Well, I woke up this morning and noticed that the baby had hardly moved in the last 24 hours. I had been noticing for a few weeks now that she seemed to be moving less and less, but the OB kept telling me she seemed fine and that I probably was too busy to notice her moving. So, after going to the book store for story time with Logan, I decided to sit on the couch and do a kick count to see how much movement I get in an hour. After about 90 minutes of waiting for movement, poking and shaking my belly, as well as eating candy and drinking water to see if she would move, I still felt nothing. I was hesitant to call the doctor because I had just been in there and she kept brushing off my concerns, but Dennis convinced me to go ahead and call (that was around 1:30pm).
My doctor wasn't working that day (which might have been a good thing) and the one who was told me to go ahead and come in for an ultrasound. I quickly got Logan ready and we rushed over to the doctors office. The initial ultrasound showed possible fluid on the babies kidneys, but other than that she had a good heart beat thank goodness. They then strapped me up to a monitor to check her heart rate for 20 mins (a non-stress test). In a normal test her heart rate would go up and down as she moves. But, her heart rate never changed and was very flat. They even tried this little device to get her moving and nothing happened.
I was then told to go ahead to the hospital triage across the hall and see the Maternal Fetal Medicine/high risk OB's (by the way, this is not the hospital I had toured and planned to deliver at, but my doctors office was moving to that hospital Nov. 19th and so they were still at IU North for a few more days). So, Logan and I went over there. Meanwhile, I had realized that I was not going to make it home in time to get the boys off the school bus, so Dennis left work to be there for them.
I had another, better, ultrasound where they took measurements of the baby and the fluid and checked everything out. They also gave me a shot of steroid to help the babies lungs mature in case she had to come early. They said there was no fetal movement and she wasn't doing any practice breathing. Also, she was measuring a few weeks behind (about 30 weeks instead of 33 weeks and 6 days). The doctor thought that the blood flow between the placenta and the baby looked weak. He said that they would need to make a decision on whether to deliver now or it could wait and be monitored. Meanwhile, I quickly texted Dennis that he needs to come to the hospital. He came just in time to hear the doctor say that there was a possibility we would be delivering today and to make plans for the boys.
Dennis rushed home and dropped the boys off with a neighbor. He also discovered that his Dad was right near Indy on his way from Wisconsin to Virginia, a complete coincidence. So, he was able to come get the boys from our neighbor and watch them the whole time I was in the hospital.
Back at the hospital, the next thing I knew the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me about what he was going to do if I had a c-section. And then nurses started to prep me for the c-section. I quickly texted Dennis to tell him it was happening and to come quick. I also got a quick text out to my family to tell them I was delivering today, but had no time to do anything else. Dennis got to the hospital in time for the delivery, they brought him in to the OR after I was all prepped. It was such a whirlwind and we were so focused on making sure the boys were situated that we really didn't have time to do much thinking. But, Dennis did say he was choked up and worried on his drive to the hospital.
At 4:07pm, our beautiful baby girl was born. She was breach and they had a hard time getting her head out. Unfortunately, she had a moment where she stopped breathing after birth so they had to put her on a vent. I couldn't see any of this but Dennis tells me it was scary. Luckily, she started to breathe on her own right away and by Midnight they were able to take her off the vent and just gave her some extra oxygen through her nose just in case.
Dennis went with her to the NICU to watch her get measured and taken care of and then returned to me in recovery. She weighted 3 lb 15 oz's and was 17.7 inches long! While I was recovering (it took a while because my temp was too low and they had to wait for it to go up), Dennis and I discussed the babies name. Dennis said that while he was driving around trying to get the boys and to the hospital he kept thinking "Leah". This surprised me because Kylie was always his first choice, the name we had for 8 years. I had been torn between both names. The boys were always sure they wanted Leah. Anyway, we pretty quickly decided that it was going to be Leah. And, Dennis has always wanted to use Frances for the middle name after his grandmother. So, Leah Frances it is!
I got to be wheeled into her room after recovery and get a quick look at her, but after that, I couldn't see her until the next morning. While I didn't think the recovery after a c-section was any worse than a natural delivery and in some ways it has been better, I still would never choose to have a c-section. I do like the excitement of being in labor and the anticipation of finding out how you are progressing. I like getting to hold the baby and then nurse them right away. For me, that is such a memorable time. But, with a c-section, especially with it being an emergency one, it is much more rushed and for lack of a better word "medical". I felt more detached from the whole experience. I can see how some women who have c-sections would feel like the missed out from the birth experience, I definitely did. But, this was my fourth and I did get to experience a natural birth three times, so that makes it easier. I am mostly just glad she is healthy.
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