Hand, Party of Three: Emma's Birth Story

My original due date was January 21st, so needless to say, we were shocked when we attended our weekly doctor's appointment on Friday, January 4th and found out that I would be induced the following Monday!! I know it was only two weeks early, but we were definitely in shock and felt slightly unprepared. We had an ultrasound that morning and realized that little Emma was registering around the 5th percentile, so my doctor decided it would be best to deliver her early so she could go ahead and start getting the nutrients she needs (a.k.a. MILK!)

It was really sad, but the first thought that came to my mind when we found out Emma would be arriving on January 7th was that I really wanted to get my hair done before the big day, but my appointment wasn't until the following Saturday (terrible timing!!)...and Jason's first thought was that January 7th was the National Championship game!! Little did we realize that neither of those things would matter in a few days.

We spent the weekend trying to relax (which didn't happen!!), stockpiling preemie diapers and buying every preemie outfit we could find. We went over to Chris and Julie's house on Saturday night and had a little fondue party, which is just what we needed to take our mind off of everything that was going on for a few hours. I was instructed not to eat after Noon on Sunday, so my last meal was brunch at Le Peep..yummmm! The rest of the day (and most of Monday), all I could think about was what I was going to eat after Emma was born!

We checked into TriStar Centennial Women's & Children's Hospital at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 6th to get the induction process started. They started the process that night by giving me a drug to get my cervix ready, then my doctor was coming early Monday morning to start the pitocin and to break my water. After everything started on Sunday night, they also gave me a very small amount of Ambien so I could get some rest before the big day (which I happily accepted considering I hadn't slept through the night in weeks!) About an hour later (I was completely out of it at this point from the Ambien), our nurse came in and couldn't register Emma's heartbeat on the monitor. She turned me over several times to see if that would work, but she still saw nothing...so a team of nurses and others rushed in. Keep in mind, I still had no clue what was going on...and I'm pretty sure Jason was about to have a heart attack! The drug they had given me to start the whole process had overstimulated my uterus and was causing very strong and frequent contractions, which was putting stress on the baby. They immediately gave me a shot of muscle relaxer and then rushed me down the hall to the OR for an emergency c-section. I know Jason was freaking out at this point because they wouldn't allow him back with me. Soon after I arrived in the OR, the muscle relaxer kicked in and they registered Emma's heartbeat, strong and normal again...so they called off the emergency c-section. After all this craziness, I finally snapped out of my deep sleep and realized what was happening....and of course I immediately started bawling crying. Thank goodness they let Jason back at that point, so he really helped calm me down and told me that everything was ok and that Emma was healthy and we were back on track to deliver on Monday.

The rest of the night and most of the day Monday were pretty uneventful. If you are questioning having an epidural...DO IT. I have no idea how people have babies naturally! The epidural doesn't even hurt...it actually hurt worse when they had to rip the tape off my back after it was all over! And something else happened that I never thought in a million years...Jason watched the birth!! I thought I would be totally against it, but when we were in the moment, I didn't care at all. Everything was so emotional and I think he is really glad that he actually got to see our daughter being born. He was the absolute best labor coach! It was almost fun...with him telling me how awesome I was doing, etc.! I think we even had a few high fives here and there! ;) Once Emma was delivered, our whole lives changed instantly. She was perfect in every way (and weighed almost an entire pound more than they were predicting!) She is definitely a strong little girl! She passed all of her tests with flying colors...she was just a little peanut!

I know people say this all the time, but Jason and I don't know what we ever did without her! This new life is definitely an adjustment, but she makes everything worth it. We are totally in love and can't wait to start this new journey of parenthood!

Emma Catherine Hand

Birth Date: January 7, 2013

Time: 4:45 p.m.

Weight: 5 lbs. 5.5 oz.

Length: 19 inches

Ready to get this party started!