We welcomed our little girl a little over 2 weeks ago on Sunday, May 24, 2009 (I guess I don’t need to explain my lapse in writing). The birth story is as follows….
Karlis and I had our child birth classes that weekend. My doctor had said I could go as long as I took it easy. We were there most of Saturday and were really glad we went. The most valuable information would be the fact that we found out where to go when labor started, where to park, etc. When the class was over that afternoon our instructor told us we could leave all of our things (pillow, hand-outs, etc.) to the following day. Karlis and I looked at each other at the same time and said we better not. I guess maybe we had a clue what was coming. That night was as normal as any other night; my mom was here that weekend (thank goodness) to help us get the house ready for our little ones arrival. Karlis and I went to bed and I woke up around 1:30 with really bad cramps. Then I felt something warm between my legs. I figured I better go to the bathroom. When I got there I realized I had blood everywhere. Then a large amount of blood hit the bathroom floor. I was just standing there in kind of a panic. I knew it wasn’t normal and was somewhat beginning to fear the worst. I yelled for Karlis to get up and said we had to leave. He looked at the blood and quickly realized we had to move quickly. So we jumped in the car with me sitting on a towel and I called my doctor, which was really a substitute doctor that I had never meet since mine was out of town. She said to not worry (yeah right) it could just be my water broke (yeah right) and to drive slowly (yeah right). Karlis was hoping to see a policeman along the way to escort us in but that didn’t happen. Thank goodness for our big diesel Ford Excursion that feels like the safest car ever. Karlis was doing a little over 100 mph while I sat with my feet on the dash. Contractions were beginning to start but I was so nervous because I couldn’t feel her move. I hadn’t felt her since the night before when I went to bed. We got to the hospital and my doctor came in right behind us. She introduced herself, sat me in a wheelchair, sped down a long hallway and asked if I had any problems with this pregnancy. I don’t even remember what I told her. All I remember asking was could there be something wrong with the baby since I had lost so much blood. She said in a really sympathetic voice “I don’t know yet but we will find out as soon as we can”. So up my panic level 1000%. Karlis was stuck at the sign-in area so he didn’t get to hear this which I am glad. No one should have to hear this. As soon as I got in a labor and delivery room I had nurses all around me. I think there were three or four asking questions quickly, sticking IV’s in (while blowing a couple of veins), putting a catheter in (I DO NOT recommend this without any numbness or pain relief) and cutting off my clothes (thank goodness I was not sleeping in something I really loved). Someone put the fetal heartbeat monitor around my stomach and that’s when we heard it….her heartbeat. My doctor seemed to sigh with relief. She said they would decide what to do once my blood work was back but to go ahead and prepare for a c-section. We waited for about 40 minutes and my labs revealed that the baby looked good and we could try for a natural birth. My doctor recommended this so that is what we did. I got an epidural which went in wrong and my entire right leg went numb. So epidural take two was performed and went much better. I reached 10 cm dilated around 11:30 that morning so it was time to push. I began pushing but couldn’t seem to make any progress. My doctor asked if it would be ok to stop the epidural so I could feel my contractions better and push more efficiently. I said that was fine (big mistake). It took about 3o minutes to wear off. I then pushed for a couple of more hours until the pain got so bad I couldn’t stand it. The baby’s heart beat was becoming stressed at times and I still was not making any progress. It was decided we would have to do a c-section after 3 very long hours of pushing. So the anesthesiologist came to re-administer my epidural medicine and said if I had no relief in 15 minutes to call them again. We waited about 2o minutes and I could still feel everything. So take two once again on epidural medicine. Still didn’t work. Take three on epidural medicine. Finally some relief. So it was time to be taken into the surgery room. The pressure was insane and they had trouble getting her out of my pelvis area. She had made it really far down where she was somewhat stuck. Finally we heard her cry at 3:15 pm. The most joyous sound we have ever heard. I began bleeding so things in the operating room took longer than normal. Karlis got to take her out and show my mom and dad then she made a quick trip to the NICU due to her being almost 4 weeks early. Even though she was that early she weighed 7 lbs 11 ¾ ounces and was 19 inches long. I finally got stapled up and was taken back to our room. Once she was found to be healthy and able to join the other babies in the regular nursery we all moved to a different floor of the hospital. That is where I finally really got to see her. She was so tiny with little curls on her head. Karlis and I were amazed. We had created life albeit in the most unconventional way, we had achieved it. Our dream of parenthood had finally come true…. and she was perfect.
Karlis and I had our child birth classes that weekend. My doctor had said I could go as long as I took it easy. We were there most of Saturday and were really glad we went. The most valuable information would be the fact that we found out where to go when labor started, where to park, etc. When the class was over that afternoon our instructor told us we could leave all of our things (pillow, hand-outs, etc.) to the following day. Karlis and I looked at each other at the same time and said we better not. I guess maybe we had a clue what was coming. That night was as normal as any other night; my mom was here that weekend (thank goodness) to help us get the house ready for our little ones arrival. Karlis and I went to bed and I woke up around 1:30 with really bad cramps. Then I felt something warm between my legs. I figured I better go to the bathroom. When I got there I realized I had blood everywhere. Then a large amount of blood hit the bathroom floor. I was just standing there in kind of a panic. I knew it wasn’t normal and was somewhat beginning to fear the worst. I yelled for Karlis to get up and said we had to leave. He looked at the blood and quickly realized we had to move quickly. So we jumped in the car with me sitting on a towel and I called my doctor, which was really a substitute doctor that I had never meet since mine was out of town. She said to not worry (yeah right) it could just be my water broke (yeah right) and to drive slowly (yeah right). Karlis was hoping to see a policeman along the way to escort us in but that didn’t happen. Thank goodness for our big diesel Ford Excursion that feels like the safest car ever. Karlis was doing a little over 100 mph while I sat with my feet on the dash. Contractions were beginning to start but I was so nervous because I couldn’t feel her move. I hadn’t felt her since the night before when I went to bed. We got to the hospital and my doctor came in right behind us. She introduced herself, sat me in a wheelchair, sped down a long hallway and asked if I had any problems with this pregnancy. I don’t even remember what I told her. All I remember asking was could there be something wrong with the baby since I had lost so much blood. She said in a really sympathetic voice “I don’t know yet but we will find out as soon as we can”. So up my panic level 1000%. Karlis was stuck at the sign-in area so he didn’t get to hear this which I am glad. No one should have to hear this. As soon as I got in a labor and delivery room I had nurses all around me. I think there were three or four asking questions quickly, sticking IV’s in (while blowing a couple of veins), putting a catheter in (I DO NOT recommend this without any numbness or pain relief) and cutting off my clothes (thank goodness I was not sleeping in something I really loved). Someone put the fetal heartbeat monitor around my stomach and that’s when we heard it….her heartbeat. My doctor seemed to sigh with relief. She said they would decide what to do once my blood work was back but to go ahead and prepare for a c-section. We waited for about 40 minutes and my labs revealed that the baby looked good and we could try for a natural birth. My doctor recommended this so that is what we did. I got an epidural which went in wrong and my entire right leg went numb. So epidural take two was performed and went much better. I reached 10 cm dilated around 11:30 that morning so it was time to push. I began pushing but couldn’t seem to make any progress. My doctor asked if it would be ok to stop the epidural so I could feel my contractions better and push more efficiently. I said that was fine (big mistake). It took about 3o minutes to wear off. I then pushed for a couple of more hours until the pain got so bad I couldn’t stand it. The baby’s heart beat was becoming stressed at times and I still was not making any progress. It was decided we would have to do a c-section after 3 very long hours of pushing. So the anesthesiologist came to re-administer my epidural medicine and said if I had no relief in 15 minutes to call them again. We waited about 2o minutes and I could still feel everything. So take two once again on epidural medicine. Still didn’t work. Take three on epidural medicine. Finally some relief. So it was time to be taken into the surgery room. The pressure was insane and they had trouble getting her out of my pelvis area. She had made it really far down where she was somewhat stuck. Finally we heard her cry at 3:15 pm. The most joyous sound we have ever heard. I began bleeding so things in the operating room took longer than normal. Karlis got to take her out and show my mom and dad then she made a quick trip to the NICU due to her being almost 4 weeks early. Even though she was that early she weighed 7 lbs 11 ¾ ounces and was 19 inches long. I finally got stapled up and was taken back to our room. Once she was found to be healthy and able to join the other babies in the regular nursery we all moved to a different floor of the hospital. That is where I finally really got to see her. She was so tiny with little curls on her head. Karlis and I were amazed. We had created life albeit in the most unconventional way, we had achieved it. Our dream of parenthood had finally come true…. and she was perfect.
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