Harper Allegra Leigh's Birth Story (Long - includes NICU stay)

HarpersMomma · #1 April 10th, 2010, 07:07 PM

On Sunday March 28th I went to L&D because I thought my water broke that morning around 5. I started having pretty intense contractions when I got there and I was dilated to 4 cm. They had me walk around to see if I would progress, but after an hour I was the same. So they sent me home in considerable pain. I continued to have contractions the rest of the evening, but they weren't consistent - some 10 mins, some 4 mins, some 6 mins apart. I woke up several times throughout the night and I would have pretty severe contractions, but I was still able to go back to sleep. The next morning around 7am I woke up, went to the bathroom, and started having horrible contractions that were hard to walk or talk through. I woke Wade up and had him time them. They were coming about every 3-4 mins and were PAINFUL. I wasn't sure if we should go to the hospital because I didn't want to get sent home again, but I couldn't focus very well on anything. After a half hour of timing contractions, I decided it was time to go! We live about 10 mins. from the hospital but it felt like an hour!

I got checked in while Wade parked the truck and the admitting nurse wheeled me back to L&D. Thankfully my doctor was still on-call and sitting at the nurse's station when I came in. Once I got into the lovely gown my doctor came in, checked me, and determined that I was 4-5 cm and we were going to have a baby! My contractions were literally coming a minute apart - they were one on top of the other. All I could do was close my eyes breathe through them. I couldn't focus on much else so Wade was answering the nurse's questions when I couldn't. I opted for the epidural because the contractions were so intense and so frequent. Around 9:45 the anesthesiologist came in and he was wonderful! He explained everything he was going to do and I didn't feel a thing. After it started to kick in I felt wonderful! I couldn't believe that I was having those ridiculous contractions and couldn't feel them. At 11 they checked me again and I was 6 cm and they decided to break my water. My doctor was to come in at 1:00 to see if I was still progressing or if they would need to start Pitocin. Well, when she came in she said it was time to start pushing! I couldn't believe how fast everything was going. The nurse told me that it could take about an hour to push her out because some first time moms have trouble getting the hang of pushing. At about 1:15 I started pushing and at 1:37pm Harper Allegra Leigh was born! She weighed 7lbs 11oz. and was 22 inches long! She was THE MOST beautiful thing I had ever seen! But I noticed that something was wrong. She seemed to not be breathing and my heart stopped. They said her lungs were filled with fluid and extracted 14cc's from her lungs. Sadly, they had to take her to the NICU to check her lung function, etc. so I didn't get to hold her very long. I was pretty devestated and so worried. She ended up getting pneumonia and had to spend 7 days in the NICU getting antibiotics. She also developed a mild case of jaundice that cleared up with a bili light after 2 days. I spent every day from 8am until about midnight every night with her. It was extremely difficult to leave her each night, but I knew I needed the rest. I guess because I delivered her so quickly she took a huge gulp as she was coming out (they extracted another 10 cc's in the NICU). She might have been released earlier because she was doing so well, but they give 7 doses of this medicine no matter what and only the NICU can administer it through an IV. On the brighter side, she was a natural at breastfeeding and (knock on wood) we've not had any problems other than some mild engorgement. Harper was able to come home on Monday the 5th. We are so completely and utterly in love and soaking up every minute with our little love!