On Monday, March 14, we went to the doctor. I was 40 weeks and 1 day along. I had felt some cramping off and on but not anything that came at regular intervals, so I felt like it probably wasn't true contractions. At the appointment, the doctor examined me and sure enough, I hadn't really had any progress. He decided to do an ultrasound to check the fluid levels, etc., just to be sure everything was still okay. It was a pleasant surprise that we got to have another opportunity to see sonograms of our little girl. The technician even did a 3D picture where we could see Audrey scowling! After a couple of other tests, my doctor brought us into his office and said he was ready to talk about some options. After much discussion, it was decided that we would go in for an induction the next day!
I walked out of the office completely overwhelmed. Once we were in the car, I said to Jerry multiple times, "We're going to have a baby tomorrow!" as if I couldn't even believe it. We decided to run an errand or two before heading home, and when we arrived home, we were sure to check that our bags had everything in them we needed. We tried to prepare our house for the company we knew would be on the way (my parents) the next day. Finally, we laid down to try to get some sleep. That was virtually impossible! My mind was racing! I woke up between 3 and 3:30 AM and just could not get back to sleep. I decided to get out of bed and began journaling and then praying for the day ahead. Nervous doesn't even begin to explain the feelings I had. I wasn't at all nervous about actually becoming a mother. Instead, I was nervous of the whole labor and delivery. I was nervous about the pain. I was nervous about how long things would take. Mostly, I was nervous about the unknown.
We arrived to the hospital right on time (about 6 AM), got signed in, and settled into our room. By about 8 AM, my IV had been started with pitocin, and soon after, I began feeling contractions. ("Oooh, that's a contraction!") The contractions became very regular and were about 2 minutes apart. The doctor continued to check my progress, and I was dilating slowly but surely. Eventually, I went ahead and got my epidural because the contractions were becoming more and more uncomfortable. Luckily, the pain never became so bad that I felt awful. I was terrified of getting the epidural, but it was really not bad! It was more (again) just fear of the unknown. As more and more things happened (contractions, the epidural, etc.), I kept surprising myself with how things were not at all as bad as I thought they would be, especially being a complete wuss with no pain tolerance whatsoever!
As the afternoon went on, the doctor just felt like things were not progressing as quickly as they needed to. Around 5 PM, "it" was brought up...a c-section. This was something I feared and dreaded hearing all day. A c-section meant surgery. A c-section meant longer recovery. However, a c-section was necessary because our baby would just not move down! After our wonderful nurse gave me all the details of what would happen, she let Jerry & I have some time to collect our thoughts. I was an emotional mess at this point--I had been awake for more than 12 hours, I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in over 18 hours, and things weren't going according to my "plan." However, at this point, it was no longer my plan! After many tears, encouraging words from Jerry, and reassurance from Mom who walked back to the room to tell me about her c-sections she had for my sister and me, we were ready.
The next period of time dragged on but flew by all at the same time. The anesthesia team came in and did their thing, and soon enough, I was being rolled into the O.R. I remember looking at the clock in the O.R. as soon as I got in there, and it was 7:00 PM. As they prepped me for surgery, I kept asking when Jerry would be able to come in (he was waiting out in the hallway). They continued to assure me that they would bring him in shortly. Luckily, I was feeling absolutely no pain whatsoever, just some weird feelings from time to time as they did whatever they were doing (I'm thinking it's probably better that I just don't even know what was going on!). I've got to hand it to the anesthesia people because they were awesome! One girl in particular kept saying, "I am going to keep asking you how you are doing, so sorry if it gets annoying!" but it was nice to have them constantly checking on me.
Once Jerry came in the room, things moved very quickly. I continued to feel what can only be described as pressure or tugging (probably because they were moving my insides around!), and then I heard someone say to Jerry, "OK Dad, get the camera ready!" The next thing I knew I was hearing the cry of my daughter! They quickly showed me her face over the curtain, and then they took her to the other side of the room to clean her off. At this time, Jerry was over there taking lots of pictures, and I was back to just lying there telling the CRNA, "Yep, I'm good!" all while tears are streaming down my face since I'm still overcome with emotion. Soon, Jerry walked back over with Audrey in tow! I finally got to touch my baby girl! A nurse took a picture of the 3 of us together, and I just wanted to hold her so badly but couldn't yet (this feeling was truly the worst part of the c-section).
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| One of our first family photos |
Next, Jerry, Audrey, and nurses disappeared to the nursery while the doctor worked on putting me back together. I was later told that during this time, Jerry was able to show off our new addition to the grandparents who were pressed against the glass of the nursery window. This is also when Audrey had her very first bath, which she apparently seemed to enjoy as the nurse ran warm water over her head full of dark hair! Meanwhile, I was in and out of "sleep" (didn't really feel like sleep), and I kept asking, "When can I have some water? I'm so thirsty!" They wheeled me to the recovery room where Jerry came in with our baby girl. FINALLY, I got to hold her!!! Holding Audrey for the first time was and will forever will be one of the most breathtaking moments of my life. Even though I was on pain medication and not 100% coherent, I remember being absolutely amazed that this beautiful, tiny girl was something I helped make!
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| So happy to be a Mommy! |
The time in the recovery room was unbearable. We were in there for what felt like decades. We knew our family was waiting for us, and we were ready to get to our room, where we hoped to also get some rest! I still wasn't allowed to eat or drink, and I just remember looking at the clock over and over again. After what felt like eternity, they began to wheel me to my room. Our families were in there, and we spent a few minutes talking. This is probably the most fuzzy part of my memory. I was so tired, and the nurses had given me different medications to help me recover from surgery comfortably as the anesthesia wore off. I finally got some water (probably one of the greatest gulps of water ever!) as well as some graham crackers (after going 20-something hours without eating). Our families left, and it was just the 3 of us. One of the nurses from the nursery helped me nurse Audrey, and they took her to the nursery. Then, I slept. It was staggered, interrupted, weird sleep, but it was sleep.
So that's the story of Audrey Blair Rengering's entry into the world! The days in the hospital to follow were long and tiring, but we are home, happy, and as blessed as can be!
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| Audrey Blair Rengering Born March 15, 2011 at 7:20 PM Weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz 20.5 inches long |
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