Ayla's birth story starts on Tuesday, November 25. That afternoon/evening I started having (what I assumed were) Braxton Hicks contractions. No big deal since I've been having them since around 24ish weeks. As I was doing laundry and dishes I noticed that they started getting more consistent than usual, and were anywhere from 6-8 min apart when I started timing them. I sat on the couch for a little while, but they continued. Brady was out of town and I was planning on staying at my parents' house that night, so I gathered what I thought I needed - which did not include my hospital bag or any baby items - and went to their house. As I was driving I kept timing my contractions and when I stopped driving I texted my nurse to let her know. When I got to my parents house I rested on the couch and drank a big cup of water, then called in some Manuel's for dinner. After I rested, ate, and drank, my contractions slowed down significantly - but still continued throughout the rest of the evening. They were very short and didn't feel any different than what I had been experiencing, so I didn't think much of it.
Around midnight I decided I wanted to take a bath and shave my legs. I went to the restroom and lost what I was pretty sure was my mucous plug. There wasn't any blood with it, so again, I didn't think much of it and thought it could still be weeks so I was OK. I knew I had an appointment the next day that I was planning to cancel, but then decided I probably needed to be seen... just to make sure! I slept fine that night, other than the usual interruptions to empty my bladder!
Wednesday morning I texted my nurse again to let her know that I lost what I thought was my mucous plug the night before. (You know you have a good nurse when you can send her a pic to verify that's what it was!) So she talked to the doctor when she got to work that morning and told me that he wanted me to come in now to be checked. I was so not prepared to go in that minute - I thought I would just be checked at my scheduled appointment that evening - but nope! So I got dressed and headed that way... not at all prepared - mentally or any other way - for what was to come! I definitely did not feel like I was in labor so I felt more than confident that he would just check me and send me home with orders to rest and hydrate... but clearly that was not the case!
When I got to his office around 9:30 they hooked me up to the NST and baby was moving, but I asked for a snack because I hadn't had much yet to eat since I was rushed off the couch and to the doctor! Before I could even start eating my snack Dr. G came in to check me. I was 3cm and 60% effaced with some bloody show. I started to tear up and freak out a tad. He moved me to the ultrasound room to check on baby. I didn't even look at the ultrasound because I was so anxious and was scared I would get a peek of the gender since he was moving somewhat quickly. As he was doing the ultrasound he said "it's funny because I had a feeling Monday that you wouldn't make it past the weekend..." (It would have been nice for him to fill me in on this little premonition! :-P) He then told me he wanted me to go to L&D to be monitored. I asked him what I needed to tell Brady, because he was hunting in South Texas and was on stand-by. He told me to just tell him that I was going to L&D to be monitored and we would know more in an hour or so, but he didn't need to leave to come home now. I asked the doctor what he thought was going to happen, and he said "well you had 3 contractions while I was doing the ultrasound, so if not tonight, it won't be long". So I told Brady what the doctor told me to and he said OK. Then, when I told him that I was 3cm and 60% effaced he immediately wrote me back and said "I'm on the way". I reminded him that we didn't have a plan and told him I would feel bad if nothing happened, but I had a feeling we would be having a baby that night. He said deer hunting can wait and was on his way! Thank God he decided to leave when he did, because on his way to the hospital there was a wreck and he had to take a 70 mile detour - getting him to the hospital about an hour before they took me to the OR.
When I got to L&D they put me in a room (I made sure it was not the same room Sloan was born in) & started hooking me up. I don't even know how to describe the emotions I was feeling in that moment. When it came time to find the baby's heartbeat and I heard it, I just started sobbing and covered my face with my hands. It tears me up right now just thinking about it again. I know I had just heard it minutes earlier, but something about being in a labor and delivery room and hearing that sound made me so happy and so sad all at the same time, and brought back so many memories of the last time I was in that place.
They started asking me all the usual admission questions and got my vitals, then just sort of let me hang out until the doctor came back to check me, which was around 1215. I had progressed to almost a 4 and was 80% effaced. I was feeling the contractions, but still didn't feel like they were "real" and they were very tolerable! He told me we would be having a baby tonight and asked me if Brady had left yet. I told him yes and he laughed and said "that's a good daddy" - because he knew he came without me telling him to. I let Brady know that we were definitely having a baby that night and he reassured me that he was on the way! I had already let our moms know that there was a possibility that I was in labor just so they would know, and had my mom on standby to go to my house and get everything - because I had NOTHING with me! Then I had Brady's mom on extra standby in case my mom forgot anything or I forgot to tell her something to bring! I called Brady and asked him what color shirt my mom needed to bring him - pink or blue - but he wouldn't tell me. He said "I can't tell you... then you won't be surprised". So I had my mom bring one of each! I asked Brady's mom to let his sister know and called my mom to see if she had let my sisters know. She hadn't yet - so I called them to let them know. They were both shocked and excited and said they would be there when I was ready to have them there! Because of my history, I was already scheduled to deliver early via c-section (because baby was breech) on 12/8, so our families already had their instructions on what the "plan" would be that day for them. From day one I knew I didn't want anyone to be at the hospital when baby was born, and they were very respectful of that. (I think that's the only "plan" that worked out - every other one completely fell through... which didn't surprise me too much because this baby has had its own agenda this entire pregnancy!)
Considering I was in labor and in the hospital all by myself, the time went pretty fast... until it got closer to the time we planned on doing the c-section. I actually enjoyed being alone for most of the day, because I had time to soak it all in and think about how much it had taken to get me to that point. I couldn't believe I had actually made it this far - to the hospital, in labor, listening to a healthy baby's heartbeat. I had started to think that having a living baby in my arms was such an unattainable goal - but here I was - almost at the finish line. (or so I thought)
Brady finally got there around 5:30 and changed into his PINK shirt! I kind of had a feeling he thought it was a girl, but he would never tell me what he thought!! (another one of my "plans" was to wear blue to the hospital, but coincidentally since I stayed at my parents all I had with me was one outfit - which consisted of a pink shirt that I wore to the doctor and the hospital). This is when the time started to creep. I texted my nurse again to ask if Dr. G was almost done, and she said he was! I was getting so antsy!!!
The nurse took me back to the OR at 6:35. I got my spinal and they laid me down. My legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each and I immediately got nauseous! The anesthesiologist sped up my fluids and that helped significantly! It wasn't long before I couldn't feel anything and Dr. G and the doctor who would be assisting him walked in the room. Before they started I asked if they could say a prayer, so Dr. G did once Brady got in the room. I was so happy and so scared all at the same time. They told me they were starting, and not long after that I asked how much longer. (Patience is definitely something I lack most of the time!) It was decided before they started that Brady would announce the gender, so when they told him to stand up I knew it was almost time. I kept asking him "is it coming yet?" and he kept shaking his head no. Finally I heard them say "ok Brady..." and then I heard them say "hold on...." then all of a sudden Brady looked over the drape and said "huh..." then looked down at me and said "its a GIRL!" I was shocked! They pulled down the drape and held her up so I could get a quick peek at her, and she looked so tiny! Like a little plastic baby doll! I started crying and just kept asking "is she ok??" I heard her crying some so I knew she was alive, but I also knew she was just so small. I kept trying to see her while the nurses were working with her, but I couldn't get a good view. I remember looking at the monitor & it saying her O2 sats were in the 70s - with the oxygen - and thinking "well that can't be right", but I just kept waiting to hear how she was.
Finally they told me she was fine, but they were giving her oxygen to help her out. We asked how much she weighed, but since they were having to help her out so much they hadn't weighed her yet. Dr. G said he guessed she was 4# 12oz. Not long after that they weighed her and said she weighed 4# 13oz! Dr. G jokingly said "she would have weighed 5 pounds if you wouldn't have jogged so much!" The rest of the OR is kind of hazy, but I remember little pieces. I remember crying alot. I remember them telling me she was going to the NICU, but weren't sure for how long. I remember being so naive and thinking she would only be there for 30 minutes-24 hours. {They did a very good job of keeping me calm in that moment, because I had no clue she was as "sick" as she was...} I remember them wrapping her up, bringing her to me, and letting me kiss her before they took her away. I also remember having random conversations with the people in the room and chiming in on their conversations that didn't involve me after she left the room.
Finally, everything was done and I was taken back to my room. I remember sitting in there and seeing the empty baby bed and wondering how much longer until they brought my baby to me. I had no idea what was going on, but felt so optimistic that it wouldn't be long. I texted our families - who had been waiting impatiently in town to hear from us - to let them know that baby was here, but was in the NICU and I would let them know when they could come meet "it". After being told that baby wouldn't be coming to my room any time soon by the neonatal nurse practitioner, we decided Brady would go to the NICU with the pink hat I brought along (I also had a blue one) to take pictures of her so we could announce her gender to our family. (we also told a little fiblet and said my photographer was my sister so she could go get some good shots!) After that, I finally texted our families again - who were waiting downstairs by this point - to let them know that it would be a while before we got to see her, but they could come see me and we would show them pictures. It seemed like no time at all passed and they were in my room. When everyone was in the room I turned my phone around to reveal the picture of our beautiful baby girl with her pink hat & bow on! Most of our family was shocked - only 4 people out of 13 were wearing pink... and 2 of those 4 were our nieces who wanted it to be a girl! They asked what her name was, but we didn't have one. I was so convinced we were having a "Trey Allen" that we never did fully agree on a girl name! Not long after our families came in, Dr. G came in to visit. He said "what's with all the blue?!" and then told us how every week he had to listen to me say I thought it was a boy and he knew since 14 or 15 weeks that it was a girl! He definitely put on a good poker face and had me reading into everything he said at every appointment! I asked him when I would be able to see her, and he told me as soon as I could move well enough to get into a wheelchair I could go see her. I could hardly wait, but luckily visiting with our family helped the time pass! After our sisters left we let our parents know that they would be able to see her after I got to see her, but because of cold and flu season they would be the only visitors allowed.
FINALLY around 11pm I could move well enough to transfer to a wheelchair to go to the NICU to see our baby! My post partum nurse wasn't the most compassionate person in the world, and as we are entering the NICU she tells me "it's very touch and go right now". My emotions went from pure excitement to pure fear. I asked what she meant and she told me that baby was just having a very hard time right now. Shock set in - again - and became my best friend. Then we got to the NICU and I got to see her & meet her nurse, Peggy. Thank God for Peggy! She made me feel so much better about the situation and didn't make it sound quite as critical as the other nurse did... But I was still such an emotional wreck and was crying so hard that I could barely speak. (I don't even remember what all I was trying to say, other than requesting that her IV not be put in her head if they had to rotate the site...) She looked like she was in so much pain and was working so hard to breathe. I remember looking at the monitors in such a dazed & confused way & knowing her vitals weren't that great. I only got to see her for a few minutes before they took me out, because she started getting worse, so they wanted to give her something to help her but we couldn't be in the room while they did it. I went back to my room where our parents were waiting and they could tell how upset I was. They said they would leave, but I wanted them to be able to see their newest granddaughter when it was ok again. Sometime around or after midnight someone came in to let us know that she was given surfactant, was doing better, and the grandparents could go in but had to be very quiet. Brady took them down to the NICU so they could see her, and when they came back they were all smiles, looked so relieved, and told me how well she seemed to be doing. We all visited for a little while longer, my mom went to get me some food, and then they were all on their way. I couldn't sleep at all that night. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but around 2:45am we went back down to the NICU so we could see her again. She was so much better and I was actually able to touch her this time. I felt so much better when I left that visit than I did after the first visit and was able to get a little sleep that night, and was back to feeling very optimistic!
The next 26 days of her life were spent in the NICU, and it was definitely a huge emotional rollercoaster & was so scary at times, but now she is happy, HEALTHY, and home - and that's all I've wanted for what seems like forever! :))
