First: Our birth story.
I woke up around 3 a.m. on Friday, November 4th with some light contractions and also an urgent need to pee. I'd been having random contractions off and on since the week before but these seemed a little different. So I started to watch the clock. They weren't terribly painful but they seemed to be happening every seven minutes or so. I stayed up and watched the clock. I decided I wouldn't wake Tony yet. I'd wait until his alarm clock went off at around 5:30 and then I'd tell him what was happening. When the buzzer did go off I made sure Tony was awake and told him what was going on. With a smile he said, "looks like we're both calling in today."
Around 7ish I texted my boss and my mom. Then I took a shower and my mom brought us some breakfast. At about 9 a.m. I called the doc's office and talked to one of the nurses. She asked how I was progressing and then told me to go on to the hospital and get checked out. We didn't tell anyone else we were going, we just put the bags in the car and went. I told Mom not to worry about coming to the hospital yet because who knew how long we'd be there. They checked and found I was at 2 cm - which was exactly the same as the day before when I had my doc appointment. They put the monitors on me and watched us for an hour. Then when I hadn't changed they sent me home. I cried in the parking lot. I really wanted them to admit me. I had hoped that we were getting somewhere. I was so tired of being pregnant and I really wanted something to be happening.
They did tell me that I had a UTI so when they kicked us out they gave me a prescription for some antibiotics. I called Mom and told her the news then we went and ate lunch while my scrip was being filled. Then we went home. I tried to take a nap but woke up about 3 in the afternoon with horrible pains. They were different from the contractions I was having earlier and I just assumed it was from the UTI. I got up and tried to walk around to ease the pain but it wasn't working. Tony had left the house to go pick up his paycheck and kind of freaked out when he came back and I was crying and moaning. He told me it was time to go back to the hospital but I didn't want to go. I just didn't think that I was in labor. It didn't feel like what I expected. After watching me struggle thru some more contractions he insisted it was time to do something. I called Mom crying and told her we were going back to the hospital. Tony helped me get ready - I was in so much pain that he had to help me get dressed and put my shoes and socks on me - and we drove with a purpose back to the hospital. It was around 5 or 6 when we got back to the hospital. They hooked me up to the monitors again but this time they gave me an IV and something for pain. It made me sleepy and I was actually dozing off between contractions. After about two hours of monitoring they came in and said they were going to admit us even tho I still hadn't dilated any more. My reaction - THANK GOD! I was so glad something was finally happening. I expected that they would put us in a real room and give me some drugs to induce labor.
We walked down the hall to our room and they started getting me set up. Tony stepped out to get my bags and call everyone to let them know we were being admitted. Before he got back the nurse broke the news to me that we were going to have a c-section. I asked if it would be that night or in the morning and she said they'd be doing it just as soon as the doc could get there. You can imagine how surprised I was! Before she could even finish the sentence more nurses came in and started prepping me for surgery. Everything happened so fast! I was slightly drugged up but I understood everything that was going on. They explained that our baby was in distress. Every time I had a contraction her heart rate would drop. At first her heart rate was irregular during my contractions and then it started happening at other times when nothing was going on and that's what really concerned the doctor. He was afraid that if she was reacting this badly at this point that she wouldn't do well during "active" labor.
At this point Tony was frantically calling everyone and getting a hold of next to no one. We hadn't told anyone but my mom that we were going back to the hospital just in case they ended of sending me back home. My mom had been sitting outside in the parking lot when Tony called to say we were being admitted. She had a feeling that we were going to end up staying. So when he called to let her know what was going on she was only seconds away. Tony finally got a hold of his folks and they walked in the room seconds before I was wheeled out to surgery.
The possibility of a c-section had always been in the back of my mind but I never thot it would happen. I can honestly say that it was one of the strangest things I've ever experienced. I had watched c-sections performed on tv and what they show is pretty true to life. But going thru it yourself is crazy. They give you an epidural and you're numbed from the lungs down. You are awake while they talk to you and cut you open. There's a curtain pinned up right above your chest to keep you from looking down and seeing what all is going. Also your hands are tied down so that you don't try to "help" the doc during surgery. They explain the noises you hear and give you play by play accounts of just about everything they do. You don't feel pain, only pressure. Then after a few minutes they pull out a baby and bring her to your side of the curtain so you can see her before they take her to the warming table to clean her up. Simply crazy! Wanna know the first thing that crossed my mind when they showed her to me? She has my nose!
I was admitted to the hospital around 8 p.m. and Darby was born at 9:53 p.m. Super fast, right?
Even before they gave me my epidural I was shivering. I was cold and nervous. But after it started to take effect I was really shaking. After everything we went thru with my dad I knew some side effects from the pain meds and anesthesia were to be expected. So I wasn't freaking out. The anesthesiologist noticed me shaking and gave me some extra meds to make it go away. They had to give me more when I was in recovery too, along with some heated blankets. Those heated blankets are awesome!
After my time in the recovery room was over it was time to go back to my room. We passed the nursery on our way down the hall and Tony was in there with Darby. The nurses pushed me up to the window and Tony held her up so I could see her. He mouthed "she's perfect!"
Here are some pics of Darby's first minutes of life outside my tummy:
Darby Hannah Story was born on November 4th, 2011, at 9:53 p.m.
She weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 21.5 inches long.
1 comment:
yay! good to read it! can't believe she's a month old!!
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