This was Valentine's Day. My last official bump picture. I was miserable and ready to see our little miss. She wasn't quite ready to see us. I did whatever I could to speed the process along.. I bounced on my big round ball, I ate certain foods, I walked as much as I could, and I did other things not share able via this blog. My first grade kiddos were ready, mine and Aaron's co-workers were ready, my long term sub was ready, Aaron was ready, and of course, I thought I was ready. But nothing, nothing, can prepare you for the
It all started on Monday, February 18 at 6:30am...
I was awoken by the feeling that I had peed my pants. Yes, that can happen to a pregnant woman. I went and checked and it wasn't pee - something had leaked. Now, when you are told that your water may break you tend to think that it will happen like it does in the movies. This big gush of water comes out and you get all excited and then BOOM, it happens, right?
Yeah, no, that's not how it happens. At all!
I decided to let Aaron sleep and not get worked up since I wasn't sure what was going on - I laid back down for 30 minutes to see if it would continue.. it did, just enough for me to get a little concerned. I got ready for the day - washed my face, did my hair, and was mentally preparing that we would be seeing our baby girl soon. Before I know it, 10:30am rolls around and nothing more had really happened. Aaron and I were both awake and I was doing some things around the house thinking it would be the last time I could do it. My leaking hadn't stopped completely but hadn't continued quickly either - I finally decided to call the on call OB and he said to come in to get checked. I told Aaron and his first reaction was, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" I didn't want to get him worked up for nothing, but now we were heading to the hospital and talked the whole way there about how much our lives would be changing hopefully soon.
Once we got to the hospital they hooked me up to these machines to monitor me and the baby and then did an exam to see what was going on. About 45 minutes later, it was confirmed, it was amniotic fluid that was leaking and technically, my water had broken. They wanted me to walk around for about an hour to get things going and then I would be admitted.
So that's what we did, and this is what I looked like during the process...
We checked out the awesome labor room and I made a mental note to soak in the jetted tub before I wasn't allowed to! Because the labor & delivery floor of the hospital was small, I put on my fuzzy purple socks while I walked around. :)
Once I was admitted, it was really a waiting game - they set up my IV but I didn't need anything yet and I was only hooked up to the monitor about once an hour to see how things were. We did a lot of sitting around because things were not progressing along - Aaron made himself comfortable and he at one point said he regretted not bringing his XBOX to hook up to the TV in the room! Yeah, right!
I
I was hardly contracting and hardly progressing and the nurse told me that around 6pm they would start me on pitocin. I wasn't too thrilled because all I have heard about that word was, devil's juice! But then again, I had nothing to base any of this on and I just knew I wanted to be open to anything during labor and not put my body through extra pain that was unnecessary because I was too stubborn to listen to the nurses/doctors.
So 6pm rolled around and I began my first batch of pitocin. They were going to give me 3 bags...
It only took a few minutes for the pitocin to kick in before I wanted to give it back. I had already cried earlier from the pain of my regular contractions but the pain I was experiencing from this drug didn't pull tears from my eyes - it was a different type of pain, a pain I had never and hope to never feel again. Luckily, I had a lovely nurse by my side most of the time and Aaron was there also helping me breathe through each contraction. He held me, rubbed my back, let me scream in his ear, squeeze anything I could grab on him and literally beg for it to stop. He was amazing and never phased through my ordeal during the 3.5 hours I was having regular contractions. He would look at the monitors and tell me when a contraction was coming and when I could be ready for it to let up - I don't think I could have done it without him! Throughout my pitocin, Brinnley was struggling to get oxygen and her heart rate would decline after each one.Around 9pm, the nurse came in and said she had been told that I wasn't sure about an epidural and wanted to know what I wanted to do about my pain - Of course I want an epidural, can't you see how much pain I am in and how awful it is!!! It took a little bit for the anesthesiologist to get to my room and after a few more strong contractions that were about 1-2 minutes apart I was not only exhausted, but I was ready for some much needed relief from the pain. At this point, I was hardly at 4 cm dilated (which is why they waited so long to give me the epidural - I had to be at a certain point being dilated before I could get one) and slowly progressing. I was terrified though. I have heard nothing but horror stories about epidurals and didn't know what to expect. The anesthesiologist reassured me about my worries and Aaron held me and told me it was ok. Still, I cried. I didn't cry at all during my contractions but waiting for my epidural I cried like a baby. Aaron held me and they walked me through it - I was surprised at how fast it was and the fact that it wasn't painful at all!! I almost immediately felt relief and knew it was the right decision for me.
Once I got situated and the epidural kicked in, I was able to relax and I started talking and laughing with Aaron about my behavior earlier with my contractions. He looked at me and asked, Why are you in such a chipper mood? Can you feel those contractions?
Nope!
I was numb throughout my legs and my uterus was pain free. Unfortunately, Brinnley was still struggling to get oxygen and I was forced to get oxygen through a mask and remain on my right side - that was the only side Brinnley was ok on - which is weird because she hated that side throughout most of my pregnancy! She kicked her way into making me lay on my left side. She also was meconium, which meant she had a bowel movement inside and staying in too long like that wasn't safe for her. The doctor stopped my pitocin and even gave me a shot to stop my contractions because of how Brinnley was reacting. They monitored her and I for a few hours and I was able to get about 2 hours of sleep - poor Aaron didn't sleep, he said he was too worried about me and the baby and just couldn't fall asleep. Once I woke up and couldn't remember where I was or what was going on, it was about 1:45am. We had been in the hospital since 11:30am and I had been "in labor" since about 6:30am because of my water breaking at that time. The doctor was concerned that I was not progressing as I was still only about 6, barely 7 cm dilated and that Brinnley was still struggling to get oxygen and her heart rate kept dropping that he had mentioned a c-section when they had to stop my contractions. But when he came in at that time, he told me he wanted to go ahead with the c-section. He didn't think that Brinnley would even do well with a regular delivery and that at 18 hours labor and still hardly progressing, it was in our best interest to have the c-section. 
Once he said those magic words, it all happened so fast. Nurses upon nurses came in and prepped me. Aaron was told what to do and given his suit to wear, which I am glad I got a picture of because it was hilarious! I hardly had time to process that I was going to have major surgery because it all happened so fast. It didn't hit me that I was going to be like a patient on Grey's Anatomy and on an operating table. I had never in my life been admitted to a hospital, had surgery, or anything close to what I was experiencing and I didn't have but 10 minutes to think about it. I was only in a sports bra and once I got onto the operating table I began to freak out. Aaron wasn't allowed to come in right away and the room was so bright and all these people were in there doing what they needed to do while I was laid down on a table and numbed. The anesthesiologist's were very nice and trying to calm me down but I just couldn't stop shaking. They put warming blankets around me and once Aaron came in he sat right next to my head - once the big blue sheet went up, there was no turning back!
One thing they don't tell you about a c-section is that although you are numbed, you can still feel what the doctors are doing!! I could feel the pressure, the tugging, the pulling, and anything they were doing to my mid section. I couldn't feel pain but just being able to feel it fed my nerves even more and I kept on shaking. Aaron just kept talking to me and finally I heard them say I would feel a little pressure and that she, our baby girl, would be here! After the pushing all over my chest it felt like, I heard them say - "And there she is!" Then the tears came. I started crying like a little girl - not from pain, but from relief, happiness, and excitement that she was here, our baby girl, Brinnley Marie was here!
Because she was meconium, she didn't cry right away and she was whisked to the side of the room. Aaron was called over to cut the cord and he was able to take some pictures.
Brinnley Marie Bauer was born at 2:52 am, weighing 7lbs. 7.5oz and 20in. long!
She was wrapped up and I was finally able to see her. I was still in shock that she was here and was still having a hard time controlling my shaking. After only a brief encounter, she was whisked away to the nursery and Aaron went with her. I was left waiting on the table while they closed me up. I couldn't do anything but lay there, still shaking from what felt like being cold but I think was also from nerves and eventually I was put onto my bed and rolled into the next room where I would be until I was cleared to go to my room.
I was finally able to hold Brinnley while they monitored me. Her eyes were goobed up and she was wrapped up but she was so precious. Aaron was head over heels and I could tell just from the way he looked at both of us. I had to wait to go to the room until I was able to move my toes to show that the anesthesia was wearing off properly. It was so funny trying to move my toes - I felt like I was trying so hard but they wouldn't move and didn't move for about an hour. But it just gave us time to hang out with our baby girl!
Once we got back to our room, the nurses came in every 2 hours to monitor both me and Brinnley. They noticed that her temperature was low and she was having a hard time keeping it up. We tried skin to skin with me and keeping her bundled but it didn't work. The room was really hot to me but I guess to everyone else it was cold! I guess that's what happens with raging hormones! When her temperature didn't improve after a couple check-ins, they checked her blood sugar. It wasn't super low, but it wasn't normal either. When they took her to give her a bath, they checked again and decided that she needed to be put into the NICU. Hearing that was heartbreaking and I almost instantly cried. She was hardly a day old and already helpless and I couldn't be a mother and help her. They explained that they just wanted to observe her and run a few tests to see what was going on. Luckily, Aaron and I were able to go to NICU to be with her. She was so relaxed just hanging out under the heat lamp while she was hooked up to all these monitors. After only a few hours her labs came back and she was just fine! They let her come back to our room and we were ecstatic! We spent Tuesday night together in our room and Wednesday Brinnley and I hung out together in the room while Aaron had to go into work for a few hours. Because I was stuck in bed and not able to get out, Brinnley went to the nursery for a few hours so I could rest and once Aaron came back she joined us while we all hung out together as a family and got used to what life would be like so soon for us once we went home! Wednesday night we had Brinnley go to the nursery so we could get some sleep and since I was just able to get up and Aaron was hardly getting any sleep, I figured that if we were going to be going home we needed to be rested before we did! Boy, did I miss her!!
Oma and Opa sent us flowers from Mississippi! :)
Yup, I watched Friends while Aaron was at work!!
My lil miss! She had such long fingernails and scratched her face a few times! Her facial expressions were my favorite!
Finally, on Thursday about 4:30pm we were able to take miss Brinnley home!
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