Tuesday September 3, 2013 at 2:48 pm my beautiful baby girl was born. Things leading up to her birth and her birth itself didn’t exactly go the way we planned, so I wanted to write about our experience so that one day when Boston gets older I can remember exactly how we felt and everything we went through. I am not going to give every detail on the blog but I have written about it in my journal just for my sweet girl.
Everything started on September 2, 2013. The whole night I was up in the bathroom I couldn’t get comfortable and I just couldn’t sleep. I was worried that my water had broken and I didn’t know it, and to top it all off I hadn’t felt my baby moving for at least 3 or so hours. So early that morning I called my parents and my doctor and decided that we needed to go to the hospital to check on our little girl to make sure she was okay. We got there and it turned out that what had happened was something with my meconium plug. This is something that had happened to my mom, so I was somewhat familiar with it, and I knew that was one of the reasons that my older brother ended up in the NICU. Well they sent us home and told us to come back later because I wasn’t dilated at all and my doctor wasn’t on call, I was, however, having contractions that I couldn't feel and according to the monitor they were about four minutes apart. So we went home, and I packed our hospital bag just in case she decided she was going to come later that day. At around 3 I could finally feel my contractions, they were not unbearable but this was the first time I had actually felt them and didn’t just see them on a monitor. The contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart still and my family was sure I would end up at the hospital that night. We went to dinner with the Cooley’s at Chuck-a-Rama and the contractions got stronger. By this point we were just deciding when we should go to the hospital, but I was so afraid that they were just going to send me home again and tell me that I should come back tomorrow when I was scheduled for an induction. So we just kept doing whatever we could to try to get her to come faster. We took a walk around our neighborhood, and Devin’s grandma’s neighborhood hoping that would induce labor and make it so they wouldn’t tell us that we would just have to go home. After our little walks we headed home. By this point my contractions were about 2 minutes apart and pretty painful. I was more than ready to head to the hospital but I was still worried that they would send me home again so I decided to read my book to distract myself for a few hours. I told Devin that when I finished my book we could go to the hospital. The contractions were getting harder and harder to ignore but I was determined to finish my book before we went to the hospital. So at midnight when I really just couldn’t take the pain anymore and the contractions were closer and closer together, and I had finished my book we headed to the hospital. When we got there and got all checked in and they checked everything out to see how things were going they told me I would probably have to go home. I just about died, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. I really didn’t want to go back home. I was in pain and it wasn’t going to get any better. About twenty minutes later they came in and told me they wanted me to stay because Boston’s heart beat would drop just a little bit right after I had a contraction and so they wanted to watch her until my doctor got there at 7 am. I was sad to hear that there could be a problem with our baby but I was relieved to hear that I could stay at the hospital. The contractions just got worse and worse as the night went on and at about 4 am I asked Devin to call my parents and tell them I wanted them to come up. I was in a lot of pain and I could tell that my poor husband was dead tired from the extremely long day he had had. My parents showed up at 6 am and I was incredibly relieved to see them and to let my husband sleep. Devin unfortunately didn’t get much sleep until way later in the day. At 7 am my doctor showed up! I was so unbelievably excited to see him and figure out when I was going to be able to get my epidural. The epidural was one of the best choices I made. I am a bit of a wimp and I was happy to get the pain meds. The doctor came in and checked everything and decided to break my water and not even thirty minutes later the anesthesiologist was in to give me my epidural. I was really scary at first but once he was done I was in heaven. I couldn’t feel my contractions and I was feeling much better. The doctor came in to check on me about every 2 hours to see how things were going and unfortunately nothing was happening. In fact Boston was moving further up instead of down like she should be. After the doctor checked me for the last time my worst fear was about to happen and I had no idea. The doctor woke both of us up and told us that I was going to have to have a c-section, because my cervix was not dialating and Boston was still having an irregular heart beat, not to mention the fact that she had moved further up since I had gone into labor. This had been our worst fear since the very beginning. Neither one of us wanted me to have a c-section. We were both so scared so before they took me down Devin, my dad, and little brother gave me a blessing that it would all be okay and that we would be able to get through this together, and that Devin and I would be able to raise our little girl, at the time I didn’t think that would be so comforting but in the days to come that was one of the most comforting things that was said. After the blessing they quickly wheeled me into the OR and started getting everything ready for my c-section. Luckily I didn't have to wait long because I already had my epidural. It all went by so fast but we were ready for our baby to get here. Everything went by even more quickly once I was on the operating table. I could feel the doctors pushing and pulling on my belly but it didn’t hurt. Then all of a sudden Devin stood up to watch them get the baby out. They quickly got her weighed, measured, took a temperature, and declared a time of birth and then wrapped her up so that Devin could hold her. By this point they knew that Boston would be going to the NICU at least for a little while because she was born with a fever, and infants should not have fevers, it is a sign of infection. Devin got to hold our beautiful 7lb 12oz, 21 inch long little girl, and since I was still on the table being stitched up he brought her over for me to see her. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was so wonderful to be able to see her. I just kept thinking she is beautiful and she had SO much hair! Well while Daddy was holding his little girl she stopped breathing and turned purple. The nurses took her and got her to breathe again and then Boston and Devin left. They finished stitching me up and wheeled me over to recovery. I had only seen her for a few seconds and now I had to wait an hour in recovery before I could see her again. I was very sad and very anxious to hold that sweet little girl who I had carried for 9 months. That hour seemed to be the longest of my life. My parents and Devin came in to wait with me and then when it was finally time for me to go to my room they wheeled me by the NICU first, so I could hold my little girl. Holding her was the most amazing thing. I knew I loved her from carrying her all that time but it is so different when you get to see your baby’s face for the first time, you can’t even imagine how much you really did love that little person. I didn’t want to put her down. I only got to hold her for a few minutes then they said I needed to get to my room and that I could come down later after they had gotten me checked into the Mother Baby Unit. It was all so surreal for a few days. Boston's pediatrician came and looked at her and decided that she would need to stay in the NICU for a few more days at least and to get some antibiotics. It was hard to believe that our baby was already here. It was so sad to know that we wouldn't be taking her home for a few more days at least, but it was absolutely wonderful to finally meet her.
The NICU was an experience all its own and I will write about that in another post, so look forward to that.
This is so beautifully written Rachel. Boston will treasure it forever. I love your little family.
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