me any good.
That night we told Mum and Dad.  They were just as worried as we were and told me that they didn't get much sleep that night.  The next day at work was a little off for me.  I was also just worried and knew that things were happening quicker than i expected.  I know it might sound stupid but its true!  I know i could have gone into natural labour at anytime between then and my due date anyway but the fact that i knew it was happening just made things more ... real!  I also had to let work know that my last day wouldn't be March 1st, but the next day!  They were surprisingly okay with it - i mean they didn't really have a choice!
That night Eben and I went out for burgers with Chris and Nat for Valentines Day and we told them.  I remember being SUPER itchy that night.  To the point where i was hanging to get out of the restaurant and home!

taken the night before!

you can tell i wasn't feeling the best

The next morning (Friday) I went into my OB clinic for CTG monitoring.  While i was in there i was flicking through a magazine and I heard the heartbeat fade out for a little bit.  I got super worried so as soon as the midwife came in to check on me I told her and she checked the monitor then went and spoke to my OB.  When she came back she said "Natalia will come and talk to you in a minute".  The midwife came back in and asked me if i could stay another hour for further monitoring to see if the drop in heart rate would happen again.  I went and moved my car - at this point not getting too overly concerned because the midwife didn't seem too worried.  When i came back my OB came and saw me before they hooked me up again and told me that she was concerned with the CTG results.  She showed me the results and said that the  baby's heart rate dropped for 5 minutes during a uterine contraction - one that i didn't feel.  She was concerned how the baby would react to a full blown contraction and combined with the unpredictability of the Cholestasis it was best to get the baby out ASAP.  When she said that i knew she meant that i was going to need a C-Section.  However i wasn't ready for the next thing she said.  "Today."
I pretty much freaked out when she said that.  Screaming out  "Oh my God!" and crying.  How crazy!  I had so many emotions running through my mind!  I was freakin scared for the well being of my baby, I was crazy scared to have major surgery and be awake for it, I couldn't believe our life was going to drastically change so soon and I was still in shock that all this was happening so fast!  So an emergency C-Section it was!  The best part was it would be happening in an hours time!!  I called Eben straight away and told him the news and that he had to get to the hospital ASAP.  He was about 45 minutes away so I was hoping he would fly!  I then rang my mum who was in the middle of a leg wax!  She ran out the door and went past my place to pick up some things I would need.  Mind you she was WAY more stressed out than I was.  By the time I walked across the road to the hospital I was fairly calm, just nervous (possibly because i was trying to reply to the millions of texts i received from family and friends who had found out in that short time).  My mum on the other hand was a mess.
I got up to level 7 of the hospital and saw my Dad waiting out front of the ward.  He was super worried, asking me why they weren't operating on me that minute!  About 20 minutes later Eben arrived with Beary (his toy bear from when he was a child)  in his arms, ready to give to our child.  He looked super worried and came up to me and gave me a huge hug and kiss.  We were both in shock!  After doing a bit of paper work and having a few midwifes around me giving me drugs and more paper work to fill out, I was called to my room and told to get undressed and to lay on the bed in the lovely hospital robe.  I cant tell you how surreal it all felt.  I was about to meet my baby!  I had a blood test taken - which later when the results came in my OB told me my bile count was up to 40, which was 14 more than my previous blood test.  This meant that it was a good thing they got Milo out when they did.  It wasn't safe for him to be inside my belly any longer so she made the right choice for me and him.  The anesthesiologist came and spoke to me, asking if we had names picked out.  I said "not if its a boy!".  Truth is we hadn't agreed on one!  We both liked some names but nothing stood out enough for us to agree on a boy name.  Especially when Eben was throwing names around like Milsap ... anyway we had our girl name picked out a LONG time ago and I was pretty certain I had a little girl in me!
Natasha arrived and not long after I was being wheeled down for surgery.  I was on my way to meet my baby .. scared as hell!

excited but waaayyy more nervous

off i go!

The ride to surgery was a scary one.  Eben wasn't with me because he went to go put scrubs on, so it was just me and Gavin .. the bed wheeler guy (thats him there with the pretty blue cap on his head).  Nice guy!
They had me wait outside surgery until everything was ready to go.  Eben appeared and I felt a heap better!  We were still in shock!  How crazy that we were about to meet our baby!!

right before they wheeled me into the surgery room

eben looking lovely in his purple scrubs

scared kids about to be parents!

once they wheeled me in eben took this selfie!  he looks nervous!

I was wheeled in without Eben, he was told to stay outside while they put the spinal block in.  Can i just say that is the WEIRDEST feeling!!  The local anesthetic hurt, but not for long.  Then I didn't feel the spinal block go in really.. just a little bit of pressure on my back.  Then within seconds everything from the boobs down was pretty much numb!  they lay me down and started prepping my body for surgery.  They put the material up so i couldn't see anything.  I was cracking jokes with the nurses, trying to appear like i was totally cool but on the inside i was terrified!  I apologised for my lack of maintenance down stairs - that seemed to have gotten a few laughs, then we spoke about the weird names my husband wanted if we had a boy.. that too got a few laughs ;)
I felt them prodding around on my belly and I kept saying "I can feel that!.... I can feel that too!"  but what i was feeling was pressure, not actual pain.  I cant explain how strange it feels to be awake during major surgery... not nice really!  Anyway then I was asking for Eben, I didn't want them to begin without my husband around!  They assured me he was coming and to just relax ... soon enough he did come.  He sat down next to me, held my hand and looked so nervous but SO excited!  What was happening?! :)
They began the C Section and although i couldn't feel any pain, it certainly wasn't the most pleasant feeling.  It was uncomfortable with all the pulling and prodding so i just kept looking at Eben, trying to stay focused on my breathing.  I was whispering to myself that if i stayed calm my baby would be calm .... I knew my heart was racing a million miles an hour but i think i kept my focus really well.  I kept telling Eben to just look at me so i could breathe.  He was amazing.  Looking at me, keeping me focused on my calm breaths (the class wasn't for nothing at least!)... and then Natalia told Eben to have a look because he was about to meet his baby .... I cant put into words how i felt.  I've never felt anything like that before.. so unbelievably excited but so so crazy scared!  I looked up at Eben ... the biggest smile came over his face, mouth open, gasps of air, and then the doctor said "take a photo!  take a photo!"  - they were pulling the head out of my uterus... then the body .. then he was out!  I yelled "why isn't he screaming?!?"  and then i head a few loud "OOWAAA OOWAAA"  and that was it!  Then I said "what is it?! What is it?!"  and Eben looked at me and said "ITS A BOY!!"  I just started bawling my eyes out, gasps of air coming out, i was saying "oh my god .. oh my god .." and then i saw HIM!!  Our little beaner right before my eyes!  The feeling was incredible!  Nothing else mattered!  The love I felt for this little man was unbelievable.  He was OUR SON!!!!

those big beautiful lips

Daddy cutting the umbilical cord :)

Our Family

look at that face! haha my little love

BABY FOOT!

Our baby was here!!  I said to Eben "He looks like a Milo!".  Eben didnt give me much at this stage, saying "we'll see, we'll see".  We admired out little one together for about 5 minutes before they took him away to get weighed etc.  Eben got to go with our new little man and I had to obviously stay so they could put me back together.  It was the longest hour and a bit of my life!!  While they were putting my organs back in the correct spot and sowing me up they were trying to keep me chatting, cracking jokes.  All i could think about was my new son!  After surgery they wheeled me up to recovery for half an hour!  I was so desperate to see my son that I was trying to act totally fine when really I was woozy and doped up from all the drugs!  I had a little rest and then YES!  I got to go see my boy!  They placed him on my bare chest straight away, and left him there for majority of the day.  I loved every minute of it.

proud papa

family visits!

meeting Nonno

Eben took those last few shots.  What a gem!

Eben and I are so in love with our little Milo, no words can explain.