Madison Leigh is born

Well,
After visiting my Doc, who was nice enough to "help" my cervix get ready to go...the next evening as I was sleeping I felt my water begin to leak, it was about 4 am. I wasn't completely sure, so I checked and still wasn't quite sure so I waiting a few minutes before waking Matt. Then, when I was sure, and with a joyous lump in my throat I tapped Matt on the shoulder and he woke with a start. I said, "honey get up, it's time..." He asked if I was sure, I said that I was of course sure, my water was leaking. He shot out of bed and began to get ready to go. We sort of walked around in circles for a few minutes trying to make sure we had everything. He was excited, to say the least...we had been praying for her to come. Matt woke Moriah and she was buzzing around saying, " oh my God, we are going to have a baby..." over and over again. I tried as hard as I could to stay calm because someone had to. I enjoyed watching their excitement and it certainly mirrored my own.

Matt asked what we should do, I said I think we should call the hospital and ask when to come in. I did, and the sleepy sleepy doctor on the other end of the phone told us to wait until contractions began and continued at a steady pace. So we sat at the dinner table together and waited. I called my mom who was totally excited and said she would start her 4 hour drive in a bit, hoping to miss my labor. I wish I could have missed it too.

Shortly after, contractions began and off to the hospital we went. The drive was about 30 minutes and my contractions continued to intensify...which means they hurt like hell. When we got to the hospital we weren't sure which entrance to go to so we went to the main entrance. While Matt parked the truck I went in with Moriah and the guard told me to go to emergency on the 2nd floor. I had Moriah wait by the front entrance for Matt so he wouldn't have to walk alone. I wandered the halls until I found the ER, seemed to take forever. I wished to God I had waited and had Matt with me. I registered and waited for Matt and Moriah to join me. I was getting restless, I waited about 10 minutes more. Matt and Moriah ended up going to the wrong floor, thank you Moriah. Then they went to labor and delivery and waited for me. I was trying to control the lump in my throat that was threatening tears...I felt so relieved when I was reunited with Matt. I just felt totally alone and lost without him by my side.

We all went into the labor room, which was very confortable and spacious. I got into my lovely gown and right into bed. The nurse hooked me up with monitors, a blood pressure cuff, and an iv. They started me on a pain killer that totally knocked me out (stadol with phenergan). Matt's momma soon came and she stayed with us and worked on her cross stitch for Madison's birth announcement. I was talking with her and suddenly fell asleep. I could hear everything that was going on in the room, but was unable to respond. I could feel the pressure during contractions, but not much pain. The doc didn't feel that they were progressing fast enough so began pitocin via my iv. The contractions did pick up a little, but not much. The effects of the pain medicine began to fade and the pain came back. I asked for an epidural and was told it would be about 30 minutes before the anesthesiologist would be available. When I finally received the epidural, it was the worst part of the entire experience. It felt as though the doc administered the drug via 12'' long needle that went through my spine and into my hip. It was so painful, I cried in agony. After that, the pain left my body. Thankfully. I was still in and out during the doc's next exam. The doc tried to put in and uteral monitor, but the baby was too far down for it to go into place. So he moved the baby's head a bit and put it into place. After that, they watched the heartbeat go from about 145 to 60 and became very concerned. I was half asleep but could hear what was happening in the room, the doc left and came back when the heartbeat did not pick up. They tried shifting me to a different side in case that was the cause of the decrease. Nothing seemed to help so he said he should do an emergency c-section.
The room seemed to spin as people buzzed around me trying to disconnect all of the monitors. The staff was moving quick and wheeled my bed around and nearly out the door. I looked up at Matt and he had tears in his eyes. He squeezed my hand and I felt ok. His mom said something to me, I can't remember what she said, but she had tears in her eyes too. I glanced at Moriah too as they wheeled me out quickly. I saw the ceiling tiles fly by just like you see in the movies when they show someone on a hospital bed. They took me into the OR, it was COOLLLLDDD in there. They had to move me onto the table, I couldn't move my legs so could not offer much assistance. They laid by arms out and put a sheet up as they prepped me for surgery. I could feel the betadine and alcohol surgical prep, I recognized the circular motions of the swabs... I used to do they same thing for dogs before a spay when I worked for the animal hospital. I was not scared, but felt very alone waiting for Matt to join me. The nurses could not have been any nicer, they stroked my hair and told me everything would be ok. The mean anesthesiologist came back to offer more drugs in prep for the surgery. The doc was talking about general anesthesia as opposed to waiting the mere 5 minutes for the new epidural to kick in. He was concerned with 5 minutes! That freaked me out a little. Then I looked over and saw the blue eyes I loved so much. Matt was all dressed in cute blue scrubs and he took my hand. His hand offered all the warmth I needed to feel totally reassured. I felt some tears streaming down my face but not because I was scared. Just emotional. The nurse dried them whenever she saw them.
I felt tugging and pulling, like all my organs were being ripped out of my body. The staff and doctor were all joking and talking about something totally unrelated to me. Ocassionally the doc would look over the curtain and say something reassuring to me. Then at 10:47, they pulled Madison out and I could hear her cry for the very first time. My heart swelled and overflowed with love, isntantly. Matt and I looked at eachother with tears in our eyes and were so happy together to share that moment. The nurse picked her up and let me see over the curtain but then they wisked her away to the baby table. I watched Matt as he walked over look at her. I had to wait what seemed like forever to see her again. They eventually brought her back for a second so I could kiss her before she was taken to the nursery. Matt took her there himself. I was shivering and cold. The nurses brought a warm sheet to lay over my arms, but I continued to shiver and shudder. They said it was normal and hormone related. Once they were all done, they took me to a small nook made of curtains that was called a recovery room...ha...and I waited for Matt again. I felt lost until he came. I had a blood pressure cuff on one arm and a pulse ox monitor on the other hand, with iv connected too. I was getting irritated with all that stuff on.
I had to wait forever for Madison to come to me, I think Matt went to get her when they finally said it was ok. I was finally able to hold her and I nursed her right away. I just kissed and stroked her and was totally in love. Matt and I held her for a long time and enjoyed our first moments with our new daughter...