Her Arrival

It all started as a pretty uneventful Saturday. I was doing my normal things, but was feeling a bit off. I described it as having the flu. I just didn't feel well, but went along with my day. I started having, I called them "twinges" and wondered if they could be early contractions. I started timing them periodically, but wasn't in any pain.

I still felt "off" so I called a nurse line to see what they had to say about it. The nurse recommended I continue timing my mini contractions and go to the hospital when they were consistently less than 5 minutes apart, as this was my first baby.

I was still complaining that something didn't feel "right" at 9:00pm even though the time between contractions was fluctuating greatly. Chuck and I decided to go to the hospital. What was the worst thing that could happen? They'd send us home and we'd be a bit embarrassed, but sleep a bit better.

We got to the hospital at around 9:45pm and told the nurses that I might be in labor, but I felt like something was "off." They put us in a room and came in a while later to attach a fetal monitor. I was dilated to 3 1/2 and she was 85% effaced. They watched the monitor for a bit and started to get a little concerned so they attached an IV and drew some blood.

Her heart rate was hovering around 185, the average being 140 - 160. It could have been attributed to stress from labor, but hers would drop to 125 and hop back up. The nurse practitioner called my ob/gyn and they decided to break my water.

Chuck commented, "It looks like they're changing your oil." This was the first real indication that something was wrong. Those of you in the know realize that amniotic fluid should be clear, not dark brown. The meconium level was 4+, the highest. They called in the doctors, anesthesiologist and pediatrician. At this point it was still unclear whether I would try for a vaginal delivery or a C-section. Then the lab results came back on my blood. My white blood cell count was double the ordinary amount. Somebody had an infection.

From here, everything happened VERY quickly. I was rushed into surgery for an emergency C-section. Chuck was signing release forms as I was being prepped for surgery. I don't think I really had time to be afraid of the operation. I was just hoping for a healthy baby. Not 10 minutes later, at 11:46pm we had a baby girl.

There was fear she would swallow some of the amniotic fluid and get meconium in her lungs. After briefly holding her over the drape so I could see her, they rushed her to the nursery with the pediatrician. The doctors continued to close me up and then sent me to recovery, while Chuck was with Soapie.

The nurse in recovery was really great. She made every effort to keep me posted on Soapie's progress, but it was all pretty surreal. I didn't even feel like I had given birth. After they felt I had recovered, my bed was wheeled into the nursery so I could get another glimpse of my little girl.

She didn't have any meconium in the lungs, Yay! She did need to be put on oxygen and they had her in what's called a headbox. They decided to go NPO (nothing by mouth) so she was on IV fluids and had heart and oxygen monitors hooked up to her. They had done a blood test after birth and her CRP (C Reactive Protein) level was a 9. The average infant is at less than 1. It's a test that measures inflammation which is usually caused by infection. She was put on two different IV antibiotics.

She looked like a healthy baby, but the tests were saying she could be sick and the doctors were taking every precaution. It was all very scary. I think the worst part was when the doctor and a nurse told us if we hadn't come in when we did the outcome may have been very different for one or both of us. I got to touch her tiny feet that night and was sent to my room for IV antibiotics and fluids.

It was so different than everything we had imagined. No one thinks that they are going to have to have an emergency Cesarean or a baby that's not quite healthy and you're never really prepared for that possibility. It's a complete change in expectations and you have to be able to adapt.

The next morning they wheeled me to the nursery to see her. And, I was walking by the end of the same day. If I wanted to see my daughter I had to be able to get to the nursery. Talk about motivation. It was hard to walk past all the other rooms with "normally" delivered babies and see families visiting and laughing. We weren't really able to have visitors as they couldn't see the baby anyway. All of our free time was spent in the nursery.

Each day got better and better. We were able to bottle feed her and hold her, then try breastfeeding, then hold her without the oxygen. At one point she even got to come to my hospital room, then I was discharged. Soapie spent 8 days in the hospital and I was there for four.

I spent all day, everyday, hanging out in the nursery so I could change her diaper, feed her, talk to her, etc. Everyone said that bringing her home would be difficult and I would never get any sleep. They had no clue. Having to spend all of that time in the hospital was much more difficult than having her home.

There was a minor chance that we would have to bring her home on oxygen, but luckily, she passed the car seat test and her O2 levels stayed high her last two days in the hospital. I cried with joy when she passed that car seat test, as I never thought she would. Our baby was finally coming home... Healthy.

I'll write more about our experiences in the hospital later.

Pregnancy overview

So, now that the pregnancy is over, I can say the first eight months weren't that bad. I had a bit of indigestion, but Tums was my best friend and took care of it. I only had one day where I had to hug the toilet and I was feeling pretty darn good.

Month nine was a WHOLE different story. My body was tired and slow. I had serious acid reflux and couldn't sleep at all. My feet were swollen and I was ready to call it done. I decided, upon serious reflection, that it was nature's way of making the labor much less intimidating. Until that point I was scared silly about her exit. In month nine, I was like, "Get her out, and I don't care how." Lucky for me, month nine only ended up lasting a couple weeks. The little one decided to come a bit early. =)

Christmas Present

Usually we leave the storytelling to Charles, but I wanted a record of the pregnancy. So, here it goes...

All has gone surprisingly well so far. I took my first pregnancy test on November 2nd. I thought it would be a fun birthday present. And, it was positive. We're thinking conception was somewhere around October 7th.

We decided not to tell the grandparents to be until Christmas. It was a bit difficult to keep it a secret for so long, but it was worth it. Bill and Kay came out for Thanksgiving and were actually witness to my first and only bout of real morning sickness. We blamed it on a 24 hour bug and all was overlooked. =)

We had a big plan for the "reveal" on Christmas, but as always, things didn't go exactly as planned. We had printed out copies of the first ultrasound and put them in baby frames to be unwrapped. Unfortunately, Chuck's parents weren't able to make the trip. Kay was having a flare up of gout and Bill was having a bit of dizzyness. We ended up telling them on the phone Friday night.

My parents were here and got to unwrap the present on Christmas eve. My mom was looking at it and couldn't figure out what the picture was (it was pretty dark) and I told her to give it to my dad. He looked at it for a minute and finally looked at the frame itself. I wish I had a picture of his jaw dropping. No one was prepared for the news. Turns out all four parents had given up on grandchildren in the near future. Needless to say, it was a fun holiday.