I went to bed on Thursday, October 11th, just like any other night, actually NOT feeling any contractions tonight. I woke up every few hours to go to the bathroom (as usual). At 2:40am, I woke up, went to the bathroom, and laid back down. Only a few minutes later, at 2:55am, I was laying in bed still trying to fall asleep...and I suddenly felt something warm running down my rear end. I thought, "Is that my water breaking?" I waited a few more seconds and as it continued, I then rolled over, touched Reid, and said "Reid - I think my water just broke!"
I then walked to the bathroom and was positive - my underwear and pants were all wet. I cleaned up, left a message with the on-call doctor, and laid back down. When I laid down, I felt a huge gush...My thought? "Oh my gosh!" Around 3:05am, the doctor called me back, and said to come on to the hospital. I called my mom and Reid's mom (who was going to be watching Caeden), so they could both be on their way from Joplin.
I had heard of women taking their time when their water broke. So I decided to jump in the shower real quick. While in the shower, I noticed I was bleeding, and started contracting right after (3:15am). Obviously this made me nervous... so I finished quickly, threw on some clothes, and only half-dried my hair. As Reid and I were gathering our last-minute things, I went to the bathroom and passed a golf-ball sized clot. This made me very nervous and anxious. I called my next-door neighbor to come over and lay on the couch until Reid's mom arrived - and we left in a hurry.
We arrived at the hospital at 4:00am, and my contractions were already 5 minutes apart...and painful! As I sat in the wheelchair, blood was dripping down my leg onto the floor. You could tell the nurse was a little nervous, but tried to stay calm. She used her walkie-talkie to call the other nurses and told them to have my room ready. By 4:15am, I was in my room, hooked up to monitors. They checked me and I was 4-5 cm. There were also four nurses in the room tending to me....I think they were concerned with the bleeding. However, they said that it was probably because my water broke and my cervix changed so quickly within one hour.
For the next 1.5 hours, I was just in a lot of pain and surviving each contraction. I asked for my epidural as soon as I arrived, but of course they have to have you sign papers, get your IV, take your blood work, and get your blood results BACK before they can get you the epidural. By 5:15am (an hour after checking in), my mom had arrived, and my contractions were 3 minutes apart. Honestly, I think I did a really great job during these contractions! They were so extremely painful - I can't put it into words. But I breathed through each one (using some groaning and hmmm-ing), but never screamed or said something I regret! :) Even Reid later agreed that he was impressed with how well I did!
At 5:25am, the nurse gave me Nubane to help take the edge off the pain, and that stuff was great! Then 20 minutes later, the anesthesiologist was there to give me my epidural - THANK YOU LORD!! Besides Reid & my mom - he was my best friend that day! It's amazing! So, by 6:00am, I was feeling much better! The doctor arrived to check me and I was at 6cm, 100% effaced, and at a -1 station. My dad arrived at 6:30am, and at 6:45am, Reid and I decided to take a short nap.
At 8:45am, the doctor was back to check me and I was at 9cm and a 0 station!! I was so excited that I was progressing so quickly and Callie would be here soon! He said that once I reached 10cm, he wanted me to sit for about an hour....this would help me push for less time and would decrease my amount of tearing. (With Caeden I pushed for 1.5 hours and had a 4th degree tear).
Three & a half hours later, at 12:15pm, I was still at 9cm! What in the world? How did I progress so quickly and then just stop?!? At this point, the doctor said my water was just slowly leaking, so he broke the rest of my water, and started me on Pitocin to help me get to 10cm.
Two hours later (2:30pm), the doctor came in and I was 9.5 cm....yay for progress!! But still not at a 10... So, they upped the Pitocin a little more.
At 3:00pm (only 30 minutes later), the nurse checked me and I was finally at 10cm, and she said the baby's head was much lower! Thank you Lord! **Just a side note - I sat at 9cm for 6 hours! That's longer than my entire labor was with Caeden!** Just as the doctor suggested, they had me sit for one hour, to give Callie more time to drop.
The doctor came in at 4:00pm, and Callie's head was already showing. I started pushing at 4:07pm....and she was born at 4:11pm!!! Only 4 minutes of pushing! Praise Jesus!
Then the scare happened...
As Callie came out, and Reid cut the cord, she was not breathing or crying. The doctor was shaking her, and trying to suction out her nose & mouth. Every once in awhile she would gasp for air, but couldn't breathe. He took her to the nurse, and they worked on her for 8 minutes! Every once in awhile she would gasp, or let out a small cry (more like a squeak), and that was it. The whole time I'm just watching across the room in shock. Reid was right next to her, and my mom was pacing the room. I just prayed and prayed. I kept thinking, "Please don't tell me I've carried this baby for 9 months and now you're taking her from me..."
Throughout the 8 minutes, they were pumping oxygen into her, put a tube down her throat to suction out blood (it was squirting everywhere), and kept monitoring her heart rate (which they said kept dipping). At this point, they decided to take her to the NICU - they let me give her a quick kiss and then rushed her off.
I had a partial third degree tear, so while the doctor was stitching me up, Reid & I just kept praying together. We had no idea what was happening with Callie and there was no way to find out. At 5:00pm, when the doctor finally finished with me, he went down to the NICU to check on her and came back to report that she was okay! That was the biggest relief I've ever heard in my life! It was at this point that we found out she weighed a whopping 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20.5 inches long! HOWEVER, we were also told that may not have been a very accurate weight reading because of all the blood and fluid that was inside of her.
Reid got to go back to the NICU about 5:30pm and
see Callie. This was the first picture he took. I was not
yet able to see her since my legs were too
numb to get out of bed.
At 6:30pm, I got to go with Reid to see her.
This was our first picture with her.
First time to hold Callie...such a sweet moment in my heart!
Big Brother Caeden looking through the NICU window at her.
He couldn't come in because he's too young. Poor
guy had waited so long to meet her and he had to
look through a window. :(
Later, after being home, and reading her Discharge Report, we noticed that it said, "Newborn Resuscitation" on the papers - so scary that they actually had to resuscitate her. She truly is a miracle from God! I literally thank God every day that she's alive and with us...I do not take it for granted. She has been such a blessing so far and Caeden has been an AWESOME big brother! I'll be posting more soon on her first few weeks!
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