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Abby is Here!

Psych!




Apparently, my internet is working! Yay, Dad! :) Look forward to more frequent posts again now. What would you do without my daily ramblings and updates?!



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Friday, October 22, 2010 9:41 AM, EDT

Short post because i'm on my iPod: Abby is here! She came at 12:12 a.m. Weighing 4 pounds and measuring 17 inches. She is currently breathing on her own and is being examined by lots of specialists today to check out some things that hadn't shown up on sonograms. We will be more specific about those things when we have more detailed information. In the mean time, please pray for our girl---specifically that her fighting spirit we've seen so much continues!! She's going to need to fight hard. Thanks for your support!

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Saturday, October 23, 2010 6:42 AM, EDT

Entering the World With a Splash!







On Thursday night, I started contracting heavily at 7:45. My meds were due at 8:00 anyway, so I took them slightly early and waited for them to kick in. At 9:00, the contractions were even stronger and closer together, so I knew that the meds had stopped working. Matt had a meeting at the church, so I called him…twice…and texted him…once…before finally calling the church directly. I figured I would just keep calling until someone answered! Thankfully, I got in touch with him (his phone never registered a call from me) and we decided to head up to Baltimore. Bruce came over to pick Caleb and me up, drive me to the church, and bring Caleb back to his house. He put his police driving skills to work. J







As soon as we got on the road, I called LD to tell them we were on our way. I also reminded them of the need to call Dr. K and the NICU to put them on alert. They said that they would do that once I got here and they checked me. This frustrated us and so I called them back again to explain the situation further. The doctor “explained” that sometimes women with a lot of fluid think they are in labor when the contractions are just caused by the excess fluid. Thanks, but I have been contracting for 6 weeks now. I think I know that.







Thankfully, the traffic was minimal at this time of evening and we made it to UMMC quickly at around 10:45 p.m. The same doctor from the phone checked me right away and discovered that I was 8 cm! I couldn’t resist smirking her on the inside, but held myself in check on the outside. They rushed me to a room and made lots of phone calls. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get in touch with Dr. K (whom the next day said her phone never rang, so I’m wondering if they actually called her. She said she really wanted to be there!!) After some discussion with the NICU, they decided to have me deliver in the OR so that all of the necessary people could fit. The NICU staff waited in a room across the hall for their time to shine, and it all worked out really well.







They wanted me to wait to push until everything was set up and ready, which is no easy feat when you are in active labor! I managed, but was very thankful when they finally gave me the okay! Right before I started pushing, they broke my water at 12:06. (I find it funny that it never did break on its own, despite the polyhydraminos!) It drained for several minutes and then I had my first push.







I felt this kind of burst of pressure before a tidal wave came spewing out, soaking two of the doctors head to toe! I was mortified (as if I had anything to do with it!) and apologized profusely, but we all got a good laugh out of it. Thankfully, they were in sterile gowns because of the OR and therefore were mostly covered. Good thing!







I gave it three or four more good pushes, and my girl was born at 12:12! (For those of you that recall, I pushed with Caleb for 2 hours and 40 minutes because he stayed so high, so this was quite a change!)







You know how normally they deliver the head, do some suction, and then pull the baby out completely? Not Abby! She decided it would be way more fun to shoot out rocket launcher-style! According to Matt, the doctor nearly dropped her! A lot more fluid came along with her, so I assume it was kind of like a water slide. I’ll bet she would be all over the slip-n-slide we used to do at Camp Wabanna!







The NICU staff immediately began working on her, so I wasn’t able to see her. The Chief of Anesthesiology was a very sweet man who took on the role of giving us updates while they worked. He was actually the one who convinced them to let me see and touch her before they took her down to the NICU, and I was very appreciative!







While they worked, the doctors collected the cord blood (Yes, we banked it. Hopefully, we will never use it. However, it’s reassuring knowing that it is there if we ever do need it. I will not live regretting that we could have done something more for her.) and finished up with me.







After I made it back to the labor room, things progressed pretty quickly for us and I was able to move downstairs within about an hour. I must say, delivering a 4 lb baby is much easier than a full-term baby! I felt pretty darn good!







As soon as we dropped our stuff off in our new room (#10, if you’re counting!), we headed straight to the NICU. A definite positive to being here so long is making friends with so many staff members. Either they recognized the stubborn look in my eye or they understood my need to be with my daughter as soon as possible. Either way, they fully supported me visiting her right away.







We are so thankful that we made it in time to deliver here and are very pleased with our decision not to go to our local hospital first. This worked out much better for us!



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