As mentioned above, she was due in late November. She, however, had very different plans. On October 22, 2011, I woke up in the wee hours with contractions. Okay, maybe not "wee" hours, but I'm not a morning person. I believe it was around 5am. At that point, I didn't really think I was going to go into labor. I got up in hopes that I could go back to sleep in my own bed, as I had spent most of the night in my 2-yr olds bed. No such luck. My contractions continued to be about 8 minutes apart. They were bearable, so I wasn't too concerned...yet. I decided to get in the shower to see if that would make me feel any better. Nope! Contractions continued and began to come on harder and longer. All the while, my husband is getting ready to head out to the gym, then to work. He definitely didn't think that we would be having a baby that day. He had a TON going on at work that day. I kept pleading with him to stay home. I FINALLY got through to him once I convinced him to call our midwife. She recommended I take a bath and some other supplement (brain fart) to try to slow/stop the contractions. So, I did. Didn't help, so we called her back, and she had us head into the Birthing Center. I gathered a few things (keep in mind this was 5+ weeks before I was supposed to give birth, so I had yet to pack our bags). We dropped our oldest off at school and headed to town.
Upon arrival, my contractions were getting stronger, enough that I had to stop and breathe when they came on. They got me into the exam room and checked my vitals. They were still hopeful that we could do SOMETHING to control my contractions and hopefully delay labor. They thought maybe I was dehydrated and that might have been causing my contractions. I was dehydrated, but that wasn't the cause of the contractions. After several attempts of trying to find a vein and after a few unsuccessful pokes, they finally got an IV in me to rehydrate my body. They also had me eat some yogurt and gave me some sort of homeopathic drops every few minutes as an attempt to slow the contractions. Nothing proved to be successful. They finally decided to hook me up to a monitor to make sure baby wasn't in distress and to get a better gauge of what my contractions were doing. They were steady, strong, and lasting longer...and longer. After being there for a few hours, they FINALLY came to the realization that there was no stopping the inevitable. They checked my "progress" and I had already dilated to a 6. At that point, there was panic. Birthing centers are not legally able to deliver babies unless they are full term. I was in between my 34th and 35th week. Definitely premature. They had me get dressed and told me we needed to get to a hospital ASAP. So, we got back in the van. At that point I wasn't sure I was going to make it. Not knowing WHAT to do or having much choice, Scott started driving, as we were following our midwife to the preferred hospital for premature births. The birthing center is located on State Street (which is a busy road), and the hospital is also on State Street about 5-8 miles South. I will never forget that car ride. My 2-yr old is in the seat directly behind mine. I layed my seat back to try to get SOME relief and squished his poor little legs. I could barely function enough to pull the lever to get my chair back up. He's crying, I'm crying, and my husband is driving like a maniac through lunch hour traffic. I'm trying not to look like I'm in labor as there are plenty of people next to us, but good heavens! About halfway there, I tell Scott I need to push. His response, "don't push!" Yeah, okay, buddy. Have you even given birth? He starts flashing his lights at my midwife and driving even more erratically if that's possible. She pulls over and we follow suit. She calls 911, but they will probably take longer than we would have to get to the hospital, so off we went AGAIN! After, what felt like the a movie scene, we finally arrived at the hospital. Scott pulled into the ER, and they came running out with a gurney. Just before they reach our car, my water breaks. Awesome! They whisk me away, they whisk my 2-yr old away, and they tell my husband to go park the car. Really? They get me into the ER and rip off my clothes (I think). I don't remember many details after that point. They checked to see if she was crowing, and she was, but they "thought" they could get me to labor and delivery. People, we have a determined baby on our hands...she's coming EARLY!!! Needless to say, we are in route to the elevator in the lobby area of the hospital, and I can no longer hold back. As spectators are walking past, I'm yelling, "she's COMING!!!! I feel her head!!!!!" The ER nurse immediately moves to the end of the gurney, and our sweet P was born, right before we hit the elevators. No Daddy in sight, no midwife in site, no 2-yr old in site. Just a bunch of strangers. All I remember is seeing this little baby with a head full of hair and praying that she didn't fall off the end of the gurney along the way. They rushed us to the NICU on the 3rd floor, took away my baby, where I think my hubby and midwife finally found us, then immediately took me to labor and delivery to be checked out and to deliver the placenta and be sewn up, etc. A nurse finally brought my son into the room, and they were very good to keep him entertained. I was shocked that he handled all the chaos so well. Whew! Quite the story to tell. A lot of my experiences there are a blur, but I remember a nurse came in to give us the stats on our baby girl. She was 5 pounds, 3 ounces, and 19 inches long. They "think" her approximate arrival time was 12'noon. Haha...
We were in for a journey. Due to her prematurity and the events leading up to her birth, she was considered "high risk". She needed assistance breathing and was immediately hooked up to a ventilator. It was scary and heart wrenching to see her hooked up to so many things. I created a group on facebook at the time, to keep friends and family updated on her progress, so I'm not going to go into detail here. It's a LOOOONG story. We spent 3 weeks in the NICU, and then she still had to come home on oxygen. It was quite an adjustment to have not only three kids, but a newborn with special needs. My Mom stayed with us for those 3 weeks at the hospital, which was a Godsend, but she had things to attend to back home and had to leave just a few days after we were finally home. I was beside myself! I needed my Mommy still! I put on a brave face, though, and was incredibly grateful for what help we had. Thankfully, we managed a-okay.
It's now been over five months, and Princess P is thriving. She's at a healthy weight and overall size for not only "preemie" status, but comparatively to other babies her age. Hooray! I'm a big believer in prayers and mama's milk. They both work wonders! She is so much fun. I'm enjoying dressing her up and loving on her. The boys are enjoying having a little sister to love and protect. And she's had Daddy's heart from day one. She's developing her personality and is really mellow and happy. She's got big beautiful blue eyes, and a smile that melts your heart. We love her so, so much, and are sooooooo grateful that we've been blessed with her. She's worth every cent of that $70,000+ hospital bill...which is another story for another time. ;)
{Not how you want to "meet" your Newborn.}
{P's blessing...and what a blessing she is.}
