$38,000 and 8 1/2 hours later...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009. I remember this day as being discouraged since our baby was almost a week overdue. The waiting was agonizing. Not only was I anxious to hold my little girl but I was extremely uncomfortable with being pregnant. Yesterday's doctor's appointment showed that I wasn't dilating at all so we were scheduled to have my labor induced on Friday. I didn't really feel any differently that day. I was having contractions but they were only coming about every 7 minutes or so and our doctor said not to go to the hospital until they were 3 minutes apart for 2 hours and lasted 1 minute each. One thing that was odd was I wanted a Coke. All during my pregnancy (and even now) I only craved ice cold water but Al walked over to Rite-Aid for a Coke and put it in the fridge for later. By the time Al went to bed, my contractions still hadn't gotten any closer together so he kissed me good-nite and left me to sleep in my new sleeping quarters: the chair in the living room. It was scorching hot and I slept off and on that night. At around 2:45 a.m. I wanted my Coke. I got up with no problem and walked the whole 7 feet to the kitchen to quench my thirst. As soon as I closed the refrigerator door and took a step toward the living room, something punched me in the gut. Okay, not really but that's what it felt like. It took everything for me to stay on my feet. I called for Al but my voice was gone. I tried again. And again. I thought I was going to have our baby right there in the kitchen if he didn't wake up. I knew the fan was on in the bedroom and he sleeps soundly and that I wasn't calling him loudly enough but finally he came running out of the bedroom and helped me to sit down. He said we had to go to the hospital and I said we had to wait because my contractions weren't close enough. I had seen too many women sent home from triage or made to walk around for hours because they jumped the gun and I didn't want to be in that position. But Al said we were going. The walk to the car was excruciating. So many stairs. I was sure I was going to wake up all of my neighbors with my crying. If the walk was bad, was drive was 10 times worse. Every little bump killed my stomach and I just held on to my belly trying to keep it still. By this time my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and I just knew I was going to have the baby in the car! *lol* Al got us to the hospital in less than 15 minutes and pulled up front. I couldn't get out of the car. No way could I walk. Luckily another dad-to-be was standing outside and he got us a wheelchair. It was now about 3:15 a.m. Thursday morning.

We went straight to the triage where the nurse examined me. She told me I had a huge bulging sac (whatever that was) and that I was 4 cm dilated. I was immediately admitted to my Labor & Delivery room. The nurse there got me settled and hooked up to the monitors and asked me some medical questions. By this time I was in so much pain that I begged for an epidural. They had to start an IV before it could be administered and that took 25 minutes and 3 different nurses to get it started! I was in sooooo much pain! Apparently my veins were small and kept collapsing so the nurses were having a hard time getting the IV to stay. But as soon as the epidural was inserted it was like heaven! All the pain was gone starting with the very next contraction! I started to dose off and told Al to go home, eat, shower, walk the dogs, etc. I figured we had lots of time before delivery and since I was comfortable it would be okay for him to leave. He reluctantly did.

I slept off and on for the next few hours. At around 7 a.m. I felt all warm and wet. My water must have broke. I buzzed for the nurse and she confirmed that my water did break. A few minutes later my doctor arrived to break my water but she was too late. A little after my water broke, I felt something else strange. It felt like I passed a water balloon. I didn't know what it was (in hindsight I should have looked), I just knew something soft and fairly large slid out of my body. I called for a nurse and said, "I need help...something just came out of me!" When the nurse lifted my sheet she didn't say anything to me. She just called for the doctor. About 4 or 5 nurses and doctors arrived to look at whatever I just delivered. I asked, "is it my baby??" and no one would answer me! Finally the nurse told me it was my bulging sac. She said she had heard about this but had never seen it so she wanted to be sure that was what it was. No big deal. Al still hadn't gotten back to the hospital so I called him. For some reason I thought delivery would happen pretty quickly now that my water broke and I didn't want him to miss it! A little while after the sac incident, KRae went into distress. Apparently, the loss of the sac caused her head to drop into the birth canal too quickly and her heart rate was dropping. It took a team of nurses to put me in different positions to get her stabilized.

Al finally arrived looking all refreshed...too bad I was hungry, thirsty and worn out -- at least he was looking good! *lol* I filled him in on everything he missed. The nurse finally allowed me to have ice chips. Lemme tell you, that was the best ice EVER! *lol* It's probably around 9:30 a.m at this point. Another issue with KRae's heart rate. This time due to me having an intra-amniotic infection. After several attempts at stabilizing her, the nurse informed us it was time to deliver. So at about 10:15 a.m. I began to push. I started off strong...bearing down and getting the job done! *lol* After about 45 minutes of that and no results (not to mention they took away my ice chips), I had had enough! The doctor came in and said I had about 30 minutes more of pushing but that I needed to push even harder. I told her I was giving all I had. I was exhausted! She said then we would need to do a C-Section because KRae was no longer happy and we needed to get her out. At this point, I didn't care what they needed to do...I just wanted my baby! So Al and I briefly discussed it and said let's do it. I was wheeled into the operating room at 11:15 a.m.

I remember the operating room being sooooo cold. My teeth were chattering and I was shivering uncontrollably. They strapped down my arms and prepared me for surgery -- wait! I have to vomit! *lol* After I was done, they put the oxygen mask on my face but somebody didn't turn it on!! I was going to suffocate! I kept shaking my head and yelling and finally a nurse took the mask off to ask what I needed. I told her the air wasn't on!! She checked and sure enough, I wasn't getting any air. Oh Lawd...they're gonna kill me! *lol* Once I was prepped, they brought in Al who sat by my side, holding my hand. I didn't feel much of anything...just freezing cold. At 11:25 a.m. I heard Kalissa cry. They held her up to the left of me and I looked at my baby girl. She was pale -- not sickly pale, just really light-skinned which was surprising to me. I looked over at Al and he had tears streaming. He kissed me and asked did I see her. All I could do was nod my head and close my eyes.

When I finally came to, I was in a recovery area and Al was holding Kalissa who was swaddled in a blanket and sleeping. I still couldn't stop shaking! Because of the infection during labor, I had to undergo some tests and Kalissa had to receive an extra shot. I just wanted to hold her! But the nurse said I couldn't until I passed a physical test of being able to lift my legs and until I stopped shaking. I tried so hard to control my shakes and to stay awake (I kept falling asleep because of the medication). Finally after almost 2 hours, I got to hold her. Al had told the nurse I was going to breastfeed so Kalissa was waiting on me to feed her. She latched on immediately and sucked for dear life! *lol*

I tried calling my mom but we couldn't get reception where we were so I had Al go outside and let her know that Kalissa Rae had arrived. Once we were settled into our recovery room, I started making more phone calls and sending text messages to share the news. Our baby girl was finally here!!!


Kalissa spent her first night sleeping on me chest to chest with her little nose nestled to my neck. One year later and she still has to fall asleep this way! And you know what? I don't mind at all. She's my precious baby girl and we're so thankful to have her. We spent 4 days in the hospital because my recovery was slooooow. I couldn't wait to leave and get her home! And after being home for a few weeks we got a bill from the hospital for $38,000 which I happily and quickly forwarded on to our insurance company! *lol*

Just 8 1/2 hours of labor to produce a lifetime of love. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat! Happy Birthday Kalissa! I hope you know just how much you are loved.