Have a little "Faith"

Little did we know, that I would never get to the final 10-day countdown. Macyn Faith was born at 38 weeks and 3 days. Technically, I should still be pregnant for another week or so. Crazy to think about, but we feel so blessed to have her with us! So how did everything go down? Let's start with that....

This is the last picture I have of being pregnant - 38 weeks exactly. Little did I know our little bundle of joy would be here 3 days later.

It all started with a normal appointment on Tuesday, October 13 at 11:00 AM. They did the usual stuff, and my BP had gone up. The doctor had decided to check me and I was already 3 cm and 100% effaced. Since the BP had stayed high, they decided to sent to to the hospital for a non-stress-test. During the NST, they put this thing on your tummy to listen to the baby's heartbeat, and another to measure contractions. Once you feel the baby move, you click a button and they look to make sure the baby's heartrate goes up when she moves. In the meantime, they came in to check my BP every 1/2 hour for about 3 hours. The baby looked great, and it appeared my BP was starting to go back down....until the last few times it was checked, it started to spike. I had visited with my Dr. during this time, and she discussed options such as bedrest and deliver in a week, but she was confident that being dialated that far, it would be best for my health and the baby's to just go ahead and deliver me.

So.....they decided to admit me at around 4:00 PM. I was a little overwhelmed with everything happening so fast - I wasn't even able to finish packing or install the carseat! So they starting me on an IV drip of Magnesium Sulfate for 3 hours before they would start Pitocin at around 8:00 PM. Once they started the Pit, I didn't really start having contractions at all. I was up alot of the night, just listening to our little girl's heartbeat (it is continually monitored) and they would continue to check my BP every 1/2 hour, along with checking my reflexes and temp. I also had to have a catheter since I wasnt allowed to get out of bed...at all until she was born.


So the next morning, they decided to get my contractions going by breaking my water at 10:30. This definitely started my contractions, and continued to get stronger throughout the day. I am not sure what time they started getting closer and closer together, but I knew I had to be atleast a 6-7 to get an epidural. They decided to check me because the contractions starting coming long and hard. I was only to a 5. But they decided to give me the epi anyways since I was bed-ridden, they thought that was part of the reason I wasn't getting dialated since I was never relaxed, couldnt walk around, use a birth ball, etc.

So here I am with the anesthesiologist giving me the epidural. By this time the contractions are extremely long and hard, close together. The contractions were strong at the point that the nurses and dr. thought she could possibly be delivered within the next 1/2 hour. So when I actually got the epi, my right side never got numb. Left side - good. Right side - not so much. They pumped more numbing agent into my epi to try and get my right side going - the drip was equvalent to 10x an epidural. Well my right side was numb, but I never got numb right where it counts. Still felt every contraction, never had complete relief.

After that, they decided to check me again, and never progressed any further. Macyn's head was lodged in my pelvis, face up, and they were pretty sure she would never make it through. They Dr. then decided it would be best to go ahead and give me a c-section. As they were prepping me, I threw up and got sick - I think it was just from all the emotions. So DH had to go an put on his scrubs (I told me he looked like my Mc Dreamy and the surgical team thought that was funny).....and then they started the c-section. Since I wasn't completely numb, the procedure felt like an extremely hard contraction which I had to breath through while laying on the table. A little while later, at 6:00 on Wednesday, Macyn was here, and I got to see her for the first time.We decided on the name Macyn Faith. She never had a middle name until I recieved my epi that didnt work, and we knew that Faith in itself would get up through this. There were so many prayers from Josh, myself, and whoever else was praying for us, and I think thats what kept us strong through this whole ordeal.

Just knowing us giving birth to healthy baby girl - 7lbs 5oz 22 inches long made it all worth it. She is a blessing and we love her alot. She has jaundice but thankfully yesterday the levels went back down to a somewhat better level. She still eats to eat alot to get over that. She also lost alot of weight in the hospital and as of this morning she was up to 6lbs 14oz so that is good too. Everything is looking up for us, and I am enjoying mommyhood as much as possible....now tomorrow I have to get 17 staples out of my 10 inch incision...lets hope that goes well and relieves some of the pain!