Bella's Birth Story Part One: A Barbecue Or A Baby?

Where do I even begin?

July 3rd was a totally normal day; in pregnancy standards that is. It was hot, I was tired and I'm sure I was cranky. I was 34 weeks into my "high risk" pregnancy. I had just seen my OBGYN, Dr. Levin, on July 1st when she informed me that she was leaving for the holiday and that I would definitely make it till the following Tuesday to see her in her office. (I saw her every 2 days for fetal stress tests and ultrasounds) and our first, Kallie, was induced at 36 weeks. I was NERVOUS considering she was never out of town and I was 34 almost 35 weeks pregnant! We were at my in-laws getting ready to have an early July 4th BBQ with the family and I was having contractions. This was nothing new as I had been having them for almost a month by now and didn't think twice about them until I went to the bathroom... and there was blood. I calmly walked outside and Mike (my husband) said, "what's wrong?" I'm sure my face was white. I was not thinking and announced to everyone (including my father-in-law) that I was bleeding. If I remember correctly, the response was where? C'mon people, you are all aware that the pregnant woman was just using the restroom- and are fully aware I had been contracting all day long! Needless to say, I called the doctor on call and she said "since your high risk and 34 weeks, lets get you to the hospital to get checked out, I will call them and let you know that you are on your way." So off we go with no bags, leaving big sis behind and our yummy steaks...

The whole way to the hospital I was in total denial. I was mad about having to leave, I was hungry and most certainly freaking out that if something needed to happen, like have a baby, our doctor was not there! I had a pact with her that we would not be having any babies with out her. When we got to the hospital everything became a blur. The nurse checked me and said I was 2 cm dilated, no different than I was the prior Friday. She then began checking my vitals and hooking me up to the fetal monitors. This is when things began to go sour. My blood pressure was high and the baby's pulse was low. Next thing I knew, they were rushing me to the other side of the floor (one side is for monitoring, the other is delivery / labor) and began preparing me for an emergency c-section. I have NO IDEA what happened next but some how everyone began to calm down and said we are going to wait and watch. This made me happy! I was having a difficult time imagining some other doctor cutting open my stomach and delivering my baby with no idea about anything that has gone on in my pregnancy. I am sure he was a great Dr., but seriously, I like mine better...

So we watched and waited. They gave me tocolytic medicines to prevent labor and gave me blood pressure medicine to try and keep me stable. I really wanted to hold off as long as I could for the baby's sake and for Dr. Levin to return. Tuesday morning they had me scheduled for an ultrasound in the same hospital with the Maternal Fetal Medicine group. They had seen me prior in my pregnancy for a few "big" ultrasounds and wanted to get one done to truly see how well the baby was doing and help decide if it was time to deliver. We agreed and had the ultrasound, although I always had my guard up and really just wanted to see MY doctor. I knew Dr. Levin was coming to see me that afternoon as soon as she was back in Houston, she had already called. I just quietly listened to these other doctors tell me that the baby seems OK and that I needed to stay in the hospital on bed rest to prevent labor and wait to see what my doctor says, blah, blah blah.

When Dr. Levin finally arrived I was totally relived! I was beyond excited to see her and she knew it! She told me "I told you I would be here when this baby arrives, and I will be." Those were some awesome words to hear. She had not looked at the monitor feed yet and said that she thinks we will be waiting until at least the morning for a baby. She then noticed that I was having constant, big contractions and decided to check for her self. Sure enough, I was 5 cm dilated, 90% effaced, and in active labor. There was no time to think, we were having a baby! She warned us about the baby
possibly having to go into the NICU if she was not breathing on her own and also said that the NICU team would be assisting with the delivery. I didn't think much about this and just thought, OK at worst she will need a little bit of oxygen for the first few days, no biggie. Boy was I wrong... Our sweet Bella Michelle arrived at 7:02 pm on July 5th, 2011. I knew something was wrong when they asked Mike to give them a "few moments" and they would let him know when he was allowed to go by her side. Disheartening words to hear when you are laying on a table, stomach wide open and shivering tremendously from a reaction to the anesthesia. This was supposed to be one of the most memorable, happiest days of our lives and it was slowly being filled by grey clouds.

{Stay tuned for a peek into Bella's first 72 hours}