The past 11 days

The past 11 days have been a whirlwind! My life has been turned completely upside down. Travis did a wonderful job of telling our story...but I want to remember my side as well. I want to always remember this amazing, crazy, wonderful time in my life.

So....here' goes!

On Tuesday, April 28th, I had a regular doctor's appointment. I was 36 weeks and 6 days pregnant. I had been on bed rest for a few weeks, and had been sitting at home with my feet up for a while. I expected the usual routine, and planned on going home to pack our bags for the hospital...the last thing left to do on my list.

Dr. Hunter came in and said that I had protein in my urine, and that along with my swelling and the headache that I had that day, that those were enough signs of Pre-eclampsia to send me to the hospital. I was in shock and said, "Today!?" and she said, you are having your baby today!!!

So, I left the doctor's office and called Travis. I told him that we were having the baby that day, and he said "TODAY!?, what???" I explained everything through my tears, and he said he would meet me there. 

We met in the parking lot, and made it to the labor and delivery ward. They had my orders from Dr. Hunter, but it took us them a while to get a room ready for me. We stood in a hallway outside of Labor & delivery for about 30 minutes, and called all of our family to let them know what was going on. We were both so excited and overwhelmed that we were going to have him that day.

They then let me in to get me all set up, and Travis had to wait out in the hallway for a while. Once I was all settled, they started the induction at around 12:00 pm on April 28th. This was a slow induction that would hopefully get everything on the road. I was dilated to 1, and it was supposed to start my contractions and get me dilated. It was a 12 hour process.

Since I had not had a chance to pack my bags, I made a list for Travis and he went home to pack everything that we needed. We then settled in for the long haul. It was a very long night of minor contractions and no progress. We didn't get much sleep with the contractions going on every few minutes, and the nurses coming in all the time. So, after 12 hours on this drug, I had went from a 1 to an "almost" 2 centimeters. Not good progress for all of that pain. Now, these contractions were MINOR compared to what was to come though.

So at 9:00 am on April 29th, they started the Pitocin drip in my IV. This drug really gets the contractions going. So from about 9:00 am to 12:00 pm I had pretty good contractions. I would consider these at a 6 on a scale of 1-10. I could still talk in between. My mom came by and hung out for a while and then went home to take care of some things for me. Then Travis' mom and Lisa arrived at the airport and came by right when the contractions started getting more serious. They checked me, and I was still at a 2...after all of that time. 

Then, my water broke around 12:00 pm. Once that happened, the contractions became unbearable...an 11 on a 1-10 scale. They were about 1 minute apart (at best). I have never felt such pain in my life! I would just hold my hand up for Travis when they started, and then did whatever I could to survive the pain. I knew that I had to get to 4 centimeters to get an epidural. Every time the nurse came in, I would BEG her to check and see how far along I was. Finally, I KNEW that I had to be at a 4, so she checked me, and sure enough, I was! She said that she would call the anaesthesiologist in, and I told her to HURRY! It took about 30 minutes for them to get everything set, and then it was finally time for the epidural. 

They made me set up and scoot on the bed. WHILE having contractions. It was only God that got me through this. I knew that I couldn't move AT ALL during the procedure. So Travis held me, and I prayed. I had about 5 really bad contractions during the epidural procedure. I will never forget how painful that was. I finally got everything done, and I started to feel SOME relief. It was amazing. 

I laid back down, and they checked me again. I had gone from 4 centimeters to 7 centimeters in 30 minutes! Those contractions during the epidural were CRAZY!! They started to prepare the room for delivery! About 5 minutes after the epidural, the nurse came in and said, "we are taking you in for an emergency c-section". Both Travis and I were so confused as to WHY! She briefly explained that my blood pressure had dropped during the epidural, and when that happened, Barret's heart rate dropped. 

It took them about 3 minutes to get me ready. Travis took off my necklace. He grabbed the camera, our phones, and my chap stick :) and they had me wheeling down the hallway. I remember starting to cry and looking back to see if I could see Travis. 

They made him stay outside, and they took me into the operating room. Since I had already had my epidural, I couldn't move my legs. They flipped me around like you wouldn't believe and had me strapped to the operating table in no time. They added medicine to my epidural, and I kept telling them that I could still move my toes. I was so afraid that they would cut into me before I was numb. So, they added more medicine and asked if I could feel them pinch me. I said "YES, and I can still feel my toes". The nurse then said, "They are already cutting you!" 

Travis came in, and almost as soon as he sat down, Dr. Infante (Dr. Hunter's associate) said, "Stand up dad" and they pulled Barret out! It was 4 minutes from the time they wheeled me in there. I was praying out loud the entire time. God is so good. I couldn't have gotten through that without his love and strength. 

Travis stood up and the first thing he said was "he has a receding hairline!" He then told me that he was OK. Travis stood the entire time and rubbed my forehead and held my hand. I kept looking up at him, and his eyes were red rimmed, and he was busy looking from Barret to my stomach. I can't believe that he watched them stitch me up! 

Barret was doing good, so they had Travis come over and take some pictures, and then they brought him to me. It was the fastest and longest experience of my life. 

Travis and Barret then went to the nursery, and I went to recover for an hour. I finally got to my room and Travis came to find me. We didn't get to see Barret until 10:30 that night after they moved me to post-pardem. We spent 2 days in the hospital together...they wouldn't allow ANYONE other than Travis in because of the swine flu. So we had 2 days to bond and get to know our baby boy. 

Barret is now 11 days old. He is so beautiful, wonderful, loving, all the best things in the world. Travis and I are trying to enjoy every single moment with him. He will only be this small once. 

Thank God for this blessing. 

And of course, I can't write such a long post without a few photos. Here is Barret at 10 days old!

Pops Lyday holding Barret for the first time.