Introducing Maisy Grace...again!

Can you tell her limbs are a bit chilly?! Poor thing. But I still love this picture.

Safe with Daddy.

We have a picture like this for each of the kids. I could post the one of Ayda, but unfortunately, we didn't get the CD of Jared's newborn pics. I'd have to scan the one we have, and at this point, that is just too labor intensive! :)

Daddy and his girls.

Family of five!

I guess the birth story is well over-due! I do feel that I am justified in my lateness, though. For those that didn't know, my Dad got remarried on November 12 - when Maisy was four weeks old. And I was in the wedding party. And my sister-in-law and I played huge role in planning the wedding. And I had a newborn and two other kids.

But here we go. Warning - I am not really sparing any details.

The Monday of the Thanksgiving weekend, I had really bad kidney stone pain that went into the night (I deal with kidney stones frequently, and during this pregnancy was no exception). The next day, I had my weekly doctor's appointment, and told her about the day/night before. (At this point, I was due the next day according to her chart thing, but I knew that I was due on the Saturday.) She said that regardless, if Baby hadn't already come, I'd be induced the following Thursday, which was a bit earlier than they usually induce after a due date, but that if I had more pain to give her a call and she'd try to get me in sooner. Two days later, I got a phone call from her in the morning, saying that they had an opening for an induction that day, did I want it. Uh, yeah! (To be clear, if it weren't for my Dad's upcoming wedding and the kidney stone pain, I wouldn't have elected to be induced at that point. I had my reasons, though, and was and still am comfortable with my decision and I have zero regrets about it.)

So I quickly made arrangements for Ayda to go to my sister-in-law's, as well as for Jared to go there after school. Ryan met me at the hospital and we went up to have a baby! I was "officially induced" (cervidil inserted) at 1:30 PM, and put on the monitor to watch Baby. I had zero contractions. Which was a fear of mine - that it would take multiple times to get things going or that I'd start getting hard contractions with no dilation. They monitored me for an hour and then we went for a bite to eat at the cafeteria and came back about an hour later for more monitoring. I had a couple of contractions, nothing to write home about. So I got a pass to leave the hospital, as long as we stayed in the city. We went to Ryan's parents, which is where Jared and Ayda were by that point. So I wanted to see them and hang out there instead of the hospital! Of course, as we are leaving, I start contracting. Hard and close together. Ryan thought we maybe should stay, but I wanted a hospital break. I got to see the kids and take a bath, and Ryan got fed! As he was about to start on seconds, I made the decision that we needed to head back. My contractions were hard and 2 minutes or less apart. So Ryan's mom packed up Ryan's second helping to eat at the hospital (very much a typical thing for her to do - such a thoughtful Mom!) and off we went. I'd been contracting for probably an hour and a half by the time we got to the hospital. And I was 4 cm! I was so happy that it was working, and working well! The cervidil was taken out and my body did the rest - I didn't need any oxytocin, which I was happy about (although I am certainly not opposed to it - I had it and needed it with both of the other kids). I was moved straight to L&D, and had to wait there for shift change to be over, of course! I had thought that maybe I would try to go a bit farther than the other two births without an epidural, but by the time my nurse came in, I was like, forget it. I'm getting it! And in reality, I did "last longer" than with the other two. By that time I had been contracting every 2 minutes or less for 3ish hours which was enough for me! Good for all of those women who do it without an epidural - but I ain't no fool. If I can rid my body of pain, I will! I don't refuse morphine when I'm having a kidney stone attack, why would I refuse an epidural during labor pains? That's my philosophy and I know their are those whose philosophy is different. That's fine. I respect those opinions. However, I have very much appreciated all three of my epidurals, which above all, allowed me to rest before it was time to push.

Anyway, after I was settled comfortably, my Mom-in-law and sister-in-law came to hang out and help bide the time. I went to the bathroom a couple of times and walked around/stood a bit during labor, and noticed that I was dripping blood and some clots. I questioned my nurse about this, as it had never happened during my other labors. She said we'd watch it and monitor Baby to make sure she was tolerating things, which she did. Around 12:00/12:15 AM, I was 8 cm and they broke my water. About 30 second later, I had fully dilated and was ready to push. I wish they had been able to break my water sooner! (They were scared of a prolapsed cord earlier, because Maisy's head was allowing a bit of room for that.) I was blessed to have my doctor on call that night, so when she arrived a few minutes later, the show was on! In total, I pushed for 58 minutes. The first issue was that Maisy was face up (face down is the best position), so I shifted positions to push and she did finally turn face down. We made some more progress, but she still wouldn't move down the way she should have. Finally, she made her way out (and I felt every inch of it!) at 1:42 AM weighing 8 lbs, 13 oz and 20 inches long and she had her little hand by her face - hence not coming out as quickly as she should have! My doctor said "you have another girl!" and I teared up with joy - I think I feel so blessed to have daughters - sisters - because I don't have a sister myself, and always wished I did. (Not that I would have been unhappy with a boy - don't read into that, please!) My doctor laid her on my chest and she stayed there for about 90 seconds before it became obvious that she was really struggling to breath. It sounded like she was drowning. The cord was quickly cut and she was quickly taken to the warming table and within seconds the NICU team was called. They arrived and intubated Maisy immediately. And then called the respiratory team. It was just getting really, REALLY scary at that point. They worked on her for about half an hour before taking her down to the NICU. I was so scared and there was no reassuring words. They were sensitive and honest, which I did appreciate, but that meant hard words to hear. The head nurse told us that she didn't know what was going to happen, that the next couple of hours were going to be telling. As it turns out, my placenta had started to pull away from my uterus - hence the bleeding during labor. It may have even started a couple of days before she was born, as it seemed to have been hidden. Thank God that it didn't tear away at a point that jeopardized Maisy's life before she was born. But as she was born, she breathed in blood, which of course isn't good. But her being a term baby and a fighter was on her side and she fought through. Every nurse she has commented on how feisty she was! But it was really hard to see her intubated, with a feeding tube, arterial line and regular IV, along with all the monitoring tabs all over her. They suctioned her every few hours, and slowly, the stuff being drawn out of her lungs turned from red to cloudy red to cloudy pink to clearish pink to totally clear. Thank God - I still do and always will. Another miracle baby.

She was in the NICU from early Friday morning (October 14) until until Sunday afternoon. She was discharged from the NICU on the condition that I stayed in the hospital until her jaundice cleared up enough. Yup, after her initial ordeal, she developed jaundice! But we were released on Monday, with another trip to get her levels checked on Tuesday. She dropped in weight quite a bit, which I guess is normal in jaundice babies. Don't worry - she's doing quite fine in that area now!! I do find it interesting that my two term babies spent time in the NICU (Jared for a different reason, and a reason that I personally think was unnecessary, but I digress), but my 36 weeker had zero issues.

So that's it. Once she was released, they told me that despite the tubes, she was at no more risk of asthma, etc. or illnesses like pneumonia than any other infant. She wasn't intubated long enough. Another thing to be thankful for!

I'm heading to bed now, with three beautiful children peacefully sleeping upstairs. We are so blessed with our family of five.