Introducing....

So I never thought I would be posting this today, or this month.. or within the next two months... haha. But I am! Jaidynn was born on 11/17 at 11:57am. She was 3 pounds 5 ounces and came out screaming her lungs out. Whaling her arms and legs!

BEWARE THIS IS A VERY LONG STORY!!!

To give everyone the back history of the labor/birth, and I will try to make this all as short as possible. My water broke last Thursday. I actually had just went to a normal doctors appointment and they gave me the second steriod shot for the babies lungs. Mainly because I was cramping and having the strangest feeling that something was going to happen. My doctor had said that I was dilated to a 1 and a half and 40 % effaced, so he didnt seem all too concerned but put me on 48 hour bedrest until I got the second dose of steriod shots for her lungs. At around 9pm that night I got out of the bath tub, and noticed I still was having to dry my legs off. I didnt notice or pay attention at first, but then I figured out that this constant flow down my legs was not left over bath water. My water had actually broke. So off we went to the hospital, and thats where all the JOYFUL fun began.

They admitted me and put me on 48 hour monitors for contractions, they gave me medication to stop all the contractions so they could get IV antibiotics in me before I delivered. My body stopped contracting, and I was put on STRICT bedrest, and when I say strict, its basically no showers, no rest room, no walking, sitting, standing, just laying and waiting... They gave me a bed pan and said.. " here is your rest room" I've never experienced that before, but I was automatically depressed after that... My rights and privacy began to fly out the window... I had many doctors come in to discuss the "plan" with me, and since I was just over 30 weeks they wanted to keep me pregnant for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! One doctor said he'd be surprised if I made it 5 days, another doctor said he'd like to see me in the hospital for 4 weeks.. All had different expectations and hopes. The frustrating part about all of this was never knowing... I would get contractions, but they refused to see if I was dilating because of risk of infection. They said basically if I spiked a fever, or the babies heart rate began to drop or show signs of distress than they would automatically get the baby out.

At first I accepted the fact that waiting was best for the baby since she was so small, but as time went on, I started doubting their expertise. I questioned if my body would even try to go into full blow labor with any infection, I just figured if there was a reason why my water broke that was the first sign that my body was ready and the baby should have been delivered. ANYWAYS... After the 4th day in the hospital I began to shut down emotionally. I had PAINFUL contractions, and rude nurses that would tell me that I'm just dehydrated and that my contractions were not picking up on the machine. HOWEVER.... The lady would put the contraction monitor all the way up by my ribs... I was 30 weeks pregnant.. My uterus was not clear up there, and when I described my pain she said it just sounded like cramping and that it was normal after your water breaks to have an irritable uterus.... ( imagine my face after hearing this over and over and not getting any help for pain)

The last night I woke up at 2am really sick. I told Jeff I felt like I was going to pass out... The nurse came in and said she'd talk to the on call doctor since it was 2am and they didnt think they needed to call my doctor personally unless I was actually in labor and would deliver.. ( how nice is that... )

I cried and cried and cried... She came in and just said the doctor wants me to drink water and lay down on my left side and get some rest... once the nurse left the room I started pulling on the IV tape on my arm and told Jeff I couldnt take it anymore.. I wasnt getting any help with anything and I wanted to go to a different hospital. He of course comforted me and told me he'd see what he could do.

After talking with the nurse and about 2 hours went by, I was gripping the bed, breathing hard, and begging for help. The nurse THEN decided to hook me up to the monitors, and by that time I was going to put the contraction monitor right where I felt the pain. ( which I did! ) And the machine picked it up! Spiking at around 40-50 and lasting around 1 1/2 minutes and coming every 3-5 minutes... They sent me down to labor and delivery since I was in a room where most women recover after birth, I was stuck there waiting to give birth so I wouldnt hold up a room if they needed it in labor and delivery... Anyways...

They finally checked me and I was dilated to a 4 and fully thinned out. I got the epidural, and in about 20 minutes after that I was ready to push. I dilated from a 4-10 in 20 minutes. Since the baby was still really early I delivered in an operating room next to the NICU "window" where they pass the baby right through this big window and into the people who can jump in if the baby needs assistance. I had zero problems delivering, however the placenta would not detatch. They spent a good 20 minutes massaging my stomach and trying to "manually" detatch it. That was basically the most painful part of the process.. ( other than laboring for 4 hours without pain med's)

Jaidynn came out with a head full of hair. After looking in the bright lights around her, it looks pretty red to us! But we will have to see if it lightens up a bit. Jaidynn came out crying and kicking. Her scores were a 8-9 on the apgar scale, and she did not need oxygen right when she was born. They did however end up putting her on a C-pap breathing machine to keep her lungs from sticking together. Being that little they dont make the surfactant that mature babies do to help the lungs not stick and collapse. She ended up pulling that off her face and is now on the basic nasal canula's to keep her comfortable. She's not required to have it, its just to help her not use so many calories to breath or get comfortable. Her x-rays on her chest were great, no sign of distress on her lungs. Her blood work was great. She's maintaining her temperature, and has a feeding tube down her nose and LOVES to eat. All the nurses say she would eat a gallon of milk if they would let her since she's always acting like she's starving to death. Its pretty cute. Jaidynn has only had one problem so far and thats Jaundice. Pretty basic in new borns and especially preemies. So she's getting her tan on in the NICU.

They told us that babies usually dont develop how to suck and eat until 34 weeks but Jaidynn loves her binky. She has basically shown everyone that she's going to do what she wants and when she wants to. We dont have an exact time or day when she will be able to come home, but since she's doing so well they think its just a matter of weeks. She has got to gain weight, keep her blood work in good standing, and keep producing poopy diapers to help with her jaundice.

She's automatically on 7 days of antibiotics, and they will determine if more will be needed after the 7 days.

The amazing part about this all is thinking back to when we had Caitlynn. Caitlynn was on 75% oxygen right when she came out and had a lot of respiritory distress, and couldnt maintain her temperature. Thankfully I did get the steriod shots to help mature little Jaidynn's lungs in time and I think thats a big part of her stability. I'm so happy that she's healthy and that she's the feisty girl in the NICU and shows her personality. I'm going to be taking a bunch of pictures at all our visits so I will continue to update people on her condition, and any updates I have. :) I truly appreciate everyone who helped with Caitlynn, who took her while I sat and cried in the hospital because I couldnt do anything. Thank you for all my friends who have been so kind to offer help and support. All the great preemie gifts and beautiful flowers that filled my room. I seriously want to cry just thinking about it. I couldnt have stayed there for the 5 days on bed rest without everyone being there for me. I want to thank everyone who had prayed for our family and for little Jaidynn, its amazing how prayers work, and I truly believe they have been answered!