The baby’s original
due date was October 1
st and during the entire pregnancy I hoped for
a healthy September baby – which was exactly what I got. I started dilating and
effacing during week 37. In fact I had been dilated to a 3 and at 80% thinned
out and then stayed that way for three straight weeks. Every weekly visit
without fail the doctor would be surprised that I made it another week without
going into labor and then they would send me on my way saying “you better get
some rest because that baby could be coming tonight”. I must admit I was far
from patient during those weeks. I think Danny could tell that I was getting
grouchy because he shared with me a general conference talk about patience and
being grateful in every circumstance – needless to say it only put me in a
worse mood (sorry Danny). I was so anxious to meet our little girl. I was
really starting to believe that my body didn’t know how to push her out which
was annoying because I was almost already halfway there.
Two days before the due date on
September 29
th I went to what would be my last weekly doctor
appointment. It was then that I finally received encouraging news. The visit
started with the usual “wow your baby is still in there?” and “she must be
super comfortable” etc. (I feel like I’ve heard it all). Well it turned out
that I was at a 4 with no membranes to sweep and my water was bulging. The doctor
looked at me and said “you should have had this baby by now” then she left to
get opinions from two other doctors in the office who all agreed that I should
be induced the next day. The protocol for that office is that first time moms
can’t be induced until 41 weeks and one day so I was pretty happy that they
were willing to make an exception for me and induce me at 39 weeks and 6 days. It
was weird knowing that after that day I would no longer be pregnant. I spent
most of that day with my cousin Allen, his wife and their ten day old baby
before Danny got out of school.
Finally that
night we got a call from the hospital saying to be there at 6:45am. Danny and I
didn’t get any sleep at all because we were so nervous and excited. Before
leaving for the hospital the next morning Danny gave me a priesthood blessing. We
ended up waiting until almost 10:30am to finally get situated in the labor and
delivery room because so many babies were born during the night so there was no
room. All the nurses and the doctor predicted that I would have the baby really
fast because of how progressed I was; unfortunately that didn’t turn out to be
the case.
I started to dilate pretty fast but
they had to keep slowing down the process because my blood pressure kept
dropping lower and lower. Even though my blood pressure was a concern I still
felt relaxed because I knew everything was okay with the baby. I finally just
told the nurse to call the doctor because I was ready to push. Pushing was a
lot harder than I thought it would be and near the end I was telling anyone who
would listen that I couldn’t do it anymore. I found out later that the doctor
was considering a C Section and if I had known that while I was pushing I probably
would have been all for it. Addisyn was finally born at 8:22pm and they put her
on me long enough for Danny to cut the umbilical cord. I don’t exactly remember
what happened next but they took her and handed her over to Danny. Two nurses
came out of nowhere and were hooking me up to a second IV. I could tell the
doctor was doing something to me but I wasn’t sure what so I just kept my eyes
on Danny and our baby instead of asking any questions. I could also tell that I
was bleeding and then I started to feel really lightheaded. I remember just
feeling like I could close my eyes and fall asleep in an instant but I never
took my eyes off of my new little family. Danny took the baby to the corner of
the room and just started praying. I didn’t know he was praying for me. In fact
I wasn’t aware that anything serious could be going on. Over an hour passed
before I really got my turn to hold our baby. The doctor had been working on me
that whole time and finally he was able to get things under control enough to
explain what happened to both me and Danny. He told us that normally people
lose 200-300 ml of blood but that I lost almost three to four times the normal
amount. No one knows why but I had hemorrhaged and lost close to 900 ml (one
liter) of blood before he could get me to stop bleeding. For all future
pregnancies I now have to pre-warn the doctors that I hemorrhaged.
Looking back now I’m so thankful for the priesthood blessing I received that morning. I’m also glad that I didn’t go into labor when I started dilating at week 37. I believe I was supposed to get induced in a hospital setting because of my blood pressure complications and because of the medical team who helped me out. I finally got to really look at Addisyn when they placed her in my arms and that’s when I realized how absolutely perfect our little girl is. It’s now been eight days since I held her for the first time . . . eight days with our perfect little girl. Bringing her into this world might not have been easy but it was definitely worth it.
Addisyn Rae
8lb 8oz
21 inches long
8:22pm Sept 30, 2014
