The Scoop

Okay, this might be a long one.  I haven't taken the time to write in my journal or anything about the last 12 days, but I figured I should at least get it written down before it fades anymore.

As some of you will recall, I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions when I was only 4 months along.  They had gotten pretty regular and intense for about the last month of my pregnancy, and it was starting to get kinda frustrating every time they didn't develop into real contractions.  I had been dilated to 4 cm for about 3 weeks, and the baby had been engaged for about that long as well.  Finally, on the 3rd, my doc scheduled me for induction on the 5th.  He was going out of town that night and would be gone all the next day, so I was to report to the hospital Friday at 7 a.m.   

So, of course, I felt my first real labor pain that night at about 11:10.  I had three contractions before I was sure and woke Ryan up at about 11:25.  By the time we got Becca up (getting up at that hour upset her tummy, so we had to wait a couple of extra minutes for her), threw some clothes on and got to the hospital, it was about a quarter to midnight.  My contractions had quickly gone to 2 minutes apart, and about halfway to the OB department, I had to stop for a contraction.  An OB nurse happened to be walking past and quickly grabbed a wheelchair and pushed me the rest of the way to OB.

The rest of the staff was busy preparing for a delivery in the room next to the one where they stuck me.  The told me to put the gown on and they would be right back.  I knew things were happening too fast.  It took a few minutes to change, and as soon as I was in the bed, I sent Becca out to the waiting room.  Bec didn't know there was a waiting room just a few feet away, and went all the way back to the E.R., the only waiting room she knew about.  I think that was a huge blessing, 'cuz Bec wouldn't have wanted to hear what was going on in my room.

Right after Becca left, my nurse finished hooking me up to the monitors, and left to check on the other patient.  About two minutes later, I ordered Ryan out to get a nurse to come check me, because I felt like it was time to push!  About the time he got to the door, my water broke, and I hollered for him to tell them that, too!  My nurse ran in when she heard me starting to scream, and quickly learned that I was "complete" and it WAS time to push, so, of course, she told me not to push!  Pretty soon, the room was full of nurses, and the doctor that just happened to be there for the other delivery in the next room.  There was a whole lot of screaming on my part, but only one minor swear word.  As the doc was trying to get a gown and one glove on, I was yelling "Doc!  I gotta push!!"  He looked down and said, "She's right there!  Go for it!"  And about 2 1/2 pushes later, Marissa was here, at 12:16 a.m.

I know a lot of women have envied my quick labor, but I'll tell you what - I pray that you get there in time for pain killers.  I did labor with Becca naturally, too, but it took 4 hours with her, and that was actually easier in a lot of ways.  This time, they couldn't even get an I.V. in my arm.  There were no breaks in between contractions, so I couldn't relax enough.  They poked me once, but couldn't find a vein, and by then it was too late, anyway.

Ry was a trooper.  I think it would have been way worse, if I had seen him panicking, too, but he was just as calm as he could be, and I needed that.  I was terrified.  It's gonna take a lot of praying and pondering to decide if I ever want to risk that again.

Marissa didn't breathe for a few seconds after she was born, but they got her breathing pretty quickly.  Then they were worried because she wouldn't cry, and crying helps clear the fluid out of the lungs (a chest x-ray the next day showed her lungs were clear).  Her blood sugar was low (common in precipitous births), so they whisked her off to the nursery to keep working on her.  She didn't like a tube down her tummy, but thankfully, was born to suckle, and took a bottle right away (she took to breast-feeding right away, too, when we finally got to try).  Her little heart rate kept dipping a little lower than they wanted to see, so they were watching her pretty closely.  She needed a little oxygen, too, so I didn't even get to hold her for the first 2 1/2 hours after she was born.

In the meantime, I had called Mom on our way out the door, and she called Grandma.  Grandma picked Mom up about 15 minutes later, and they came straight to the hospital.  On their way back to find me, they ran into some guy who said a lady had just come in and had already delivered.  They wondered if it was me, but the guy just said he didn't know, but there had been a lot of screaming (I'm tellin' ya', the whole hospital knew I was there).  Mom and Grandma did think to look for Becca, and found her in the ER waiting room, thank goodness.  Then they got back to OB and confirmed that it WAS me who had just delivered, and they had missed it!

Some nurse told them they could come on in, but they got shooed away pretty quickly, because they were still working on the baby right there.  After they took the baby to the nursery, Mom, Gma and Bec got to come back in.  Mom rubbed my legs while we waited for news, because the adrenaline was still pretty high in my system, and I was shaking like a leaf for a couple of hours before the pain-killers kicked in.  Thankfully, I didn't have to have any stitches or anything, so I was able to move to my recovery room pretty quickly.  That's where we were when they finally brought me the baby just before 3 a.m.

I think it was the next afternoon when they came in and told us that the life-flight crew was on their way, and would decide when they got there whether to take our baby first or another baby with a collapsed lung.  That's how serious they believed her heart problems were.  They thought her heart rate was dropping into the 40s (110-160 is normal) for a few beats at a time, and warned us that she may need a pacemaker to regulate her heart.  We were told that if the other baby was flown out first, they would be back for our baby later, but that she would definitely be going.

We called my dad to come help give the baby a blessing, and he ran over right away.  It was kinda wild trying to get into the nursery to bless her.  The flight crew had arrived and was evaluating both babies, and the nursery was so crowded.  Apparently, the flight crew are the experts, as it seemed all the doctor's deferred to their opinions, especially the RN who was evaluating Marissa.  She wasn't sure that the problem was that bad, but wondered if something was screwy with the monitors she was on, especially since every EKG had been normal.  So, while they went to get another monitor, Dad and Ryan were able to give Marissa a blessing.  They hooked her up to the other monitor, and decided that her heart was only dropping into the 60s, at the lowest, but more like the 70s and 80s for a beat every now and then.  So, they determined that she could stay in Vernal and they would watch her from here.  

I was discharged on Saturday, but they let us stay in the room as boarders, parents of a patient.  No big changes over the next couple of days, but plenty of tests - blood test to check for infection, chest x-ray, CT scan to make sure it wasn't a neurological issue, and an MRI to double check.  

The MRI experience was one more miracle.  They had to put an I.V. in the baby's arm in order to administer a contrasting agent for part of the MRI and to give her a sedative.  When we expressed concern that a sedative could affect her heart, they decided to try the MRI without it.  They bundled her up tight with ear plugs and strapped her in good.  An OB nurse stayed with her every second to monitor her vitals.  It took about 40 minutes, and they only had to redo a couple of the pics.  They couldn't believe she would lay so still for that long.  It was a real blessing.  Every test she had during her entire stay came back normal and clear.

They sent us home Monday with this horrible Apnea and Bradychardia monitor, and oxygen.  The oxygen was not a big deal, but the A & B monitor went off every time she moved!  Never once for low heart rate, just for every normal baby thing she did.  It was horrible.  We didn't have to have her on it when we were watching her, so we took turns holding and watching her as much as we could.  The first night, we suffered through the torturous monitor all night.  The next night, I slept in the living room with they baby and monitor so Ry could get some sleep.  Then in the morning, Ryan would watch the baby while he worked from home so I could sleep.

Friday, we ran out to Primary Children's Medical Center to see a neonatal cardiologist.  They did another chest x-ray, EKG, and a couple of other little things.  The doctor said she looked pretty good, but he wanted to do an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) just to be sure.  That took longer than I thought, buy Ry's mom showed up and we all visited while we watched Marissa sleep peacefully through one more test.  When it was done, the nurse/technician told us to act surprised when the doctor told us it was normal.  The doctor did indeed tell us that it was normal and that we could cross heart-problems off of our list of worries.  He said she was perfect, and he hoped to never see us again!  (Bonus - no more A & B monitor!)

The day was still pretty crazy, though, because we had to hurry back so I could play with my family's band for the hospital's Christmas party.  I did horribly - 3 hours of sleep and 6 hours on the road is kinda hard on a person.

Yesterday, we had a follow-up with the doctor who had been caring for Marissa through this whole ordeal (since my doc was out of town).  He was thrilled that her heart had regulated itself and, after checking her O2 saturation, told us we could take her off of the oxygen, too!  Yay, a wireless, tubeless baby!  And another testament to the power of prayer.  Thanks to all those who prayed for Marissa and for the rest of us.  We have been so blessed.

On a funny note, my doctor showed up Friday morning after the birth and said "I hope you know you're not getting out of this induction..."  :)