I was officially released from the hospital this afternoon after much arguing that I did not need to be kept for another day for further observation. I realize that Scott did not post much information about the actual events that have transpired over the last few days, both due to lack of time and knowing how much to disclose. This has led to some confusion about why Caleb and I remained in the hospital for so long. I will attempt to explain while trying not to freak out all those friends and loved ones out there who have not yet had the "joy" of experiencing labor.

First, I must clarify a typo that was put in an earlier post of the midwife's concerns about the labor. Caleb was indeed positioned in a difficult position which, from what I'm told, led to a more difficult and painful labor (obviously I have nothing to compare it to). Though Caleb was head down, his back was to my back (the ideal position is his back to my tummy), making it difficult for him to fully enter the birthing canal because of his position. It also resulted in intense back labor throughout the duration of the labor.

Though light contractions began on Wednesday night, I was not fully sure that I was in early labor until the middle of the night when I began waking up with stronger contractions. By 4:30a.m. I began timing the contractions and found that they were about 6 minutes apart. I labored at home until about 2:30p.m. by using water therapy in the bathtub to deal with the contractions. When the contractions were about a minute and a half apart we called the ambulance (since we don't have a car and the ambulance is free) and headed to the hospital.

Upon arriving at the hospital, we learned that I was only dilated to a 4. I asked for a birthing pool but the hospital currently only has two and they were both occupied so I returned to the bathtub. I will spare the painful details of the day but it involves a lot of back pain, constant vomiting, and a lot of Jack Johnson playing in the background.

When I dilated to a 10, Caleb's head was still far up in the birth canal so they had me wait another hour to help the head descend more before I started pushing. They also broke my water as it never naturally broke on its own. The pushing began around 1:15a.m. on Friday and lasted about an hour and 15 minutes. By the end of this phase, I was literally falling asleep between contractions and pushing because I was so exhausted. I had not eaten in a couple of days or had anything to drink all day. There were no drips put in me to assist with this and I had thrown up everything inside my body many times. I was ready for it to all be over.

After he was born, Caleb was immediately placed on my chest, as requested. However, instead of having private time alone with him and Scott for a while, I found myself being told that they needed to take me to surgery immediately because I had been ripped so badly. Scott and my mother went with the midwife and Caleb and I was taken to surgery where I received a lot of stitches (we won't discuss how many).

When I rejoined my family in the recovery room a little over an hour later, I found myself about to pass out and learned that I was highly dehydrated because of my intense sickness all day. I was hooked up to a drip for hydration but they quickly decided that I was not getting fluids fast enough so they hooked me up to a second drip. I had both arms occupied and they also began taking blood and running all sorts of tests. I felt like a human pincushion (a feeling that continued over the next few days).

I was admitted to the postnatal ward around 6:30a.m. and thankfully was able to get a private room for the duration of my stay. Caleb was an angel and let me sleep a good 5 hours (which was much needed sleep) before waking up and demanding attention. At this time, I believed I would be headed home the following day (Saturday). However, when Saturday arrived I asked about leaving and was informed that this was not possible yet but that I should be able to return home on Sunday.

Sunday morning arrived and the midwives came in to complete my discharge. Scott and I packed up the bags and even had Caleb in his carseat (as previously shown) because we had been led to believe that I would be released within a few minutes. Then the midwife returned and instead of giving us discharge papers, she informed us, with the assistance of a specialist, that I would have to remain in the hospital because I needed a blood transfusion.

WHAT?!

Apparently due to the rip, I had lost an insane amount of blood (something they neglected to ever tell me). I knew I was pale but I figured it was due to fatigue and everything my body had been through. However, my hemaglobin levels were excessively low and though I did not appear to have any symptoms, they were convinced that I would collapse as soon as I got outside. I spent all day Sunday hooked up to an IV, receiving the blood of another person and lamenting the fact that I was still in the hosptial. All day the midwives claimed that I should be able to be discharged as soon as the blood transfusion was over. However, when 11:15p.m. hit and they removed my IV, the night midwife informed me that they must monitor me for the evening.

Monday morning was a repeat of Sunday in the fact that we were told I was being released and we packed up everything only to have a doctor come in and say that they needed to complete further tests and I could not be released until tomorrow. After fighting our case and arguing our frustration with being told so many different stories, we were able to reach a compromise with the doctor and she finally discharged me around 4:00p.m. today, along with iron pills because I continue to be highly anaemic.

So that's the gist of what we have been dealing with for the past few days. We are now all at home. We are tired but we are blessed. Caleb is a wonderful baby and we are so excited about beginning this journey. Even though the past few days have been highly frustrating, I would much rather be stuck in the hospital because I am having complications than if they had concerns about Caleb. As it is, I am so happy. I am finally at home. I have a beautiful, healthy baby boy. I can shower in my own shower and sleep in my own bed. I don't care that I will have sleepless nights, what is important is that pregnancy and labor (and the initial aftermath) are over! :)