Last Wednesday, I woke up early to discover that I was in labor! Danny and I jumped up and got dressed and rushed to the women's hospital. We didn't even wait on someone to get Bryce, we took him with us! Once my mom arrived at the hospital to watch Bryce, Danny was able to join me - I was hooked up to monitors, waiting for the doctor to determine if I was really in labor. Sure enough, I went from 1 cm to 3 cm in an hour - so they moved me in to a delivery room and we got really moving.
Danny and I made a few phone calls to our family to let them know what was going on. It was so much fun getting to surprise everyone with that phone call! Over the next several hours, they started me on pitocin, broke my water, and gave me an epidural. From the time I arrived at the hospital at 7 am to 1 pm, everything moved at a slow pace. But, at 1 pm, I dilated from 5 cm to 10 cm in 45 minutes. Also, my epidural started to wear off, so I decided that it was time to push before the doctor could get to my room. For those of you who have delivered a child with no epidural, you know that when you gotta push, you gotta push. Danny stood right next to me and coached me through each pain I felt. He made me feel so confident that I was doing a good job. He was amazingly calm and reassuring. I know it was hard for him to see me in labor, but he never showed a minute of uncertainty. Danny is a wonderful husband. And dad.
The sweet nurses also helped talk me through the contractions and pushing for a while, until the doctor arrived. He walked in and I pushed twice - and delivered a beautiful baby girl named Bailey. She was tiny! Danny smiled and instantly fell in love. I cried tears of joy. I had no idea that you could actually fall in love that quickly.
After the nurses cleaned Bailey up a bit, I got to hold her and try to nurse. She latched right on! I was so proud that she was eager to eat - and it felt just right getting to hold her so close. My family got to come in to the room to meet our daughter - and the look on Bryce's face was so exciting to see! He jumped right in the bed next to me - he wanted to see what I was holding.
The next two days were great! Bailey weighed in at 4 lbs. 10 oz. and 17 inches long. Bailey was spitting up a bit, and we had a little trouble getting her to nurse. On Friday, we were getting ready to discharge from the hospital, and the nursery had taken Bailey to give her a few of the check ups they do before discharge. We got a call that they decided to move Bailey to the NICU to do some testing to see why she was still having trouble with her belly.
I can't really explain the next few hours - I only know that I was crying and scared. The nurses and doctors were so great - everyone was trying to help me remain calm - but that wasn't happening. Bailey was transported to Le Bonheur to have surgery on her stomach. Danny and I followed right behind. Once we arrived at the hospital, we learned that Bailey had duodenal atresia - a blockage in her duodenum that had to be corrected with surgery.
So, Saturday morning, Bailey had surgery. She came through like a little champ! We are keeping everyone up to date on carepages dot com/carepages/baileyprestage. If you haven't gotten a chance, please check it out. We have lots of pictures posted and are updating Bailey's progress daily.
We are looking forward to the day we get to bring Bailey home! We don't want to rush anything, as we know that this recovery will take time. We pray for healing for Bailey.
