Always expect the unexpected

Well, Julie Susanne arrived on 12/28/06 at 3:35pm. Quite unexpected (as her due date was 3 1/2 weeks away).


The 'birth story' in a nut shell...


On Wednesday 12/27 I got a call saying that my previous test results (regarding the severity of my pre-eclampsia) that we had received the Friday before Christmas were in fact incorrect (lab error) and that my midwife and an ob at the practice wanted me to go to providence for 24 hour monitoring and tests to determine if it was safe for me or the baby to continue with the pregnancy or if it was time to have the baby. I called my husband at work to come home and my mom to come get the kids-- I was kinda bummed about the inconvenience of an extra night in the hospital.


After being at the hospital for about 3 hours (and a couple tests) it was determined that I should be induced, but they wanted to wait until my natural contractions stopped-- which they didn't so at about midnight they started pitocin. Somewhere in the middle of the night I developed my first major migraine type headache-- I was given a pretty good pain med and it went away, only to return 4 hours later. I was given the same pain med again, and this time it mildly worked for about 2 hours. My headache was getting worse by the hour, and eventually my vision was affected. At around 2ish in the afternoon I was still many hours away from delivering, and my pre-eclampsia had met definitions of 'severe' (I was pretty out of it, seeing as I couldn't see straight or think due to the headache and pain). The ob let us know that a c-section was pretty much the safest option for the baby and myself, and we started the prep for the surgery. They ended up opening another operating room for us- as my condition continued to worsen. At 3:35 our beautiful daughter was born, at a healthy 7 pounds 8 ounces and 20 1/4 inches. We're very happy with the end result of healthy baby and healthy me, even though the birth was pretty much nothing like we had planned.


I was able to leave the hospital less than 48 hours post op, and I'm extremely happy to be home (I got NO sleep while I was there). We're home now, and enjoying our new little bundle of joy. Matt and Kayla are doing awesome with the baby and have been very loving :) Peter's been able to take most of this week off (he had to work today, but my mom was over all day) and we're really enjoying the family time that we're being able to enjoy. I'll post more later, but there's a hungry baby waiting for me...