It only takes a minute for your world to change around you. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend preparing or planning or looking forward to the future…there’s already a plan in action.
Yesterday, I got to witness that plan first hand. I decided to work from home, that way I was close to the hospital when I got the text. It was 11am. Megan texted me that she was at 5cm. Then five seconds later she texted 7cm. I looked at my older sister. We were both thinking the same thing. If she has babies as fast as we have babies, I better get on the road right now.
I darted out the door, leaving my baby boy and puppy as an addition to her own clan, and I was off! About five miles down the road I realized I never left the diaper bag behind. Luckily her little guy is in the same diaper size as mine – phew, I didn’t have to turn around and waste more time!
As per my procrastination with everything, I still hadn’t reviewed the hospital information. I knew I was headed to Green Bay but had no clue what hospital. A quick call to my mom fixed that, a text to Megan to see what room was hers got me right where I needed to be.
I arrived at 11:56am. The nursing staff was very welcoming (I even ran into an old friend, Kim, who just happens to be a nurse there!)
When I entered her hospital room, there was calmness surrounding both Megan and Patrick! This was the first induction and epidural I’ve ever witnessed, so it was strange to me to see a hospital room so calm.
“No baby yet,” she joked.
So, we waited. Every hour or so they’d come into the room and check her progress – 7cm happened to be a consistent number. Not quite the number we were waiting for, but consistent.
We chatted, we waited, we talked about the differences in each other’s births, we waited some more. We (Patrick and I) even enjoyed a Little Caesars pizza delivery that Patrick’s mom so graciously dropped off for us.
And then we waited some more.
Eventually Megan’s contractions started getting stronger and closer together so we watched the monitor together, watched every line closely, hoping it was almost time to start pushing.
Megan wanted that baby girl out. She was ready….and so were we!
About 6pm the familiar chaos that I’ve encountered in the past kicked in. Her contractions were strong enough to start pushing. The nurse and doctor came in to get her rolling. Dr. Swift joked about not making it home for dinner again-but we were so grateful she decided to stay. There’s a familiarity/comfort with knowing the doctor you’ve gone to your entire pregnancy is able to help you bring your baby into this world.
Megan pushed and pushed and pushed. Each contraction gave her three chances to help her baby girl move down the birth canal. Every push brought her one push closer to bringing baby into this world.
After almost two continuous hours of pushing, it was easy to see her exhaustion. Baby’s heartbeat wasn’t as stable as it should’ve been, so Dr. Swift decided she needed to help her out. This baby needed to come out, and she needed to come out right away.
Dr. Swift attached the suction to the babies head. She informed Megan that all she could do was help, she needed Megan to push with everything she had in her. The next contraction started gearing up. It was time to welcome this sweet baby girl into our crazy, beautiful world.
With a deep breath that caused her shoulders to move upward, she tucked her head into her chest and pushed as hard and as long as she could as Patrick cheered her on and the nursing staff did the same. Quick breath and again, the same thing – the doctor pulling just as hard on her end. Finally, baby girl broke through! She was here – at 7:51pm we welcomed little Brielle to her “Birthday Party”!
But that’s where the plot thickens.
Baby girl had pooped, she had taken in meconium. She only got to lay on Megan for a few seconds – just long enough for Patrick to cut her umbilical cord – and in the blink of an eye she was whisked away.
As fast as she was born, she was taken. The nursing staff working frantically to clear her airways. Even the doctor had left Megan to work on the baby. They kept slapping her foot and talking to her and trying to get her to breath. They even had the oxygen mask on her.
It was by far the scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed. But I needed to stay strong for my sister. I needed her to stay calm.
So, as soon as I saw baby girl’s tummy move a little as she started taking a few breaths, I got in there and snapped a quick picture of her. Then I rushed over to Megan and Patrick to show them she was okay, baby girl would be just fine. I was lying through my teeth. I was scared to death for their little bundle of joy.
The minutes passed. Please God, help this baby girl pull through.
Finally, her purplish/blue appearance started to disappear. She even started to cry a little. That cry is the most beautiful sound a mama could ever hear. Megan and Patrick immediately started crying and hugging and kissing each other. Hearing their baby girl’s first cry was the most amazing sound either had ever heard in their entire lives.
After about 20 minutes, the nursing staff gave Megan a chance to hold her. She only got a couple minutes with her, but it was enough to know she was okay and that the nursing staff was doing exactly what they needed to in order to make sure baby was as healthy as can be.
They took sweet Brielle to the nursery for observation and invited Patrick and I down to witness her first measurements. She weighed in at 7lbs 1.8ozs and 21 inches long. She was perfect!
I didn’t stay long enough to see them get their baby girl back, but after two hours of observation, Megan sent me a beautiful photo of the two of them getting their much-needed skin-to-skin time.
The entire experience was scary and beautiful at the same time. Thankfully, we were all able to count our blessings last night.
Welcome to the world, Brielle Elizabeth Adair. You are a miracle, baby girl, and we are so excited to have you in our family!
Shoutout to Dr. Sara Swift and her entire nursing staff at Bellin Health in Green Bay. They all stayed focused, stayed positive, stayed professional. It was impressive to watch.
