Yesterday Ruth turned a whopping 5 years old! It is so fun to have a 5 year-old around the house. Ruth is a wonderful big sister and a great little helper. We love her SO much!
I realized recently (after posting about the story of Gareth's birth) that I haven't ever written the story of Ruth's birth down (on the blog.. i have it in a journal). So here it is!
April 24th was my BFF Angel's wedding and I was supposed to be there (sorry Angel!!). Since her wedding was 2 1/2 hours away, and we were only a week away from our due date, we decided we probably shouldn't go. It was a good thing we didn't! Probably around 10pm that evening, I started feeling gas-like pains. I didn't think anything of it so I went on with what I was doing (email and playing solitaire on the computer). At around 11:45pm I felt my first 'real' contraction. And they kept coming. A little after midnight, I went and sat next to Jones (who was reading on the bed) and this is what our conversation was like:
me: "Honey, how will I know if I'm in labor?"
jones: "I don't know."
me: "Cause if it feels like *graphic descriptions of pain*, then I'm in labor."
It was at that moment that Jones started freaking out. Just like in the movies. He ran and got his stopwatch and his notepad and pencil and got ready to keep track of the contractions (just like all the pregnancy books told us to do).
From all that we'd heard and read about labor, we were expecting to be home for quite some time before going in to the hospital so I decided to take a warm shower while Jones called his parents. After my shower (and about 4 or 5 contractions during it) I called my mom and found myself having trouble speaking through the contractions. Mom suggested I call Labor and Delivery and ask them if I should come in. Jones called and they said to wait until contractions were a couple minutes apart and regular. In just 20 minutes they were. We grabbed our bags and headed out the door. The drive to the hospital was scary (Jones was VERY nervous) but short. We tried to go in the door we had planned on going in but it was locked because it was late. So we had to walk all the way back to the car and drive around to the ER entrance. Once we made it in we followed a nurse to L&D where they checked me in to a room.
Memory is a bit blurry at this point. I remember getting an epidural an hour or two after arriving and being in heaven. I dozed off and on while Jones watched Star Trek on tv (he couldn't sleep a wink). Finally around 6:30am the nurse came in and told me it was time to start pushing. The doctor arrived around 7:15 and Ruth came out at 7:20am. She was 6lb 6oz and 18.5 inches long.
Since they had noticed when they broke my water that it was a bit discolored they had been worried that Ruth had pooped while still in the womb. This could be a problem because some babies actually get the poop in their lungs and that's bad. SO they had a BUNCH of people in there just in case (a respiratory doctor, a few nurses from the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), my nurse, my doctor, a bum from off the street (it's possible.. I wasn't paying attention)) So, as I was saying, Ruth came out at 7:20am and she wasn't breathing well. After Jonesy quickly cut the cord (and almost fainted because of the blood that squirted out), they tossed her over to the respiratory doctor and they started suctioning her out. They got her breathing a bit but not enough for it to be safe. They put her on my chest for half a second and then tossed her back to the NICU nurses who then took off running, dragging Jonesy behind them. (I'm assuming their destination at that point was the NICU). That was the last I heard from them for FIVE WHOLE HOURS. I was left in the room with the doctor who was delivering the placenta and stitching me up. After he left, I became very nauseated but I managed to hold it all down. The nurses left me alone to sleep (which was the last thing on my mind). Then an hour or so later they came back and transfered me to my recovery room. I still hadn't heard from Jones but I wasn't too worried about the baby because her pediatrician had popped her head in my room to quickly tell me that she wasn't breathing on her own but she was going to make a full recovery.
Here is an exerpt from Jonesy's journal to describe his experiences while we were apart:
"When Ruth came out, she was very quiet and her cries were few and far between. She was laid on her mother's belly for just a moment and then was rushed to the other side of the room where she was cleaned and suctioned. Her inclination for early pooping continued as she left gifts on her mommy, on the doctor, on the nurses, on the floor, and on anything else her little butt was near. It quickly became evident that Ruth was not breathing well on her own and needed to be moved to the intensive care. I was told to go with the nurse and so I did. I felt bad about leaving Havilah, but was assured she was doing fine and need rest, so off we rushed to the ICU. The next few hours were hell. Little Ruth was gasping and fighting for every breath, even with the supplemental oxygen she was getting. She was hooked up to various machines. Her tiny face was covered with an oxygen mask and she was placed under a heat lamp to help her body stay warm. I felt the most helpless and scared I had ever felt in my entire life. There beside her tiny, struggling form, I bowed my head and poured out my heart to my Heavenly Father, begging him to help my little baby girl. To bless her with the strength she needed. Immediatley my fear lessened and I felt inspired to give her a Father's Blessing promising her that she would be strong enough to make it through this trial. I then sat beside her holding her tiny hand for the next three hours. Ruth improved a little and with repeated assurances that we would be called immediatley if there was any change, I went to go see havilah. She had been moved to a recovery room and had gotten some rest but was understandably worried and was anxious to see Ruthie."
When Jones finally arrived back in my room he was able to give me details about my little Ruth. She had, in fact, gotten meconium (newborn poop) in her lungs. They had successfully gotten it out but all the suctioning had inflamed her airway so they needed to keep her on oxygen for a while. Also they had run a blood test and noticed that she had an infection so she was going to have to stay in the NICU for a few days. (Turns out the placenta had had an infection called Chorioamnionitis which was what aided Ruth in getting pneumonia). By this time I was ready to see my daughter so Jones helped me into a wheelchair (I was still a bit numb) and wheeled me over to the NICU.
Even though my first real look at Ruth was while she was 'borg baby' as we lovingly called her, I had feelings of complete peace and love. I was never really worried that she wouldn't make it through this so it wasn't hard to see her like that. It was a little sad to not be able to hold her for a whole day though. Ruth came off oxygen after a couple days but had to stay a total of 5 days with an IV in her head until the infection was gone. I had to leave the hospital after only 2 days so we had to make a lot of trips to and from the hospital to feed her. (luckily we were only about a mile or two away). The strangest part about that was when we had to go to the grocery store. I remember walking in thinking how strange it was to not be pregnant anymore but to also not have my baby with me.
Finally, the day came where we could bring Ruth home. We were so excited. When we walked in the door we sat her carseat down on the floor and sat down and looked at her and then looked at eachother and said "now what?" Luckily we figured it all out and we now have a healthy little five year-old. We love you Ruth!
