Stella's Arrival

I was hesitant at first about telling the birth story.  I definitely wanted to type it up because I wanted to have it kept somewhere for Stella to one day see.  As I said a few weeks ago I want to use this blog as Stella's "scrapbook", so it was the perfect place to share our birth story.  Plus who knows, maybe someone will stumble upon this blog and read about our wonderful experience and it will help ease their fears (if they have some).  I know I sure was scared when I first found out we were going to have to go the c-section route so hearing more stories surely would've been encouraging. I resorted to emailing some friends and family that I knew had gone through the same thing and asked what it was like for them.  I'm sure one day Stella will love to read this and in the end, that's ultimately what I want and all I really care about. 

 

I'm definitely not a great story-teller, but nonetheless, here we go. 

 

The story of how Stella Mae came into this crazy, beautiful world.

 

About a month before baby Harper was due we found out he/she was breech. Because this was our first baby, our midwives at Shenandoah Women's Health Care highly recommended we schedule a c-section.  Actually they really didn't give us any other option.  They recommended this because when you haven't had a baby yet they aren't even sure the baby will fit through your pelvic area and they are scared to take a chance and then have to do an emergency c-section.  Despite being a little disappointed, after about 24 hours of processing we were ok with it all and realized it's all in God's hands and we knew everything would be ok. We scheduled our c-section for Thursday, August 16th. In the meantime we tried a few chinese medicines and discussed seeing a chiropracter to try to get the baby to turn.  No success.
 

Forward to Wednesday, August 8th. It was a busy day for me. I got up and headed straight to the Harrisonburg Fire Department so they could install our car seat before I headed to work. Everything seemed pretty normal...until about lunch time. I started to cramp and just feel overall not well. I ended up laying on the floor in my office. My co-worker, Jul, came in and said, "You won't be here tomorrow, Molly. You're in labor." I said, "No, no I'm fine. Really. I'm probably just hungry." HA! I decided to text Ryan (and this is word for word b/c I looked back on my phone!). "Can we get that thing for the crib tonight? The board? I'm feeling really crampy today. I'm ready to start wrapping things up!" So I made it through the rest of the day and headed home. When I got home Ryan and I set up the baby monitor, put together the pack 'n play, and I packed my bag for the hospital.
 

At around 10:30 pm I got into bed. At 11:14 pm I woke up to a sharp pain in my abdomen and then a whole lot of warm water. I was a little startled as I wasn't sure what was going on. "Did I just pee? Was that my water breaking? Ouch!" I got out of bed and woke up Ryan, "RY! I think it's happening." He was half awake, "Huh?!" I told him I thought my water broke to which his response was, "Are you sure? Did you pee your pants?" So I walk to the bathroom and sit on the toilet just to make sure. I sit there for a couple minutes and nothing else happened. So then I was pretty sure I just peed. Gross! Haha. I stand up. Nope. Nevermind. Water starts coming again. And a lot of it. I then knew for sure. "Ryan, it's definitely my water. What do we do now?" It was kind of funny how in the moment, I had no idea what to do. I guess I had never planned it to happen this way?! I don't know, but either way I was scared and just wasn't sure what our next steps should be. I did know if your water broke you should get to the hospital sooner rather than later. So I started to think in my head and then decided to call Ben & Cilla because they just did this. Cilla didn't answer so I tried Ben. As calm as I thought I was it didn't matter because as soon as I heard Ben's voice, I started to cry. (For those of you that don't know, it doesn't take much for me to cry.) Ben was great of course telling me, "Don't worry Molly. Even if your water did break, you have plenty of time." He gave the phone to Priscilla who told me to call our Doctor's office and there would probably be a message on the machine for what to do next. Duh! Why didn't I think of that?! :) They just kept reassuring me everything would be fine and to call them if we needed anything. So I called my Doctor's office which instructed me to call the hospital and ask for our Doctor on call. I called the hospital and they told me they had paged my Doctor and he would call us back. They told us the Doctor on call was Dr. Aamodt. I was immediately nervous b/c that was one of the Doctors I had not seen and it was the only man in the practice. Now looking back I should've just bypassed all of this and headed to the hospital, but I guess now we know! We waited another 30 minutes and never heard from my Doctor. Did I forget to mention that in the meantime Ry was trying to pack his bag and we were trying to gather things up for the hospital while I kept having water gushing every move I made?! Hokie, our sweet dog, was wondering what in the world was going on! Ryan finally said, "MOLLY, just stay on the toilet!  You're getting baby juice everywhere!"  Haha.  By the way, we found out later our hospital had 15 babies there that night so that explained why we didn't hear back from Dr. Aamodt right away.
 

So after the 30 minutes, Ryan looks at me and says "We aren't waiting any longer. Let's go!" He so kindly loads the passenger side of the car with plastic bags and towels. Yeah, it was that bad. We get in the car and he asks me if I'm going to call my parents. I can't decide if I should or not. Only because I didn't want them to rush into the hospital if I wasn't sure what was going to be happening. It was like I wanted a report from the Doctor before I told anyone. Again, looking back, I have no idea why I was thinking that way b/c it wasn't like this baby wasn't coming since my water broke! Oops! So as we're leaving the driveway I dial up my Mom. It was after midnight at this point. Obviously she probably knows what this call means. Earlier that day when I had talked to her on the phone she said, "Let's just go ahead and bring on this baby." I'm pretty sure she was joking since Hattie (my niece, their granddaughter) had just been born 9 days before. But nonetheless she answers and I say, "Well Mom, someone was listening to you today about the baby. My water broke!" I could tell she was excited as she asked some questions, but she was trying to act calm. I told her not to come in or do anything until we got to the hospital and found out what was going to happen. Ha, that was a joke! I should've known they would never wait. :)
 

The ride to the hospital was far from fun. You may know this, but once your water breaks, contractions then come soon after. I was having some pretty painful contractions all the way to the hospital. My contractions can probably best be described as horrible period cramps. They were only a couple minutes apart and it was then that I realized wow, maybe a c-section won't be so bad afterall. :) On the way to the hospital Ryan also called his parents and told them we were headed in and would call them once we knew more. Other than that we didn't call or text anyone. So we arrived at the hospital and went to the emergency side, which is what we were told to do. Of course everyone was staring at the big bellied girl who had towels down her pants. I'm sure it was amazingly attractive.  We checked in and they wheeled me up to the labor and delivery floor as I was having stronger and stronger contractions. They took us straight into a delivery room. The nurse, Donna, was there to greet us. I actually knew the nurse because I was friends with her son at VT so that was nice. I told her about how at the last appointment we had the baby was breech and we had a scheduled c-section the next week. She said, "Oh well that could change things. Let's hook you up and the Doctor we'll check to see if the baby is still breech. If so, we'll prepare you for a c-section."
 

I stripped down and got in the gown they provided. Did I mention contractions had started?! Another nurse, Annie, came in and she told me she would be with me the remainder of the night. I actually knew her, too. Her sister was my Young Life leader in high school. It was very cool to already know 2 of my nurses. Annie began prepping me and asking me lots of protocal questions, lots and lots of questions.  Apparently we would've covered a lot of these questions in our pre-op apoointment that was scheduled in a few days, but we didn't make it to then!  About 10 minutes later, Dr. Aamodt, arrived to our room. He introduced himself and was so warm and welcoming. He was nothing like what I was expecting, which was a big relief. He turned on the monitors and sure enough the babe was still head up. He went over the whole process including the risks, told us he was off to perform another c-section and then they would be back to get us. He told us we should have a baby by 3 am. Wow. That hit me. Our baby would be here in 2 short hours. It was hard to believe the time had come. It was here. Our baby's birthday would be August 9th. Ryan and I just looked at each other and smiled.
 

Ryan called my parents, well what do ya know...they were already on their way into the hospital. We should've known they wouldn't listen, haha. Dad later told us that when we called the first time he went ahead and got out of bed b/c he knew there was no way Mom was going to wait. :) Ryan then called his parents and told them we would call them as soon as the baby arrived. When Ryan got off the phone I looked at him and said, "This is actually pretty cool to be doing this in the middle of the night. No one knows and we can keep it quiet and enjoy it until he/she arrives."
 

One of my favorite mid-wives, Dr. Mast, also arrived to the room. She would be there for our c-section as well. She is so sweet and I was so glad to have her there. She would rub my legs during the contractions and ask me how I was feeling. I was hooked up to an IV. They do that to keep you hydrated. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything because if you're going into surgery they don't want you to asperate into your lungs.  While we were in the delivery room, the Anesthesiologist, Dr. Kern, also visited the room and explained to me  my pain management options and what he would be doing. He was such a sweet guy, too. I felt like as far as the team of people working with us, we had it perfect. A little before 2 am we all headed to the opearating area. Ryan had to be in scrubs since it was an operation and everything needed to be sterile. They also told him he couldn't come into the operating room until they had administered the spinal anesthesia so he waited outside the door until he got the ok.
 

I remember sitting up on the table in the operating room and it was SO cold and SO bright. The whole crew was in there: Annie, Dr. Mast, Dr. Aamodt and Dr. Kern. Along with another nurse whose name I can't remember. Dr. Mast set with me while Dr. Kern prepared to give me the anesthesia, which is just a spinal nerve block to take away all the sensations and feelings of the surgery. Because it's a nerve block, very little medication gets in the blood stream. Dr. Mast was rubbing my legs and head and providing comfort while I got the shot. I remember I had to slouch over while sitting up when the shot was given in my back. It felt like a sting and a little burn. Once that was done, they laid me down and put a sheet up between my head and the rest of my body.  Just like in the movies! Haha. We waited for the medicine to kick in while the nurses were preparing everything around me for surgery.  Dr. Kern set up beside my head on a stool and told me he would be with me through the whole surgery. He talked to me the entire time. We talked about his family, my family, Virginia Tech, where he was from. We covered just about everything. Ryan then came in and he sat with me at my head as well. He grabbed my hand to hold it. I guess he could tell I needed it. :) I was awake and very alert through the entire surgery and I was very glad for that. It was really neat to be present in that moment.
 

Once the surgery started Ryan couldn't stand it and had to stand up and watch over the sheet, all while still holding my hand of course!  They had told me beforehand that I would be able to feel some things like the pulling and the pressure, but that it wouldn't hurt and they were right, it didn't.  Within a couple of minutes and after a lot of tugging, Dr. Aamodt said, "Alright we're almost ready. Daddy, we want you to announce the gender! Do you need an anatomy lesson beforehand?"  In that moment, they told me I would feel some pressure and then the babe would be out. I definitely felt the pressure. It was hard and very noticeable.  Dr. Aamodt said, "Here we go Daddy, are you ready?" I felt a hard push and then she was out! 2:26 am. I heard the Doctor say, "Alright Daddy..." Ryan said, "It's a boy!" The Doctor said, "Try again!" Ryan said, "It's a girl?!" Haha. I yell from below, "Well ok, what is it?!?!" Ry said, "It's a girl!" Apparently her labias were really swollen, which made Ryan think it was a boy (so the Doctor told us later). It's a pretty funny story now that he had a 50/50 chance and guessed our child wrong. :)   Dr. Kern looked at me with a big smile and said, "I have 3 girls.  Girls are wonderful."  Ryan told me later they pushed really hard right around the middle of my stomach area and then Dr. Aamodt reached in and pulled her out.  It was pretty cool to hear Ryan's side of the process.  He was very amazed by it all and how fast it went.  He even watched them stich me back up.  He can't handle throw up or poopy diapers very well, but that...and blood, no problem.  Crazy boy!

 

I then heard Dr. Mast say, "She is absolutely beautiful! What is her name?" I thought for a second and yelled, "Stella Mae!" Ryan and I knew what our girl name would be. If they would've said boy, we would've had to think a little longer because we hadn't decided on a boy name yet. It was all so surreal and I of course was dying to see her. Next thing I knew, Ryan brought her around to me all wrapped up. My immediate thought was, "Wow, she is absolutely perfect. Her face is absolutely perfect." My eyes welled up. I never actually cried, but the tears were there in full force. It was such an amazing moment. I was trying to take in every second.  9 months of waiting was finally over.  The boy/girl question had been answered.  She was healthy and she was everything we could've ever dreamed of.  She was an absolute blessing.  I remember Annie saying, "Give me your phone, I'll take some pictures!"  She took our first family photo together.  Ryan then took her away to clean her up and weigh her since they didn't have scales in the operating room. I stayed behind to get stitched up. I had a catheter in as well since you can't walk for awhile after surgery. The entire surgery was less than 15 minutes. I think 13 minutes to be exact. (They announce that so no, I wasn't keeping track!)

 

 

Dr. Mast & Ryan returned to the room and announced her birth height and weight. She was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches long. While Ryan was out, he went to the waiting room to give the good news to my parents and told them they could come see us. I was ready to head back to my room so they wheeled me out. As soon as we hit the hallway, I saw my parents. That immediately brought tears to my eyes again. I could see them both with big smiles and I could tell both of them were tearing up as well. And most of all, I could tell they were so, so proud of me.   I did it!  I remember my Mom coming right to my side with a shaky voice and her hands clasped close to her chest saying, "Oh Molly, she is absolutely perfect!" As they continued wheeling me down the hall we went right passed the nursery where they were holding Stella up in the window. Dad was there just staring at her. It was definitely a moment I wanted to freeze. Being there, with Ryan and my parents, looking at our beautiful daughter. The moment was exactly everything I had dreamed of and imagined. Dr. Aamodt was actually still with us and introduced himself to my parents. They thanked him. I didn't really think of it until later, but they truly meant that thank you. I had just been through a major abdominal surgery. He brought me through it just fine. Their little girl just brought their 3rd little granddaughter into the world...both of us, safe and sound. Of course they were thankful.

 

 

Once we were back in our room, Dr. Aamodt assured me baby Stella would be back with us soon and asked if we had any questions. I thanked him for everything. I thanked Dr. Kern. I thanked Dr. Mast. I was feeling so amazing at this point, I couldn't thank everyone enough. :) Annie was back with us. She was administering some pain medication and making sure I was ok. She told me I could eat at 6:45 am and walk at 8:45 am so those were the first milestones I needed to get to! I remember I was shaking and shivering really bad. Even my teeth were shattering uncontrollably. I wasn't cold at all, but I couldn't stop shivering. Annie assured me this was common. Apparently the IV fluids are colder than body temperature so they can make you shiver and shake. Mom and Dad were in the room with me along with Ryan. I had to laugh at my Mom because she was at the bottom of my bed rubbing my legs. I had to tell her I really appreciated it but just so she knew, I couldn't feel it. :) She laughed, forgetting that I was probably still numb. Ryan had called his parents and his Mom told him she would be in first thing in the morning. She couldn't believe it was a girl! She had wanted a little girl so bad and was beyond thrilled with the news. His Dad was working and would be in after he got off. A few more minutes passed and then they brought Stella back in. She was all bundled up and looking so sweet. They handed her to me and  I couldn't stop staring at her.  I even said to Ryan, "I can't believe we could make something so pretty!"  We did our first attempt at breastfeeding. She took to that amazingly. I remember Annie saying, "If you want to nurse, it shouldn't be a problem because you have an eager nurser on your hands." And she was right. To this day, Stella has had no problem latching on and nursing and never did.
 

I called my brother, Ben, because if you can remember back to when this all started, they knew we had gone in! And I also couldn't WAIT to tell him it was a girl because he had said just a couple days before, "If the baby is a girl, I will be completely shocked." He thought for sure we were having a boy. So when he answered at 3:30 in the morning I said, "Well Ben, prepare to be shocked. It's a girl!" He was surprised, but more importantly he was so excited for us and told us how awesome little girls are. He told us they would be in later to meet her. After that I decided to wait until later to make any more phone calls. Mom and Dad spent a few more minutes with us and then they decided to head home and told us they would be back later in the day to check in. I told Mom to wait awhile to tell anyone, too. I just wanted to enjoy the moment...just the 3 of us...for as long as we could. :)
 

I couldn't sleep a lick. Ryan was starting to fall asleep on the couch next to me. I was just too excited to close my eyes. So of course I couldn't wait long to tell more people. At 4:44 am I texted my 3 girl cousins: Betsy, Brooke & Katie. I told them another Granny's Girl had arrived! Then around 7:30 am I called my other brother, Abe. I knew it would be better to wait and call him when he was more awake! He was very excited to have a 3rd niece and told us he would be in later, too. After 8 am I talked to my Mom again and told her it was ok to start telling people now and she was in charge of calling her brother and sisters and Dad was in charge of calling his family. Ryan talked to his cousin, Chris, and his parents called the rest of their family. He of course talked to his brother, Shawn, too. News was then traveling fast because it wasn't long before it made it to Facebook (before I could even announce it myself!).
 

The next few days in the hospital were filled with visitors and we were thoroughly enjoying every minute. I was a little concerned about the recovery from a c-section, but honestly it went really well. I followed the instuctions from the Doctor and did what I was told and recovered quickly and very well. Don't get me wrong though. It was painful and the first couple days were rough, but overall I thought it went well. I remember one nurse telling me, "It's ok to take pain medication, Molly.  You just went through a major abdominal surgery.  It's going to hurt for a couple of days."  It wasn't until she said that, that I really thought of how serious my surgery was.  I guess so many people have done it before me that I didn't think of how serious it really was.  I remember once they took the catheter out and I had to actually get up to use the bathroom, it took a looong time. I had to have help the first couple of times. It hurt really bad to laugh or cough for the first couple of days. I remember Ryan making me laugh in the hospital several times (especially when telling his side of guessing the gender) and unfortunately it was not fun to laugh!

 

 

Even once I got back home, it was really hard to get up and down (mostly from bed). It felt like a burning sensation and that lasted for a couple weeks. I think I was feeling burning sensations from the inside for around 4-5 weeks. That was coming from the stiches that were done on the inside. I had no outside stiches, just glue was put on the outside. Ryan was able to stay with us the first week home and then the next week both of our Moms were very helpful. I wasn't allowed to do anything but pick up Stella. I couldn't do laundry, vacuum, cook, I couldn't even drive for 2 weeks - Doctor's orders! I was not allowed to do any form of exercise for 6 weeks. However, those of you who know me know exercise really isn't in my daily regimen anyway! Ugh, I'm such a slacker. We had so many offers for help and many dinners were delivered. How blessed we are to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

 

This day in age, it's very common to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). So when that time comes, I guess we'll have that option. But as well as the c-section went, I'm not opposed to doing it again. To each its own, right?! By telling my birth story, I hope I have helped give someone hope who is getting ready to have a c-section themselves. Because I know I was a little scared, but I now have nothing but good things to say about my c-section and my entire experience at Rockingham Memorial Hospital.  I mean after all, it brought the most precious and healthy little girl into our world.  She is truly my best little friend and we can't wait to watch her grow into a beautiful young lady.