I cant believe its already been 2 weeks since ive had my sweet baby girl in my arms. Its amazing how much my heart grew the first time i heard her sweet little cry. Since the last couple of weeks have already been such a blur i thought id take a minute to write up the story of how Brielle made her appearence into this world.
It started back on Tuesday January 29. I was 37 weeks 4 days pregnant when we got up early, very excited to go to our ultrasound appointment to see our little girl. I woke up with anticipation to see how big she was getting and hopeful that our Dr. appointment would show some progression in my body that meant our little one was getting closer to being born.
Rich's parents met us at the office to see the ultrasound. During the ultrasound the tech said that we had a little baby, she weighed approx. 5 lbs 3 oz. We asked what that could mean, she said it could mean the placenta wasnt working the way it should and our Dr. may talk to us about inducing. A thousand thoughts were going through my mind, mostly concern that Brielle was going to have complications because her growth had been hindered.
Thankfully our Dr. appointment was immediately after the ultrasound, not sure how I would have been able to wait if it weren't. At that appointment the Dr did confirm that Brielle wasn't getting the nutrients she needed from the placenta anymore and she would be better off outside rather than in so she could start to put on some more weight. She reassured us that even though Brielle was small, all of her organs looked great and she was developed as much as she should be at 38 weeks. So we set the induction date for Thursday.
Thursday morning after getting little to no sleep, we were in the car and on our way to the hospital by 730 am. After checking in, and a bit of a wait, we were settled into our room by 10. The midwife that was on call from my Dr office comes in to tell us that my Dr will be in the following night at 7 pm and so we were just going to start things out very slowly so my Dr could be there to deliver the baby. We were prepared for a long process but this news wasn't exactly what we wanted to hear. At 2 pm Thursday the midwife came back to get the process started. She put a catheter into my cervix (ouch!!) and pumped it full of liquid to help soften the cervix, that would stay in for 12 or more hours. The pitocin can go up to a level 20, but they just had it at a level 4, the next morning they would increase the pitocin to help me dilate.
Apparently a level 4 pitocin was enough to get my contractions started. By 6 pm they were only 2-3 minutes apart. After a few hours of trying a pain medication called fentanyl with not much relief, I decided it was time for an epidural. By 11 pm I was feeling much better, and being completely exhausted I was able to fall asleep. At 5 am Friday the Dr. came in to take the catheter out. I was now 100% effaced and 4 cm dilated. From there my body decided that it didn't care if my Dr. was there or not, it was not going to wait til 7 pm to make progress. By 10 am my water broke and I was 6 cm dilated. The on call Dr. talked to my Dr. and she said she could be there at 1 so she could be there for my delivery.
After my water broke we noticed a change in the babys heart rate. Normal rate for her was between 120 and 160, and it was now 180 or higher and with my contractions it would drop down below 105. The Dr wasn't overly concerned, but she was definitely keeping a close eye on us. I on the other hand couldn't stop watching the monitor that showed her heart rate. Around the same time my temperature was now up to 102 degrees. The Dr at this point was starting to worry about the baby and I getting an infection so they started me on an antibiotic I.V. as well as a tylenol I.V. I had so many wires and tubes hooked up to me at this point.
Finally, 2 pm comes and my Dr comes in and says its time to get this baby out. I pushed through about 4 contractions, and 20 minutes later I heard the sweetest sound I've ever heard. A good strong cry from my little girl.
Brielle Devlyn Wheeler was born on February 1, 2013 at 2:25 pm. She weighed 4 lbs 7.7 oz, and was 18 inches long. She cried while she was getting cleaned up but stopped as soon as she was being held. She layed on my chest and I told jerk through tears how much I love her. Every day since then my heart has grown a little bit bigger because she has been in my life. I am so grateful for my beautiful little blessing.
