August 14th, 2006 Mommy and Daddy drove to Bob Hope International Airport to pick up Gramm.
Mommy was over-anxious for the arrival of our little first baby, Madison.
Madison was due to arrive August 10th, per the doctor's predictions.
Daddy said all along, "Wouldn't it be so cool if the baby came on my birthday, (Aug 16th)".
Mommy said 40 weeks is plenty of time- it would NOT be cool if she came any later than the 10th.
Gramm was on standby waiting for the call Mommy was in labor so she could fly out to be here for the birth of her first grand baby.
The call didn't come,
and didn't come,
and didn't come....
so Gramm booked a flight and arrived Monday, August 14th.
We picked her up, went to BJ's for some dinner, then drove home
to wait.
The following morning, August 15th, Mommy felt what everyone describes as contractions.
We called the doctor and went in for our regularly scheduled appointment.
Mommy was put on a fetal monitor.
Sure enough, mild pre-labor contractions.
Dr Kim said pre-labor can last for days.
The baby could arrive later that day,
or as late as Friday.
Friday?
But it's Tuesday
This could last 4 days?
Or more?
Dr Kim agreed if Madison wasn't well on her way, we would induce the following morning, August 16th, Daddy's birthday- 6 days past her due date.
Daddy took the rest of the day off and the three of us left the doctor's office and went to Johnny Carino's for lunch.
Mommy became more and more uncomfortable throughout lunch and spent most of the meal swaying back and forth and breathing slowly.
After lunch we went home.
Daddy napped.
Mommy tried.
The discomfort continued so we decided to time contractions.
No real pattern.
Ugh.
The day continued
So did the contractions
By early evening it was pretty bad.
Mommy heated some leftovers from lunch and took a bath
It's amazing how small a standard shower/tub is to a hugely pregnant woman.
After the bath, contractions were worse.
Mommy asked Daddy to help time
Let's just say, it was good Gramm was there
to prevent Mommy from having her first baby in jail-
for shooting Daddy.
He was slightly less than helpful at writing down start and stop times.
By 10pm we decided this was most definitely NOT pre-labor.
We called Dr Kim.
She met us at the hospital- (luckily only 10 minutes from the house)
It felt like we hit every pot hole and 10 sets of railroad tracks on the way there.
The bumps were miserable.
Arrived at the hospital,
settled in,
IV (Mommy's absolute least favorite part...up to this point)
the rest is a blur.
Mommy was exhausted.
Contractions were insane.
Mommy- big wuss and needle-phobic, opted against the epidural for several hours.
We went with a shot of Demerol instead.
It made Mommy loopy, but didn't help contractions.
Luckily it kept Mommy from hearing the screaming from the woman in the next room who'd been in labor over 24 hours at that point.
Daddy and Gramm were sure that screaming would make Mommy want to turn back- like that was even possible.
At some point in the early hours of the morning everyone decided the epidural was best to give Mommy a few hours of good sleep and energy for the big event.
Mommy's recovery room was free, so the nurses sent Daddy over to get a few good hours of rest himself.
The fold out chair in the delivery room was not very comfy.
Gramm stayed right at Mommy's side.
After all, Mommy is Gramm's only daughter.
A bond Mommy would soon understand on a whole new level.
Mommy was super cold once the epidural set in so the nurses loaded her up with nice toasty blankets from the warmer.
Just before shift change (7am, August 16th) everyone was awake and things were progressing nicely.
Mommy was comfortable and Madison was on the move.
Dr Kim was off call and Dr Sun came on.
Mommy saw Dr Sun several times during routine check-ups throughout the pregnancy.
Unfortunately, Dr Sun was not on board with Mommy's birth plan.
She ordered the epidural cut....
OFF.
Dr Sun assured Mommy it would take several hours for the medication to wear off completely.
She was wrong.
We started pushing around 9am.
It was excruciating.
The epidural wore off completely.
Madison's heart rate began to drop from spending so much time in the birth canal.
Mommy was given an oxygen mask but not told why.
Every time there was a contraction, Mommy tried to remove the bothersome mask.
Remember all the toasty blankets?
As push time set in, Mommy got real hot, real quick.
The blankets flew off,
but the epidural tube was threaded thru the snaps on the shoulders of Mommy's gown.
Gramm and Daddy couldn't figure out how to get Mommy's gown off without pulling out the epidural so Daddy instinctively reached to his pocket and found his trusty pocket knife.
Luckily the nurses intervened and Daddy didn't have to cut Mommy's gown off.
Remember that screaming Mom in the room next to us?
Guess when she decided to finally deliver...
yep- the same moment as Mommy.
Our nurse almost delivered Madison.
When the doctor finally rushed into the room she actually told Mommy to STOP pushing.
Have you ever had a baby?
Can you imagine the fun of having half a head out and being told to STOP?
Yeah- it was great.
Turns out Madison's heart rate was dropping with each contraction because she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
Madison came into the world at 9:41am on August 16th.
That moment our lives changed forever.
Healthy heart and lungs, 10 fingers, 10 toes and beautiful blue eyes.
Daddy's little birthday girl came on her own.
Without induction, Madison arrived on Daddy's 31st birthday.
Gramm stayed two weeks to help Mommy, Daddy, and Madison get on a schedule and new routine and help Mommy recover.
Dr Brooks said it best at Madison's first initial well baby checkup in the hospital- she is perfect.
She was then,
she is now-
Madison is our perfect little angel.
*This weekend we celebrate Madison's 3rd birthday.
It feels like just a few days ago we began our journey as parents with our first little girl.*
No comments:
Post a Comment