Emery's Birth

Let me tell you the main events I didn't want to occur during my first birthing experience: I didn't want to deliver at UVRMC, I really didn't want to be induced, and I really really didn't want to have a C-section.

Now see how it all unfolded...

Last Tuesday I went into UVRMC for my weekly non-stress test (where monitors are placed on me to watch the baby's heart rate and monitor my contractions. The point is to make sure that her heart rate goes up and down enough times...that means she is moving around...which means the umbilical cord/placenta is working well). I've been having weekly non-stress tests ever since we found on an ultrasound that Emery had a nuchal cord (umbilical cord wrapped around her neck...happens in about 30% of pregnancies...usually not too big of a deal).

During my non-stress test I was having pretty regular contractions. I thought nothing of this because they weren't painful and I had been having lots of Braxton-Hicks throughout my pregnancy. Then the baby started having some late decelerations with the contractions (her heart rate was dipping down after the contraction occurred...not a good sign...especially because I wasn't even in true labor). My non-stress test lasted an hour and a half while they tried to see if her heart rate would get better. The next thing I knew, the nurse told me that the perinatologist said I needed to be induced and I could not leave UVRMC to go to Orem Community Hospital (where I had originally planned on delivering). This lovely perinatologist, whom I never even saw or spoke to, had talked to my midwife on the phone and told her the situation. The midwife was pretty upset that they wouldn't let me go to Orem Community, but she said she would come down to UVRMC. I talked to her on the phone because by this time I was getting a little nervous---I did not feel like my body was ready to have this baby yet, I was hacking up a lung and had partially lost my voice (notice my last post...written on the same day as my non-stress test), and I DID NOT want to deliver at UVRMC. The midwife assured me that she would come and check me and perhaps just give me some cervical ripening agents and then induce in the morning. This eased my mind a little bit.

Text message to Pete: They want to induce me.
Reply from Pete: Today?!

Luckily, Pete was at work at the hospital, so he came up to the floor I was on and we proceeded to wait in the waiting room for an hour until they could admit me to L&D (I'm pretty positive my unmonitored wait in the waiting room took much longer than it would have taken to drive up to Orem Community Hospital). Once they had a room for me, I told the receptionist not even to admit me...that I was probably just going to be monitored for a little bit and wouldn't be induced after all (in denial? oh yes).

Once I was in the hospital room, it was confirmed that I was dilated 2 cm, having regular contractions, and the baby's heart rate looked great. However, apparently perinatologists are the god of all healthcare providers, because the midwife said it wasn't possible for her to go against what he/she had recommended. So there I was...at UVRMC...being induced...with nothing but my purse and husband with me. My house was in shambles because we had both been sick for the past few days, we hadn't chosen a pediatrician yet, and basically...we felt unprepared for this baby. We really had thought we had about two more weeks before she would come.

Fast forward 4 hours. Labor was going well. I was dilated to a 5 and on the lowest dose of Pitocin because my contractions were going really well without much help. I had already had my beautiful epidural and my water broken. Then the baby's heart rate started not looking well. This time she was having early decelerations (drop in heart rate before the contraction...not good) and then her heart rate just started going all over the place. The midwife came into my room and said "We need to get that baby out of there. We will have to do a C-section."

Yay.

The next 20 minutes consisted of a whirlwind of nurses and the anesthesiologist, then the next thing I know I'm being wheeled to the OR. I met the doctor performing the C-section on the way there. The midwife had decided at 11:30 pm that I needed a C-section and our little baby barely made it out in time for March 15, 2011---born at 11:50 pm.

sorry this picture is so...gross. Not sure why Pete took it, but it happens to fit well in my story, so I'm using it.
Just avert your eyes if it's troubling to you :)

Finally, after what seemed like forever from the time I heard her first cry, they brought her to me. The first thing Pete said to me was a surprised "She's really cute, Steph!" (haha). I was with her long enough to touch her skin, kiss her face, and realize that she was the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to me.

The rest of the night is pretty much a blur, and I think that's a blessing. The next couple days in the hospital, Emery had some problems keeping her blood sugar up and I turned out to be anemic. Despite it all, we convinced the doctors to let us go home on Friday night---even though they really wanted to keep us until Saturday. We were done with all the heel pricks, nurses/doctors/room service guys/housekeeping popping in on us every 10 minutes, and wanted to go home.

This is Em when we first got home...looking teeny in her little car seat :)

When we got home, we gave Emery a tour of the apartment and she cried the whole time. We told her not to worry...we will be moving pretty soon :) Emery is now one week and one day old and we couldn't be happier having her in our family. We love her so much and feel so blessed to have a little one to raise. When we took her home, she weighed 5lbs 8oz---pretty little. On Monday, a weigh-in at the pediatric clinic revealed that she has already reached her birth weight again (5lbs 14 oz)! Woohoo! She's been eating well, sleeping really well, snuggling with mom and dad, meeting cousins, uncles, aunts, and friends, and doing her best to get acquainted with the world. 

Though the birthing experience wasn't necessarily ideal, I'm glad it's over and that Emery is here and healthy. I feel like I'm healing pretty well and so far I love being a mom. If you click here, you can see more pictures of Emery...probably more than you would want to see...we just like her a lot :)