Taylor's Story

This post has been neglected for 31/2 months. I finally decided it was time that I get it on my blog. Please don't think you have to read all this. I went into so much detail because I wanted to have it for journaling purposes.

My due date was February 8th. Gavin came about two weeks early so I confident that Taylor would be the same. When 38 weeks passed with no baby I became a little anxious. At 39 weeks I was having some good signs that she was ready to come. The next day (February 2nd) I had a Dr Appt.

The Day it all Happened:

9 A.M. I took Gavin to preschool. I think his preschool teacher was a little surprised I was still around with no baby.

9:30 A.M. I had a Dr. Appt. I decided to go ahead and strip my membranes. I don't know if I can suggest that to anyone, but I was desperate. I like the analogy the Dr. gives to his patients about stripping membranes. If you're close to the edge and someone gives you a little push, you might end up in the water. If you're not close to the edge, a little push will get you closer, but you probably won't end up in the water.

10:30 A.M. Grocery stop. Contractions start but nothing consistent.

10:45 A.M. All I could think about is that I needed to keep active. I went home and decided to go on a walk. I barely zipped up my coat, put on my hat and gloves and started out. I walked for a good hour around our neighborhood and down our bike path. I was laughing to myself because a couple of times I had some skinny, fit women jog pass me in their cute, tight jogging attire. I wonder what they thought of a huge pregnant lady waddling down the road? I had to stop a couple of times with some heavy contractions but still nothing consistent.

12:15 CONTRACTIONS START.... I had three heavy ones right in a row. I couldn't even finish making Gavin's PB&J. I think Gavin was concerned that he wasn't going to get feed that day. When I started to explaining to him that mommy was going to have a baby soon and he was going to be a big brother I started to get a little teary. I felt like the only way my contractions were coming is if I was moving around. I decided I needed to start cleaning.Vacuuming was the best solution, so I started vacuuming the stairs. I know Gavin thought I was a little crazy when I had to stop every two steps to breath through the pain. He kept asking me "mommy are you okay?"

3:15P.M. I called Labor and Delivery to give them a update. They told me before I go in make sure my contractions were five to seven minutes apart and at least 30 to 60 seconds long. At that point my contractions were only 10 minutes apart. I was disappointed because as soon as I hung up the phone I didn't get another contraction for fifteen minutes, soon enough they started up again. I kept cleaning and moving while Travis was timing them. I didn't want to step foot in the hospital until I knew I was in full labor. I worried that they would send me home. Travis was getting a little concerned because my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. I told him that he needed to start timing how long they last just to make sure. I went down stairs and started curling my hair and putting make-up on. I wanted to look presentable when our daughter came in the world, which really didn't help me much after deliver was over.

5:30 P.M. Travis put down is watch and said we are going in. I think I would have stayed around the house a couple hours longer. My Aunt Sonya came over to watch Gavin and we headed up to the hospital. Instead of crying through my contractions I started to laugh. Travis was wondering what was so funny. I told him it was either cry or laugh.

6:00 P.M. We were checked into the hospital. I was so worried that I was only going to be dilated to a 2 and they were going to send me home. When the nurse checked me and I was dilated to a 4 and fully effaced, I was so happy I started crying. She assured me that I was staying right there to have a baby.

7:30 P.M. Give me the epidural I have nothing to prove. All I could do is thank the anesthesiologist for relieving my pain. I have no doubt he is the most loved by all women who have babies.

9:30 P.M. Mom arrives. I decided that it would be neat to have her there. I was dilated to about a 9 or 10. I felt the need to push but they had me hold off for some reason I can't remember.

9:55 P.M. The Dr. looked at me and said, "you said it was going to be a boy right?" I thought he was serious and then he handed me our baby GIRL. TAYLOR ANN came into the world screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. She was ticked.

10:00 P.M. I was being completely ignored by both Travis and my mom. They were so busy looking at our baby girl they didn't even care about me. Actually I don't blame them one bit. All the post fixing stuff the Dr. has to do is no fun to sit there and watch. I did take a picture of Travis and my mom right in front of me watching my baby get all taken care of while I sat there.

We all fell in love with Taylor fast. My hospital stay was awesome. The rooms where so nice and I was treated so good by all the nursing staff. A big thanks goes out to my main two nurses Marty and Amy. They treated me like a queen!

Big brother with his little sister for the first time!

ONE OF MY FAVORITES...

LITTLE MISS PINK... After we got Taylor dressed and put her in the car seat Travis and I both started laughing because of all the pink. The car seat was recovered by my friend Beth. I picked out the material and she did the sewing. She did an amazing job. The nursers were very impressed when we left the hospital.

ONE WEEK LATER, FEBRUARY 9th

Mom Smart arrived to stay for a couple of days to help out. I felt a little bad that she was there because we were all doing so good, but we were excited for the company. She even brought Gavin a toy boat that he thinks is the coolest boat ever. Little did I know that it was a blessing that she was there.

That night Travis left for a church meeting and we were trying to get Gavin into bed. We were all upstairs reading books on Gavin's bed with Grandma. As we were finishing up I suddenly felt like I was peeing my pants. I realized that I couldn't control myself, so I ran into the bathroom. When I sat on the toilet and looked down, it wasn't pee it was blood. I told my mother-in-law that something wasn't right. I realized that I needed to stop the bleeding fast. I got off the toilet and sat on the ground. I could feel it literally pump out of me. I started getting really scared; I didn't have any control. I remember looking at mom and we both started wondering if we should call the ambulance, and quickly we both it agreed that it was necessary. I tried calling Travis on my cell phone and he wasn't answering. I wondered what was going to happen to me. How much blood is too much? I had several thoughts flash through my head. The blood just kept coming like a faucet. It was like I was sitting in a pool of water. During this time Gavin walked in the bathroom to see all the blood. I will never forget how worried he looked. He wasn't crying he just new that mommy needed help.

I finally got a hold of Travis and he rushed home. When he ran into the bathroom I felt so relieved. He just held my hand and told me that it was going to be okay and that he was sorry. It made me realize how much I really loved him and how lucky I was to have him in my life.

The paramedics arrived and got me on a stretcher. I couldn't believe that I had to be carried out of my house on a stretcher. As I was leaving I tried to tell Judy(mom) where the extra milk was for the baby. Luckily I had just pumped and had stored some extra in the freezer. I felt so bad that I was leaving her with a newborn.

I wasn't hurting at all until I got into the ambulance, that's when I started feeling contractions. I also started feeling dizzy. When I got into the emergency room that's when the pain really hit. I felt like I was in full on labor again. THIS IS GROSS, SORRY! I ended up pushing out a blood clot the size of a nerf football. To stop the bleeding the Doctor gave me a medicine like pitocin to get my uterus to start contracting.

I ended up loosing between 1200-1500 cc of blood. I was lucky to get into the ER fast. They had me stay a night at the hospital to watch me. The next morning I was so swollen and weak. The same nurse that I had the week before was my nurse that night, AMY. She was so surprised to see me back. She treated me so kind. I can't say enough good things about Amy. I couldn't nurse so I had to pump. Travis came to the hospital with the Taylor and had to bottle feed her all night.

My Dr. still doesn't know what exactly happened. How he explained it to me is after having a baby the uterus contracts back to normal, that's what stops the bleeding. Behind the uterus a reservoir of blood builds up. If you get an infection, tear or part of the placenta is left inside your body the reservoir of blood could break and cause you to start bleeding, it could be fatal. It usually happens right after birth or while you're in the hospital. It's rare to happen a week after birth. It was weird because I had NO SIGNS. I felt perfectly normal.

The next day was emotional roller coaster. I was so thrilled to get home to give my little boy a hug. When I walked in the house he ran up and gave me a big hug. I think I almost passed out from bending down too fast. I was also glad to put my arms around my mother-in-law too. I can't tell you how blessed and grateful I was that she was there that night. While I was in the ER Travis gave me a blessing. I don't remember what exactly was said but during the prayer I felt a peace. I knew that everything was going to be fine.

Having a baby is serious. It's not something to take lightly. I know now I will take extra precautions.