I have finally written down Emma's birth story. I wanted to do it before I forgot.. beware, it is really long.. so read what you want!
I want to write this so that I can remember and be able to share this story with my daughters and anyone else who is interested. I thought I would never forget all the things that happened the day Emmaline Jade was born over a year ago on March 10, 2007. But I am starting to forget and felt like this was a good opportunity before her sister arrives in a few weeks!!
As with this pregnancy, Daniel and I decided that we wanted to have Emma in Texas, and CS worked the best because that is where my dr. was and my parents live there. Being that we live way out in the country and far from a hospital it was a relatively easy decision. I did have a dr. in MS and saw him for most of the pregnancy, along with Dr. Gayle in CS. I just never felt really comfortable with him and he never seemed to remember anything about me.
Because of all of these circumstances, Dr. Gayle wanted me to be in CS no later than 5 weeks before my due date of March 20th. That was hard on me leaving Daniel for so long, but it went by fast and we were able to see each other some. I had my 2 showers just 1 week and 2 weeks before she came, so I felt pretty unprepared without my stroller and such until then. Dr. Gayle knew my situation and knew it would take Daniel at least 8 hours to get to CS once he got the call..too long for some labors. I was 1 centimeter dilated for a while and then finally a 2, 2 weeks before she came. I was told to take it slow until Daniel got in town. He was planning on coming in Friday, March 9th, and we figured we had plenty of time. I have to admit I was nervous and I think that uneasiness helped me to not go into labor! I went to see Dr. Gayle that Friday morning, he checked me and said that I was almost a 3, and that I needed to call Daniel and make sure he was on his way!! He also stripped my membranes, which I know now is a big reason I went into labor. It hurt, but I was ready for her to come. He also set me up to be induced that Tuesday if she didn’t come before then. Dr. Gayle was on-call that weekend!
So I left his office and immediately called Daniel who was tying up loose ends in Jackson, MS. I told him that he needed to leave and the dr. seemed adamant about it!
All day long, I was cramping and contracting. I really didn’t feel good, but just figured it was normal after an internal exam. I went to an early dinner with Hayley and Christian at Cotton Patch and got meatloaf (how’s that for a last meal) and then we went to Hobby Lobby. I just remember not feeling great and really cramped. Daniel finally arrived that evening around 8:30 and we were both exhausted and went to sleep like 30 min. later.
I slept so well that night. I don’t remember even getting up to go the bathroom once. I know that was such a blessing considering what happened the next morning!!
I woke up Saturday, March 10, to find Daniel gone and it was almost 8:15 a.m. I laid there happy I had slept so well. I was just about to get out of bed to use the restroom and get going for the day when “POP”, my water broke. I actually heard this popping sound and thought either my water broke or something is not right! It wasn’t so much a gush of water, but I hurried to the bathroom, with some water trickling down. As soon as I sat down on the toilet it gushed out. I just kind of smiled, panicked and was thinking about what I should do. I yelled for Daniel to come upstairs for a second. (He claims he knew what I was going to tell him by the tone in my voice, but I am not sure I believe him.) I told him my water broke, he said, “I figured, what do we do now?” I told him I was going to take a shower (I felt fine) and then make sure all my stuff was packed and then we could go to the hospital. So we both got ready and I called the Med to tell them what was going on and that we were on our way.
We left the house that morning, my dad was going to work and said “good luck and to call with any news” and my mom was already gone to garage sales and we decided to call her once we were in the hospital and knew more.
I had already registered and thought I would just walk up to L&D, but no, I had to sign papers and wait in a line at the ER..not so happy because at this point I was starting to have contractions, feel uncomfortable just standing there and I was still leaking fluid!!
We eventually get up to L&D and meet our nurse, get changed and in bed and she checks me, gets me an IV and we get going. I was still almost 3 centimeters. Dr. Gayle said I could get an epidural (which I had already registered for too!!) when I was 4 centimeters. I was thinking, no problem, just 1 more centimeter and the pain wasn’t bad at that point. So we text our friends, call our family and get settled in. My mom finally calls us back and was on her way. Christian showed up too.
My nurse, Ms. McCowan, was really nice and helpful. We get the pitocin started and that stuff works! She also inserted an internal monitor on the baby for the heart beat. The only problem with all of that was each time I had to use the bathroom, I had to “unplug” all of the machines to go. And I went a lot!! My body was cleansing itself out, which is good because I didn’t have an accident on the table!
So time passes and unfortunately I don’t have a good grasp on when things happened, but my contractions were really hurting me. I didn’t want anyone talking or touching me, the whole breathing thing was out the window! My mom shows up and decides she needs to call everyone while in the room with me. I was not happy or nice about it. I kicked her out! Christian and Daniel were very good and just sat there and didn’t say anything unless I talked to them between contractions. Daniel was forbidden to eat anything, sunflower seeds or his Freebirds that my mom brought him. I couldn’t handle it! I wasn’t hungry but the smells and the noises were too much. They claim I did good handling the pain, I didn’t make any noises, I just would roll onto my side and grab the bedrail until the contraction ended. The nurse finally came to check me again and I was a 4!!! YEAH!!!
Oh, but where is the anesthesiologist??? Of course, there is only 1 in the hospital because it is the weekend, he is with another patient and will be right up… Oh, on his way up he got called to an emergency c-section! That took forever, then there were other issues I don’t recall. All I know is that I was in major pain and wanted my drugs that were promised to me a long time ago!!! Every time the nurse walked in, I would get my hopes up and she would say, he will be here soon. AHHH, not ok. So for what seemed like eternity, I waited and contracted and wanted to die. The contractions were right on top of each other, there was no relief. They gave me something to ease the pain, but all it did was make me dizzy as hell, and I couldn’t even see Daniel in front of me. Finally the real drugs show up, he tried to talk to me to make sure that was what I wanted…yada yada.. just give it to me already! So it took a while for it to take, on one side of my body and then the other. By the time the nursed checked my progression after I got it, I was an 8!!! That is right, so I have no idea how long it took, but 4 centimeters later, I was happier!
The baby’s heart rate started to fluctuate so I had an oxygen mask. I just stared at the monitor for a while, but I was much more comfortable. At that point we talked about weight, height and hair color. I could hold and listen to a conversation. My mom was allowed back in the room. All was better! I was checked again around 3:30 p.m. I was a 10 and ready to push. We had to wait for Dr. Gayle to get there, he was at his son’s baseball game. We literally watched out the window for his truck for about 45 min. and he arrived. It was during that time that Daniel and I decided on the baby’s name. We knew the first name, just not sure about her middle name! It was the first time for Daniel and Dr. Gayle to meet; they bonded over the basketball tournament that was on tv and the view of Kyle Field.
Within a few pushes Emmaline Jade was born at 4:44. It seemed to go pretty fast and not too tough. The epidural did its job, thankfully, and I didn’t feel the horrible tear that I heard. Yes, I heard it. Gross, but I didn’t feel a thing and had no problems with my recovery. 8.5 hours later she was here and beautiful and had dimples like me and lots of unruly hair! Her daddy made it just in time. She was such a blessing and immediately changed out lives. She is now going to be a big sister and it makes me nervous thinking about this delivery. I have been contracting while I am writing this. At almost 32 weeks we still have a while to go before this one gets here and we really don’t have a name yet for her either.
Pics from Sam's visit (Daniel's dad). He got here just in time to dodge Hurricane Dolly that hit South Padre, where he lives, and was stranded here 2 extra days due to closures.. He and Emma became buddies and would read and play all day!! We love you Big Daddy!!
