Her Story

Well our baby girl is finally here. Seven days overdue and long awaited, she's more perfect than we ever could've hoped for! So...here's her story...

On Monday, November 16 we were scheduled to go to the hospital for induction. I called the hospital around 6 PM and they told us to arrive at 7:45. Here we are upon arrival at the hospital.They put us in a room and hooked me up to all the equipment—continually measuring the baby's heart rate, any contractions, and my blood pressure. At that time I was dilated to a 1 and 70% effaced. Around 9 PM or so they placed the Cervidil and told me to try to go to bed. It was an extremely restless night. The Cervidil itself was minuscule and not painful at all but placing it was another story. Wow...that was uncomfortable. It was an extremely restless night. I am not sure why it was so restless but I couldn't sleep and felt like I needed to go to the bathroom every second but couldn't. They ended up catheterizing me for just a minute and that proved to be even more painful. (Holy crap...NOT FUN.) Anyway, after a very long and unpleasant night including having to have the Cervidil replaced because it pulled out in one of the 60 times I attempted to go to the bathroom; it was finally morning. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a (drum roll)...one and a half! (ARE YOU KiDDiNG ME??!) They said I was “very softened” though...whatever that meant.

Around 8:00 AM or so they started the Petocin. My contractions started getting harder and more regular. Around 3 PM I was dilated to a 4 and by 4 PM I was dilated to an 8! Things were starting to move much more quickly. After a few doses of Fentanyl I finally decided it was time to get the epidural going. That was definitely a weird experience. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. It felt more just like getting my blood drawn or something although I could feel it moving around a little in my back which was weird...but not painful. Finally the epidural kicked in and my pain subsided...for a while. :) They catheterized me and although my epidural seemed to be working, I could seriously feel the catheter and it hurt like crap. They had me start pushing around 5 PM when I was finally dilated to a 10, and my doctor came in around 5:30. The catheter was really really bothering me by that point and I'd been complaining about it for hours but the nurse just kept saying, “You shouldn't be able to feel it.” Yeah...not helping. I was complaining a lot about the pain by that time and my doctor proceeded to tell me that the baby was posterior and seeing as how that is one of the most painful ways to deliver, he said that must be the reason I was in so much pain in spite of the epidural. My doctor kept trying to twist the baby when I'd push but it wasn't working. He said she'd twist a little but each time the contraction ended, she would turn back.

After about an hour of pushing my doctor said he had thought that we'd be done by then but that I wasn't progressing much. Then he said, “So I'm going to go to a meeting and I'll be back in a while. If things progress to that point, Doctor Barney is down the hall, but I don't think it'll get to that point.” Then...he left. So there I am with just Mike and the nurse. After hearing me whine a bit more about the pain my nurse was like, “Something is wrong. You should be excited. Why aren't you excited?” What the crap, are you kidding me? I was dying in pain and this girl is telling me I should be excited??! She had told me a couple of times that they could re dose me with the epidural but then she kept saying that I wouldn't be able to walk or do anything after the baby was born and that I'd regret it. So I told her that I didn't want that (because all I wanted was what was best for the baby). She also kept saying that they could take out my catheter but that they'd just have to put one back in before the baby was born and seeing how getting it put in was the most painful part, I didn't want that either. Anyway, she finally said I shouldn't be in so much pain with the epidural (ya think?) and so she said she was going to go find an anesthesiologist to re dose me. She made me roll up on my side in hopes that it'd help the baby turn and she left to get an anesthesiologist. So then it was just me and Mike. After pushing for more than an hour both my doctor an my nurse left me. At this point I could feel EVERYTHiNG. Well for those of you who have delivered a baby without an epidural, you might understand how I felt after pushing for an hour and then having them tell me to stop. I thought the nurse would be back in like 5 minutes, but after about 15 or 20 minutes without her returning I started to get a little antsy. I sent Mike out to find her (so then I was literally alone). He finally came back and said that she said the anesthesiologists were between shifts and they couldn't find anyone. I don't know why the nurse didn't at least come back so that I could be pushing—I mean considering that I was already dilated to a 10 and had already been pushing for an hour, it seemed like a big waste not to be pushing—I was already in one heck of a lot of pain, pushing would actually make it a little more bearable! Anyway, after AN HOUR (seriously, I'm not exaggerating), she finally came back with an anesthesiologist He re dosed my epidural but the bag was empty and they didn't put another one up. I asked about it but they said if they put up a bag it'd last too long and that the re dose would last me 3 hours without the bag anyway. So I felt good for about 20 or 30 minutes. Then the epidural was once again completely worn off! So much for it lasting 3 hours! I could feel EVERYTHiNG and even had full access of my legs. I was really hurting and my nurse finally decided to take out my catheter. Mike had checked the catheter a couple of times and there was never anything in the bag. He kept telling the nurse that something must be wrong but she said that because there was stuff in the tube it was okay. Anyway, I guess she just got frustrated with me so she took it out.

My doctor finally came back and was surprised I hadn't progressed too much further. He said they couldn't re dose me again because I'd already been pushing too long and he said they were going to have to do a c-section in 15 minutes if the baby wasn't out. Well after 3 hours of pushing I was determined to not have it all for nothing. The doctor re catheterized me and when he did (and it worked perfectly) the nurse then said, “Wow...there must have been something seriously wrong with that last one...” Yeah...HELLO! Ya think??!

Anyway, after that 15 minute ultimatum was given, I started pushing my guts out (I guess you could take that quite literally). Each time I'd have a contraction and push, the baby's heart rate would plummet. It was really scary. I was at my wits end. By that time there were some other people in the room, the cord blood bank nurse got me a wet rag and put it on my forehead. She said she thought a cold rag would make me feel better. It would've, but the rag was not cold at all. I wanted to scream when she put it on my head but she didn't have to do it in the first place and I didn't want to make her feel bad so I didn't say anything...yet. Then after a little while Mike asked if I wanted him to get some cold water on the rag again and I couldn't contain myself anymore. I threw the rag across the room almost hitting the doctor in the head and yelled, “It was never cold in the first place!” The doctor told Mike to get me some ice and I assumed he was going to rub it on my head. But when he came at me to spoon feed me some ice, I lost it. I grabbed the spoon and threw it with all my might across the room. It got awfully close to hitting the doctor in the head but luckily he dodged it. But, at least it made me feel a little better to let out some frustration. :)

The time was ticking and I was pushing as hard as I could. Finally, at 8:35 PM, there she was. The cord was around her neck, which would explain the plummeting heart rate. As soon as her head was out, even before her body was out, they cut the cord to get it off from around her neck. It all seemed to happen so quickly yet almost in slow motion. I remember Mike's face when her head came out. His eyes welled up and he just looked at me with this shocked expression like, “That's our baby!” After they got her out they immediately whisked her under the lights. She wasn't breathing well and they couldn't get any color into her. She was stark white. I just remember laying there seeing this little white baby flailing her arms and legs and hearing this little cry. It was the most surreal moment. I didn't know what was going to happen to her. When they had broken my water it was clear which was a good sign but by the time the baby was born she had been under so much stress that she had swallowed some meconium. They quickly suctioned it out of her mouth and lungs. They eventually got some color into her and got her breathing well. They finally let me hold my sweet little angel. I couldn't believe how beautiful she was. How beautiful she is! After only a couple of minutes they took her away to have her first bath and Mike got to go along. Melia did not like the bath and screamed almost the whole time. I love this picture of Mike washing her with her little hand outstretched. Although she hated most of the bath, she seemed to be back in heaven as Mike ran the water over her head. Look how peaceful she looks! She still loves the water and loves having it run over her head. Now that her ambilical cord has fallen off she enjoys baths much more being able to be immersed in the water!Apparently during those last few minutes of pushing I was using all I had, including my legs. I guess I sortof kicked the nurse (I don't remember this at all and it was NOT on purpose) but I guess she leaned into it to help me push and I sortof kicked and she threw her back out or something. When I was pushing she kept putting my foot on her stomach and pushing her body into me so I am sure that was what she was doing. Anyway, apparently she had to go to the ER...oops!

Once I got settled in my new room on the postpartum floor I was so happy to have them bring me my sweet clean little angel.
Here she is with Grandpa Place.

And here are me and Aubrey and our sweet baby girls.

Proud new parents.

Here is Spencer his first time seeing his new sister. He brought her this boquet of flowers. It was so sweet!

Here's Melia's first boquet of flowers adorning her bedroom.Melia is not a big fan of being strapped into her car seat, but she always calms down when we're driving. (I think she's still so cute even when she's screaming!)

Here's Megan and Melia. She and her husband were the first visitors to come see Melia at home.

Here she is after finally calming down in her car seat. I am sure the binkie (held by Grandma Place) helped to calm her.

I just love this sweet picture. Her eyes look really dark in all these pictures but they're really grayish blue. I am sure they'll probably end up being dark though.

And here she is with her sweet brother. Spencer loves his baby sister!

Our first night home was quite the adventure. Mike left to take Spencer home around 5:30 or so and by 6 PM Melia has began screaming. I tried to feed her again and again but she just kept screaming. She cried so much and so hard that she lost her voice and her little cry was so hoarse and pathetic. That night was probably the hardest night of our lives. We didn't know what to do to help our little baby girl. She'd latch on to nurse for just a little while but then would cry and cry. I called my mom multiple times in the night crying for help. I also called the nursery at the hospital for advice but they just told me that babies cry. The next morning (Friday) my mom and I took her to the doctor.

At the doctor's office we weighed her and she weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces. She had almost dropped a whole pound. The doctor told me it was really important that we start supplementing her feedings with formula at least until my milk came in. I guess womens milk usually comes in within the first 3 days but I've been told that stressful deliveries can make the milk not come in and I was definitely under stress during delivery! The doctor gave her some formula there at the office and she gulped it down so hard. I cried and cried. I just kept wishing I could provide those nutrients for her. I had been so worried about her and I just wanted some comfort. I said to the doctor, “She won't like starve to death though, right?” He gave me a very serious look and replied, “That is why you are going to supplement.” Wow. I couldn't believe he was telling me that she really was dying! The poor little girl was actually starving to death!

The next night was much better once she had some food in her little body. By Sunday my milk had fully come in and we were able to stop supplementing. On Monday we took her to the doctor to be weighed again and she was 7 pounds, 2 ounces—so she was back above her birth weight! The doctor said my milk was definitely in and that she must be getting cream!

The next week was pretty hectic. I got really sick with an insane cough and nausea, etc. It was really tough breastfeeding and trying not to cough all over the baby. The baby ended up getting sick too. She was throwing up and had diarrhea, but she didn't get a cough which we were extremely grateful for. Luckily she didn't ever get a fever either (which would've required hospitalization). I'm still coughing pretty bad but I'm pretty much better. Having a newborn is difficult enough, but doing it while being sick is super tough. It's been insanely hard, but things are getting better.

This past Tuesday Melia had her 2 week check up. She weighed in at 8 pounds. The doctor said that's amazing! She also grew 2 inches! She is 20 inches tall now! So she is doing awesome! The doctor said she is extremely healthy and doing very well.

Having a baby has proven to be a lot harder than I had ever imagined. But at the same time, I love this little girl more than I ever could have imagined also. She is an angel and is more perfect than I ever could have hoped for.