Sophia's Birth Story - Part 3 First hours in NICU

As soon as Sophia was born, they let me see her for a quick minute, then had Aaron take her to the NICU.

Now, I'm not too sure what went on those first few minutes of Sophia's life, but I can imagine how it went...

I'm sure everyone was in the lobby crowded around the NICU windows, oooo-ing and aww-ing over how tiny (and hairy, ha ha) Sophia was.
I'm sure the nurses were surprised when they saw Sophia didn't need an oxygen mask.
I'm sure they were talking about how big she was for being 32 weeks along.
I'm sure Aaron couldn't take his eyes off that precious little baby that he loved from the very beginning.
I'm sure my parents couldn't wait to get in there, see their first grandchild, and pray over her life.

  


But here's what I do know happened in those first few minutes... I was sad I didn't get to see her. I so badly wanted to follow her to the NICU.

I remember the nurses wheeling me back to the room I got my epidural in, and offering me a Sprite.
I remember being very shaky, and cold.
I remember wishing Aaron was with me, but so glad he was with Sophia.
I remember thinking "that wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be..." Dr Meyer broke my water right there in the operating room, and the nurses told me to push a minute or so after. One, two, three pushes, and she was out. Did I mention how fast it all happened? So fast.
I remember mom coming in, and showing me some pictures. Maybe Aaron did, too?
I was moved back to my previous room, and was told I couldn't go see Sophia until I was able to walk. Boo. That epidural took hours to wear off. Although, they did let me take a wheelchair down to see her the first time, I just had to stand up and sit myself in it.
Kimberly and Katie came to visit me while everyone was with Sophia, and I remember being so grateful for them. So glad they came to see me. So much to process, so many emotions... So thankful for lifelong friends, who know where to be, when to be.
I remember dad asking if I was hungry (duh), and if he could get me anything. So of course I said yes, a Pizza Hut meat lovers, stuffed crust pizza. Boy, did that taste good.

I'm not sure when, but sometime a nurse came in with a breast pump and showed me the works. Ouch. Even though I wasn't really producing anything yet, they kept stressing how important it was that I keep trying, telling me over and over that "it will come." So every three hours, I would try again.

Around midnight, I was finally able to get myself out of bed, so the nurse let Aaron wheel me down to see Sophia. That night was the sweetest, most special night I've ever had.

Sophia wasn't in the main part of the NICU, but in the second half of it that was rarely used. The lights were low, and other than the occasional beep of a monitor, it was completely silent. The nurse that had been in there let us know that if we needed anything she'd be around the corner, then quietly slipped out.

It was our first time, alone, together as a family. I'd post a picture, but neither of us were thinking about pictures at that moment. We just sat. And whispered to this tiny baby girl. What a journey we had been on! Not just the last week, but the last seven months. And she was here.
Hello sweet baby girl.

About 30 minutes later, I realized how exhausted I was, and we headed back to the room where I fell into a deep sleep, laying on my belly. Ahhh... now that felt good.

Sophia's Birth Story - Part 2

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.

Sophia's Birth Story, Part 1

It's time to write Sophia's birth story!

I've journaled on and off since 6th grade, but sadly, I've thrown out almost everything I've ever written. Why you ask? I don't really know. Actually, I take that back. I do know why I always threw out my elementary/jr. high journals... I was freaking boy-crazy. And those days... those are embarrassing. Ha ha. But oh, how I wished I would have kept them. What a laugh I'd get from reading them now. Katy Bahlman is probably the only one who really knows about that. And then high school, well I wasn't very social, and had a crazy boyfriend.. so who wants to remember those days?

Anyway, let's get back to the real topic at hand.

I've noticed a trend since I've started reading blogs. Writing out your baby's birth story. What a great way to remember one of the most important days of your life! Now that, that is something worth keeping, and remembering.

So since this is a whole year after Sophia was born, and I only have pictures to refresh my memory, I will try my hardest to get all of the details right.

I'm so glad I snapped these pictures when I did. These were taken the day before I went into labor, right at 32 weeks pregnant.

I remember that day so perfectly. It was a rainy Saturday, a very rainy Saturday. We werre living in the duplex with Logan and Arielle as our duplex neighbors. I remember the house was clean, had some candles going, listening to music and also listening to the rain with the windows and doors open. Aaron and I just kinda hung out that day. I remember putting Aarons big headphones on my belly, and us laughing because baby girl was wild!

It's kinda funny how you can remember everything right before you remember nothing? Does that make sense? Like it was the last time it was just Aaron and I.

I remember hearing Logan and Arielle out on the porch, playing guitar and singing Jack Johnson. Then, they locked themselves out of their side of the duplex. Ha. We all watched Logan in Aaron's big rain jacket, shoes, and umbrella in the pouring rain, going from window to window, hoping one was unlocked.

I remember laying on the floor in different positions thinking "wow, my back is really aching today..."

The next day, I wore my black leggings to church and kept thinking I needed to start wearing maternity clothes, because my leggings were too tight, and making my braxton hicks contractions ever worse! I had been having braxton hicks since I was about 15 weeks along.

After church, is when the little "nesting" that I did happened. See, we'd only been married for about 3 weeks. Sophia's room was a mess! We didn't even have a carseat yet. For some reason I felt like we needed to clean out the cars, so at least that would be ready for Sophia. So I got my pregnant self to work, and cleaned both cars, all while having some serious "braxton hicks" contractions.

That evening, I deciede to go to the grocery store. That was the longest grocery trip ever! Even though it was only an hour... I remember stopping every ten minutes or so, not able to walk, because my whole lower half was aching.

I finally made it home, put the groceries up, and decided to take a bath. Maybe soaking would help me feel less achy? I think that was the only time I soaked in the bath during my whole pregnancy.

The night, I remember waking up with each contraction groaning and moaning. I've never had a braxton hicks contraction keep me from sleeping?! I woke up at 7:00am and started timing my contractions. They were already 3-9 minutes apart, and I had a few other pregnancy/labor issues along with the contractions. I called my mom and she didn't seem too concerned, but still said I should call my doctor. My doctor told me to go ahead and into Labor and Delivery so we could see what was going on.

Called mom back, and she said she was going to run a few errands, then come get me and we'd head to the hospital. I guess the reason why my mom wasn't alarmed was because I seemed so calm. I mean, I knew 3-5 minutes apart was kind of serious, but mine didn't even hurt? Just ached, and a little uncomfortable. So I made myself a good breakfast, saw Aaron off to work, and said I'd call and let him know how everything went.

When we finally got up to Labor and Delivery, the nurses seemed very concerned. "Where were you coming from? Out of town? Ozona? We've been waiting!" We had no idea we should have hurried along? I basically felt fine? Little did we know, we would not be leaving without a baby.

Sweet Sophia

Here's some exciting news... Sophia said three words in the last 3 days. It was totally unexpected, and totally fun for me!

I like to think they're officially her first words, but I guess "mama" and "uh-oh" (yes, she has been saying uh-oh in the right context for a few months now, ha) are her first.

The first words were "bye bye, " and here's how it went down...

We invited Sammy, Sophia's biological father, over Wednesday morning to have a quick talk with us about Sophie, then let him take her for a few hours to spend some time with her.

• And, OK, side note... What an amazing God we serve. If you would have asked me this a year ago, even six months ago, I would have said no way. Sophia is not ready, and I am certainly not ready. Lately, God has been pouring healing and understanding down on me. Wow. Just wow. Praise God for turning such a tough situation into something than can be, no will be, great. Sophia is loved. She is so loved, and has so much family.
• I guess this topic deserves a post in itself, and it will, someday. But for now, I just wanted to share with you, and for myself to look back on, that our God is faithful. And he really does have a plan. You may tell people God has a plan for them, and really believe that he does, but maybe not think that for yourself.. But he does. Ah, that just gives me the goose bumps. Thank you Jesus for changing my heart. Changing my life!

Back to "bye bye." So we walked Sammy out, and helped load up the carseat, stroller, and diaper bag. As Sammy was buckling Sophia in, Aaron and I slowly started walking away. I was waving and saying "bye bye Sophia, bye bye," and what do ya know... Baby girl looked right at me and said "bye bye!" I looked at Aaron shocked, and said "did she just say bye bye? For real?" He laughed, and said yeah. What a sweet little voice. Kinda a neat little moment for Aaron, Sammy and I.

The second and third words came the next morning while playing in her room with Aaron. I walked in to see Sophia holding her stuffed animal saying "puppy" over and over. OK, maybe it sounded more like "puh-peh," but she was definitely saying puppy. Then Aaron handed her a tiny baby doll and she kept saying "be-be" for baby. How adorable. She's still been saying those words, but only when she reeeeally wants to.
 
Yesterday, Aaron didn't have to go into work until noon, so we put up a swing I snagged from a pile of leftover garage sale stuff from my grandparents last Christmas. She LOVED it. So fun. Although, I'll need to find a replacement belt, since this one is missing. I was eagar to let her try it out, so we made sure to be extra careful.

 

Is that laugh not the sweetest thing you've ever heard?

 

Well, Sophie girl is up from her nap. Lunch time!

 

La de da

Well, not much has been going on the last week or so.

Wait a minute, let me back up a little bit....

Sophia slept through the night four nights in a row. Wow. YAY! Having a bit of trouble again, as she has been pulling at her ear :( but hopefully it's nothing, and we'll be back on track soon. She's been sleeping the first part of the night in her crib, then coming in our bed around 5:00am. So I guess I can't complain too much. :)

One of those nights we spent with my mom. Our electricity kept going on and off earlier this week in the middle of the night. Kinda scary... Since Aaron was still in Dallas, I packed Sophia up, and we went to my Mom's. Sophia was so funny when we got there. Excited to see Nana, and be awake and out in the middle of the night! And of course, when we woke in the morning, Nana pulled out a new toy for Sophia that was too much fun! I wish I could figure out how to turn the video I took, otherwise I'd post it.

Grandpa Ray and Grandma Jean were here for the weekend. Grandpa Ray played in the wet, cold, House of Faith Golf tournament with Dad, Logan, and Aaron. Seemed like they had a good time though. Grandma Jean, Arielle, Sophia and I had a girls lunch while they golfed. What a nice treat that was to see them! Dad had some pictures I meant to get of everyone while they were here. I'll have to post those next time.

Last night was Ayla's birthday dinner. I love getting to spend time with Aaron's sisters and their families. It doesn't happen enough. So we've planned to get together this next weekend at our house. Can't wait! Here's a picture of Sophia and her cousins Miley and Ayla. I need to start recording the girls when they're together. It's pretty cute!

Speaking of cute... When Micah-Ray and Sophia are together... Now that is cute. You'd think they were brother and sister. Sophia gets so silly when she's around Uncle Ray-Ray. In fact, today at church, I had to move away from Micah-Ray while holding Sophia, because she kept laughing and squeeling. Here's a sweet video of the two of them playing with a ball.

Oh, and there's dad. Hi, dad.

Sunday after church we always have lunch with Dad and the Robert's House guys. Usually at his place, but sometimes we'll go out. I love our Sunday lunches. Usually Dad will make the main dish, and drinks, and Arielle and I will bring sides or desserts. Today's lunch was awe-some! Some kinda grilled chicken with pineapple. Mmm. Anyway, we got a text from Dad this evening saying everyone was welcome for a fire in the pit, smores, and hot dogs. So we bundled Sophia up, and headed back over.

And can I just say, wow. My husband is handsome. Gosh.
Hehe, and little Soph. She's a big hit with all the boys.

Here are just some other random pictures from this past week.

I love seeing Sophia's little personality come out. She's so silly, just cackling away. Wonder where she gets that from? Haha. We spend a lot of our time laughing.

She's also extremely curious... and busy. Hard to get a good picture, ha!

Well, that's all for now.

What a sweet life I live.

:)