It all started at 38 weeks when I went to my check-up at 1:00PM on March 11th of 2008. By this point in my pregnancy I was seeing Dr. "D" on a weekly basis. At this appointment while Dr "D" was listening to Brinley's heartrate with the doppler she noticed--and I did immediately as well--that it was slower than normal. As a precaution she asked me to stay for about 20 minutes so that she could monitor Brinley's heartrate using an external fetal heartrate monitor. After the 20 minutes of monitoring, she asked me to come in when her office opens first thing in the morning at 8:30 to see if there had been any change in Brinley's heartrate. That evening, I had a feeling that when I left our home the next morning that I wouldn't be coming back for a few days and it wouldn't be without a baby in my arms so I took a GOOD shower that night, shaved my legs, blow-dried and straightened my hair, etc.
The next morning before leaving I went ahead and gathered up the 'hospital bags' that I had packed weeks before and put them in a prominent place in the living room so that if Bruce needed to come back to the apartment to grab them, he would be able to easily find them. At the appointment, Brinley's heartrate was monitored again using the external fetal monitor for about 20 minutes and after hearing pretty much the same as the day before, Dr. "D" decided it would be best to do an emergency induction. She said that while most doctors would have me sent straight to the O.R. for a c-section, she would let me try to deliver vaginally, BUT (and it was a big 'but' that she made very clear) if Brinley's heartrate did not tolerate the labor well and continued to drop she would do an emergency c-section. She instructed me to drive straight to the hospital with NO stops along the way. I called Bruce in my car from the clinic parking lot and told him to CALMLY leave work, go by the apartment to get the suitcases and meet me at the hospital. Bruce met me at the hospital shortly after 10:00AM and by 10:30 I was in a Labor & Delivery suite, changed into a hospital gown and hooked up to a pitocin I.V. to get labor going.
By 3:00PM, I hadn't made much progress (I was at 4cm), so Dr. "D" decided to speed things up by breaking my water. Five hours later (around 8:00PM) my nurse came in, check me and said I had progressed to 8cm. At 9:30PM she announced I was at 10cm and said she would call Dr. "D". After getting the room transitioned for delivery, I began pushing shortly after 10:00PM and Brinley made her entrance into the world at 10:39PM. To me, the labor and delivery could not have gone much better than it did. Everything went so smoothly. The nurses were amazing and the best part--I didn't even need an episiotomy! Dr. "D" even made the comment after delivery that my body was 'made to have babies.' After getting Brinley dried off, Bruce and I were able to get acquainted with her for about an hour before she was taken to the nursery to be bathed, put under the warmer, etc. While I was in my recovery period in the Labor & Delivery suite, Bruce went to Whataburger and got us both something to eat. Don't judge--not much is open 24 hours and I hadn't been allowed to eat since my breakfast at 6:00AM. At that point I was feeling famished and had a HUGE craving for pancakes.
At around 1:00AM on March 13th, I was moved from the L&D suite to a postpartum room, where I stayed until we left the hospital the next day. Bruce and I ate our late dinner/early breakfast and he left the hospital around 1:30AM to catch a few hours of sleep at home. He was more than welcome to stay at the hospital with me, but I insisted he would probably sleep better at home and that I would be fine without him. Looking back it was such a great decision to send him home. With the most perfect baby girl in the world right there in my room all night, I wasn't able to sleep a wink. At one point, when a nurse came in to check my vitals she was surprised to find me awake and tried to give me something 'to help me relax and rest'. I spit that crap out the second she walked out of the room! :-D
Anyway, to give a brief overview of the next few days, I had Brinley room-in with me. She was only taken to the nursery when an exam needed to be performed or her vitals needed to be taken. I didn't get much rest that day because my vitals were being checked, dietary would come in to take meal orders, etc. By Friday morning, we were all ready to go home and were anxiously awaiting for our doctors' approvals. By the time Brinley and I received our approvals, discharge papers were filed and the car was loaded up, it was about 4:00PM when we finally arrived at home and were able to start our new lives as a family of three.
"No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you. After all, you're the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside." ~Unknown Author
"Little girls dance their way into your heart, whirling on the tips of angel wings, scattering gold dust & kisses in our paths." ~Unknown Author
Happy 4th Birthday, Brinley! You are the greatest miracle and blessing of my life. I pray every night that our Heavenly Father will continue to keep you healthy, safe and happy, and that He'll guide your daddy and I to be the best parents we can be to you. I love you beyond words.
