We are excited to announce the newest edition to our family... Miss Paisley Rose!
I was originally due on New Years Day, but she decided to make other plans and arrived December 21st, 11 days early! It was the best Christmas present we could have ever asked for.
Her arrival was definitely unexpected. On the 20th we celebrated Christmas with my in-laws and I was really feeling good and having a good day. The only discomfort I experienced was back pain, and that was normal for me. I was a little on the hungry side that day, but nothing out of the ordinary. Once we got home, we both were super tired and went to bed around 9:30 PM. My husband got up around midnight and was up when I got up around 2 AM. I was wide awake and could not get back to sleep. I felt slight cramping and an urge to go to the bathroom. I went to the bathroom around 3 AM and something did not feel right. This is a little TMI, but it felt like water gushing out and I knew it wasn't urine. After a brief freak out session - I wasn't really sure what to do, so I called my OB/GYN office. While I was waiting for a call back from the provider on call, my husband decided to do his own research and Google water breaking LOL! Five minutes later a midwife called me back and told me that my water might have broke and asked how soon could we get to the hospital. The hospital is about 20-25 minutes away and I really wanted to get a shower before we left. My husband thought it was a false alarm and left some of the lights on in the house because he thought we would be back.
We got to the hospital at 4:15 AM and I was admitted. I was 3 centimeters dilated, 95% effaced. I tested positive for the Group Strep B virus so they wanted to start antibiotic treatment right away before I lost too much amniotic fluid. The midwife wanted to start Pitocin at 6 AM, but I wanted to wait until our parents arrived. For some reason I always thought Pitocin would speed up the labor process immediately and I wanted to make sure our immediate family was there with us. Pitocin was started at 9 AM once they arrived and kicked in pretty quickly. The contractions were intense and close together, so I decided to go ahead and get an epidural. I got the epidural at 10:15 AM and was 8 centimeters dilated by Noon. At 2 PM I was 10 centimeters dilated and ready to push. I pushed for 3 1/2 hours, but she was not budging. They said she was positioned too high up under my pubic bone and was unable to get under because she was faced sideways so they would have to do a C-section. I was so overcome with emotion as I just tried to push her out non-stop for 3 1/2 hours. I really did not want surgery, but knew that was the only way to get her out. At 5:30 PM the nurses got me ready for surgery. They took me to the operating room and gave me more epidural medication that numbed me from the chest down. I felt a lot of pressure and pushing in my abdomen - it was the weirdest feeling and the drugs had me all loopy. I kept asking my husband for a root beer or a Frappuccino from Starbucks.
Paisley Rose was born at 18:24 - 6:24 PM. Weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. After they delivered her my blood pressure dropped extremely low (66 over 42), so they gave me a drug to help stabilize me.
Since I had a C-section I was given 4-5 days to stay in the hospital, so that put me through until Christmas. My doctor did give me the okay to leave Christmas Eve. If it was a normal week and not a holiday week I would have stayed the extra day - it was much needed, but we decided that we wanted to have her home for Christmas. I was instructed not to lift heavy objects or walk up steps frequently for two weeks, and I am not able to drive for four weeks.
Paisley had a bit of jaundice before leaving the hospital so that needed to be monitored over the next week. The pediatrician had us go into the lab for testing twice after Christmas. We had a nurse home visit scheduled for Monday and her doctors appointment was scheduled for Tuesday. Both appointments went well. Paisley passed the bilirubin test but will need to go in on Friday to be re-weighed. She was 6 pounds, 7 ounces when she was born and when we left the hospital she was 6 pounds, 2 ounces. The pediatrician weighed her at 6 pounds, 4 ounces and they want her weight to increase to her birth weight by tomorrow. I am not quite sure what they will suggest if she does not meet her birth weight, but we are crossing our fingers.
We can't express how excited we are to have her home with us. She is the love of our lives. After all the treatments and years to have her she is finally here <3
We love you Paisley Rose!!
