Myah's Birth Story

Our first picture as a family of six!  April 7, 2014

I woke up Sunday, April 6th feeling great, but ready to nest.  We were leaving for Mayo on Monday afternoon to deliver Myah on Tuesday morning, April 8th.  I had much on the to-do list that I needed to cross off first.

I made pancakes and had a relaxing breakfast with the family before going to church.  After church we went to the OPU for lunch.  We planned to go to Chuck E. Cheese after lunch, but we quickly turned around after we got there because it was so packed.  Once we got home we put Linden down for a nap and popped in "Smurfs 2" for Seeri and Jaelyn so that they would stay busy while we tackled the to-do list.  We cleaned the house from top to bottom and did loads of laundry in between.  Overall I felt great as we cleaned.  I had a lot of energy and was moving well. But, there was a few times when Myah would kick or position herself right on a nerve that would send a shooting pain down the inside of my legs and force me to stop dead in my tracks until she repositioned herself again.  This had been happening for a couple weeks and had happened with all my other girls during their pregnancies so it didn't worry me.

Once Linden woke up, we went back to Chuck E. Cheese.  We were there for an hour and I felt fine the whole time.  On the car ride home I started to experience some heartburn and feel uncomfortable in my belly.  I took a Zantac when I got home at 5:30 expecting it to help.  Usually, it takes about ten minutes after taking Zantac for my heartburn and stomach issues to disappear.  This time they didn't.  My heartburn disappeared a bit but my stomach issues were increasing.  Instead of feeling uncomfortable, I would now feel a tightening of my tummy.  It would feel rock hard to the touch and like a severe period cramp for about 30 seconds and then dissipate.  I was experiencing this about every 20 minutes.  I wouldn't classify them as painful, but they definitely were noticeable.

We continued to go on as normal.  We fed the girls, played, and put them to sleep by 7:30.  I didn't have a big supper for fear of agitating my heartburn so Patrick ran and got me a McDonald's strawberry banana smoothie instead.  By 7:30, I was starting to wonder if I was laboring and if the tightening I was feeling was contractions.  After all, I was due in five days.  I went to the bathroom and ended up losing my mucous plug.  When I had Seeri my water broke two hours after I lost my mucous plug, so Patrick and I called my parents to put them on alert.  However, by the time the phone call ended they decided to come immediately and we decided we were leaving for Rochester.  I called my friend to come watch the girls until they got there.  Luckily, we had everything packed so all we had to do was load the van.  We were on the road by 8:45.

Once I got in the van I started timing my contractions.  They were fifteen minutes apart.  We met my parents at the Casey's off of Airline Hwy to give them hugs and then were officially on the way.  We had a two hour drive ahead of us.  My contractions were seven minutes apart by the time we had gone 45 minutes north and were by New Hampton.  My contractions were five minutes apart by the time we hit Spring Valley which is 30 minutes from Rochester.

Patrick drove 85 the whole way up to Rochester.  We were lucky that is was late on a Sunday night.  The traffic was light, so other than dealing with some rain, the drive was easy.  We were silent the whole way other than me announcing my contractions.  I am pretty sure we were both praying that we weren't going to have Myah on the side of the road!  I was also praying that my C-section was going to go well and that I wouldn't bleed again.  I just closed my eyes, remained still, and tried to relax through the contractions.  When we hit New Hampton we called the hospital to ask if we should go straight there to check in or go to the hotel.  They told us that we should only come in if my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and painful and advised us to go to the hotel.  We hit Stewartville, which is ten minutes south of Rochester, and my contractions were five minutes apart.  I was definitely uncomfortable but I wasn't in pain.  (Patrick and I have since decided that I must have a very high pain tolerance!).  We called the hospital again and this time told them to expect us because we were coming whether they wanted us to or not!  We pulled up to the Charlton building at 10:40, left our van in the horseshoe entrance, and had security buzz us in.  My contractions were about 3 minutes apart but I denied Patrick's request to get me a wheelchair.  I walked, through contractions, to the delivery unit (One of these days I will stop being so stubborn and prideful--I realize I am pretty stupid!).

I was so incredibly nervous and scared.  I did not know what to expect during the C-section.  What would I feel?  Would I be able to handle the stress?  Will Myah be healthy?  How sore am I going to be after?  I had millions of things going through my head.  The hospital staff was so calm and efficient.  They were all GSD!  Dr. Gill told me not to worry because, "they do this everyday."  To which I responded, "yeah, but I don't."  They all laughed but I am so mad at myself for saying that....seriously, how rude of me?  But, it was what I was thinking and it just flew out of me.

Luckily, pre-delivery moved along extremely quick.  In the matter of 45 minutes I had been admitted, checked for dilation (I was dilated to a 4), spoke with anesthesia, gotten an IV, spoke with the delivering doctor, and had fetal monitors put on.  By 11:40, I walked (yes, still stubborn) back to the OR.  Patrick had to stay in the recovery room until I was prepped and the doctors were ready.  In those 25 minutes, I received my spinal tap, got secured in to the bed straps, and hooked up to all the necessary monitors.  The spinal tap was no joke.  By the time the doctor said, "were done, lay down", I couldn't even move my legs on my own.  It literally activated that fast.  The doctor checked to make sure I was properly numb by poking me with a sharp object to assess what I could and couldn't feel.  Patrick said those 25 minutes alone in that room were the longest of his life.  For me, they were so fast!

They called Patrick in after I was strapped in and at the appropriate numbness level.  At this point, I was starting to feel a bit nauseous.  I am sure it was probably from the medicine.  The doctors must have expected that; they practically read my mind and asked me if I was two minutes after I even thought it.  They pumped some nausea medicine through my IV and I instantly started feeling pressure everywhere in my head.  I started to panic.  My mind instantly started thinking the worst.  "This is it.  I have made it all this way and now I am going to bleed again.  I am not going to see Myah's birth.  This is it."  Right at that moment is when Patrick got to the room and grabbed my hand.  The first thing I said to him was, "I feel a lot of pressure in my head."  Quite a welcome, huh?  The anesthesiologist heard me.  I am not sure if he gave me meds at that point or not.  Patrick squeezed my left hand, put his right hand on my cheek, kissed my forehead, and told me I was going to be fine and he was here.  I was freaking out.  I had another one of those moments where I had to make a choice.  Succumbing to my fear was going to get me nowhere.  If I did that I was going to miss Myah's birth.  Her birth would become exactly what I didn't want it to.  So, I told Patrick that I was just going to close my eyes and breathe through it.  He squeezed my hand and told me my heart rate was at 68.  Before I knew it, the pressure had subsided and the doctors were telling Patrick to stand up because Myah was on her way.  It probably took five minutes from the time they made the incision to the time Myah was born.

She started crying as soon as she came out.  Patrick looked at her quick and immediately sat back down and kissed my forehead.  We were both crying so hard we were shaking.  She was here.  She was healthy.  I had done it.  I was okay.  They gave me a quick peek and then ushered her and Patrick to the baby station.  All I could see was the blue sheet in front of me and the anesthesiologists eyes when he would lean in to ask how I was or tell me that I was doing great.  I closed my eyes and listened to the nurses and Patrick fuss over Myah.  I reveled in their exclamations about all her dark hair, her long, skinny toes and fingers, how we chose her name, etc.  I felt nothing more than gentle tugging during the surgery.  The spinal tap definitely worked.  My fears all subsided after Myah was out.  I no longer cared what happened to me from there out.  I had delivered Myah and she was healthy.  I was on cloud nine.  Nothing else mattered.  For a while, I was just Jamie 1.0 again.

Five minutes after she was born they brought her over to lay on my chest.  She remained there up until the last five minutes of my surgery.  I was in heaven.  Everything around me, other than Patrick and Myah, just disappeared.  Patrick and I talked to her, rubbed her back, and kissed her forehead.  We debated over who she looked like and had moments of silence where we just held hands and stared at her.  It was absolutely perfect.  We had made it.  All the months of "what if's" were finally put to rest.  Not only was it time to move on, but now we really could.

My C-section and tubal ligation only took 46 minutes from start to finish.  All the doctors joked about how Dr. Gill had set a new record.  They all shook our hands, offered congratulations, and complimented me on how well I had done.  I was wheeled back to the recovery room where we remained for two hours until being transferred to our permanent home.  I couldn't move my legs; it was like I was paralyzed from the waist down.  I was super sore.  Side note: C-sections are no joke.  Women who have had one or multiple ones are literally my heroes.  But that didn't stop me from snuggling with Myah.

I fed her for the first time; she was a natural.  I just couldn't get enough of her.  I had dreamed of this moment for so long and I was in disbelief that it was actually here.  It could have turned out so many different ways, but God provided for us.  Her birth was beautiful, joyful, and a blessing.  She was absolutely gorgeous.  She has my big lips, has great color, deep blue eyes, and tons of dark black hair.  I just stared at her, tickled her cheek, and rubbed her back.  I finally shared her with Patrick until his brother, Tom, arrived.

By the time we got to our permanent room, I was starting to get feeling back in my legs.  We got settled and I told Patrick that I wanted to try to feed her again before going to sleep.  She wasn't interested in eating, so I laid her on my chest.  The next thing I knew it was 8:00 in the morning and we had slept like that all night.  I woke up feeling like the last five months were finally over.  We were given this precious gift that was going to help us heal and move on.  I nuzzled her in under my neck and just cried.  I was so, so happy.  We really were going to be okay.

We called my parents and asked them if they would be willing to bring the girls up with them to meet Myah.  Initially, my parents were going to come alone.  I am so glad they agreed to bring them.  We told them her name and they loved it because they had friends named Myah. ;). I can't even put in to words what I felt as I watched them hold her, kiss her, and call her by her name.  They were just beaming with excitement.  Seeri wanted to hold her every other minute.  Jaelyn wanted to kiss her every other minute.  Linden wanted to rub her head every other minute.  Everyone just wanted to be with her.  Myah was infectious.

 

Myah is now nearly three days old.  Patrick and I have enjoyed spending time alone together and with her.  She has been an amazing baby so far.  She sleeps and eats well.  She is incredibly laid back and spends a lot of time with her eyes wide open.  She is definitely a snuggle bug.  We are probably spoiling her by as much as we are holding her, but I don't think either of us really cares.  There was a time when we weren't sure we would ever have these moments.  Now that we do, we are never going to pass them up.