We are so happy to have her here, safe and sound. And, despite the fact that we have already had one preemie, we were still surprised that she decided to come 5 weeks early. As you know, I was gearing up for a full-term delivery, already profoundly grateful that we had made it well beyond The Nog’s 30-week mark.
I had read the VBAC Companion book and Stone and I were both optimistic about giving the VBAC a try. We even attended the doula open house at Holy Cross Hospital (ironically only one week before she was born) and signed up for their service, in the event that the vaginal delivery did come about.
My next goal was to try to ease her into turning head-down. Well, I tried the little exercises that are commonly suggested for encouraging babies to turn. I also tried playing music “down low” to entice her. However, it was all for naught.
At 3:00 am on Sunday, MY WATER BROKE! I’ve never had that experience before. It was interesting. When that happens, you don’t even really have time to think about what to do next. I remember the urgency of trying to figure out what to do, but not being able to concentrate on the next step because of all that gushing out of control. As soon as I realized what had happened, I knew I would be having surgery that day because I knew the baby was still not head-down.
We made it to the hospital and to make the long story short, Goldilocks was born via c-section at 6:57 a.m. Having already done this twice, I knew what to expect, which is both good and bad, I guess. As I was sitting on the bed in the FREEZING COLD (as always) operating room, waiting for the spinal, I was overpowered with the sentiment….
“I hate this.”
I just kept praying that we would be okay. It’s so hard not to think of all that can go wrong when you are placing your life in the hands of other human beings; particularly the anesthesiologist and obstetrician doing the surgery. (The latter of which commented to a nurse before the surgery something-or-other about his “45-year-old eyes.” Not a good idea when your patient is still awake.) However, I muddled through it with Stone holding my hand in one of his and the camera in the other. Of course I will spare you the gory pictures, though it is quite fascinating to see pics of the baby just seconds after emersion from the womb.
When she finally came out and I heard her little tiny voice squawking, I was so happy. I forgot for a brief moment about all the discomfort, tugging on my belly, nausea, nervousness, and trauma to my body. It’s amazing to me to realize that when you hear and see your baby, you really do start to think it was all worth it. And it is.
As they were weighing her and doing the initial checkup, I thought to myself that I would be happy with anything over 5 lbs. Imagine my delight at the pronouncement of 5 lbs 12.4 oz!
Based on the experience I had with The Blond Guy, I told Stone that this time, no matter how much I am throwing up, I want him to make sure I get to hold the baby as soon as possible after delivery. This is the first time I’ve been able to hold my baby within an hour of delivery. She was even still covered with goop when they handed her to me all wrapped up. In the post-op recovery room I was able (with a LOT of help from Stone) to do the initial breastfeeding attempts, intermittently with vomitting (which lasted for the next 18 hours). But I’m still so happy that I had that chance and now, even though she is so tiny and gets tired so quickly (after only 5 minutes of nursing), she can latch on and nurse pretty well. Amazing.
One of my favorite things in this life is introducing my new baby to the older sibling(s). It’s such a tender moment. I love it. Weston brought the boys in on Monday morning and I was not disappointed.
Well, this hospital stay has been great and everything but….we’re ready to go home!
So nice to be home in your own bed, isn’t it?I am so grateful for this new baby and I just want to express that I feel that my prayers have been answered. The Lord has taken care of us, as we’ve prayed all throughout this pregnancy, asking him to bless us with a whole and healthy full-term baby, a safe delivery and good outcome. As I said before, there is so much that can go wrong…every baby that arrives here safe and sound is a miracle. It’s hard, during those last few months of pregnancy with delivery pending, not to freak out about the potential of life-threatening disaster. But I feel this has been a good exercise in faith, patience, optimism, and trust in the Lord. We are so happy to have our new baby girl.
