November 27th 2012
We woke up nice and early so we could get to the hospital at 5:30am, just like the Doctor ordered.
We arrived on time and headed up to labor and delivery. By 6:30 I was in my fashionable robe, hooked up to a fetal heart rate monitor and an IV with just water.
They put a tab of cytotec up near my cervix to get it to start to soften and maybe bring on some contractions. When the Dr. came in around 8 I had started to have some very small contractions, was only dilated to 1cm still but my cervix had started to thin and soften. Throughout the day contractions continued… Mostly mild. Getting more intense at times and always coming pretty regularly about 5 minutes apart. Around 4pm they decided to start some pitocin to hopefully speed things up. When the Dr. came around 7pm to check on me I had only dilated to 2.5cm. He decided that breaking my water might get things to speed up a little. So he went ahead and broke my water and put an internal heart rate monitor on Emma. After my water broke every time I had a contraction Emma’s heart rate would drop. Jason held my hand as we listened to her heart rate slow down with each contraction. It was strange because her heart rate had always been strong and consistent until then. And with non-stress tests 2x a week for the last 6 weeks the sound of her heart was something Jason and I were so familiar with, it was easy to tell the drops weren’t normal. Dr. explained that sometimes babies take a few contractions to adjust to the water being broke. So we all listened and waited through a few. No change. Dr. said we were going to begin preparing for a c-section just in case. They put in a catheter and added some bags to my IV cart. After another contraction or 2 he said we were going to go ahead and do the c-section. In one way I was nervous and scared… In another way I was excited because I knew I would have her in about an hour… Much less time than the long wait we still had ahead of us the other way… They gave Jason his hot white paper outfit.
Put a hair cap on me and began to get things moving. The anesthesiologist arrived and explained that they would be doing a spinal and had me sign some paperwork. Then the real drama began… As they are wheeling me to OR, Jason following behind, they begin discussing what room we are going to. We were going to OR 1. At this point Dr., anesthesiologist and nurses all begin complaining about OR 1 and how they can’t work in OR 1 and how much they hate it. The last thing Jason hears before they take him to a different room to wait for the spinal to be done is the anesthesiologist saying that if we have to work there she needs her emergency kit. All very comforting things to us first timers. So I get into the dreaded OR 1 room and onto the table. I am physically shaking with chill as they all complain about being hot… I sit on the edge of the table and lean into the chest of a nurse while the anesthesiologist begins to prep the spinal. About a minute after she says there won’t be pain, just pressure. The pressure turns to pain. She eventually gives up and restarts the spinal completely. With the same result… But this time her dialog includes how she refuses to put me to sleep in this room. How she absolutely can’t put me to sleep in this room and she is wondering where the back up anesthesiologist that is supposed to be there is. The nurse whose chest I’m leaning into asked if I was ok. I said I was a little scared. Then they explain they are going to try an epidural which will work just like the spinal but take a little longer. At this time they also realize they should update my husband. The anesthesiologist starts with the epidural and struggles with it at first but eventually gets it in by going at it from a different angle. At this point they let Jason in and he comes and sits by my head. It was great to have him there. Very comforting. I was still freezing to death. A little worried that my shivering would be a problem but no one else seemed to think it was a problem. I could feel the Dr. doing everything but I felt no pain. It was very strange. After only a few minutes they said she was coming. Then the Dr. held her above the screen for us to see. She was a bundle of flying limbs and a head of hair. She was still covered in vernix, so very gray/white. But it was beautiful and wonderful to see her. The Dr. said the cord was wrapped around her neck twice so the decision to do a c-section was definitely a good one. The nurses took her and started wiping her off.
Jason got to trim the umbilical cord, then they brought her over to me. She was and is just so absolutely perfect. I know I am biased… But just ask Jason, I don’t give out compliments that aren’t deserved, even to family. She is just truly a beautiful and amazing baby. So much so that I sometimes doubt she is mine. 🙂
They held her by me for a little while then she, the nurses and Jason went off to the nursery for weight, length, cleaning etc…
While I got closed up. I don’t remember if they were already in my room when I got there or not but it really didn’t feel like very long before Emma was ours and I was breastfeeding her for the first time. As I finish writing this, exactly one week later, I still can’t believe how lucky and blessed I am. Jason is more than willing to help, my mom and aunt are in town helping, and then of course there is Emma. She is so wonderful. So amazing. She really completes our family. I already can’t imagine life being any different than it is at this moment.