Once we were all settled in Labor and Delivery, mom headed to the lobby to make a few phone calls. While she was gone, the nurse came in to check my blood pressure, temperatue (I had a slight fever, but didn't know it), and do physical exam. While she was checking me, I asked if I could go to the bathroom when she was finished, and she replied with "oh honey, you're four centimeters dialated. You're not going anywhere."
What?! I remember her talking to me, but I have no idea what she was saying. All I could focus on was the dialation chart behind her right ear.
Four centimeters. That's almost half way to having a baby. Then she left. She left me to freak out. Alone.
I need my mom. Where's my mom? I tried calling over and over, but it wouldn't go through. No service.
We were supposed to start birthing classes later that day. I can't do this. She's not ready to come out! Finally, I got a hold of my mom, and somehow managed to tell her I was at a four and to please come back.
Before I knew it, I was being poked at, and hooked up to all sorts of things. I remember getting a shot with some steriods to help speed up Sophia's lung development, and I remember them telling me I was about to get some medicine that will make me feel hot. Uh, that was an understatement. They gave me magnesium to help stop the contractions. They wanted to stop them for at least a day or two, so I could get a few of the shots in for little Sophie's lungs. Well actuallly, they just wanted to stop them because 32 weeks is just too early. Oh, but that magnesium... The nurse gave it to me (through my IV) way too fast. I don't really know what happened, all I remember is feeling like I was passing out. And of course, burning up. Inside and out. I remember my mom telling the nurse I was having a reaction, that something was happening, and it just wasn't right. I remember them talking about my heart rate drastically dropping. I remember mom saying "Ashley, Ashley!" Mom said I broke out in red splotches, all over. Anyway, I guess they waited a while to finish giving it to me.
The next two days were such a blur. Man, that magnesium really messes with you. My whole body was limp, my vision was doubled, I was so extremely tired, and my mouth had a weird taste. And all I wanted was some water. But nope, couldn't have water or food. I'm not sure when Aaron got there, but he was there. So was my dad. I had many guests come to visit... Logan, Arielle, Nikki, Jennifer, Katy, Katie, Cindy, Tina, John, Jenn... That may be it?
Poor Aaron. He slept in a chair Monday and Tuesday night. He pretty much did want the nurses did, even at night. I had to wear these things on my legs to keep the blood circulating, and I remember the machine kept beeping! All night. So Aaron would get up, and reset it. Those things were sweaty too... man.
Wednesday morning they took me off the magnesium since my contractions had almost stopped. They finally let me eat and drink something, so Aaron brought me one of my favorite pregnancy meals from home. Peanut butter and jelly, and a kosher dill pickle with the skin peeled off (yes, my husband is the best). But sad news. It was spicy. Everything was spicy. That darn magnesium...
Wednesday afternoon they moved me to another floor to monitor me. The doctor on call, Dr Meyer, came in to check me a few times and said maybe I'd get to go home the next morning and be on bed rest. Yay! The next morning, he said he wanted to keep me for a while longer, and maybe Friday morning I'd get to go home, and be on bed rest.
Friday morning came, and nope, not going home. Contractions were coming more often, and I was 80% effaced, and 5.5 centimeters dialtaed. He said the baby would be here this weekend. For some reason I took that as, the baby will be here Sunday night. I even told some people I thought it'd be another day or two, and that I was feeling great. By about 4:00 that afternoon, I realized the baby would be coming much sooner!
By that point, my contractions had been coming on pretty hard and fast. One of Aaron's good friends, Matt, stopped by and was visitng with for a while. I remember texting Aaron from across the room that I thought it was time for Matt to go.
Even though the contractions weren't unbareable, I was getting nervous about the birth. I was worried I wouldn't get an epidural soon enough, and would have to do it natural. Ha, this is funny to me now, because I'm all, totally, for natural birth. I can't wait for baby number two. I SO want to experience that, and I know I can do it. Women have been doing it for ages. I've actually watched a few eye opening documentaries on natural birth. It just makes so much sense. The mother and baby work together, to get it done, and medicine just totally interferes with it all. However, I do think there are times when medical intervention is necessary.
Oops, got off traack.
So mom kinda taught me how to breathe through each contraction and that surprisingly helped. I still wasn't in tears or anything, but they were starting to actually hurt. Ok, maybe not hurt, but pretty uncomfortable.
We had so many people come to see us, and pray for us throughout the whole day. Even though I was scared out of my mind, I had a peace about it all. I trusted that God put the right doctors and nurses with us that week, and that this tiny baby girl would be OK. I was expecting some complications, but nothing major, and knew she'd be healthy.
Aaron and I had some time alone earlier that afternoon and decided on the name Sophia, which means wisdom. I had never really cared for the name Sophia before, but all of the sudden, I just pictured her. I knew she'd have dark hair and dark eyes, and she looked like a Sophia. As far as her name meaning wisdom, well that felt appropriate. We were in a tough situation. She'll have Aaron, her daddy, and Sammy, her biological father. We were/are going to need wisdom with baby girl every step of the way. Her middle name is Rae. Ray is a family name on my dad's side. It's his dad's middle name, his middle name, Micah-Ray's name, and my cousin's middle name. I wanted to keep it in the family, just spell it a little more girly, hence the "e." ;)
This picture was taken at about 6:30pm, right before I got my epidural, and I was 7.5 centimeters dialated. I wish I wouldn't have even gotten it. I was doing fine. but I was afraid of the pain, the horrible pain you hear so much about. Shortly after they took Aaron and I into an operating room for the delivery in case they would need to do a C-section.
On August 19th, 2011, at 7:52pm, Sophia Rae Byrd was born. Just 16 inches long, at mere 4lbs 8oz.
I wish I could say I had tears, and it was the best moment of my life, but honestly, I didn't feel much. Kinda sad, I know. It all just happend so fast. Way too fast. And now, I've learned that all those meds can really mess with your emotions/hormones. But of course, I was excited to see her and relieved that she made it out OK. I loved her right away. Gosh, she was just so tiny.
After I delivered Sophia, Dr Meyer was able to tell me why I went into labor so early. I had a placental abornmality.
What? I had ultrasounds? Everything seemed fine, all along? It was called Circumvallate placenta. It's where the fetal membranes double back on the fetal side around the edge of the placenta, restricting nutrients. It basically was folding around itself instead of growing/stretching out, forming a thick ring. Scary. Sophia could have died. I could have had problems. She could have diformities. But, she didn't. She's perfect. Just another way God had his hand over this whole thing. I asked Dr Meyer how common it was, and his exact answer was "in my 20 years of delivering babies, I've only seen this three or four times." I was shocked.
Wow. They don't really have a reason as to why it happens, and it is extremely rare. There's nothing I could have done to prevent it, and the chances of this happening again are highly unlikely.
I had secretly been praying for a five pound baby. That God would supernaturally speed up her devlopement. The doctor and nurses had warned us that she might have to be flown to Cooks Hospital, and she might only be two pounds, and I might not get to hold her, or Aaron carry her to the NICU. But none of that happend! Praise God!
So into the NICU we went, making ourselves comfortable for a two week stay.
I also forgot to get a picture of the crust after I put it on the pan. :( Super easy though. Just press your cauliflower/cheese mixture into a circle about 1/4 of an inch think. Then bake at 400 degrees. The recipie I followed said to bake for 25-30 minutes, but really, ours only took 15-20. Maybe it wasn't think enough? It also stuck to the pan around the edges of the crust, and was a little moist in the middle. Next time I'll need to make the edges thicker and middle thinner.
They nurses had her on a very strict feeding schedule, and I wanted to be there for every feeding that I could be. Usually, I was there for all from 8:00am-8:00pm. Sometimes we'd make it to the 11:00pm feeding, too.
When I arrived in the NICU for each feeding, it went a little something like this...
Aaron and I had some time alone earlier that afternoon and decided on the name Sophia, which means wisdom. I had never really cared for the name Sophia before, but all of the sudden, I just pictured her. I knew she'd have dark hair and dark eyes, and she looked like a Sophia. As far as her name meaning wisdom, well that felt appropriate. We were in a tough situation. She'll have Aaron, her daddy, and Sammy, her biological father. We were/are going to need wisdom with baby girl every step of the way. Her middle name is Rae. Ray is a family name on my dad's side. It's his dad's middle name, his middle name, Micah-Ray's name, and my cousin's middle name. I wanted to keep it in the family, just spell it a little more girly, hence the "e." ;)
