I don't really know all of the details, so I'm going to have mommy tell this story.
On Tuesday August 2nd, my ob did an ultrasound and Bugger was measuring very small (below the 10th percentile which is when they are concerned). They scheduled an NST (non stress test) for Thursday and an appt with an MFM (high risk ob) Friday afternoon. Because my blood pressure was high and she was so little, they were concerned about her not receiving enough nutrients from the placenta.
On Thursday, I went to the doctor's office for the NST. They hooked me up to the monitor to watch Bugger's heartrate for about 30 minutes. They told me that everything was good and I left.
On Friday, August 5, Greg and I went to the doctors appointment for the u/s and everything looked good, except that she was little. The blood flow to her was good, though. The ultrasound tech even showed us hair! Afterwards, Greg and I met with the high risk ob who said that the only way to lower my blood pressure was to deliver the baby. Also, they felt that they could ensure Bugger received the needed nutrients outside the womb. They didn't know why she was so small. When I asked when I had to deliver, I was thinking it'd be a week. I was 36 weeks pregnant that day, and 37 weeks is considered full term. The MFM said that it wouldn't have to be that day, but in the next 2-3 days. She left the office to go call my regular ob.
As she was gone, Greg and I talked about what we had to do that weekend. I mentioned that I had to work the next day and Greg told me no. I told him I'd talk to the doctor about it. I figured I'd have to come in Sunday night to start Pitocin since I wasn't in labor, so we starting making a mental list of everything we had to do in the next few days. Then we discussed where to go for lunch.
When the MFM came back in the office, she said she spoke with Dr. Patsavas, who is my ob, and that we should head to labor and delivery. I can't imagine what our faces looked like! She asked if we knew where it was. That wasn't the issue! We didn't have anything with us, our bags packed or anything. As we walked down the hallway to head to labor and delivery, I called my mom, who left work to meet us. Greg also called his mom. He said he'd keep her up to date with what was happening.
L&D was really busy that night, so it took a while to get things going. They hooked me up to monitor her heartrate and my contractions (there were none, I wasn't in labor). About 7:30 that night, they inserted a foley bulb (it's basically a water balloon to mechanically open my cervix). It takes about 12 hours and opens it to 3 cm. At 9 pm they started the Pitocin. They started it very low and gradually increased it because they had to make sure that she could tolerate it. At 7:30 the next morning, they took out the foley bulb, which worked. At 8 am, Dr. Patsavas came in and broke my water bag. I decided that I wanted to get an epidural. I knew I needed to sit still during it, so I asked for it about 3:30 pm. I wasn't in that much pain yet, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn't have a really painful contraction during it. At about 7 pm, I was still only 4 cm. When the doctor came in the check me, although she didn't say it, she was thinking I might have to have a c-section. From about 7 to 8ish, I was in the worst pain. I had a terrible pain in my lower right side and felt a lot of pressure and the epidural didn't seem to be helping at all. I was really warm and had a cold washcloth on my face. I finally called the nurse to let her know and when she checked me, she said I was fully dialated. I went from 4 to 10 in an hour...no wonder it hurt!
The bad news was that my doctor had gone home, so they told me I had to wait to push. She'd be there in about 25 minutes. Greg told me it was really about 40 minutes. Once Dr. Patsavas got there, it didn't take long until we had our baby. She knew that we didn't know ahead of time if our baby was a boy or a girl, so as she was delivered, she announced that we "had a little princess!" She was born at 9:08 pm. Greg got to cut the cord and then went to video her as she was getting cleaned up. He also went to the waiting room to announce to both of our moms, my sisters, brother, aunt and cousin that Kailyn Jean was here.
Even though she was early, we were very fortunate that she didn't have to spend any time in the NICU. There were four people in the delivery room just for Kailyn because they weren't sure how she would be. Her heartrate was dropping during my contractions during the end. Thankfully, the pediatrician told me that she was doing well. Shortly after she was born, I got to hold my angel.
Kailyn came home with us on Monday, August 8.
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| Kailyn's first car ride--on her way home from the hospital. |
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