Our Sweet Angel has arrived! June 15, 2011

Today, Chad and I brought home our sweet angel.  We never knew we could feel love like this.  We already love her to pieces.  Much to our surprise, Little Reagan decided to join us on June 15.  Here is how the special day began...

Tuesday night (June 14), I couldn't sleep.  My Dad was staying with Chad and I for the week because his job had him working in Charlotte.  I didn't want to keep Chad or my Dad up, so I went in the nursery, laid on the floor (stupid I know!), and looked at facebook on my phone.  While laying there, I felt a pop so I rolled over.  When I rolled over I felt a little bit of water run down.  I got on all fours which lead to more water running down my legs.  At this point, I knew something wasn't right.  I crawled into our bedroom and started trying to wake Chad up.  I was in such pain at that point, that it just sounded like I was whispering.  Finally Chad heard me and was startled awake.  I crawled into the bathroom to see what was happening.  I have never seen so much water! My last Dr. visit, I found out I was retaining a lot of water, I think I know where all that water went now. 

So Chad calls the Dr. while I rush to get some new clothes on to ride to the hospital.  I kept trying to wait until my water would stop, but it wouldn't so I just had to go in wet clothes and all.  We get to the hospital and they put me in a room and hook me up to a monitor for my contractions and Reagan's heartbeat.  Sure enough, I was in labor, but I hadn't really dilated yet.  The Dr. on call said we would wait and see how I progressed over the next few hours and if I hadn't progressed any by 5am, then they would start the Pitocin.  By 5am, still no dilation, so they gave me Pitocin to induce my contractions and dilation. 

By this point, everyone had joined us at the hospital (the two sets of grandparents and Aunt Kristin and Uncle Cory).  At first the contractions weren't very strong.  I thought it wasn't so bad.  HAHA! Not too long after that, it started hitting really hard.  I had planned to get the epidural, but being such a weinie with needles, I kept putting it off.  I realized after several very difficult contractions that I needed the epidural, needle or not.  Let this be known, that weinie Page that hates needles, did not even feel a bit of pain from the needle to numb my back or the epidural. After 5 minutes the epidural had kicked in.  Chad could see how hard my contractions were on the monitor so he would see a really big one coming on and I was acting as if nothing was happening.  It was fabulous! Highly recommend an epidural ASAP! 

When the Dr. checked me around 2pm, I was only 2-3 cm dilated.  During the check at 2 and the next time they checked me around 6pm, I started to feel a lot of pressure.  I felt the need to push.  I was hoping that meant I was close to 10 cm.  The next time they checked me, I was 10 cm.  The Dr. sent the family out of the room, it was time to start pushing! Well I pushed for about an hour and then the Dr. had to go do a quick C-section. He also could tell I needed a little break.  When he came back around 8pm, I started pushing again.  The Dr. started to wonder if Reagan was facing up ("sunny side up").  I kept pushing and kept pushing, but there was no progress.  The Dr. said I was pushing so hard that I looked like an Olympic Weight Lifter.  He said I had a vein popping out in my forehead, LOL. 

Around 9pm, he told me that we could keep pushing if I wanted to keep trying, but that he didn't think she was going to turn and it would be hard to deliver her vaginally.  He thought it might be best to do a C-section.  Was I disappointed? Yes.  I felt like I had worked so hard over the past 20 hours that it just wasn't fair.  But I knew that I was exhausted and I couldn't give it my all anymore.  We decided to go ahead with a C-section. 

The staff quickly got me geared up and ready for delivery.  At 9:29pm, our sweet angel was born.  Because of the long hours of labor, both Reagan and I were exhausted.  The hospital pediatrician explained that it's like the baby is running a marathan while the mother is laboring, so Reagan was very tired.  When she was born, she didn't cry and she wasn't breathing on her own.  My heart was breaking because I didn't know why our baby wasn't crying.  Again, I thought this wasn't fair. 

In our birth plan, we had decided that when Reagan was born, if there were any complications, Chad would go with her to do whatever was necessary.  They hooked Reagan up to oxygen to help her start breathing.  I could see Chad while I was lying there, so I kept looking at him for assurance, but he couldn't give it to me because he didn't know himself.  As I laid there crying, the Dr. was putting me back together.  Both he and the anesthesiologist could tell how heartbroken I was, so they tried to reassure me and tried their best to make light of the situation.  I also didn't understand why she was so much smaller than I had envisioned her to be.  Then, I found out that her umbilical cord was very thin so she wasn't getting as much nutrition from me as she could have. The next thing the nurses and Pediatrician did was they took Reagan to the Special Care Nursery to hook her up to fluids to watch her carefully.  Chad felt torn because he wanted to go to Recovery with me, but he knew we both would want him to be with Reagan. 

While I was in Recovery, Chad stayed with Reagan and worked it out with the nurses in the Nursery for me to be wheeled in there so I could have that first moment with our baby girl.  The Pediatrician wanted to keep Reagan overnight, so they could watch her closely.  They told me that I could call anytime to check on her during the night and that first thing the next morning, we could come back to see her.  We got to spend a few minutes together with her and then they wheeled me to the room I was going to be staying in.  After seeing her, I knew it my heart she was going to be okay, but I was so scared.  I don't think I slept at all that night from worrying.  Chad and I got up bright and early the next morning and went over to the nursery.   The nurses and Pediatrician said she was doing very well.  They couldn't explain why she was born not breathing, but that they thought it was because she was so exhausted.  We kept going back throughout the day to introduce her to the grandparents and everytime we went she was doing even better.  By the afternoon, the nurses and Pediatrician decided it was okay for Reagan to join me in the room.  Chad had taken my Dad into the nursery to meet her and that's when the nurses and Dr. told them the good news.  So, they both surprised me by wheeling her into the room.  I was so excited I couldn't contain myself! The Special Nursery staff continued to come in and check on her, but it was so wonderful to hold out baby girl anytime we wanted.  With each check up, they told us she was improving.  She was eating really well which helped her even more.  We were worried we wouldn't get to bring her home with us, but because she improved so much we were able to bring our sweet angel home today also. 

I know a lot of you have noticed the IV in some of the pictures we have posted and wondered what was wrong with her.  Yes, we could have explained it earlier, but Chad and I have spent the past 3 days working through this together.  Sure, there have been babies born worse off than Reagan, but that doesn't mean it wasn't hard for us deal with.  This experience brought Chad and I even closer together and we love our sweet baby girl so much.  She is 100% now and eating so much that I think she might be up to 7 or 8 lbs by next week! We are so thankful for this precious gift we have been given and will never take her for granted!  Here are some pictures from her birth.  Please excuse the way I look, it was a long day!

Our first moment as a family of 3