Anya Marie

I probably should talk about my sweet girl's entrance into the world. I went into labor around 1 p.m. on the 19th, when my water broke all by itself! (About 90% of the time, the membranes don't rupture before labor begins. Usually, they rupture long after the intense labor contractions have started.)

When I told Daniel my water had broken, he surprised me by causally saying, "no it didn't."

Umm...wow? Seriously? No freak out? And hey! I DID NOT pee myself!

After convincing him my water HAD broken, and after calling the doctor to make sure we needed to go to the hospital now, he agreed that we needed to go. I grabbed my overnight bag, made a few last minute checks to make sure I had everything, and Daniel decided to make some calls for work before we left. I sat down, laughing at my weird husband, waiting for him to get done. (If he took more than 5 minutes, I seriously would have driven to the hospital without him.) On a bit of a side note, when he was talking to his boss about one of the loans he is working on, he mentioned, "My wife thinks she's in labor." Peter responded, "Why does she think that?" Daniel answered, "Oh, her water broke." Then Peter said, "Um...yeah. That means she's in labor..."

We left for the hospital, and they checked me out. I was 90% effaced and 3 cm dilated. They confirmed that my membranes has ruptured, and then my contractions hit. Let me say that as much as I admire women going all natural, yeah, that so wasn't going to happen for me. When I asked for the epidural an hour later, I was at a 3.5. There was no way I was going to keep going without pain relief.

I kicked Daniel out of the room on an errand to get batteries for our camera while the epidural was being placed. He got back just in time for everything to go crazy.

About 20 minutes after the epidural was placed, Anya's heart rate dropped to 70 from 150 where it had been. All of a sudden, there were several nurses moving me, trying to move her head to get her heart rate up, and none of it worked. Something was very wrong with my baby. Before I knew it, they were literally RUNNING my bed to the O.R. I asked if Daniel was going to be in there for the C-Section, and they said he might get there in time. Needless to say, I was very afraid. I wasn't opposed to a C-section at all, but the fact that my baby was in distress and my husband may not have been able to be there for her birth made me want to cry.

As they rushed me into the O.R., all I could think to do was pray. I couldn't fathom losing my baby now, right when it was almost time to meet her. I begged the Lord that my baby would be okay. I had no idea what was wrong.

Thankfully, Anya's heart rate went up to 120 once we got to the O.R. With every contraction, it would go dangerously low, then pick up to 120 when the contractions would ease up. The surgeon discussed with me that her heart rate was picking up, and while they didn't need to operate right away, it would probably be in Anya's best interest if we did a C-section. They were able to get Daniel into the room, and felt confident enough about waiting for my doctor to get there that I didn't go under the knife right away.  He did give us the option of trying for a vaginal delivery, explaining that the same thing could happen again, and they may not be able to get her in time. Without hesitation, we chose to do a C-section.

With all of the pain meds they had given me, and with how terrified I was at this point, I don't really remember much about the actual C-section. At some point, my doctor must have gotten there, since  I remember her assisting with the C-section, but I don't remember her getting there. I remember hearing Anya cry, but thinking it was one of the machines in the room. They told me her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, and each time a contraction happened, it was choking her. No matter what, we would have needed a C-section in order to have her born safely. Then I remember being sewn up, and taken back to my room.

Daniel stayed with Anya in the nursery while I tried to sleep. Every now and then, he came to check on me. Each time he came in, he told me how well she was doing. Her sucking reflex was strong. According to the nurses, she was EXTREMELY active compared to other newborns. She was small, but completely healthy. About an hour and a half after she was born, I finally got to meet her and hold her for the first time.

Anya is 10 days old now, and the 10 days she's been here have been the best of my life. She's growing like crazy! She eats SO much for a 5 and a half pound little girl. I love being up at night with her, and love the way she looks at me after she eats. I'm so thankful that we had such good doctors and nurses to help keep my baby safe.

One last thing before I go. Thanks to having a C-section, we found out that I have a heart shaped uterus, which isn't dangerous to me in any way, but means that I will NEVER go past 38 weeks with any subsequent pregnancies. The doctors determined that the reason why my water broke by itself was because when I had a braxton-hicks contraction before my water broke,  it put uneven pressure on the amniotic sac, which caused it to rupture. There's a small chance for preterm labor with subsequent pregnancies, but at least I never have to go the full 40 weeks.