From my vantage point, as Beckie's
Husband, and Anabel's Father, the pregnancy and childbirth process was
awe inspiring. Beckie is such a strong person, and more patient than I
could ever dream of being.
Beckie was nauseous throughout the
pregnancy. We spent a lot of time changing types of foods, changing
vitamins, changing positions, changing anything that could be changed to
alleviate the nausea. One thing I am thankful for is that the nauseousness
stopped Beckie from drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. To this day,
she has not smoked again, and for that, I am grateful (and so is
Anabel).
At a little over six months, Beckie began
to experience false labor. She was having contractions, and we had to go
to the Hospital a couple of times to get the contractions to stop. The
Dr. put her on bed rest, and any time Beckie moved for the last three
months, she had contractions.
Finally the due date came (June 14th.)
and no baby! The Dr. had taken Beckie off her medication to stop the
contractions a month before the due date, and we figured Anabel would
come early. When the due date came, and left, we were both pretty bummed
out.
On June 22nd, the Dr. had us go to the
hospital for induced labor. The nurse hooked Beckie up to the IV Pitosin
drip at approximately 11:00am. She started having small contractions,
but nothing that compared to the ones she was having while on bed rest.
At around 7:00 that evening, after being there all day having
contractions with hardly any dilation, the nurse came in and said that
they might turn off the medication for the night, and start again in the
morning. The Dr. decided at about 9:00 to continue with the medication,
and then proceeded to break Beckie's water. Beckie then began to have
very hard contractions until about midnight, when she finally asked for
an epidural.
On June 23rd, Beckie continued having
contractions through the night and into the morning. At around 8:00 am,
a bunch of Dr.'s and nurses rushed in and suggested an emergency cesarean
section.
Things got worse. The Dr. planned on
using the epidural from the previous night as an anesthetic for the
operation. They tested Beckie's pain threshold in the OR, and thought
everything was fine. They made the incision, and Beckie could feel
everything! They kicked me out of the room, then knocked her out with a
general anesthetic. It was hard being out of the room, and not knowing
what was happening to my wife and baby.
Anabel was born at approximately 8:30 am,
Weighed 7lb, 4oz and measured 22 inches.
We then went two separate directions.
Anabel went to special care nursery, and Beckie went to recovery. I went
with Anabel to special care for about two minutes, then my sister Lianna
brought me to the recovery room where Beckie was. This was the time I
will probably remember the most, and Beckie will remember least. She was
just coming to, and was shaking very badly. She was extremely swollen,
and kept crying, and apologizing to me and the nurses saying that she
messed up. She thought that she did something wrong, and that we were
all upset with her. I knew that much of that was due to the trauma and
morphine, but I still felt really bad for her, and just stayed there
holding her hand, and telling her how much I love her, and how proud I
am of her, and that she did nothing wrong.
About one hour later, we were able to
bring Beckie to the nursery to see Anabel for the first time. Beckie
cried and tried to hold Anabel's hand. Beckie was laying in a gurney, and
Anabel was in a special crib, so it was hard for them to bond.
We then went to Beckie's room. She spent
the rest of the evening recovering.
In total, we were at the hospital for six
days. We were finally able to have Anabel with us after 48 hours. She
will be with us for eternity.
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