Baby Alyssa's Arrival

With Andrew, I kept a paper journal of his delivery/arrival...so with the new technological age, I figured I would journal Alyssa's on the blog...

On Friday, the 12th (her due date), David and I went to the OB to have my Blood Pressure evaluated because it had been high. When we got home, things had begun to progress a little on their own which was exciting but I knew that labor could still be a few days away.

Saturday evening things continued to progress a little bit. And around 10:30 p.m., I even heard a little "pop" which I had heard you may hear when your water breaks...only I never had the gush of water. I had "sensations" when I would use the ladies room, but never experienced anything any other time. I had some strong contractions that night while sleeping - but again, never experienced anything "significant".

On Sunday, Munner & I went shopping and did some walking - but again, never felt anything "significant" unless I went to the ladies room. Finally, around 4:00 that afternoon, I began to wonder if in fact it was my water that had broken the night before but was just slowly leaking in its own strange way. I called my friend Wendi, who has 4 children of her own and had worked in the NICU at a local hospital. When describing everything, she suggested I go get checked out because the baby's head could be acting as a "cork" in every position but when I went to the bathroom.

So around 4:45 p.m., David & I went to Providence to be evaluated. They had to run some tests and Andrew had Cubbies, so David went to handle that. My diastolic BP kept reading in the mid to upper 90's (I'm usually in the 60's) and the test came back that my water had in fact broken, so I was admitted.

My OB was not on call, but Dr. Michelle Manning was. She came in around 6 p.m. and said because my water had broken the previous night and because I was still only dilated to a 1, she was medically recommending a c-section. She understood my desire for a VBAC, but felt it was in the best interest of me and the baby to have the surgery. I bawled. I wanted to strive for a VBAC so badly but it seemed I would have another surgery. So I cried and cried (which is not my style!) :) But it had to be the prayers that we asked people to lift us up in, because I became eerily calm soon after. God is SOOOO good that way! (Below is a picture after I had calmed down and accepted that I was going to have another c-section)

So David picked Andrew up from Cubbies and took him to the house where Munner was already staying. We began texting and calling for prayers. A little after 8 they took us into the operating room and began prepping me for the c-section. And of course, those violent shakes began. I had them with Andrew but they were far worse this time. I had David even put a blanket in my mouth to keep my teeth from clinking against each other. The only thing that helped was repeating the verse that came to my mind, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Phil 4:13) Repeating that and the prayers David was saying at the time provided such a calm serenity in the midst of all that was happening.

They began the surgery which took a little longer since I had a previous c-section. When it became time for Alyssa to make her debut, the nurses began sitting on me and using their fists on my upper abdomen to get her out. She was NOT coming. I could hear everyone getting silent. Around this time, Dr. Manning made my incision a bit wider than it was with Andrew in efforts to pull Alyssa out. To keep me distracted, I asked David to guess her birth weight. I guessed 7 lbs 11 oz, he guessed 8 lbs 7 oz.

FINALLY - I heard them pulling her out and heard that most BEAUTIFUL sound...I heard our baby girl crying! What a GLORIOUS noise!!! I began to sob and David made sure I was ok...I kept reassuring him they were happy tears. The nurses began cleaning her up and David walked over and said - "Well, my guess was closer than yours." He then proceeded to tell me that our daughter was 8 lbs 10 oz and 22" long! WOWSERS! David brought her over so I could see her - she was (is) the spitting image of Andrew!!!

They got me finished up and took me into recovery. About a minute after they hooked up my pain pump - my arm turned bright red and began itching horribly! It turns out that even though I had morphine with Andrew - I am now allergic to it. So they began trying Dilottid (however it is spelled) as I had that years ago with another surgery. Turns out - I react to that, too. About 30 minutes into that, I began "losing my lunch". Not too fun following a major abdominal surgery. Yowsers! What a night! (Below is a picture BEFORE losing my lunch...yeah, I'm not a pretty sight after surgery!)

But even though the delivery did not go as I had planned - it went according to what was best for me and Alyssa. In fact, Dr. Manning said she knew that a c-section wasn't what I wanted, but never have any regrets because that was the ONLY way Alyssa was going to come....she apparently liked it where she was! :)