Your Birthday. 7/29/10

Well little miss, you did not listen to your mommy! Despite my best efforts, you decided you knew best (and maybe you did) and were born at 33 weeks and 6 days gestation.

A little bit about the 24 hours leading up to your arrival:

Wednesday, July 28:

Around 7:00 pm, you were hooked up to the heart rate monitor. This happened three times a day while I was on bedrest. This night in particular, the nurses came in and asked if I had felt any contractions. I had not. After they told me what to feel for, I started to notice them.

It was very bizarre to have contractions. To this point, I just thought I was having toxemia but that you were still fine where you were.

The nurses had a doctor come in and check to see if I had dilated, and I HAD. I was 2 cm along. 10 cm is where you start pushing. The nurses gave me a medication to stop the contractions as we didn't want you to come along just yet. The medication worked and I went to sleep.

Thursday, July 29

Your daddy's band had an early morning show for the local news station FOX 19. He played from 6:00 am-9:00 am. I watched every bit of it, though they only showed the band for a couple minutes. I was feeling pretty good and looked forward to my doctor's return (she was there on Tuesday and off Wednesday). Daddy and Hannah also planned to take the day off and hang out with me. Good thing they did!

10:00 am: Dr. Knipper made her rounds and was fairly confused by my condition. Some signs looked like preeclampsia some did not. She said she was perplexed and planned to discuss with the attending perinatologist (high risk pregnancy). She ordered more blood work but seemed certain that I was not going home but would likely have a baby very soon.

10:30 am: Daddy and Hannah make it to the hospital for a visit.

11:00 am: The perinatologist stops in to discuss his opinion of our situation. He very casually said that it was his recommendation that I go home that day. Ultimately, my doctor would make the call but he didn't think things seemed bad enough for me to stay. However, there was one test that he was still awaiting results: my liver enzymes. If these were elevated, this was a sign that the high blood pressure was severe enough it was causing organ malfunction.

He still felt extremely confident we would be home on bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy.

12:00 pm: Lunch was brought in, so I ate. Turkey with gravy, dressing and potatoes. It was so delicious!

12:30 pm: Dr. Knipper returns and is horrified to see that I ate lunch. She was shocked when I told her the perinatologist all but sent me home. She was upset and said that the liver enzymes came back elevated. It had to be baby-day as I was not getting better and she feared was on a crash course with something much worse.

12:31 pm: Daddy walks in from the cafeteria to find Hannah on the phone with Nana to tell her "We are having a baby." He came around the curtain to find Dr. Knipper checking for dilation again. He was holding his lunch and had the look of fear and joy in his eyes.

We were both so torn-we wanted to meet you so badly but we also wanted you to be healthy. Staying put would ensure your health.

12:32 pm: Dr. Knipper orders a labor and delivery room.

2:00 pm: By this time, I am in labor and delivery room 16. Aunt Whitney is visiting with us and she plans to take Hannah home for a little while as we suspect labor will be a long ordeal. First babies are usually not in a huge hurry to arrive.

4:00 pm: At this time, I am having contractions every 1-5 minutes. I ask for the epidural.

6:00 pm: Your dad and I have been relaxing. I am about 4 cm. They say, it usually progresses about 1 cm/hour which is about right for where we are. So far, I feel no pain and everything is hunky-dory. Aunt Kelly and Uncle Adam ask if they can stop by for a visit so they arrive around 6:30.

7:00 pm: Dr. Knipper checks dilation again and we are around 5 cm. The person across the hall is at the same point and Dr. Knipper makes a joke about who will win. I insist that I am very competitive and it will be me!

8:00 pm: Dr. comes back to check dilation. She looks at me like I have 3 heads and asks if I have any pressure down low. I answer, not really. She mentions that Kelly and Adam might want to leave, as I am 10 cm. I seriously jumped that many cm's in one hour. We were all SHOCKED!

8:04 pm: Kelly and Adam make phone calls to Aunt Whitney, Nana and Grandy (who are on the road from Florida) and Nanny, Papa and Hannah.

8:17 pm: The doctor's scrubbed in, the NICU team arrive and the PEDS team arrived. I pushed for three contractions (3 sets of 10 second pushing each) and out you came. It was the fastest thing in the world. I couldn't help but laugh because it literally happened in a grand total of 5 minutes worth of pushing. You're daddy and I couldn't believe our eyes.

There you were!

You had to be taken to the NICU immediately, so daddy went with the doctors. Aunt Whitney came rushing in and called everyone else to let them know to come on back. I had to recover for about an hour so everyone took turns meeting you! They all said you were amazing. Soon it would be my turn to gaze at you! Daddy and I spent time looking at you before we decided that you would be Whitney Paige Connley.

More posts to come soon that discuss your first week in the NICU and the plans to bring you home!!