Welcome to the World **repost**

Friday night, I would have sworn we were having a baby!! I thought for sure that I was having contractions, and a baby was soon to arrive. Turns out, I was wrong. No matter how many times that I walked the block with Chase, there was no baby.

Saturday was a little different. I did not feel Cote move all day long. Around 8 o'clock I was really getting nervous. I drank a coke and took a shower to try to stir her up a little, but nothing was working. To be safe, I decided to call the hospital to see if this was normal. It wasn't. The nurse I spoke to said that I should come to the hospital, so they could check on her to see what was going on. I threw the rest of my stuff in my hospital go-bag and away we went.

When Dad and I got to the hospital around nine, they checked me in and got me a room. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor to see what was going on. at first, everything was appeared to be fine. Her heart beat was strong, and we could hear her movements on the monitor. i also had two contractions in six minutes. Because I had more than one contraction within 10 minutes, the nurse checked my cervix. I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I had progressed since Tuesday, another good sign.

The nurse explained that she needed to watch the monitors and such for an hour, but with the way things looked she believed I would be able to return home after the hour. However, forty-five minutes into the hour, things began to change. For some reason, there was a lull on the fetal heart monitor. It could have been caused by her rolling over the umbilical cord or moving away from the monitor so it picked up my heart beat. No matter, it required a sonogram to be ordered.

The nurse explained that the sonogram was simply to get a better look at what was going on inside my tummy and make sure everything was okay. She told me that they would be checking for four things during the sonogram: fetal heart rate, fetal muscle tone, fetal movement, and fluids. Each item would be "graded" on a scale of 0-2. An eight would be perfect score, but I scored a six. Her heart rate was strong. Muscle tone was good. There were plenty of fluids for her to swim in, but she was not moving. We watched for twenty minutes, trying all kinds of things to get a kick, but there was nothing! My heart was breaking as the worst raced through my mind. I began to beg that they do something! The nurse left for a couple minutes only to return to announce that we were having a baby!!

Because she was breech, a cesarean was the only option. My room quickly became a circus as everyone began to prepare. The on-call doctor, Dr. Freeman, came in to explain what would happen. The anesthesiologist briefed me on his duties, and the nurses were rushing around doing everything else.

I was slowly becoming more and more nervous about what was happening. I was ready to have my baby, but I did not want to have her under these circumstances. It was horrifying to think that this was happening because something might be wrong with my baby.

Dad and the nurses were doing everything they could to calm me down. There was a moment that was quite humorous that helped a lot. Dad was complaining about his required sterile attire. He asked why he had to wear all of that and I did not. The nurse told him he could be naked in a gown if her preferred, and a voice from the hallway yelled "Please don't get naked." It was hilarious. (You had to be there!)

After everyone was ready, I was escorted to a stark white operating room. It was quite intimidating. Dad couldn't come in yet, so I felt very alone. Walking in that room, I instantly felt unsettled being. In a matter of minutes, the anesthesiologist had me feeling paralysed from the chest down. People were rushing in and out. I had no idea what was going on, and I felt completely out of control.

Finally, Dad was allowed in, and the cesarean began. I have to say, it was the strangest feeling ever. The whole procedure was very aggressive. It reminded me of the movie Alien vs. Predator when the aliens emerge from the people's body cavities. It was strange and unnerved me. I felt like they would throw me off the table while turning my insides out. My emotions continued to mount. To try to make me feel better, the anesthesiologist narrated what was going on behind the sheet while Dad kept reminding me to breath.

It was nice to hear what was happening. It made me feel a little more included in the process. He told me as the feet came out, the hips, the shoulders, and finally the head. She was officially born at 12:42 am on Sunday, May 27th. BUT, she didn't make a sound. I was hysterical! It felt like time stopped as I waited to hear her scream. Anything would have been better than the silence... When she finally cried, it was officially the best moment of my life. I had been thinking the worst and was beyond relieved to hear her voice. It was the most beautiful sound that I have ever heard.

They cleaned, weighed, and measured her before I got to see her. Dad finally got to lay her on my chest so I could see. She was absolutely perfect. Her chubby little cheeks instantly stole my heart away. And, it was amazing how she calmed down when I began to speak to her. She had been crying, but the sound of my voice soothed her. It was the coolest thing to know that she recognized my voice.

COTE MARIE SPAULDING

MAY 27, 2012

12:42 AM

7 LBS 11 OZ

21 IN

I did not get to see her for long because the doctor had to finish putting me back together, humpty dumpty style, and the nurses had to finish up with Miss Cote. It took about 20 minutes, and then I was rolled into recovery to be with Dad and Cote. Her nurse was taking care of her eyes and her vitamin K shot.

Words cannot express how it felt when I finally got to hold her in my arms. It was an absolutely wonderful moment! And nursing... It was amazing! I couldn't believe that I had created something so absolutely perfect and was able to give her the sustenance to maintain. It was a beautiful miracle and defiantly a God thing!!





We were then rolled to our post-partum room where we met Mom. She had been out of town and rushed home to meet her grand baby. She was pretty captivated. Mom said that the resemblance between Cote and I was incredible. We were practically identical!

My Baby Picture from 1991

Dad went home to get some rest while Mom stayed with me over night. She was a wonderful help since I was still pretty paralysed. The adrenaline kept me awake for most of the night. I couldn't get enough of my little angel. I didn't want to miss a second or even let her go. I held her all night long!!!

The next morning, Dad came back to see us.

I was pretty drugged still, but Mom and Dad got to see Cote get her physical and very first bath!!

Right after her bath, Devin, Delisha, and Dusty came up to visit. Devin was very sweet on Miss Cote. He gave her kisses and was very curious, watching her every move.

While they were there, Cote had her first hearing test. She was so relaxed though that she did not respond to the test. They had to come back the next day to try again. (She passed the second time!!)

Later, Rob and Chase joined us as well. It was so amazing to see Chase's response to Cote. Throughout my whole pregnancy, he seemed so uninterested, but when he saw her for the first time he was just as captivated as the rest of us. He did not seem to want to put her down. It was very cool to watch!!

That evening, Caitlin came by to see us! It was the first time I had seen her in at least a year. How wonderful it was to get to see her again under such wonderful circumstances!!

Chase and Mom stayed the night with me. I really enjoyed watching how excited Chase was to be around my precious little angel. At around two o'clock in the AM, the nurse came and took Cote to be weighed, measured, and such. She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz. She had lost just about 10% of her birth weight which is apparently normal.



The next morning (Monday) we had to move rooms. We actually got a much bigger room, so that was nice since we had so many visitors. Becky, Beverly, Gordon, Brett, Elizabeth, Drew, and Tori all made their way up to visit.

 

Later that evening, after everyone left, Brandon came up to visit. He watched the Rangers game with me and Dad. It was neat because Dad said when I was born that he and Mom also watched the Rangers play. Funny how history repeats itself.

At around five in the morning, the nurse took Cote again to be weighed and measured. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz, so she was still losing weight. Also, her jaundice levels had increased. We were informed that when we were discharged she would need to be tested by her pediatrician to see if further action needed to be taken.

When my doctor came in, he came bearing good news!! We were finally going home! I was so excited!! Dad and I packed up all of our stuff. I took the discharge class. I signed all my paper work. Her birth certificate information was taken care of, and we finally got to leave.

This was the most amazing experience, and I just want to thank you for allowing me to share it with you!!

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