Well, I kept on saying it would happen so I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but my beautiful family has grown once again...and on the date I had predicted for months before her arrival.
On Christmas, we started the day together. The kids opened their gifts and started playing with them while the hubster and I took it all in and enjoyed the morning together. After that we headed to my parents' house for brunch. After opening gifts there, my daughter brought me a doll she just received and asked me to open it.
Just then...
right at that very moment...
I had a contraction that bothered me so much I had to toss the doll to my husband and tell him to open it.
My dad instantly became nervous and thought I was in labor. I laughed and said "Don't even go there. I have to get through today."
That one contraction was the beginning of the rest. All day long, I continued to have contractions and watched them get closer and closer together as I kept track of the time.
In between my parents' house and my in-laws' house, I let the hubster know that I was having contractions but he need not worry. At that point, they were still about 7 minutes apart and I told him "We have time. I'm not in pain."
When we finished dinner, I had a contraction that held my attention...right in the middle of a chat with my sister-in-law. I quickly composed myself and tried to act like nothing had happened. After that, contractions moved to the "every 5 minutes" slot and the adrenaline kicked in.
We opened presents and the hubster knew of what was going on with me. He quietly let his parents in on what was happening and made arrangements for the kids to stay there so he and I could head to the hospital.
And HERE is where the fun begins. *insert eye roll*
I arrived at the hospital in labor at 36 weeks and 4 days. This made it "pre-term labor" and the doctors on staff didn't want to really do much more than pump me with fluids and watch what happened. So when the contractions became a bit uncomfortable, I was given an IV med that made me pass out. {Thank goodness for that too...it was LATE.}
Around 7:30 am, The resident OB came in and said my OB wanted to break my water and get things moving. They decided they weren't going to start Pitocin since my contractions were pretty regular. I opted to take the epidural before that happened so I could be somewhat cozy...things were about to take off.
In the 10 o'clock hour, we were really getting close to delivery time and I was beginning to get uncomfortable...the epidural was SO not working. {I must have pushed that darn "administer more meds" button 3 or 4 times before Mikayla made her arrival.} Since I was on an epidural, the nurse came in to *ahem* empty my bladder. At that time, I was dilated to 7cm and not fully effaced yet. She left the room and I had 2 big contractions in a row right after that. I knew, no matter what, this baby was going to be born very soon.
I felt a little panicked about what was going on and asked my parents to go wait in the waiting room so I could spare them the show that I knew was on its way. No sooner did I do that, and a HUGE contraction came that rendered me speechless while pointing to the "call nurse" button for the hubster. He hit the button and held the speaker up for me to speak in to. Rather than speaking, I could only yell as a big contraction came and the hubster said "the baby's coming". I can only imagine what that sounded like at the nurse's station. LOL
A student OB came right in and said "OK. We're just going to check you". Mind you, I had just gotten through begging the hubster not to touch me when he tried to move my knee...that was locked to my other knee. I was afraid that the baby would be born right there and then. Naturally, when that doctor checked me, I could only yell through the pain as I closed my eyes and tried to relax myself.
The hubster reassured me that everything was fine and the doctors were all there to help me. No sooner did the resident OB come in to help out and Mikayla was born. Yes, it was that fast. No pushing necessary. Mikayla just decided to make her way out. {Ouch, much? Mmmmhm LOL}
I was in complete shock, really. Everyone went around doing their jobs to care for the baby and me and I just sat there completely stunned. "What just happened?" was the question I kept asking. I also kept apologizing to the nurses for not being able to control when I pushed and for making them rush around. They only said that I did a great job and not to worry about anything.
My state of shock continued throughout that day and that's why it never even occurred to me to send friends text messages or post something to facebook.
All is well but we've been busy caring for our little preemie since bringing her home. Mikayla is a little jaundiced and she's been back and forth to the lab for blood work and to the pediatrician to track her weight gain. She was 6 pounds, 4 ounces when she was born and now she's holding steady at 5 pounds, 13 ounces a week later. The doctor said it will take her maybe up to 3 weeks to get back to her birth weight since she was premature.
Mikayla is a beautiful baby and we're so happy to have her with us.
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| Mikayla Mae ~ Born 12-26-11 at 10:58am 6 lbs. 4 oz., 19.5 inches long |
Getting my feet back on the "blogging" ground may be a bit rocky but I'm looking forward to finding a new normal. As always, though, my family comes first and I've been making it my priority to get us all settled.
