A Saturday We Will Never Forget .... The Story of Baby3's Arrival

Just doing to do this as a timeline of how the day unfolded on Saturday the 23rd and into the early hours of Sunday the 24th.

***Grab some tea/coffee cos this might get long***

- 10:15am Family/maternity pics at Fletcher Park
It was bitterly cold but we powered through and got them done. In hindsight I am so glad I didnt give up on scheduling this. We tried 5 different times and finally Saturday morning the weather held up and we braved the cold. Its totally ok that Ria will have chattering lips in all the pics!!! She wouldnt quit shivering. No sneak peeks yet but J took this on his phone.

- 10:45 to 1pm various errands getting ready for a week of house projects
We had planned to get the mural of Ria's wall, paint her room and convert it to the baby nursery, clean out Javan's room, move Ria into Javan's room, get their bunk beds set up (its coming soon!) and make their new room look nice, set up the nursery, wash baby baby clothes and organize the closet, get misc items I needed for the baby, get the house decorated for Christmas and get Christmas shopping done for kids. This was the grand plan since J had most the week off and wouldn't have any more time off this Christmas break (10 days before baby's due date)

J and the kids started work on the mural Friday night. I have to admit it was bittersweet for me cos I remember working on Ria's nursery and how fun it was to put together. I was excited about the new nursery but it was still bittersweet.

 He did more sanding and priming on Saturday .... before and after of the mural

 - 2pm Lunch and Chelsea match (Chelsea won 3-0!)

In between watching the match, J continued painting. The kids kept themselves occupied and I took a long nap. J kept asking me to take the kids to the mall and I was going to leave after my nap but I napped so long and it was so cold that I just decided to stay snug on the couch.

- 6pm its supper time but I was in no mood to make anything. J got a pizza and he baked some cookies. We ate and he went back to painting.

- 7pm I told J I didn't feel good. He said 'just lay down and take it easy.' I went to the bathroom and I was bleeding. I knew this wasn't right. Even if it was 'bloody show' indicating onset of labour it was WAY too early. We called my friend Jaime (she's a labour and delivery nurse) but she didnt pick up. Called my doctors office and the after hours nurse called back and told us to go to Erlanger down town. Since I was only 34wks I had to go to the high risk hospital. She said they would just monitor me.

- 7:40pm we are dressed and ready and take the kids to Grandma Flora's house.

- 7:50pm we had pulled out of their driveway. J had his hand on my belly and was praying and I felt my water break. I told him to turn around and get some towels from their house. We pulled back into their driveway and he goes inside to get the towels.

- 8pm I text Jaime saying 'I think my water just broke' and got out the car. The minute I stepped out I felt another gush of water. She called me the exact time I felt that 2nd gush. I was so panicked I started crying. I dont know what I told her and I have no clue what she was asking me. Aunty Flora came outside at that time. J said it looked like I was standing in a puddle of water! Aunty Flora decided to go with us to the hospital and Jaime said she would meet us there. That 45min drive felt like and eternity. My water gushed out several times. I was wearing jeans so you can imagine how icky I felt.

- 9pm-ish We arrive at the hospital and go to triage in labour and delivery. Even though it was very obvious my water broke they still have to confirm it. I got into that pretty hospital gown and was hooked up on monitors. Blood was drawn, IV's put in, veins collapsed (can a needle stick ever go right for me?), and I felt the occasional contraction. The nurse checked me and I was 4cm and 80% effaced already. I asked if they would stop labour and she said probably not but they would just watch and let me go on my own and see what happens.

- Around 10:15pm Jaime arrived. She checked out my stats and was curious as to why my blood pressure was high. It was normal just 3 days before at my appt. Contractions were still 4mins apart and I could feel some of them.

- At about 10:45pm I was moved to a delivery room. At this point I am thinking the baby could be coming soon. I didnt have anything with me (just my purse) and we needed the camera. J insisted on using just his phone camera and I was not hearing it. I wanted my nice camera. Thankfully Aunty Flora and Jaime were with me on this.

- 11pm after waffling back n forth on what to do, Jermaine decided to take Aunty Flora home and pack some clothes for me and get the camera.

- 11:30pm Dr. Steele (doc on call) came in to talk with me. He had come in earlier to chat but this time he had news. It was just Jaime and I in the room and I am was so glad she was there. He had just gotten my lab results and it showed I had pre eclampsia (hence the high blood pressure) but it also showed I had a more severe form of it called Helpp Syndrome and it was not safe for me and the baby. My platelets were really low and there was protein in my urine. I showed none of the symptoms of this at all - no headaches, blurry vision, wasn't seeing any spots, etc. I blanked out and started crying. It was all too much for me to take in, Jermaine wasn't there and I just couldn't understand why and how this happened. I worked hard my entire pregnancy to stay fit and healthy and just did the best I could to keep me and baby in the best shape possible but now my body seemed to be failing me. The only way to resolve this was to get the baby delivered asap. I asked if I had to have a c-section and thankfully I didn't. But, he wanted to speed up my labour which meant pitocin. Pitocin is not a big deal if you get an epidural but I was once again planning on a drug free/natural birth. Pitocin makes the contractions come a lot faster and its very painful. I had a little pitocin with Javan and you definitely feel the intensity of the contractions. In addition to pitocin, I had to get penicillin and since I was at risk for seizures before and after delivery they had to start me on magnesium asap to prevent any seizures from happening. I had to be on the magnesium drip for 24hrs. The magnesium drip also meant I could not get out of the bed so I had a catheter for the first time ever. Dr. Steele wanted everything started immediately and he was going to be a little 'aggressive' with the pitocin dosage. It was extremely helpful having Jaime in the room with me. Not only does she know Dr. Steele (he's in the same practice as my doc) and has delivered babies with him, but she of cos understood everything he had just relayed to me. She grabbed some tissues for me, helped me compose myself, explained everything to me and reminded me what Jermaine told me before he left 'TAKE IT ONE CONTRACTION AT A TIME' and don't think too far ahead. Truth be told I was so scared. This was not in my plan of how my labour and delivery was supposed to go. Of cos my water breaking at 34wks was not in the plan either. Jaime asked the nurse to go easy on the pitocin since I was making progress on my own. Good thing that nurse was pleasant and was cool with whatever Jaime requested.

- In the next half hour things started picking up. It didnt take long for me to feel the effects of the mag drip which Jaime described as having a really nasty hangover without the nice buzz. It was terrible and that's putting it mildly. By midnight Jermaine wasn't back. The contractions were getting much closer and I was getting nervous at how fast everything was progressing. Jaime finally called him and told him to just grab the camera and get there as fast as he could.

- 12:30ish Jermaine finally got back and by this time things were intensifying and progressing pretty quickly. The magnesium drip had me feeling so icky. I was nauseous and had the worst feeling in my legs. I still can't really describe it but it felt awful. The contractions were coming a lot quicker, probably about 1 to 2 mins apart at this point and I kept breathing through them.

 Love this pic Jaime snapped of J holding my hand and helping me through contractions.

- 1:15am Nurse checked me and I was 5cm and 100% effaced. In the next few minutes I knew things were speeding up but seems like the nurses thought there was still plenty of time. I could tell J and Jaime were getting antsy cos they could tell it wouldn't be long.

- 1:25ish Nurse checked me again and I was 10cm and ready. I remember telling Jermaine that this was not how I wanted my labour to be. I was feeling so miserable from all the drugs and it was making my experience not so pleasant.

- 1:30am I was laying on my left side and I felt a pretty strong contraction. I knew the baby was crowning at that point. But still no urgency from any of the nurses. I knew the NICU team had come in and finally the nurse who was doing my chart, turned away from her computer and says 'OMG I see the head' Jaime told me to flip over on my back. I could see Dr. Steele get his gown on, they were frantically trying to drop the bed for delivery when I had another contraction and the baby just came out.

- 1:33 am Dr. Steele announced 'We've got a boy!' He cut the cord and they took him to get his stats and do his Apgars (he got 9 for both!). I didnt hear him cry (both J and Jaime did) and kept asking if he was ok. When I finally heard him crying, it was music to my ears.

 He's so proud of his little guy!

 We thought he looked just like Javan

The NICU team was waiting to take him away but the lead nurse was kind enough to let me do skin to skin with him first. I will forever be thankful for those few minutes I got to hold my new son. Dr. Steele had told me he would be small and he really was a tiny little guy (compared to Javan and Ria at birth), but for being 6wks early he was a great weight.

And then I had to hand him over to the nicu nurse. I told her I didnt want to and she kept saying 'I really need to take him now' :(

 I love this pic of my sweet baby boy

 We did it! Another beautiful baby to add to our family.

Jaime ... she was just what I needed for this scary situation. So calm, reassuring and just a rock for both J and I. The Lord knew just what I needed when He made it possible for her to be at this delivery (she doesn't work at this hospital and she happened to be off that night)

 In Jaime's words 'Be glad your water broke. If it hadn't you would have gotten really sick and anything could have happened.' The Lord was truly watching over me and our baby.

 I had such great support in these two. Couldn't have gone through this without them.

 I love this guy so much. I am so very thankful for his strength through this experience.

Here's the stats on Baby3 

(who by the way did not have a name for a day and a half! We had a few we sort of liked but nothing we were 100% set on)

Baby Boy

Sunday 24 November 2013

1:33am 

2.5kg / 5lb 10oz 

48cm / 19.5in

 I am so thankful for the hand of God on us during this delivery. I won't ever take for granted how His favour was upon us this weekend. 
~V