Scarlett's Debut

So here I am finally checking into the blogging world. This last week has been a complete whirlwind. Scarlett arrived very unexpectedly 8 days ago and is doing amazing for being 5 weeks early. I am loving life as a new mommy and am in awe of her every day. I am so grateful that she is here, safe, and healthy. I wanted to take a minute to write down her birth story while it is fresh in my mind. 

 

Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 

I started feeling yucky and having a lot of new symptoms coming on. Nausea, spotting, back aches, etc. I felt like I had a cold, the stomach flu, and a bladder infection all at once. I wasn't sure how much of it was pregnancy related. I kept telling Jake something was different because I didn't feel good but I just didn't know what it was. I wasn't having contractions so I didn't think it was labor. 

 

Sunday:

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Mom's and while we ate I sat and told my brother Zach and his girlfriend Laurel that pregnancy had recently become difficult and that I didn't think I could do it for 5 more weeks. Zach asked if she was still active. It got me thinking that I hadn't felt her move as much as usual that day. I laid down to count her kicks and only felt 5 in an hours time (you are suppose to feel 10) I decided to call the doctor to see what they recommended. They told me I needed to go to the hospital just to be sure. At 11:30 p.m Jake and I went to the hospital. I went for the sole reason of decreased fetal movement but while I was up there they found that I had preeclampsia. Preeclampsia mostly means high blood pressure in pregnancy. It isn't safe and the only way to cure it is to deliver. My blood pressure wasn't really high so they said it was looking like I might need to be enduced around 37 weeks. If you have really high blood pressure they enduce immediately. We were in shock to find out that in a couple of weeks we would have Scarlett (little did we know she would be born the next day.) They sent us home at 3:30 a.m. and told us to come back in a few hours to meet with the doctor and figure out where to go from there. 

Monday:

We went to the doctor at 1:30 p.m. Dr. Clark explained that it would be a good idea to admit me to the hospital so they could run some tests and monitor my blood pressure. After that we could make a decision on when I would need to be enduced based on how severe my preeclampsia was. It was likely they were going to put me on bed rest and try to keep her cooking for a couple more weeks. 

Around 3:00 p.m. they admitted me and got me settled in a room. Jake and I sat and talked about how weird it was that we were having a baby in two weeks. I had prepared myself to be overdue since it was my first baby so we were originally thinking Scarlett very well could be born on Christmas or a few days later since her due date was December 23rd.

By 4:00 p.m. it was evident that Scarlett wanted to come much sooner! I was contracting and dilated to a 3. Labor moved extremely quickly and by 7:50 p.m. I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. It was all happening so fast and was such a blur. Overall the labor went well. Towards the end my epidural wore off. Scarlett also decided to flip face up instead of face down. The doctors tried to turn her manually. Not only was she being stubborn but she was also not fitting well through the birth canal. Even though she was tiny my pelvis wasn't wide enough so they used forceps to try and get her out. At 8:51 p.m. she finished her journey into the world. They took Scarlett to have her checked out right away since she was so early. I kept waiting to hear her cry while I was being stitched up. I heard her whimper but not cry. I kept looking over at Jake and asking if everything was okay. After a few minutes they took her to the NICU to put her on oxygen and Jake followed. I waiting anxiously for the report. The nurse came in to tell me that she was in the NICU but would be okay. She said I would be able to see her in the next half hour. 

A half hour later they wheeled me to the NICU and I saw my beautiful girl hooked up to oxygen. She also had a tube down her throat to clear the fluid out of her lungs. Poor girl. I hated seeing it but felt at peace that everything would be fine and she would be healthy. 

 

That night she kept grabbing her tubes with her little fingers and pulling them out. They said at that rate she would be off soon because she was so strong. Sure enough 6 hours after birth Scarlett came off her oxygen. 

On Tuesday Scarlett was doing so well that she was moved into the Intermediate Care nursery. She was there 2  1/2 days. On Thanksgiving day we were able to check her out and bring her home. It is a miracle that she progressed so quickly and was able to come home after only a few short days. I was told that most often when a baby is born 5 weeks early they keep them until their expected due date.

Jake and I had no idea that when we left for my doctors appointment on Monday that we would be coming home with our baby girl a few days later. It made for a week of madness. The nursery wasn't complete, our house was a mess, and we didn't have all our baby gear yet. We had a lot of family help out and run around buying last minute essentials while I was in the hospital and I will be forever grateful for that! It is a good thing Jake and I love chaos! It looks like Scarlett does too. 

Right after Scarlett was born

Scarlett in the NICU

Seeing her for the first time

Scarlett's first day in Intermediate Care

Scarlett's last few minutes in Intermediate Care before coming home

Me on our way home

Jake on our way home

Home at last!