I went to the doctor on Monday of Thanksgiving week. I was told that, because of my abnormally high blood pressure, I needed to come back in on Wednesday to check up on it. Wednesday came, and they found protein in my urine (sorry, that's kinda gross to share...). Along with high blood pressure (hypertension), protein deposits in urine during pregnancy means one thing: preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a condition of unknown causes that creates strain and pressure on arteries and veins and, eventually, can put strain on inner organs including the uterus. Uterine strain = bad for the baby. While at the doctors' office, they took blood samples to run tests on, sent it to the lab, and told me to go home and wait for a call from the doctor; the call would let us know what would need to happen.
Three hours later, I received a call. Doctor Meredith said the only cure for preeclampsia is delivery and that we needed to be at Labor & Delivery at 7:00 that evening to be induced and I would deliver the next day - Thanksgiving! We had a few hours to prepare; to get together our bags and call parents to let them know what was going on.
As we arrived at the hospital, I was surprisingly at ease. I wasn't nervous about what was going to happen... I was ready to be induced and ready to bring my baby girl into the world.
We settled into the Labor & Delivery suite and spoke with the doctor on call. He set me up with a cervical catheter. Not ideal, but Doc said my cervix needed to be "ripened" before starting me on meds to induce labor. 12 hours with a catheter, and I was set. 8:00 Thanksgiving morning, the catheter came out and I was started on pitocin, a labor-inducing drug; my few and far between contractions soon picked up and became stronger and more regular. I was dilated to 3 cm and about 50% effaced.
Within 3 hours, I was in the worst pain I had ever felt. My contractions were so bad that I could hardly sit still. Instead of contracting in my stomach, I had contractions in my lower back and hips. It was a nightmare. I requested an epidural to be performed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, being a holiday, the only two lab technicians were occupied in the emergency room for almost an hour longer than expected. A tech finally came to my room and took some tests required before performing an epidural. Once those results were in, another person came to give me my epi. I was dilated to 7.5 cm. While contracting, my water broke naturally... I felt the burst inside my tummy; what an odd sensation.
I never knew how hard it could be to sit still until it came time to receive my epidural. I was instructed to sit up and bend as far forward as I could, exposing the lower part of my spine... all while having the hardest, strongest, most painful contractions I had ever had. I was in excruciating pain, and I couldn't move a muscle or the epidural could damage my spine. Not soon enough, at 12:15 pm, the epidural was performed successfully, and I felt the most amazing relief. My body was numbed through the contractions, and I could relax. I dilated to a full 10 cm in 45 minutes, and the doctor came in and prepped for delivery....
As my body readied for delivery, I could feel my baby girl moving down; she was coming! I was never told before my own experience, but, even with an epidural, I could feel the pressure inside my body from Sophie moving down into the birth canal. I had been so afraid that the numbing epidural would keep me from connecting with my body and my baby during delivery. Luckily, I felt no pain, but I received the exact experience I wanted.
Sophie was ready to be born; I knew it, she knew it, and the doctor knew it. He just wasn't ready. Awesome. Once he was prepared, the doctor told me to push. Once, twice, and Baby Girl's head was out! One minute later I pushed again. Once, twice, thrice, Sophie was out! Her cry was beautiful. I couldn't believe my baby was out in the world! They set my itty bitty baby on my stomach. I was instantly in love. She was beautiful. But she was so so little. As the nurses rushed her away to the table to clean her off, something didn't seem right. All the nurses were speaking in hushed tones. They weighed Sophie and announced her birth weight: 4 pounds, 2 ounces. Height: 16 3/4 inches. I had a teeny baby; Sophie was the object of worry due to her size. Fortunately, they found that she was perfectly fine, and, after I was stitched up, she was able to snuggle with me, all wrapped in a blanket and with her cute little hospital hat.
My baby was with me - all was right in the world. I looked over at Drew, my superhero through this whole process, and I saw the joy in his eyes. There were no words to describe how we felt. We just sat there in awe at our little one. Sophie was safe, her little body was healthy, and we were a family.
(I can't express my feelings now as well as I could have then... but I'm hoping this record will be enough for me and for Sophie when she's grown.)
My sweet baby girl is the most beautiful person I have ever met. She brings me so much joy; I never thought I could feel this way. The space in my heart has increased... I knew it would, but there's no way to know how it feels until it happens to you.
Sophie, my sweet baby, I love you more than you know. Our birth experience together was exactly what I wanted, and I am so glad you're safe and healthy.
