Okay, so I need to write out the story of Maggie's delivery. Even though I won't ever forget the experience and the feelings I had, I don't want to forget some of the small details. So here goes...
Warning: If you are scared of rough delivery stories - don't read this one. Just skip down to the pictures and the happy ending :)
So the night before Maggie was born I had a doctor appointment. It was Wednesday, January 26, 2011. I told the doctor I was a little worried that Maggie hadn't been moving as much, so he sat me in a chair and did a non-stress test where they basically just monitor the baby's heart rate for like 20 minutes. About half-way through Maggie really hadn't moved at all and the doctor stuck some weird instrument to my belly and it made an extremely loud sound. That finally got her moving and thus she passed the test. But Dr. Benedict didn't like the fact that it took some prodding to get her to move and nonchalantly told us that if we wanted to, we could have the baby tomorrow.
I couldn't believe my ears and was basically in complete shock. I had never imagined that he would tell me I could have the baby the next day! I actually asked him if we could wait until Friday so I could have a little more time to wrap my head around it. But he told us that if we wanted to have the baby before Monday it would have to be the next day.
WHOA! So after Spencer and I talked for a little bit we decided it was probably the best thing to do and it was scheduled!
After a long and sleepless night we called the hospital at exactly 6 a.m. as we were instructed. They told us that we were 3rd in line to be induced and that they would call us when they were ready for us to come in.
We finally got the call - after what seemed like days - at about 8:00 and asked us to be there by 9 a.m. We did just as we were told. We got our stuff together and headed for the hospital.
We checked in right at 9 and I got hooked up nicely to the antibiotics and pitocin. I wasn't sure at all what to expect, but we started a movie and I got all fixed up with the popcicles, suckers and ice chips (the only food I was allowed to eat).
I've got it all!
What I didn't realize was how soon I was going to get sick of those 3 things and how much movie I wouldn't end up watching.
I'm not sure how long it took to get contractions started, but I definitely started feeling it. I started the day at a 2 and 80% effaced. By the time I was dilated to a 4 and had been at a 4 for about an hour I was very much ready to get rid of the pain. So the anesthesiologist came in and I got an epidural.
I was loving the epidural for about an hour when the pain started to come back. It did not feel good. Turns out the epidural had migrated into a vein... I was not a happy camper. It seemed like forever before the anesthesiologist came back to fix it, but once he did I felt so much better. There's nothing like knowing what kind of pain you COULD be feeling and then NOT feeling it. I loved it!
I'm not exactly sure what the time table is with everything, but it was sometime after 5pm that I really started to progress quickly. I went from a 6 to a 7 in like 10 minutes and we actually started to get excited - thinking that the baby was finally working on coming. But suddenly I got really dizzy and nauseous. My mom ran to find a bucket for me in case I lost the lunch I never had and Spencer ran outside to grab a nurse. The last thing I remember there was thinking that there was no way I was going to make it into the bucket....
Then I was dreaming. I felt so good and light and happy. It was a wonderful dream. Not sure exactly what it was about - but then I woke up. I wished I was still dreaming. My mom was kinda freaking out and there were nurses all over the place - 6 to be exact. The anesthesiologist was next to come in, followed by my doctor and I felt a little like I was in a movie or part of a staged play. People were everywhere. But I guess I didn't really care because I was really out of it.
Anyway, after I passed out, Maggie's heart rate dropped from 150 to 50 bpm. NOT COOL! They had to stop my labor completely to take the pressure off her and try to stabilize her. But there really wasn't any coming back for us after that. Maggie wasn't very responsive and I was never able to get back to normal after everything, so a little after 8pm Dr. Benedict decided that we weren't going to make it through a regular delivery. We ended up needing to have a c-section.
I was really quite bummed about it all - but I was still so out of it that I just kinda nodded my head and decided that all that was important was that we have our baby and have her healthy.
And here she is! Margrette Moana Dearinger was born (or taken out of my stomach by the doctor) at 9:03pm on January 27, 2011. She weighed 7lbs 13oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.
It was so weird to lie there watching her get all cleaned up while I was being put back together. Spencer stayed with me through all of it, but as they got closer to finishing me up, he went into the nursery with my parents to be with our little daughter.
She definitely came out crying. She needed a bit of oxygen to "pink up", and she cried right through it all. Funny thing is that it was weeks before she ever cried like that again.
Isn't she so cute!?
I finally got to hold my little Maggie when they finished stitching and stapling up my stomach. She was waiting for me when they rolled me out of the operating room.
She is a finger sucker! This made me so happy! I think it's adorable.
It only took a couple seconds to realize how much she looks like Spencer. The first thing I saw were her lips and then her eyes. Both Spencer's!
Don't I look like a million bucks!? :) I was just happy to have it all over and to be holding my baby.
Our First Family Picture!
My two favorite people in the world!
My parents
When they finally took us up to our room, Spencer was able to get some good daddy time in. Doesn't he look good with a kid in his arms?
A nurse came in not long after to give Maggie a good sponge bath. Can you see her little cone head? I thought that the only babies who had cone heads were the ones who actually came out normally... I guess not :)
She didn't enjoy the bath for very long
We were in the hospital for the next 3 nights after that. It was really nice for me to have that time to get walking again. We had fun with our little one while we were there and took lots of pictures. Here's just a few of them.
My sleeping sweethearts
She loves to stick out her tongue at you
She's also taken up modeling. She's a natural.
My cousin, Alyse, (and many others) came to visit and we played a little dress-up with Maggie. I love this outfit on her and decided that it was going to be the outfit in which she would go home from the hospital.
And here she is on Sunday, January 30th all ready to go to her new home.
Welcome to the family, Maggie!
We love you!
