What happened was...they sent me to labor and delivery again. I cried. I assumed this was par for the course and would be leaving soon. But they kept me and would not let me go until I had this baby. I begged and pleaded, but none of the doctors seemed to care that my planner was at work, I had the museum to close, I had an event coming up. For crying out loud, I have never wanted to go back to work so badly. Instead, I got admitted and had to face my fear of actually having this child. It turned out that I was scared to death. Of having a baby. Physically birthing the kid, and actually taking it home. What the heck was I going to do with this baby?? I thought I had 3 more weeks to figure it out. Nope.
What transpired was both horrible and miraculous at the same time. They luckily let me have dinner that night (a cheese omelet and dried potatoes from "room service") since for the next while, I was only going to be sucking on ice chips. Everything from that point on is a blur. The dog was kidnapped by the neighbors, David rushed home to pack our bag, Dad panicked and retrieved my computer from work and Janis cancelled the annual beach trip (sorry about that!).
Everyone seemed excited to meet the baby. I just wanted to go home. Instead, the next morning they surprised me with a c-section. I was supposed to get the pitocin to start contractions to push the kid out. Nope, they wanted to cut her out. This was my first time in a hospital and definitely the first time being in surgery. It was a little unnerving. I was drugged and taken back for this procedure where David had to put on a full body suit. That can't be a safe thing to do if he had to cover head to toe. They stuck me with a needle in my back. I think. A tarp was put up in front of my face. There were times where it sounded like they were changing out the alternator in a car. Once, David told me not to look...apparently my guts shot out all over the tarp. They pulled and tugged and out came a baby. I looked at David and we both were frozen until the kid cried. Best sound ever. Please note that I do not think that now.
By this point, I have no idea who was at the hospital with me, but they all got to see the baby before me. I was now loopy and about to be given the worst medicine ever invented. They started me on magnesium sulfate, which meant I couldn't eat or drink for 24+ hours. Horrible. I've never felt so horrible in my life. I thought I was literally going to die. Meanwhile, I kept having to give blood, have my BP checked, pump breast milk for this baby and somehow try to get some rest while 89 nurses and doctors paraded through my room.
They finally brought the baby to my room, where I blurted out Emma Rose Perry when they asked what the baby was called. She now had a name besides Bonnie Lynn Lavergne or Baby Perry or kid or anything else. August 3 at 11:05 am, she became our Emma. Emma clocked in at 4 pounds, 13 ounces and was 18 inches long (give or take). She was long, with long fingers and long toes and skinny arms and legs. Whose kid did we get?? And she was the most precious thing I ever saw. Sure wish my Mom could see her...
We stayed in the hospital for quite a while. Emma had low glucose and a bit of jaundice. She got some sugar and hit the tanning bed before they were able to send her home. I had high blood pressure and they kept bugging me about it. I couldn't go home until they gave me lots of different medicines and had it kept under a certain number. Remind me never to go back there!
For the next few weeks, David's mom and Dad stayed with me. Keeping me company, urging me to sleep, doing some housework and cooking dinner. It was great, but Emma was and still is exhausting. We fed her every 2 hours, day and night. Since I was breastfeeding, that meant I was up every hour. I had charts to fill out that David made and I had to pump breast milk after feeding Emma. And Emma fell asleep most of the time. Easily one of the more frustrating months of my life. She has now almost doubled in size, thanks to all my hard work. She is even more precious than she was before and just gets cuter every day. I don't always think that at 4 in the morning, but we are working on it! In the meantime, pray that Parkwood lets us in their daycare. Emma put on her Sunday best and hopefully we impressed them enough to LET US IN!
Welcome to the world Emma Rose, your Mommy and Daddy love you so much and are glad you are healthy and happy!
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