After watching the Bears hold onto a late lead over the Lions on Sunday, Sarah and I went for a walk around our neighborhood to see if that would relieve some of her pressure. After thinking the walk did not do much good, we settled in for our usual Sunday night TV shows. Right before the shows started, Sarah began getting intense contractions that she could not talk through and was having a difficult time breathing through. After a few more of these contractions, we decided to head to the emergency room.
During the entire check in and assessment, we were not sure if this was the real thing or we would be sent home. At a little after 8:30, our nurse told us that this was the real thing, we were not going anywhere and that Sarah was already dialated to 2.5. We frantically began making calls to family and prepping ourselves for the hours to follow.
Sarah progressed quickly to a 4 by 11 PM and was offered the epidural, which she wanted to think about for a while. Two contractions later, she took the doctors up on their offer. Sarah was great during this entire process and with the epidural in place, she would have a good night of rest.
Sarah was awake by 7 AM (I was up about 5 – the time change was really messing with me) and the contractions started to increase. At this time, she was dialed to a 6 and it looked like we would have a baby by noon. Unfortunately, the contractions started getting more and more intense (internal monitoring confirmed this). Her medication was not working as well as before and Sarah hit a plateau of 7 centimeters. The nurses were closely watching her for progress, but unfortunately, she was not moving past a 7, the contractions continued to be intense and the baby was not dropping into the birth canal. There was some speculation that the baby may be too big to move into position. By 11:15, Sarah had talked to her doctor and a C Section had been scheduled for 1:15 PM.
After another round of frantic calls to family and changing into scrubs (not as easy as you would think), we were ready to go. All of the grandparents were there to wish Sarah and I luck as we went into the operating room. Yes, you read that right, I was in the OR during the procedure. They had special chair set up where I could hold Sarah’s hand and look at her face the whole time. Special note here – our good friend and nurse Sheri met us in the OR and gave us (a deserved amount) of static about not calling her when we checked in. It was so great to see a familair face!
At 1:35 PM, our baby was free – our doctor held her up so that I could be the one to announce to Sarah that we had a daughter!! They took her back to the table to clean her up. Sheri made sure that I could hold her for a second (and took some photos) and then let me show her to Sarah. We had a beautiful daughter, Reagan Elizabeth, who weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces, 19 inches long.
They very quickly had me set her down and told me that we would not have time to pause for family pictures, but that we had to go into a nursery for babies that required a little more attention. As we raced paced the anxiously awaiting family where I can to announce the baby, I kind of froze and quickly stated "This is her - this is our daughter!" – I would have been more eloquent, but there was a lot going on and I just wanted to get into the nursery quickly. Apparently, Reagan was working a little too hard to breathe and still had not turned "baby pink" (I just made that term up – try using it and see if it catches on). To help her breathe, her head was placed under an oxygen dome that regulated the percentage of oxygen that she was getting. Most people breather a 21% oxygen mixture, Reagan required a much higher percentage of oxygen (we think between 50 or 60) to help her breathe. The doctors were unsure of how long she would need to stay in the dome, sometimes it is a matter of hours or it can be days (don’t skip ahead – I can assure you it’s not days). She also had possibly swallowed some meconium (body waste) while inside of Sarah, so she needed to be put on antibiotics to prevent infection.
The entire family stood huddled at the nursery window, watching the nurses get the hood fitted on her and the IV’s set. Even once all of the medical stuff was in place, this would be the scene for the next several hours, the family patiently waiting for their chance to catch a good glimpse of the newest addition to the family. After about an hour, Sarah was out of the recovery room and Sheri made sure that Sarah was able to spend time with the baby, even if it was just touching her fingers.
Reagan’s breathing continued to improve very steadily over the next few hours, by 7 PM her mixture was down to 39% and all of her little fingers and little toes were "baby pink" (have you tried saying this yet – go ahead, it’s catchy). Sarah and I decided to try and get some sleep, so after a few more calls and text messages, we called it a night.
When the nurse woke us up at 6:30, we asked about the oxygen mix and were thrilled to find out that as of 4 AM, she no longer required help breathing. We made arrangements to head right down so that the three of us could be together and Sarah could finally hold our daughter. While we were in there taking pictures and staring at Reagan, the pediatrician made his rounds so we able to talk to him and watch her get checked up. He explained everything was progressing nicely and we were thrilled.
By about 9 AM, Reagan was able to join us in our room! This was so great, Sarah was able to start practicing breast feeding. The only problem was Reagan felt so at home in Sarah’s arms, she would relax so much she would drift off to sleep. This after the night before where she would scream at top of her lungs – apparently she just needed her mom! The family was also able to see her up close – so many people, so much love, all for such a beautiful baby!
The first time Sarah and I are with our Baby
The next morning when she is out of the dome
