A Baby Story!

Since this is our family journal, I wanted to document Rain's birth story. I had a very good pregnancy, as usual. I didn't get sick and just had a few minor aches and pains. I gained about 30 lbs, which is the least that I have gained in a pregnancy so far. Everything was going just fine and dandy until about 2 weeks before she was born. I went in to the doc's office on a Friday afternoon, and the nurse listened to her heartbeat like they normally do. Usually it sounds like a perfect little Timex watch. But on this day it sounded really different. I wasn't freaking out yet because I thought it might have something to do with the Doppler that she was using. So she went and told the doctor and he told her to take me to a different room so they could put the belt monitors on to get a better listen. So I laid down and they strapped me up and started monitoring me. IT SOUNDED THE SAME! Her little heart would go beat.beat.beat.beat.......bu-bump.....bu-bump....beat.beat.beat.......bu-bump...........beat.beat..........bu-bump.....beat.beat. I wasn't just skipping a beat it was VERY irregular. My doc came in and listened and then brought in another doctor to come listen to it too. There were three nurses counting the beats and watching the read out on the monitor. In the back of my mind I still felt like she was OK, but hearing it is sure scary. So they sent me to get an ultrasound to check and make sure that all her vitals were OK. Her lungs were moving in and out-good. I had a lot of amniotic fluid-good. All organs were functioning-good. But you could see her little heart beating at this weird pace. My doc reassured me that everything SHOULD be fine and that most of the time these things just fix themselves at birth. But he told me to come back first thing Monday morning. By this time I had called John and he was on his way from work. I met him in the parking lot and told him everything. Then we went directly to his parent house where John and his Dad gave me a blessing. I definitely felt better after that. The family also did a Fast for Rain and I on that Sunday (Thank you all for your prayers). I really paid attention to Rain's movements throughout the weekend. On Monday when we went back her heart sounded SO much better! It still had a little blip in it but NOTHING like it was on Friday. When we went in to the doctor on the next Monday (my due date), it sounded PERFECT! What a relief! The doc told me I was dilated to 1 1/2 centimeters. So John and I went and walked around the mall a few times to try to get things moving. Other than being HOT I was still pretty comfortable walking around. That afternoon John left for work, so Mom, the girls and I went out for lunch and to do some shopping. Then I started to feel tired-REALLY TIRED! So we went home and Mom locked me in my room so I could rest. She took care of the girls and everything else and I just slept. It was a good thing! That night I started to get some pretty good contractions but they weren't very regular. So I was able to get a good nights sleep. About 7 o'clock in the morning I knew that today is the day! My contractions were getting more regular and more intense. John started to stay right by my side because I was IN labor. He really is GREAT when I am in labor. He times my contractions, rubs my back and legs tells me how much longer it should be until the contraction is over and how long I have until the next one. He is a great coach! Nana was Nesting, cleaning, cooking and taking care of the kiddos! Johns parent came to pick up Lake and Sky to take them to their house for the day. Summer wanted to be at the hospital for the birth. My Dad got here about an hour before we went to the hospital. When my contractions were about 5 minutes apart we headed to the hospital. When we got there they were FULL! They didn't have a room set up. Luckily they made do! I got in my gown and they checked me and I was dilated to a 5! Yeah! The nurse told me that the "On-Call" doctor would be the one to deliver the baby. Then she told me who it was and I got a little nervous. This one particular doctor that was on call is a doctor that I have always requested to "not come near me". I had several friends that had terrible experiences with that doctor and I usually put it in my file that I DO NOT WANT HER! But I didn't this time, I guess I just thought I would chance it that she wouldn't be the one on call! I explained it to the nurse and she didn't want to, but she went ahead and called MY doctor. He said he would be over in a while and to just keep him posted on my progress. I love MY doctor! He's such a good guy! So with that mess out of the way I politely ask for my DRUGS! The thing is that before they will give them to me, I have to have 2 bags of IV fluid and blood work drawn. The other bad thing...remember that the room wasn't even set up...there were ton's of babies being born that day, so all the staff was short handed. By the time the anesthesiologists got there my labor was HARD and my contractions were 3 minutes apart. I wanted an intrathecal (walking epidural). It's a shot that immediately takes most of the pain away but you can still walk and move around. But the anesthesiologists said they preferred to give an epidural at the same time in case the intrathecal wore off. During hard labor you just don't give a Crap! Just make the pain STOP! So they proceeded to get everything ready for the procedure. When they stick the needle into your spine you have to sit up on the edge of the bed and hunch way over and be very still. It's pretty excruciating when your contractions are coming so quickly and you have to stay in that position and very still! The girl got everything ready and then DROPPED THE NEEDLE! Then she looked in her cart and she didn't have another one! OH MY GOSH! LET'S GET THIS DONE! So she tries to use a bigger needle and it won't work. It was killing me and one time she even hit BONE! YOW-OUCH! So they called down to the other anesthesiologists and they brought what she needed. In the mean time, she went ahead and gave me the epidural. By this time they had poked me in the spine 5 times. Then they tell me it should start getting better now so we'll just not do the intrathecal. As my contractions came and went -NO RELIEF! NOTHING! They kept saying it might take a few minutes....NOPE! NOTHING! So then they gave me more medicine through the epidural. The nurses seemed a little nervous about how much they gave me and I could hear them talking about how much medicine I had in me. STILL, NO RELIEF! So with contractions 1 minute apart they came in and asked me if I still want to try the intrathecal. I was so desperate! My contractions were back to back, but I was afraid to see how much worse they might get. So I sat up and the head anesthesiologist did it. He did it quickly and painlessly. As soon as he finished my water broke. How in the world John didn't get soaked I'll never know! It was SO MUCH WATER! I couldn't believe how much it was! Within 2 contractions my pain was almost gone! FINALLY!!! OH DRUGS ARE LOVELY! So the nurse comes in and tells me that my doc can't be there for about 45 minutes. If I wanted to wait for him I could or I could take my chances with the "on call" doc. Since I wasn't hurting anymore I decided to wait. We just hung out with Mom and Dad and Summer. Mom would keep me cool with wet wash cloths and rub my now numb feet. Summer liked to watch my contractions on the monitor and tell me how big they were. Dad just likes to tell jokes. John took a little break. I could feel pressure but not much pain! So when my doc finally got there he had me do one push and then called and said that he needed a nursery nurse in the room in 2 minutes! We all laughed and joked that he had a lot of confidence in me to say 2 minutes! They put my legs up in the stirrups-I say THEY put them up because guess what-remember all those drugs they put through the epidural...it finally kicked in-in my legs! They had NO FEELING and I couldn't move they at all-NICE! So everyone got suited up and he told me to push. They counted to ten and then told me to stop. John turns to me and says the heads out! WHAT! THAT WAS MY FIRST PUSH! THE HEADS OUT? One more push and Baby Rain was welcomed to the world! She came out screaming and perfectly healthy and BIG! After holding her a while John took her to the nursery to give her a bath and do all the newborn stuff. I ate dinner and enjoyed not being in pain anymore! Summer came back to the room to tell me that she weighed 9 lbs 8 ozs. WOW! After a while they came back and told me that her blood sugars were low and that she needed to nurse right away. When I asked why her sugars might be low the nurse laughed and said "She weighs 9 1/2 pounds!". I nursed her ONE time and they checked her again and she was back up to normal. That's my Girl! She nursed like a Champ! The rest of the night was spent visiting with new big sisters and grandparents, nursing and trying to get the feeling back in my legs. When our pediatrician came to check on her he said her heart sounded perfect! What a wonderful blessing it is to have a healthy baby! Sean and Gretchen came to visit and then Mom brought the girls back up to visit before we came home. When we got home Nana and the girls had the house beautifully decorated with a banner and pink and white balloons! It was good to be home! It was good to come home to my nice clean home and yummy food! Thanks Mom! Over the next week I just wasn't bouncing back like I normally do. Everyone kept telling me that it's just because I'm getting older. I can't say that that's my favorite thing to hear. I think it was ALL the drugs that I had been injected with. My back was sore and stiff where they had poked me 6 times. My guts just didn't feel right and I felt pretty weak. It lasted about a week and finally I started to feel better. Now I'm feeling just pretty darn good! Rain is such a precious baby girl! She is so soft and cuddly. Her little peach fuzz covered head is so fun to rub! She loves to be held and already knows if I have left the room. She is by far the loudest crier we've had (which is good for the youngest of 4 girls). She also doesn't give much warning. Usually our babies will start to whine and fuss before they start to cry. Not her, she goes from silent to BLAGHHHH! It's a little startling in the middle of the night! But she is easily comforted! At her 1 week checkup she was already up 2 oz over her birth weight and she was hungry when they weighed her. I would like to see what she weighed when she was full! Her big sisters are just In Love with her and they argue over who gets to hold her. We are so glad that Rain came to join our family!