Here we are 2 weeks later still in awe of all God has done in such a short time. We are able to look back and see how He orchestrated the events of Friday, March 9th to bring our sweet girl into this world. We often sit and look at each other in disbelief that all of this took place, how it did, and that she is already here, exactly 1 month early.
Let's go back to the week of Audrey's birth...
Monday, my sweet friends had a baby shower for us, thinking that at 35 weeks we still have plenty of time, right? My friend, Ashley stayed with us for a couple days at the beginning of the week. Tuesday we had a business meeting at church, Wednesday we had small group game night, Thursday was my birthday... it was a crazy week with something every night but we were looking forward to Spring Break and taking some time to relax and not have many evening activities. Having time to get caught up and work on both of the kids rooms.
Friday morning, when Cody left for work around 4:30am I woke up and told him that I wasn't feeling very good. I couldn't get comfortable and my stomach was hurting (no contractions at this point, just more felt bloated and uncomfortable). I laid in bed and tossed and turned for what felt like forever.
Then at 6:02 am I sent Cody this text..
So... I got up, folded some laundry, ate some oatmeal, checked my email and then about 6:45am something changed. I actually started feeling contractions. At first I didn't think anything of it but after a few pretty close together I started thinking something was going on and I started typing out the times on my phone.
Sure enough, no matter what I did or didn't do they didn't go away. Each contraction was 3-7 minutes apart and I had to stop and breath through each one. Surely, it was just Braxton Hicks? I thought! Nonetheless, I decided to call the doctor around 8:30am to see what they thought. I honestly didn't want to be the girl who "thought she was in labor". They told me to come in and asked if I could be there in 15 minutes.
Awesome! Chandler was still asleep, I was having contractions, and Cody was working. Fifteen minutes, really? I woke Chandler up (left his PJ shirt on but actually put on some pants and a jacket), brushed my teeth, put on shoes, got him a cup of milk and we were out the door. Did I mention it was pouring down rain?
I got to S&W about 9:15am or so and they decided to monitor my contractions and her heart rate for a little while. The nurse came in at one point because Audrey's heart rate wasn't fluctuating as they were hoping. Chandler was a big boy and sat by himself beside me until Cody got there around 9:30.
About 10:15am they took off the monitors and decided to check to see if I was actually in labor since my contractions were still consistent. At 10:30, much to our surprise, I was dilated to 3cm. (Monday I had gone in for an appointment and wasn't dilated at all). Our doctor also told us that she was concerned about Audrey's heart rate and that it might be an issue with the umbilical cord. She said we would need to go straight to St. Joe's.
At this point, I broke down and told Cody how we weren't ready and how I was fearful about her being so early. He reassured me that God was in control and this was his plan for our little girl.
We texted Miranda and told her what was going on so she could meet us at the hospital to get Chandler. We loaded up and headed to the hospital, empty handed and in our pajamas.
We got to the hospital around 11am and checked in at the ER. One of our friends had told us about an awesome nurse she had and so Cody asked me what her name was again so we could hopefully ask to see if she was working. When the nurse came down to get us, we were in shock, it was the very nurse we wanted to ask for. She quickly took us upstairs and got me all settled.
Just a side note, when our nurse came to get us, we didn't realize but she thought my placenta was abrupting. She was asking me about bleeding and pain in my stomach. I told her that neither was happening and she was relieved. They had put me in a room right next to the OR and called in an extra nurse to help, thinking I would be having an emergency C-section.
At 11:50am she checked me and I had progressed to 5/6cm. She called for my epidural and my doctor came in and broke my water. She told me that they were still concerned about her heart rate but that if I progressed fast enough I could avoid having a C-section.
At 12:15pm I got my epidural and by 12:27pm I wasn't feeling much.
She checked me again at 1:20pm and I had already progressed to 8cm. At this point the doctor and nurse were both confident that there was some type of cord issue. A few minutes later, both the nurse and doctor came in the room and said we needed to get Miss Audrey out soon and that we would start pushing at the next contraction. The NICU team prepared for our sweet girl.
After a few pushes, Audrey Cate arrived at 1:41pm.
5 lbs 6 oz and 18 inches long.
She did have the umbilical cord around her neck and she was holding it with one of her hands. We were so thankful she was here! The team of NICU doctors immediately checked her after they brought her to me for a few moments. It was hard after that knowing that it would be awhile before we held her but we were so blessed that she was in such good hands.
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