The Journey ~ 8 January, 2011: The Moment We’d Been Praying About for So Long

Finally it was time.  It had been a long road, but we were finally nearly to our destination of making our family a reality.  I have to admit that I was still feeling really bad and was a little nervous/scared going into the delivery room.  I really didn’t have much of an idea of what to expect.  The nurses and doctors took great care of us though and did put me at ease as much as they could.  The epidural wasn’t too bad and soon we were ready to roll.

Derick was brought into the room, camcorder and camera in hand ready to capture the action.  Who would be coming into the world today?  We were so ready to find out, but I honestly didn’t have any gut feelings as to what genders we’d usher in.

In what seemed like just a few short minutes, the doctor started delivering babies.  Baby A was a girl. I was so happy, as I really thought we may end up with no girls.  I was laying there with little tears streaming down, but trying my hardest to focus on not passing out.  I was feeling lightheaded.  Baby B was next.  Another girl!  Derick was roaming around the delivery room capturing their first moments.  I was amazed at how calm everyone was.  There didn’t seem to be great concerns for the babies’ health, as the doctors and nurses didn’t appear to be in a major hurry to get the babies to the NICU.  Baby C was up next.  A third girl!  I was in total shock, but so very happy to hear all three of their little cries.  It was truly a miracle.  

Derick was even able to bring Baby C over to me to get a closer look at before all three girls were taken to the NICU.  I was so proud, overwhelmed, still blurry eyed and kind of nervous all at one time.  It was a very surreal experience.

I’m so glad Derick was able to capture things on video so we can look back on how our three little princesses came into the world.  We are so blessed!

After the delivery, I was taken back to the room where I guess I thought I’d start feeling better, then would be able to go to the NICU to see the girls.  Not so fast though.  I was still on the magnesium sulfate to help counteract seizures.  I guess you have to be on this for a certain time after delivery as well.  The side effects were still bad and I was still feeling awful.

We managed to bring our parents into the room through to share the news of the arrival of three little ladies with them.  They are all thrilled.

Later that night, I remember Derick showing me photos of the girls on the computer, as he had already gone to see them in the NICU.  I recall feeling so tired as if I couldn’t even open my eyes or function properly.  Later yet, I remember our nurse checking my temperature multiple times, thinking that something was off.  My temp was 92 degrees.  Soon, our specialist was back at my bedside and I was being stuck every two hours for blood draws.  They also brought in this weird plastic blanket thing that they pumped full of hot air for hours to try to raise my body temp.  Apparently my labwork showed decreased sodium levels and overly high levels of the magnesium sulfate still in my system and it was not being processed correctly.  Overall, the entire evening into the next morning was a complete blur.  I felt like a total zombie.

I still hadn’t gotten to go see the girls.  To top it off, we still didn’t have our final name picks ready for them.  Derick and I had both decided that we wanted to see the babies first before finalizing their names.

Thankfully though, my labs were starting to come back into place by Sunday morning (although my blood pressure was still high).  It was another whirlwind day, as visitors started arriving fairly early, completely unaware of the issues we’d been through post delivery and well into the wee hours of the morning.

Derick proudly took people into the NICU to see our still nameless baby girls.  I still was laid up in the room unable to go to see them until the magnesium sulfate treatment ended. 

This wasn’t the best scenario by far, but I was thankful honestly to be alive after I started to piece together information from the doctor and our nurses.  I’m definitely glad to have that behind me now.

Later in the afternoon on Sunday, January 9^th, I was wheeled into the NICU to see our girls.  It was a wonderful experience.  It’s so amazing to have an immediate love for someone you’ve just met in person.  Amazing, wonderful and indescribable.  They were all perfect.

We were blessed that none of the girls required any breathing support.  They were in isolettes to keep them warm, had IV’s to provide extra nourishment and had to be under bilirubin lights.  Overall, we were very, very lucky that they were so healthy from the start.