Safe and Sound

Welcome, Talia Rose

Friday morning I woke up with a horrible migraine.

I was throwing up and miserable. My husband stayed home from work, my mom came to watch our two older kids, and he took me to the ER. I've been there before with migraines, I expected to be given medication and sent home. That was until they took my blood pressure. It read 170/120 and everyone immediately sprung into action! I was rushed up to labor and delivery where they treated the pain and started me on magnesium for the blood pressure. (Not the nicest medicine in the world!) They began a 24 hour urine test but the immediate spot check urine test suggested preeclampsia. One of the drs from my pratice (not my own) got in our face and pretty much tried to scare us into inducing immediately, saying that preeclampsia can get bad in a second. My husband stood up to him, saying we'd like to be a little bit more informed of the options. He sent in the high risk OB who was wonderful, he sat down with us and explained every viewpoint and all of our options. He said it was his strong advisement based on his experience that we go ahead with a version, induction and delivery. (The baby was head down, but oblique and needed to be coaxed into the right position.) We decided after praying about it together that our decision would be based on whether my body seemed ready to go into labor. He checked me and found me to be 1 cm, 50%, with a soft cervix. We felt good at that point about going ahead, especially when the 24 hour urine test said that I did have mild preeclampsia that could easily get worse if I was sent home. I was allowed to have a meal (I hadn't eaten in 2 days) before they started the induction. Another ultrasound showed that the baby was in such a favorable presentation now that a version was unnecessary. They started pitocin at 7 Saturday evening, and broke my water around 8:30. I started to feel painful contractions (though bearable) around midnight, and went through the night trying to move around as much as I could beside my bed, hooked up to a million monitors. Around 7 I was 5 cm dilated and I began to feel like I would love a rest from the pain. I had an epidural and was able to take a nice nap. Then around 10 I woke up and my nurse checked me. I was 7, but she said I was very very soft. A half an hour later I started to feel pressure. She checked again, 9 1/2 cm! She said to call when I felt the pressure between contractions. Only a minute or two later I felt it! That baby came zooming down the birth canal so fast that the epidural stopped working! I started calling out that I needed to push, the nurse helped me breathe through it until the dr got down the hallway and got her gloves on! Three extremely intense pushes later Talia came sliding out! She was completely healthy with apgar scores of 9. The nicu doctor had come in to see her but left immediately, saying there was no reason to stay. She started nursing like a champ in the delivery room and hasn't stopped since. We are very thankful to God for this little girl He brought safely into the world.

Thank you to everyone who upheld us through the past few days with your prayers and support. God is very, very good.