Addy's Birth Story

For the past few weeks I have been battling a preeclampsia/ no preeclampsia condition. My doctor was very puzzled by it so he was monitoring it closely. I had weekly then twice weekly Dr appointments and many tests. I also had to monitor my blood pressure at home. On Friday, Jan 29, (35 weeks and 3 days) I had another Dr’s appointment at 3:00. I had heard that it was good to pre-register at the hospital so that you don’t have to stand in line when you are in labor so Earl and I went over early to pre-register. When we were finished, we went to the Dr appointment. I started with a non stress test. The baby looked good. My Blood Pressure was 160/98. When the Dr looked that the non stress test he saw that I was having regular contractions at this point. He also then checked my cervix and I was 4cm dilated and 70% effaced. He decided to send me straight over to the Hospital to be monitored for a while. Earl and I went to the hospital and I got hooked up to the monitors. We stayed there for a while and then the Dr came over to check on me. He said that if my BP didn’t come down I would be on bed rest or if it didn’t stabilize, we would have the baby. I was terrified. At 8:00 the Dr decided to monitor me for one more hour then send me home on bed rest. During that hour my BP shot up to 183/70. So the decision was made to deliver baby Addy. I have never been so scared in my life. I was mostly scared of seeing my precious little baby hooked up to those machines and not breathing. I was also scared of the whole labor process and not prepared.

So the Doctor broke my water and labor really began. When he did he found that Addy had her hand on the top of her head and was fixin to come hand first. The plan was to see how I progressed and the start pictocin at 3:00am. At 2:00 I got an epidural… loved it. And then the pic was started at 3:00. I slept off and on and felt sorry for Earl, my mom and my sister who were actually much less comfortable then I was. The Doctor came and checked me again at 8am and said we would start pushing at 9:45. Unfortunately, the nurse was otherwise occupied and we did not start pushing until the Dr returned at 10:30. I pushed for about 45 minutes total. The Dr had me push until Addy’s little arm was out to her elbow then he gently pushed it back in around her head. Then without any more complications, Addy was born at 11:21am. Overall, I am very lucky. Addy is healthy as can be. Other then a bruise and a pressure blister on her left arm she is strong and a healthy 7lbs 5oz.. We both stayed in the hospital for 48 hours then came home. I felt good enough to go home that same day but was thankful for the help from the nurses. We are truly blessed.