jade_sweetpea: Gabrielle's Long-Awaited Delivery
Posted
Thursday, July 23, 2009 12:52 PM
"My head started spinning and my body got ice cold. The next thing I
remember, there was a host of doctors and nurses standing over
me saying 'Welcome back'..."
A not-so-regular appointment
On Thursday, November 13, I went to my regular weekly appointment with my perintalogist. The doctor did my usual weekly ultrasound and then turned to me and said: “You will be delivering today or tomorrow. I don’t want you to worry, but you have done all you can and she is ready to come out. Look at it this way, you made it through 14 weeks of strict bed rest, but it's time to meet your baby girl.” I was so nervous! I had been put on bed rest at 24 weeks for preterm labor and I had been seeing the perinatologist since I was 10 weeks pregnant, because I have lupus. After my appointment, I was sent home to pack my bag and to meet my doctor at the hospital at 8 a.m. the next morning. I could not believe it was finally time to meet our little Munchie, as we called her. I have to say though that the urgency of it all made me a little nervous.
Sayonara, natural birth plan
By the time we arrived at the hospital I was 4 cm dilated and was pretty sure I could do this on my own. My doctor told me that my fluid was too low and that she would give me two hours to labor on my own before she would make me start Pitocin. I only got to 6 cm before she started the Pitocin and out went my plans for a natural birth. (I forgot to mention that we already have a nine-year-old and that birth was completely natural, so I was looking forward to doing it again.) My body was just too weak from the bed rest at this point. All I could think of was that I needed to do what was best for my baby. My lupus had not been diagnosed at the time of my son's birth nine years earlier, so I didn't have to worry about half of the things that I had to worry about during this birth.
Well once I was given the Pitocin my blood pressure hit the roof! My head started spinning and my body got ice cold. The next thing I remember was that there was a host of doctors and nurses standing over me saying "Welcome back," and my husband's face showed it all! Apparently, I had passed out and my doctor demanded that I be given an epidural. She threatened me with a c-section because she said she was not going to put our baby at risk. I was very disappointed but I knew that my body needed a little help.
Delivery!
One hour after being given the epidural I felt like it was time to push so I asked my husband to find my doctor. When she came in and took one look at me she screamed for a nurse. Three pushes later Munchie was out and looking around. She never cried at all! Her eyes were so big and beautiful and she had a head full of hair. Nobody knew that she already had a name expect me. My husband had suggested her name months ago and I pretended like I didn’t like it so I could surprise him when she was born. “Her name is Gabrielle Aaliyah Anis it means woman of God and highly exalted,” I announced. I watched my husband’s eyes tear up and a smile form across his lips. When all was said and done, the new addition to our family arrived three weeks early, weighing 6lb 6.5 oz.
A sidenote for lupus patients...
I had a miscarriage before Gabrielle was born and I just want to say that the 14 weeks of strict bed rest, the weekly doctors appointments starting at 10 weeks pregnant, the weekly progesterone shots, and my daily lupus medications were all worth it to have my little princess here. Please stay encouraged.
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