After our miscarriage, school was out a few weeks later, and then a week after that we spent about 8 days in Tennessee and Georgia with my mom and sister in the Smoky Mountains on vacation. We had a blast.
At the beginning of August we transferred another two embryos, and after several negative at-home tests, my beta HCG at the lab came back positive on the first day of school. The numbers were lower than with our first pregnancy, so I didn't expect baby to hold on, but she did.
I'm sitting here in my husband's office with my two-week old daughter lying on the bed beside me, starting to get hungry and grumping at me. She's absolutely beautiful, a true work of art that was surely knit together by God. She was born on March 22, a full five weeks early, at 1:10 a.m. She weighed 5 pounds, 12.8 ounces, and was 18 1/4 inches long. Her first few hours were harrowing, as we thought she may have to be life flighted to the nearest metro area for further treatment because she was struggling so hard to breathe, but she rallied, and after five days in the hospital, she got to come home with us. She's been growing like a weed, and I'm patiently waiting for her to get to 7 pounds so I can use my baby carrier with her. Her stroller should be here within the week, too, so we can get outside and enjoy the Wyoming spring weather and I can get some exercise, too.
Anyway...I wanted to write down her birth story so I don't forget. It all happened so fast, and now it seems like it was so long ago, I hope I can remember...
Two Thursdays before Daley was born, we were having parent-teacher conferences. One of my colleagues had told me that when you're having REAL contractions, you feel them low in your belly and around in your back, and that's exactly what I was feeling. I was glad I made it through conferences, and the actual contractions that I were having didn't have a pattern and were really far apart. The next day I had one of my twice-weekly OB appointments. Dr. V. did a non-stress test, and baby was in the middle of one of her power naps, so after an hour on the monitor at the clinic, he sent me down to the labor and delivery unit at the hospital to continue being monitored. I drank some juice and woke her up a little, and we were sent on our way.
The next day, however, I was having more contractions, and baby wasn't moving as much as we'd like, so Dr. V. had me come into the L & D unit again to be monitored. Ryan and I were there overnight as I received IV fluids (after about 8 IV stick attempts) and started oral meds to help stop my contractions. One of the amazing nurses checked my cervix and found that I was dilated 1 cm, which, considering I was 6 weeks early at that point, wasn't good. Dr. V. put me on modified bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy (which ended up being way shorter than we would have liked).
After the next week of lots of contractions, trying to drink gallons of water, and those two doctor's appointments, Saturday rolled around. I was up all night with intensifying contractions, and I had been keeping track of them all night, and all day. I hadn't slept, and around 7 p.m. I had Ryan call the doctor on call. He said with our history we could choose to come in or not, it was up to us, because I probably wasn't making any cervical changes anyway. I stuck it out for another hour before I couldn't take the pain any more, and Ryan and I went in.
Much to my surprise, I was in active labor, and when I was checked, I had dilated to 3 cm. This was concerning because Daley had been breech on our ultrasounds, most recently just a few days prior. Dr. K did an ultrasound bedside to check her position, and praise God, she was head down, just like she needed to be. I had been all prepared for an unwanted c-section. He asked if I wanted him to deliver or if I wanted him to call Dr. V. I told him I'd love for Dr. V. to deliver, as he's been a huge support, and I'm kind of complicated anyway, and about an hour later, Dr. V. showed up.
By the time we went in, I was already in need of some pain relief, and was hoping that since I was at 3 cm dilated, I could get an epidural. Unfortunately, another patient (who happened to be one of the second grade teachers at our school--there were 4 of us all pregnant at the same time, and 3 of us due within about 10 days of each other) needed an emergency c-section, and the anesthesiologist was tied up with her.
Two hours of intense contractions later, with my amazing husband letting me squeeze his hand through each of them, I got my epidural...which didn't work. By this time I was into the transitional portion of labor, and my contractions were hard and fast and frequent. I think I was dilated to a 6 or 7. After another hour of labor, the anesthesiologist was back and gave me a spinal. It only took about another half hour for me to finish dilating and be ready to push.
I think I pushed through about 4 or 5 contractions and she was here. I didn't know if we'd had a boy or girl right away because they took her to work on her and get her breathing. I think the best part of the whole experience was hearing my husband say "Oh, Marce" as our little Daley Grace was born. My OB and the nurses that we worked with were absolutely incredible. I can't say enough about how well Daley and I were taken care of. Dr. V. suggested a pediatrician for Daley, and I think she's wonderful, too. She's so reassuring and takes the time to answer our new parent questions.
God has blessed us. We've found our joy through our mourning of all the years we lost due to infertility and the loss of Critter and our other embryos. I've been typing for a while now, and I don't want to do anything but go and gaze into my sweet daughter's face.
She was worth the wait. And I'm stuck between wanting her to stay this little and wanting her to be older so we can play and interact more and have fun together...I suppose that's the joy/sorrow of parenthood...
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