The Adventures of Brayden Grace

October 27th, 2010

Marc and I had our regular weekly checkup at the doctor's office on Wednesday and like always, the MA took my vitals before the doctor saw me. However, this time was not like every other time...my blood pressure was unusually high. I generally have 100 over 60 (a little below average) but when the MA took my blood pressure it was 140 over 85. Since this was high (especially for a pregnant person 5 days from the due date) she took my vitals again. This time, it was higher. We waited a little bit, I lay on my side, and Marc talked to me about happy, peaceful things :) After awhile they re-took my blood pressure and no change, it still was slightly high. The doctor came in and decided to send me for blood work, then scheduled me to come back on Friday for a checkup and to get the results of the blood work. I wasn't showing any other signs of pre-eclampsia but she wanted to make sure all was well. Of course I was a bit worried and wanted to know everything was ok but I had to work on being calm :) I didn't want to be induced into labor, which is what they would do if my blood pressure didn't go down. The next two days, waiting for my Friday appointment, I was trying to push it all out of my mind.

October 29th, 2010

I went to work at 8am like always and did what I could to accomplish things before my appointment at 11am. I didn't want to jinx myself by sorting out my loose ends (again, I didn't want to have my labor induced) so I left all my stuff at work and told everyone I was taking a lunch break...I would be back. I knew my blood pressure would go down because I figured Wednesday was just a stressful day for me. So Marc and I met at the doctor's office and anxiously awaited the blood pressure check. The MA took us back, put the cuff on, and listened for my blood pressure....she didn't say anything. I said "umm, what was it?" She stayed quiet and took it again. This time she said, "it went up" and left to get the doctor.

Our doctor came in, sat down, and said "Well, are you ready to have this baby?" Apparently my blood pressure was even higher than Wednesday, now 170 over 90, so my doctor said I had to be induced that day. Which, as most of you know, having a baby in October was not in my plans. I started to convince the doctor that we could wait until Sunday (since Monday was November) but she and Marc refused…it would be too unsafe. Whatever :) So from then on out, everything happened very quickly...my doctor called the hospital to let them know we were headed over, asked Marc and I if we had a car seat ready, and told us to get over to the hospital.

At this point I think the two of us were running on adrenaline. I had so many emotions going but, of course, I was trying to organize everything in my head. We had both our cars, all my stuff was at work, our "hospital bag" was at home with the camera, our dogs needed to be fed, and we needed to let our parents know. Being who I am, I had to get everything taken care of before we checked in at the hospital so instead of going to the hospital, we drove the 45min home :) We dropped off one car, grabbed our bag and camera, took the dogs to their "daycare", went back to my work to get my stuff and tell my boss, and after all was taken care of we went to the hospital.

By the time we arrived at the hospital it was 2pm. We checked in and they started inducing me at 4pm on Friday. Since my blood pressure was high they wouldn't let me leave the hospital, they also wouldn't let me get up. The only time I could move was to go to the bathroom...with a nurse. If someone told me at that point what was ahead I never would have believed it. Since everything happened so quickly I didn't have a chance to really learn what being induced meant. My pregnancy was normal all along and there was no reason for me to believe I would have anything besides a "typical" birth. Because of that, I didn't care to learn about inductions or c-sections or anything along those lines. Hell, we only packed a bag with one change of clothes for me, no shower stuff, and nothing for Marc. We both figured it would be less than a day. Maybe that's why people go to birthing classes or read about labor :) I guess those people know. We were taking the "we'll learn as we go" approach. This left us completely unprepared but maybe that was a good thing.

Part II of...The Adventures of Brayden Grace

October 30th, 2010

By early morning Saturday nothing was really happening. I had been induced 3 times already but still not a lot of action. It was a long night with neither of us sleeping and anxiously awaiting for things to pick up. Nurses were constantly in the room, checking my stats, taking me to the bathroom, and doing what they could to keep me and Marc comfortable. Like I mentioned, we packed nothing, so our phones were dying and Marc was smelly :) With no action, Marc drove the 45min home to shower, change and get some more "supplies".

At about 10am contractions started hitting and they did not feel good. According to the machines I was connected to, I was having contractions most of the night...I just didn't feel them. By the time I started feeling them I was a bit uncomfortable :) However, I was encouraged because FINALLY! It had been a long night for all of us and like I said earlier, I was expecting a "normal" and quick labor...I was hours beyond what I had hoped/planned for. I'm sure all the moms out there are laughing at this because nothing can be planned right? And I don't know why I was thinking things would go smoothly...my life is an ongoing story so why would this be any different?

This is the point when things start to get adventurous.

For some reason, one that I cannot remember, the doctor decided they needed to put monitors on Brayden. In order to do this they laid my bed down and the moment I was flat on my back, the monitors started beeping like crazy. Nurses came running, the doctor pushed everyone away, and I began throwing up like crazy. My blood pressure plummeted (which was the cause of the sickness) and Brayden’s heart rate dropped (the cause of the beeping machines). This happened twice on Saturday. Marc had the opportunity to be the one standing next to me each time I got sick…bonding moments we won’t soon forget :)

Throughout the day my contractions kept up and were getting worse and worse. I have always believed I have a high pain tolerance, and I still believe that, but man…this was no joke. On the monitor you would see the line go to the top and just stay there, it would take at least 3 minutes before it would go back down. I remember Marc’s eyes would always get so wide and he’d say “do you feel that? That looks strong”. Thanks Marc :)

By about 7pm I was hurting. My contractions had been going strong for 9 hours and at this point I didn’t care if she was born on the most even date possible, I just wanted her to arrive already. The problem was though, I wasn’t dilating much. I had been induced 4 times, my contractions were a minute apart, and they lasted for up to 5 minutes at a time. I was starting to go crazy and Brayden was not happy either. Her heart rate was dropping slowly as time went on and anytime I lay on my side, her heart rate would plummet so bad the doctor would race in and make me move.

October 31st, 2010

Sometime in the early morning hours they induced me for the 5th time and each time I was induced, the contractions would get worse. As you can imagine, I was in a world of hurt by now. It had been two days of lying in a hospital bed, unable to move, and having contractions for almost 24 hours. But Marc and I were going with the flow and doing what we could to stay distracted.

At around 8:30am two midwives and three nurses came into the room and gave me the scoop: My blood pressure was remaining high, Brayden’s heart rate was going lower and lower, my contractions were strong and not dying down, but I wasn’t dilating past 7cm. They said “we think the only option we have at this point is to do a c-section. In the end it is up to you two but your daughter’s heart rate isn’t getting better and we don’t think Tara’s health can handle much more of this”. I was shocked and in total disbelief. During this whole time a c-section never entered my mind and I always thought I would have a natural delivery with no issues. But when the midwives finished Marc and I looked at each other and said “let’s do the c-section”. In our minds there really was no choice because of Brayden’s heart rate. We saw no sense in risking it and waiting it out. As soon as we said we would go ahead with the c-section a doctor rushed into my room. He made sure I understood what was going to happen, told Marc his role and said he would see me in the OR in 10minutes. And from that point on everything happened quick! There were 5 nurses in my room, working fast, and before we knew it we were being moved into surgery. Marc quickly text our parents to fill everyone in, I was being numbed, and then the doctor started cutting.

I have had over 10 surgeries since the age of 18 so I’m pretty used to it…however, I have never been awake for any nor have I ever wanted to be awake. For my c-section though I couldn’t be put asleep, only numbed and I was absolutely terrified. At this point, I had so many fluids in my body…2 days of being on an IV, injected with all kinds of medicine and penicillin (a whole other story), that I was shaking terribly. And it was totally uncontrollable. I kept asking the anesthesiologist for something to make it stop but she said there was nothing she could do; only time would make the shaking stop. So I was doing my best to stay calm knowing my stomach was being cut open and trying to focus on slowing down my shaking. And…

At 8:55am, no more than 25min after deciding to have a c-section, Brayden Grace was born! There was a drape blocking my view but I heard the doctor announce her birth and I was so happy! Marc could see her and was smiling so big and I remember asking “is she really a girl?” Marc went with the nurses who had Brayden and I was still on the table, needing to be put back together. I kept asking the anesthesiologist (who was the only one with me at the top of the table) “why isn’t she crying? How come I can’t hear her?” And the anesthesiologist was really vague, saying things will be okay. I just kept repeating myself over and over and since I couldn’t see Brayden I was in total panic. I knew babies cry but ours wasn’t and no one was saying anything. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, I heard Brayden make a sad little noise. Marc told me everything was ok, she was healthy and cute, and they would see me in the recovery room.

About 30minutes later I was finally able to meet my daughter and it was the best moment of my life. I loved her!! I was still shaking super badly so I wasn’t able to hold her but the nurses held her up against me and everything seemed complete. Then the nurses left with Brayden in Marc’s arms and I couldn’t have been happier. It was then Marc told me why Brayden wouldn’t come out on her own and why she wasn’t crying when she was born…her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, which was keeping her from dropping (so I couldn’t dilate) and made it so she couldn’t breathe right away. But the nurses quickly cut it off her, opened her airways and after all was said and done she is a perfectly healthy little baby :)

Now...Let the adventures begin!