Completed - Daisy's Birth Story
79. Write up Daisy's birth story (4/24/2018)
Because Daisy just turned 2, I thought it would be the perfect time to do this one! We'll see how much I remember! (A little TMI warning, but it's a birth story, so...)
I was in so much denial when I found out I was pregnant. I had been depressed while taking birth control so we decided I should stop. To us, this basically meant that we were going to try to have a baby. (Funny story: Right before we reached a decision, it was raining and there were worms on the sidewalk and I thought about how fun it would be to show my child the worms and jump in rain puddles - and that was my "you should have a baby" moment.) And then I got pregnant pretty fast, so I just couldn't believe it. Jonathan had to go get the pregnancy tests and I took like 2 or 3 because I was sure I had done it wrong. And then it wasn't until we saw her on the ultrasound, giving us a little wave hello, that I finally accepted it.
I did get a few extra ultrasounds - they thought her nose or something facial wasn't forming correctly, but it turns out she was just squirmy and shy and they couldn't get very good pictures of her. And then they did the gender ultrasound and we were SO SURE it was going to be a boy. Everyone was guessing that, and while we didn't care either way, we thought it would be a boy too! I even had a dream about it. So when the nurse said "girl" we were floored. I was so nervous about having a girl. I didn't want her to have to experience the low self-esteem I had, the many issues women have to face today, or the worries and annoyances that can come from being a girl. We didn't have any name ideas either! I mean, I was pregnant and hormonal so some of this wasn't rational, but still! I cried a few times, but eventually got excited when I started looking at baby girl clothes.
My pregnancy was pretty easy for the most part. I did get nauseous (but only in the evenings), I threw up only a handful of times, and I really didn't look pregnant until past 20 weeks. The worst thing for me was really bad sciatic pain in my hips/lower back and I had terrible heart burn. And all of this while I was finishing up my bachelor's degree! During the two semesters I was pregnant I was doing a lot of higher-level classes, including my senior project. Because I was so focused on school, I feel like I didn't really get to experience being pregnant or to have time getting everything ready for a baby to arrive. (I honestly feel like I shouldn't complain because others have it so much worse and and do so much more when they're pregnant, but this were some small trials that I had to deal with and I just want to document them.) My last day of spring semester was April 21st. I had finals from April 25th-29th. Baby's due date was June 26th-ish. I decided that I would finish up the semester and THEN start getting everything ready until baby came. Two months would be enough time for nesting and I felt a little better about focusing on school and trying not to be distracted by baby stuff.
This build-up is all important because - dun dun-dun duuuuuuuun - things do not go according to plan. I hit 31 weeks, had my last day of the semester, and...
3 AM - We get to the hospital and they check me to make sure my water did break. It did. They give me a shot to slow down contractions and one to help baby's lungs develop quicker. The hospital we went to won't deliver babies younger than 34 weeks, so they hook me up to an IV and load me into an ambulance to drive down the street to UVRMC.
5 AM - We get all situated in a fancy room and they hook me up to a lot of machines. They tell me that they're going to have a lot of different people stop by during the day, they'll do an ultrasound to check baby's position, the NICU people are going to talk to us and they'll give us a tour too. But the goal was to have me stay in the hospital, and the baby stay inside me, until I was closer to 36 weeks. We get a little bit of sleep, pain/contractions are gone, I wear giant pads.
9AM - They come and get me for an ultrasound. If baby is breech then they'll have to do a c-section. I hadn't even thought ONCE about c-sections. They said that where you can feel the most kicking is usually where her legs are, and for me that was higher up on my belly. I had some hope! Hope gone. Baby is breech. And because my water broke it's very unlikely she'll turn around. This is the first time I cried about the whole situation. I was just so unprepared and everything just hit me and I bawled.
10AM - I calm down a little, Jonathan runs some errands (get my laptop, buy me some Depends, etc.), and I accept my fate of having to be in this hospital room for a few weeks. I email my professors and group projects telling them "hey, sorry, I'm in the hospital almost having my baby super early and can't come to the final." It's a good reason to not be there, but I was in SO MANY group projects - and as the project manager. I still feel kind of bad haha
12 PM - The NICU people come talk to us and tell us some things we can expect with having a baby in the NICU. The day has been so crazy I only pick up bits and pieces. I also meet one of the on-call doctors. My doctor doesn't deliver at UVRMC so I'll have to have someone else deliver the baby. I sleep a little bit more.
4 PM - My in-laws stop by and Jonathan and his dad give me a blessing. We feel that whatever happens, we'll all be okay.
5 PM - My back starts hurting. The contraction monitor on my stomach doesn't seem very secure and I don't think it's catching the fact that I think I'm having contractions. I ask the nurse if it's normal for contractions to start up again. She tells me that "yes, they can, but they'll usually go away again."
6 PM - I'm still hurting. Jonathan's parents have leave and he stays next to me, holding my hand until the contraction passes. My nurse still isn't really listening to me, but I'm pretty sure I'm having contractions every half hour.
7 PM - I ask for a heating pad because if they won't believe I'm having contractions at least I could maybe get some relief from the pain I was feeling.
730 PM - The on-call doctor switched and she came in to talk to me. She asks how I'm doing, notices I'm in pain, and then watches me for a minute. "I think I'm going to check you. You just had two contractions really close together." She checks to see if I'm dilated at all and says, "Ok. You're at a 7 and I can feel baby's feet. We're having this baby now." Jonathan and I look at each other and feel surprisingly very calm. Next thing I knew I was being prepped for a c-section. Someone was shaving me, someone was reading me information about the spinal tap I was going to get, and someone else was telling the nurses outside how the scheduled c-section was going to have to wait because I was taking the ready surgery room. The funniest thing was that my nurse walked in with a heating pad as I was about to be wheeled out.
8 PM - Oxygen on, back stabbed, curtain up.
"Can you feel that?"
Yeah, you're poking me.
"Actually I'm pinching you really hard. Almost ready."
8:12 PM - Baby cries. A nurse peeks over the side of the curtain holding a small, squishy, red and purple baby. "I have to take her but here she is!" Jonathan goes with her and I get stitched up. I start feeling exhausted. The nurses are surprised at how calm we have been. I'm surprised too. They take me back to the Labor & Delivery room where I wait for Jonathan to come back. They tell me that we'll go to the NICU and then to the Mother & Baby floor.
She was 9 weeks early, 17 inches long and weighed about 3.5lbs (originally they told us she was a little over 4lbs, but the next day she was more than a pound lighter so they're pretty sure something was wrong when she was weighed)
9 PM - They maneuver my bed into the NICU. I can barely move, can't even feel my legs or abdomen, but I try to lift up a little. I can see her tiny little feet and they tell me she's okay, even though she's hooked up to so many machines. But I felt so calm about it all, and even with just a glimpse of her feet, I just ask them to take me to my room so I can finally sleep.
The next few days were crazy. I finally got to see my entire baby the next day - SO TINY. I had to start pumping right away, I had to watch videos and read stuff, and we had to pick a name. Jonathan kept saying "she's a Daisy" but I was so confused because that name wasn't even on my list! We had mentioned it once when we were trying to come up with literally ANY name, but I hadn't thought of it since. He was convinced though. It took me until almost the day I left the hospital to agree. But yeah. She's a Daisy :)
She ended up spending 7 weeks in the NICU, and BOY was it a roller coaster. There weren't any major complications - she was just early and small, and had to learn how to eat and keep her heart rate up before she could come home. I can't thank the nurses enough for taking care of my sweet baby, for letting me cry on their shoulder, and for giving the best hugs. (Especially Brenda, one of our favorites.) While it was hard to keep going home without her, I felt peace knowing that she was getting the care she needed, that I could heal, and that everything was going to be okay.
And everything was, and is, okay! She came into this world on her own terms, and she hasn't changed. She's a sassy, independent, crazy, sweet, little toddler. We've made it 2 years and we love watching her grow and learn. Happy 2nd Birthday my little sweet!
Because Daisy just turned 2, I thought it would be the perfect time to do this one! We'll see how much I remember! (A little TMI warning, but it's a birth story, so...)
I was in so much denial when I found out I was pregnant. I had been depressed while taking birth control so we decided I should stop. To us, this basically meant that we were going to try to have a baby. (Funny story: Right before we reached a decision, it was raining and there were worms on the sidewalk and I thought about how fun it would be to show my child the worms and jump in rain puddles - and that was my "you should have a baby" moment.) And then I got pregnant pretty fast, so I just couldn't believe it. Jonathan had to go get the pregnancy tests and I took like 2 or 3 because I was sure I had done it wrong. And then it wasn't until we saw her on the ultrasound, giving us a little wave hello, that I finally accepted it.I did get a few extra ultrasounds - they thought her nose or something facial wasn't forming correctly, but it turns out she was just squirmy and shy and they couldn't get very good pictures of her. And then they did the gender ultrasound and we were SO SURE it was going to be a boy. Everyone was guessing that, and while we didn't care either way, we thought it would be a boy too! I even had a dream about it. So when the nurse said "girl" we were floored. I was so nervous about having a girl. I didn't want her to have to experience the low self-esteem I had, the many issues women have to face today, or the worries and annoyances that can come from being a girl. We didn't have any name ideas either! I mean, I was pregnant and hormonal so some of this wasn't rational, but still! I cried a few times, but eventually got excited when I started looking at baby girl clothes.
My pregnancy was pretty easy for the most part. I did get nauseous (but only in the evenings), I threw up only a handful of times, and I really didn't look pregnant until past 20 weeks. The worst thing for me was really bad sciatic pain in my hips/lower back and I had terrible heart burn. And all of this while I was finishing up my bachelor's degree! During the two semesters I was pregnant I was doing a lot of higher-level classes, including my senior project. Because I was so focused on school, I feel like I didn't really get to experience being pregnant or to have time getting everything ready for a baby to arrive. (I honestly feel like I shouldn't complain because others have it so much worse and and do so much more when they're pregnant, but this were some small trials that I had to deal with and I just want to document them.) My last day of spring semester was April 21st. I had finals from April 25th-29th. Baby's due date was June 26th-ish. I decided that I would finish up the semester and THEN start getting everything ready until baby came. Two months would be enough time for nesting and I felt a little better about focusing on school and trying not to be distracted by baby stuff.This build-up is all important because - dun dun-dun duuuuuuuun - things do not go according to plan. I hit 31 weeks, had my last day of the semester, and...
APRIL 22nd
(times mostly estimated)
1 AM - I wake up and I am wetting the bed. Pregnancy problems - but also totally freaking out. I get up and run to the bathroom as liquid gushes out of me. But there's a light pink tinge to it, and then I start hurting. We don't know what's happening so we start googling - and I have to go back to the bathroom because I have liquid gushing out of me again. And more pain. We're pretty sure my water broke. Jonathan gives me a blessing and we decide to go to the hospital.
3 AM - We get to the hospital and they check me to make sure my water did break. It did. They give me a shot to slow down contractions and one to help baby's lungs develop quicker. The hospital we went to won't deliver babies younger than 34 weeks, so they hook me up to an IV and load me into an ambulance to drive down the street to UVRMC.5 AM - We get all situated in a fancy room and they hook me up to a lot of machines. They tell me that they're going to have a lot of different people stop by during the day, they'll do an ultrasound to check baby's position, the NICU people are going to talk to us and they'll give us a tour too. But the goal was to have me stay in the hospital, and the baby stay inside me, until I was closer to 36 weeks. We get a little bit of sleep, pain/contractions are gone, I wear giant pads.
9AM - They come and get me for an ultrasound. If baby is breech then they'll have to do a c-section. I hadn't even thought ONCE about c-sections. They said that where you can feel the most kicking is usually where her legs are, and for me that was higher up on my belly. I had some hope! Hope gone. Baby is breech. And because my water broke it's very unlikely she'll turn around. This is the first time I cried about the whole situation. I was just so unprepared and everything just hit me and I bawled.
10AM - I calm down a little, Jonathan runs some errands (get my laptop, buy me some Depends, etc.), and I accept my fate of having to be in this hospital room for a few weeks. I email my professors and group projects telling them "hey, sorry, I'm in the hospital almost having my baby super early and can't come to the final." It's a good reason to not be there, but I was in SO MANY group projects - and as the project manager. I still feel kind of bad haha12 PM - The NICU people come talk to us and tell us some things we can expect with having a baby in the NICU. The day has been so crazy I only pick up bits and pieces. I also meet one of the on-call doctors. My doctor doesn't deliver at UVRMC so I'll have to have someone else deliver the baby. I sleep a little bit more.
4 PM - My in-laws stop by and Jonathan and his dad give me a blessing. We feel that whatever happens, we'll all be okay.
6 PM - I'm still hurting. Jonathan's parents have leave and he stays next to me, holding my hand until the contraction passes. My nurse still isn't really listening to me, but I'm pretty sure I'm having contractions every half hour.7 PM - I ask for a heating pad because if they won't believe I'm having contractions at least I could maybe get some relief from the pain I was feeling.
730 PM - The on-call doctor switched and she came in to talk to me. She asks how I'm doing, notices I'm in pain, and then watches me for a minute. "I think I'm going to check you. You just had two contractions really close together." She checks to see if I'm dilated at all and says, "Ok. You're at a 7 and I can feel baby's feet. We're having this baby now." Jonathan and I look at each other and feel surprisingly very calm. Next thing I knew I was being prepped for a c-section. Someone was shaving me, someone was reading me information about the spinal tap I was going to get, and someone else was telling the nurses outside how the scheduled c-section was going to have to wait because I was taking the ready surgery room. The funniest thing was that my nurse walked in with a heating pad as I was about to be wheeled out.
8 PM - Oxygen on, back stabbed, curtain up.
"Can you feel that?"
Yeah, you're poking me.
"Actually I'm pinching you really hard. Almost ready."
8:12 PM - Baby cries. A nurse peeks over the side of the curtain holding a small, squishy, red and purple baby. "I have to take her but here she is!" Jonathan goes with her and I get stitched up. I start feeling exhausted. The nurses are surprised at how calm we have been. I'm surprised too. They take me back to the Labor & Delivery room where I wait for Jonathan to come back. They tell me that we'll go to the NICU and then to the Mother & Baby floor.
She was 9 weeks early, 17 inches long and weighed about 3.5lbs (originally they told us she was a little over 4lbs, but the next day she was more than a pound lighter so they're pretty sure something was wrong when she was weighed)
9 PM - They maneuver my bed into the NICU. I can barely move, can't even feel my legs or abdomen, but I try to lift up a little. I can see her tiny little feet and they tell me she's okay, even though she's hooked up to so many machines. But I felt so calm about it all, and even with just a glimpse of her feet, I just ask them to take me to my room so I can finally sleep.
The next few days were crazy. I finally got to see my entire baby the next day - SO TINY. I had to start pumping right away, I had to watch videos and read stuff, and we had to pick a name. Jonathan kept saying "she's a Daisy" but I was so confused because that name wasn't even on my list! We had mentioned it once when we were trying to come up with literally ANY name, but I hadn't thought of it since. He was convinced though. It took me until almost the day I left the hospital to agree. But yeah. She's a Daisy :)
She ended up spending 7 weeks in the NICU, and BOY was it a roller coaster. There weren't any major complications - she was just early and small, and had to learn how to eat and keep her heart rate up before she could come home. I can't thank the nurses enough for taking care of my sweet baby, for letting me cry on their shoulder, and for giving the best hugs. (Especially Brenda, one of our favorites.) While it was hard to keep going home without her, I felt peace knowing that she was getting the care she needed, that I could heal, and that everything was going to be okay.
And everything was, and is, okay! She came into this world on her own terms, and she hasn't changed. She's a sassy, independent, crazy, sweet, little toddler. We've made it 2 years and we love watching her grow and learn. Happy 2nd Birthday my little sweet!
Comments
Post a Comment