The doc came in and said that with the weight gain, swelling, protein in my urine, and high blood pressure, I was developing preclampsia and that I had one of two options. I could go straight home from this appointment and remain on bed rest for the next week..Or, we could deliver this baby today. At 38 weeks, the baby was fully developed and he said that leaving little Natalie in the womb another week or two would not provide much benefit. He asked what I wanted to do, and I said I would follow his recommendation. On a side note, the next day was Thanksgiving and he was going to be on a plane out of town. So, there was some urgency on his part too!
The nurse called the hospital to make sure there was an opening for an induction that day. She came back and said they were waiting for me at the hospital and they would like to start the induction immediately. The nurse told me to go straight to the hospital..I could not even go home to pick up my hospital bag (which luckily I had started packing the weekend before). The whole time the doc was discussing my options of bedrest/induction my adrenaline was pumping and I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I was having a baby today! Jeff's eyes were as big as saucers this whole time and he was just jumping at the bit, he was so excited. He told me later on that if I had decided to take the bed rest, he was going to urge me to take the other option and deliver! We were both so ready to meet our little girl! So, Jeff and I left the doctor's office. He had to run by work to pick up his computer and then to the house to get my hospital bag, boppy, etc. Meanwhile, I drove to the hospital a whole bag of emotions - scared out of my mind of the unknown and pure excitement of meeting Natalie. I called my mom as I was getting into my car and announced that they were inducing me that day. She asked me if I was serious about three times! LOL. She was off work that week, so she was able to pack up and drive down to Oklahoma! I then talked to Jeff's mom, Nita, who happened to be in town for Thanksgiving. She was so excited!
That drive to the hospital was surreal..well really the whole experience was so surreal! Here I was in my work clothes, with a brand new hair cut I had gotten the night before, driving to the hospital instead of work! I had gotten pretty uncomfortable at this stage of the pregnancy and had told my coworker, Robin, several times - wouldn't it be cool to go to my doctor's appointment and have the doctor announce I would be having my baby that day? Surprise!
The weather could not have been more perfect - sunny and not a cloud in the sky. I talked to my step-mom, Shannon, and she was ecstatic - they would be heading up from Texas that afternoon. I got to the hospital and my cell phone was ringing off the hook. I checked in and got into my hospital gown. They started the pitocen at about 11:00 or so. Jeff got there shortly after. He was a bit frazzled by this point. I, was strangely calm. It was sinking in what was about to happen. At about 1pm, they broke my water. That was a strange experience! By about 3pm, I was about 3 or 4 cm and the contractions were getting pretty intense. They gave me the epidural at this point. Getting the epidural was really no big deal, and made the rest of labor a breeze! I got nauseous at times and had the shakes, but did not feel any pain. I got very sleepy and dozed much of the afternoon and evening. I think Mom arrived at about 6:30 or so and Dad, Shannon, and Zach arrived shortly after. At about 9:30, I told the nurse I suddenly felt this pressure really low. She checked me and told me I was at 10cm and I would start start pushing soon. She called the doctor, and at about 10:00pm I started pushing. Jeff held my hand and held up our favorite sonogram picture of Natalie for me to focus on. I pushed and Natalie kept turning sunny side up, and then face down, and then sunny side up again. I pushed for an hour and was afraid I would have to have a c-section. Towards the end, the doctor said he could see her hair and that it looked brown. Doc was so serious and I kept watching his face as I pushed for any indication that she was almost here. Finally, at 10:58 pm, Natalie was born and Jeff looked at her with tears in his eyes. She was so quiet and did not make a sound. I was so happy that she was finally here as they placed her on my chest. As I looked at her for the first time, my heart swelled to a size I never thought possible. She looked so much like her daddy, the love of my life! They then took Natalie and placed her on the heater table. She started crying then. I started to talk to her and she stopped crying. She did the same when Jeff talked to her. So amazing that she recognized our voices!
I was exhausted and hungrier than I had ever been in my life. I remember that roast beef sandwich that the hospital served me being the best I had ever had. Family came in to visit for awhile and hold her. Then everyone left and after about an hour or two, the nurse helped me out of bed to see if I could walk. At about 3am, we packed up all of our things and they wheeled me to the recovery room in a wheel chair. Natalie went to the nursery and they would bring her in every few hours to feed (which she took to like a champ by the way). She was checked out by a visiting pediatrician and had her hearing test. She passed the hearing test. We were told that she probably had a blocked tear duct on her left eye and that we may have to wait it out for a year to see if it goes away. Long story short, the tear duct issue resolved on its own (thank God!) and she is a perfectly healthy baby girl!
Thanksgiving Day...
Thanks for posting your story!! I loved it!!
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