My entire pregnancy was normal...morning sickness was minimal and ended at 9 wks, I only gained 17 lbs, and the only "discomfort" of pregnancy that I experienced was swelling in my eighth month. I should have known that the birth would be an adventure!
Around my 32nd week, we found out that our baby girl was transverse, which means that she was laying vertically across my abdomen. We spent the next several weeks trying to get her to turn into a head down position. I went to see a chiropractor and did exercises recommended by my midwife at home. At 36 weeks we discovered that she had indeed turned but now she was footling breech. At 38 weeks, we scheduled a c-section. We would meet our daughter on Tuesday, December 30, 1997 at 7:30 am...or so we thought!
Changing my plans from having a midwife and no pain medication to surgery and an epidural was not an easy adjustment for me to make. The two weeks before my scheduled c-section were filled with much anxiety. I kept praying that the Lord would intervene and turn our baby. But as of my appointment with the midwife on Monday, December 29, that had not happened. I was very disappointed but also very eager to meet our much anticipated miracle baby.
Knowing that I would not be able to sleep that night, I went with my husband to watch him play hockey. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep either! We didn't get home until around midnight and then talked for another hour and a half before deciding that we'd better get some sleep. After all, we had to be at the hospital for 6am! Amazingly, I drifted right off to sleep, cherishing the last few hours of having my child within me.
What seemed like minutes later, I felt a really hard kick and then "pop". My water had broke! I looked at the clock and it was 3:20. I whispered "Chad!" and he jumped out of bed and started running around the room, grabbing his clothes, as if he thought we were late for our 6 am hospital appointment. I started laughing and told him that my water broke. He didn't even ask if I were ok or anything but instead ran into the bathroom, got dressed and started brushing his hair and his teeth. It was hilarious!
I went in there and asked if he minded sharing the bathroom with *me*, after all, *I* was the one having the baby and standing there soaking wet :o) I got dressed and called my drs. office where I was told to just go to the hospital and they would contact the doctor. I asked Chad if we should call my parents and he said no, that we should just go to the hospital first.
From the second my water broke and all the way to the hospital, I couldn't help hoping that the baby had turned, like I'd heard could happen when your water breaks. What "should have been" a 15 minute ride to the hospital took only a little over five minutes. Chad was running red lights and I was yelling at him that I'd like to be alive to deliver the baby! My contractions were coming two minutes apart!
We arrived at the hospital at 3:40, where Chad dropped me off at the front door and went to park the car! Men! I waddled into the emergency room, told them my water broke, the baby was footling breech and my contractions were two minutes apart. They told me to sign some paperwork and go sit down. Do you have any idea what type of people frequent an emergency room in the middle of the night??? There was a lovely drunken guy ogling me from one corner and other assorted people hovering around. Chad finally came in and during our 15+ minute wait in the waiting room, had to go to the desk three times before they eventually got someone down there to bring me to labor and delivery. I wouldn't recommend Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Fl to anyone.
After getting changed into the standard hospital gown that leaves a nice draft up your backside, the nurse came in to do a dialation check. I could tell immediately that something was wrong, just by the look on her face. Another nurse came in and she whispered "I've got a foot and a cord...it's pulsating." Well, I'm no brain surgeon but I do know that *pulsating* is a good thing and breathed a sigh of relief. The first nurse had the second nurse check and she said to me "whatever you do, don't push!" I asked her "what if I have to?" and she said "just don't!" Apparently, I was fully dialated and the umbilical cord was in the birth canal, wrapped around our little girl's foot.
There was an immediate whirl of activity in the room. I had three nurses rushing to get me prepped for surgery; one was on the phone with the surgeon while she worked! Within minutes, the anesthesiologist came in to inform me that they'd have to put me to sleep because they didn't want to sit me up for the epidural due to the baby's prolapsed cord. It probably wasn't 15 minutes before the surgeon arrived and I was in the OR.
Before they wheeled me into the OR, Chad and I spent a minute praying for our unborn child and then I asked him to call my parents and let them know what was going on.
Well, there's not much I can tell you about the surgery, except that while I was under, I remember hearing "a-whah, a-whah, a-whah", and thinking "that's my baby!" I truly believe this was a gift from God because I desperately wanted to be able to greet my baby immediately after she was born. Even now, I can remember that sound! It's the sweetest sound I've ever heard!
Then the next thing I remember is a nurse telling me to wake up, that I have a beautiful baby girl. I think I must have asked the nurse 5 times how my baby was. She kept saying the same thing. "She fine." And then she told me that Chad was in with her and would bring her to me soon. After she left the room, I was all by myself. I heard something coming down the hall and I just knew it was my baby. As soon as Chad turned the corner, pushing that bassinette, I started crying! If you could see me now, you'd know I haven't stopped!
Chad picked her up and handed her to me...my baby...my Rebekah Hope. She was beautiful. She was perfect. I unwrapped her blanket to look at her tiny, wrinkled feet. I held her hands and I peeked under her hat to look at the soft peach fuzz she had for hair. I felt complete. Rebekah nursed immediately. No troubles, no difficulties. I called my mom and said "Mom, I have a baby." I didn't know what else to say. It had been a long difficult road to get to this point. What else could I say? God is good - He's given me much more than I deserve.
I refused any pain medication for several hours following her birth because I didn't want to miss anything! By 6pm that night, I was only taking extra strength Tylenol and was up walking around. Rebekah roomed in with us and I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning, January 1, 1998. Happy New Year!
