Grace Ann Waterson: Her Birth Story

First of all, here is the last pregnant picture that was taken of me at 34.5 weeks:

Here is Gracie's birth story....

I went for my 36 week check-up on March 9th.  It was fairly uneventful...Gracie's heartbeat was in the 150s, my blood pressure was good, and weight gain was on target.  The doctor did a pelvic exam on me and said that Gracie's head was in position and that I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced! I was surprised at these numbers but the doctor reassured me that it really meant nothing, that the baby would come when she was ready!  Later that night, Hannah and I had a date to McDonald's and then to Suburban Hospital to attend "Big Sister Class". She was very excited!! Of course when we got there she was extremely shy and I couldn't even get her to sit on the floor with the other kiddos.  But she still loved every minute of it...they even gave us a tour of one of the rooms and took the kiddos to see some babies in the nursery (Hannah loved it and still talks about going to Big Sister class and going to the hospital)!

On Thursday, March 11, 2010, I went to work like normal.  I was excited because it was a half day for our students, which meant they left school at 11:00.  For the remainder of the day we (some teacher friends) were going to grab a bite to eat and then head back to school for a 3 hour professional development on Calm Classrooms.  We were all very excited to listen to the man coming to talk on the subject, as we had heard great things about him!

The work day was fairly normal...nothing exciting happened! I even sat on the floor for Math Meeting!

For lunch, me and 4 other teachers headed to Wendy's since we only had about 30 minutes for lunch...

then we headed back to school for professional development.

When I walked into the gym, the speaker saw me and said "I was told that you aren't due for another 3 weeks...so you aren't going to go into labor or anything are you?"  I of course told him no...that I was feeling good and that he had nothing to worry about!  He was a really good speaker and I learned a lot from him.  He had me laughing so hard at some points that I was in tears! Throughout the 3 hour presentation (luckily there were breaks), my back was hurting me and I kept shifting positions to try to get comfortable.  I didn't think anything about my achy back because #1: we were sitting on hard wooden benches and #2: my back had been hurting at the end of the school day for the past week or so anyways. During this time, Gracie was moving around in my belly like crazy! The people around me were enjoying watching my belly move! The speaker was coming back to our school later that night to give a presentation to parents about having calm households...I had considered going since I could use all the help I could get dealing with Hannah's sleep issues and tantrums, but decided that I probably wouldn't go because I didn't think I could sit another 2 hours on the wooden benches!!

When the speaker was finished, I left and went to daycare to pick up Hannah.  I had gotten there a little after 3:00 and they had just woken up from their nap..I (once again), sat on the floor and helped Hannah get her shoes back on.  Then we headed home. 

When we got home I decided I was a little hungry and needed a snack, so I made myself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios to share with Hannah (you will see the relevance of eating a bowl of cereal soon).  I shared the whole bowl with Hannah and then needed to use the bathroom.  While I was going, pee just kept coming and coming.  I didn't really think anything of it, especially since I'd been peeing a lot anyways! When I was finished and stood up, more fluid leaked out and ran down my leg.  At first I was like, "What the hell?" but then chalked it up to Gracie just hitting my bladder or something.  I cleaned up and left the bathroom.  About 2 minutes later I started leaking even more....enough that I had to change my underwear.  Now I was starting to get a little worried that something else was going on.  In the meantime, Hannah was happily playing with her baby dolls and books and didn't realize what was going on with me.  About 4 or 5 minutes later, I wet myself again...I knew this wasn't right.  At this point it was almost 4:30...Tony usually gets off work then.  I called him and asked if he was on his way home yet...he told me that he was making copies but would be leaving shortly...I told him that I thought my water broke...he said he was on his way!!

My mom was in California for a conference. I tried calling her but just got her voicemail.  So I sent her a text telling her I thought my water broke...she called back right away! I told her the story, and she asked if I had called my doctor?! Ummm, doctor? Oh yeah, guess I should be calling them...

So I got off the phone with mom and called my doctor. Of course office hours were over, so I was transfered to the hospital where a nurse took my name, phone number, and info and said my doctor should call me back in the next 30 minutes. I didn't have to wait long, she called back in about 5 minutes.  I explained what was going on and she said it was hard to say if I broke my water or not over the phone, so she said I should go to triage at the hospital and that she would call them and tell them that I was coming. I immediately started crying...I still had 3 weeks to go (technically 4) and I hadn't gotten everything ready yet...Gracie's room wasn't finished, laundry had to be done, no bags were packed, I hadn't gotten stuff together yet for my maternity leave, etc.  This couldn't be happening yet!! I called my dad and told him what was going on and told him we needed him to watch Hannah because I couldn't get a hold of my brother or sister in law to watch her.  Meanwhile, Tony came home and started freaking out...he thought we needed to leave IMMEDIATELY, and I wanted to wait for my dad to come stay with Hannah.  After a few minutes of arguing and me in tears again, we waited for my dad to come.  I packed Hannah a bag since she potentially would be spending the night somewhere...depending on my status.  Dad finally got to our house and we left for the hospital.  I did NOT bring a bag, I just couldn't even think straight to pack one...I did, however, remember to throw my camera in my purse (thank goodness)! 

We arrived at the hospital and walked to the ER where they directed us up to Labor and Delivery triage.  When we walked in I told them that I thought my water broke...the lady asked if I had papers for them, I told her no and asked how I got papers? She directed us to admissions around the corner (seriously? I was potentially leaking amniotic fluid and they wanted me to sit down and sign papers...I had to laugh).  So, around the corner Tony and I went.  We sat down, feeling pretty laid back at this point and the admissions girl said "Wow"...we said "what"...she said that in the 5 years she'd worked at Suburban she'd never seen a couple as happy as we were!! Haha! I guess I didn't realize that I was smiling and seemed pretty laid back, I just think I was in shock of what could be happening and didn't know how to react.  The lady explained that most couples who come to the triage admissions desk are about to kill each other or look horrified.  We didn't.  This wasn't our first rodeo...not to mention the fact that Tony just thought I peed on  myself several times!!  Once I got the papers we headed back to triage and they let me use the restroom!! When they gave me my room and told me to get undressed and put the beautiful hospital gown on...fluid started streaming down my leg.  Tony was grossed out!!  The nurse came in with what looked like litmus paper from 8th grade science class and "checked" me out...the paper turned blue which meant that my water broke!!

Then they asked me what time I'd eaten last...you guessed it...around 4:15...that bowl of Cheerios.  Since I was supposed to have another C-Section, they told me that since I ate that I wouldn't be able to deliver until after midnight (it was like 6:00 at this point).  I was fine with it...sure wish I didn't eat that bowl of Cheerios though! However, things changed....I guess my doctor didn't want to wait until after midnight (I don't blame her, I'd be too tired to do surgery too), so she labeled it an "emergency" and that we would start around 7:30.  Tony went and asked the nurses if it was really an emergency and they told us no...but not to tell anyone he heard it from them!! I have to admit, Tony and I found it all pretty amusing because the anesthesiologist and the doctor didn't quite agree on what time the surgery should be performed...looks like my doctor won because they started prepping me for surgery!!

Meanwhile, Angela came home and went to our house to pick up Hannah and take her back to her house so my dad could come to the hospital.  Did I mention that my mom was in California and was actually supposed to come in the OR with Tony...she actually had gotten special permission to come back there (at least for the March 30th C-Section).  My mom was pretty devastated that she wasn't there...I couldn't believe she wasn't there either!! I missed her! Tony was busily texting and calling everyone to let them know that we were about to have our baby.  He even took a picture of me on his phone and wanted to post it on Facebook...I wouldn't let him!! For the next hour, nurses and doctors came in and out of my little triage room to give me IVs, meds, take my history, etc.  The time flew by!!

Here is me in triage:

After all the prep work was finished, it was time to go to the OR! When I got to the OR, they made Tony wait outside of the room until they were ready for him.  Meanwhile I was given a spinal and they prepared to operate! Tony was allowed in the room finally and then the real fun began!

What an odd feeling...they start cutting me open and I can't feel any pain whatsoever, just a lot of pressure and tugging.  Although this was my 2nd C-Section, I don't remember the details of my C-Section with Hannah...I was too drugged up and too tired and was in and out of it a lot.  With Gracie's C-Section, I remember everything.

My anesthesiologists and Tony made the time go by faster...they were nice and funny and kept me constantly updated about what was going on behind the drape.  At this point I was getting kind of anxious hoping that everything with Gracie would be ok.

A couple minutes later at 7:49pm exactly...Grace Ann Waterson made a loud, screaming entrance into the outside world!! Happy Birthday Gracie :)

Words cannot describe what it's like to hear your very own baby being born...it's amazing, and a moment that I will remember forever! I can remember the doctors saying the head was almost out, and then all of a sudden her loud, piercing cry filled the air...giving reassurance that she was ok!  They handed Gracie off to a nurse and I got a quick peek at her before they went and cleaned her off and took her measurements (6 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 inches long)...I couldn't believe that my second little girl was out and doing so well!  They informed me that she appeared perfect! Her Apgar scores were both 9 at 1 minute and 5 minutes! Although Gracie was a month early, she was doing great!

When the nurses and doctors were finished checking out Gracie, they handed her off to Tony! I was able to give my little Gracie her first kiss and Tony sat there with her and all I could do was stare at her...what a miracle!!

It took a while to put me back together...I lost about 2 liters of blood, and they had a difficult time stopping some of the bleeding...by the end of surgery, I was light-headed and dizzy and felt extremely tired!  But I was also relieved that everything had gone so well and that we had a new, beautiful baby girl in our family! Tony and I are so blessed!!

I was sent to recovery where I could finally hold her...

My dad was able to come back and see us as well...

And don't forget about proud daddy...

Here we are with the newest member of our little family (wish Hannah was there with us too):

After recovery I was given a room where I'd stay for the next 3 nights...Tony went to go get dinner (it was like 9:30pm or so by now), my dad had to go home because he had to work the next day, and they took Gracie to get a bath! What a day!!

My mom was catching a flight out of California as soon as she could, she was planning on being at the hospital by noon the next day...and Hannah would be able to finally meet her baby sister (that'll all be in my next blog).

What an absolute miracle having a baby is....it's priceless! We fell in love with our little Gracie Ann the moment we saw her!!