She's Here!

  Ah, yes. The post I'm sure you've all been waiting for...for almost 7 weeks now.

The shortened long version...because I want to remember.

Well, let's start the story way back during the summer when I had my ultrasound at around 20ish weeks pregnant. We found out we were going to have a girl, which had me super excited. That meant that we would end up with 2 boys followed by 3 girls. The perfect combination. I really liked that the genders were separated and not mixed between each other. Once all the baby measuring was finished, the technician gave me my estimated due date.  Two weeks later than I thought. Not possible. I knew my due date was correct. There was absolutely no way I could be off by an entire 2 weeks. I had even had 2 early ultrasounds confirming my original due date. Oh, well. I'll just talk to the doctor about it at my next appointment.

At home, I had a message to call the doctor office for the results of my quad panel test I had blood drawn for previously. I might have waited a few days to call them back. When I did, the nurse told me that the test was showing an abnormal result for Down Syndrome, meaning that there was an elevated chance that my baby could have Down Syndrome. I was a little nervous, but not overly so. At my next appointment I talked to the doctor about the due date and the abnormal test result. We decided to do another, more detailed, ultrasound to determine if she did have Down Syndrome.

After lots of scanning and measuring, the geneticist determined that she was not as likely to have Down Syndrome as the quad screen suggested. Still, I could have an amniocentesis to find out if she had it for sure and whether I wanted to abort or I could do a different blood test to be pretty sure if she had it. I chose the less invasive blood test and it came back negative. Now there was only a 1% chance that she could have Down Syndrome. From this point on, I prepared myself for her to have Down Syndrome, just in case, so I wouldn't have any surprises on her birth day.

So, if she didn't have Down Syndrome, according to all the recent tests, then what was causing her to measure a full 2 weeks behind schedule. The doctor suggested maybe there was a problem with the placenta not supporting her. Once she reached a viable age, the doctor decided I needed to go in for testing twice weekly. We would do non-stress tests and biophysical profiles. It was fun being subjected to testing twice weekly for 2 months. 

Anyway, closer to my due date, at about 38 weeks, she didn't score high enough on her tests. She wouldn't do her practice breathing. She only scored 6 out of 8. I had to retest the next day to make sure everything was okay. She scored 6 again. This time was because my fluid level dropped drastically. It went from an average of 12-16 down to 6. I would find out the next day that everyone was flipping out over it. So, she failed her tests two days in a row. The doctor scheduled the induction for the next day and also ordered more tests because there was a backlog of women being induced that day. They wanted to make sure they didn't have to have an emergency induction or c-section. At home, I consulted with Dr. Google and tried a few things to help my fluid level. So, back to the hospital for more testing, for the third day in a row. This time she had a perfect score. My fluid levels were perfect and baby performed perfectly. We were still on the induction list for that day, but not anything that was time critical.

I went home and started making dinner for the family and right as we were sitting down to eat we got the call from the hospital telling us it was my turn. So, we made a few phone calls and dropped the kids off at my sister's house for the night and headed to the hospital.

It was right around 8pm when I finally got checked in and put in a labor room. My mom came, but I don't remember if it was before or after the doctor came. The nurse was still inputting information when the doctor came in to break my water and get me started on pitocin. The anesthesiologist came in and talked to me. The contractions started fast and hard. I didn't last long without an epidural. We called him back to give me the drugs so I could actually enjoy the evening. A few hours pass. I knew I was contracting, but it wasn't painful. I love epidurals during childbirth. Baby's heart rate was acting up. Showing signs of stress. They lowered the pitocin and gave me oxygen. We watched for a while more. For a few moments during a particularly long contraction, there was a very long silence where we could not hear any heartbeat. I was scared to death. Finally, the contraction eased up and we heard that wonderful clopping sound again. Relief! This happened a several more times, but the nurse assured me that there was still a heartbeat. The nurse checked me and said I was a 9 and that it would be soon. She would go call the doctor to warn him. She wasn't even to the door and I started to feel the baby move down. I thought I was imagining it and let it happen a couple more times. I had the nurse check me again and I was ready. She still hadn't called the doctor. Now they did. They told me to not push. I crossed my legs and panted into the oxygen mask. I watched the clock. I panted. I asked how long the doctor would be. I panted. I watched the clock more. I panted. I crossed my legs tighter. I panted. Fifteen minutes later the doctor finally gets there. The doctor gets all suited and gloved up. My legs go in the stirrups and she immediately crowns. I wait for the next contraction and (barely) push. Her head is out. The doctor had to move a bit of cord out of the way. I push a little bit more and she is completely out. She was wrapped all over with her cord. It was around her neck, arm, and leg. 

They untangled her and handed her to me. I checked her eyes. I checked her hands. I checked her feet. I checked her ears. No sign of Down Syndrome. Relief! At that moment she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I was so in love. 

(Check out her belly button. She DEFINITELY has an outie!)

They took her away, got her all checked out, and cleaned her up.  Ryan looked over to tell me she was 6lbs 12.6oz (he had to add in the .6oz part) and 19.75 inches. She was my teeny tiny. Her official time of birth was 12:25am on December 14th. 

The birth was the easy part, now we had to officially decide on a name. We had the first name picked out three years before, but we were stuck on a middle name. 

The entire pregnancy I was positive we'd name her Vevith Anne, after my grandmother, but a few weeks before delivery I had mentioned to Ryan that I had loved the name Adelle ever since I first saw the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance. He suddenly liked it and then we had a decision to make. Would we give her great-grandma's name or would we give her the name I really loved. 

(She always sticks out her tongue!)

After weeks of going back and forth, and almost not being discharged from the hospital on time because we hadn't filled out the paperwork, we finally ended up having the other kids choose between our two options. 

 They decided that their baby sister should be named Vevith Adelle Taylor. It fit perfectly. 

Welcome to the family, my teeny tiny.