It's someone's birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy Birthday dear H.

Happy Birthday to you.

And many more.

This is your birth story H...

When I was 4 or 5 months pregnant I experienced something that was scary but did not realize at the time it was related to being pregnant.  I had just left T at the babysitter's house and while driving the short distance to work I lost sight in my right eye.  I was wearing contacts at the time and thought the loss of vision was somehow related to them.  Several hours passed until my vision was restored.  I never thought anything of it until a few days before you were born.

On February 29th (yes, it was a leap year) I had an OB appointment.  During the appointment the doctor sent me over to the hospital for a stress test. First let me say that from about 5 or 6 months at every OB appointment the nurses had me lay down when they took my blood pressure.First, they would take it with me sitting up.  After the reading they would have me lay down and take it again.  I found that odd seeings how between work and having a 2 year old I was rarely laying down.  They mentioned it was to get a better reading?!  I mentioned to the nurses that every time I stood up from a sitting position it felt like my head was going to explode.  My face had started swelling at about 4 months. I had bags under my eyes which I almost never do.

Sisters!

When I was assigned to a room at the hospital (for the stress test) a different doctor (new eyes and ears) starts asking questions that my doctor had never asked.  Questions like:  Does your head feel like it will explode when you change positions?  Have you ever lost vision in one eye?  Yes! Yes! Someone was finally asking the right questions.

H & Molly.  Navajo Lake in background.

A quick search on the internet brings up this site:

Pregnant women should be on the lookout for these warning signs:

• Headaches
• Vision trouble
• Quick weight gain
• Swelling of the hands and face
• Pain in the right upper belly

Wow! Classic case of hypertension and I didn't find out about it until a week before I deliver. BTW, internet access and information was not as widespread and developed as it is today.

H loves to draw and paint.

The doctor did not feel it necessary to induce labor so home I went. My Mom and Dad came down to help me with T, a very active 2.5 year old.

Labor began on March 6th. On and off all afternoon but nothing serious. About midnight we went to the hospital and everything came to a halt. Two centimeters dilated.  Hardly any contractions in 2 hours so they sent us home.  Fortunately I was able to get several hours of sleep.  Contractions started up in the morning. By noon they were getting serious.  I remember my parents coming by with T. A friend from work called about 1:45 regarding a work related question. Right after she asked her question a contraction hit and I couldn't speak. Realizing the situation she quickly ended the call. We headed for the hospital at about 3:15 PM
.

I remember on the ride over stopping at a stop sign or red light.  There was a bus stop at the corner. I was having a contraction and was grimacing while staring a person at the bus stop.

H with Little Miss, our Nigerian Dwarf goat.

DH parked in the parking lot.  I was told during the prenatal hospital visit that we were to walk up to the maternity floor. It took forever just to get out of the car due to the frequency of contractions. DH had all the camera equipment with him as we hobbled across the parking lot to reach the elevator. Down to the ground floor and across the walkway into the hospital. Why the heck I didn't just insist on a wheelchair is beyond me. From the car to the front of the hospital was at least 10 contractions. We got in the elevator and it stops on another floor to pick someone up. ~A severe contraction hits.~ As the door opens a father holding his ~10 year old son's hand starts to step in. He quickly accesses the situation and says, "We'll catch the next elevator."

Under the tree with the tire swing.

Next stop...5th floor maturity ward. But wait.  You could not just walk in, you had to be buzzed in. I'd push the buzzer and have a contraction while they answered.  I couldn't talk. After 3 or 4 times I finally asked DH to please answer the nurse when she buzzed. He did and the doors opened. Contracting my way to the nurses stations they quickly assigned me to the closest room.

(Note:  Request a room as far from the nurses station as you can.  It is so noisy in the rooms close to the station.)

Someone checks me and says I was 4 centimeters dilated.  I wanted to cry. I felt like saying, "You've got to be wrong. Check me again."  A short time later I told the nurse I thought I felt the baby's head. She tells me I've got several more hours to go. To that I thought, baloney!.  Then I requested an epidural. "I'll have to ask the doctor." The doctor on call came in to see me and said I was too far along for an epidural. He checked the chart. He watched the monitor. He ordered magnesium sulfate. He was concerned. My first hint that things were not alright was when I heard him say...

"We have to deliver this baby NOW.  Her blood pressure is too high. We need to start the magnesium sulfate drip STAT."

Out came the knitting needle to break the sac. The doctor got drenched when it ruptured. Then I told everyone in the room that I had to go to the bathroom.  Someone told me, "No, that's the baby's head you're feeling." My answer to that was, "Well, I warned you."  The room erupted in laughter. For the moment anyway.

H was born a very short time later at 5:45 PM on Thursday, March 7, 1996. DH remembers so clearly how H lifted her head in the bassinet and looked all around.  She was so alert and bright eyed, all six pounds 7 ounces of her. She had a full head of almost black hair.

The magnesium drip started as soon as she was born. The nurses were assuring the doctor they had everything under control, in a way encouraging him to leave. That's when I heard the second comment that things were still not right. In response to a nurse the doctor said,

Riding Harley.

"No (I'm not leaving), we may still lose her."

What??!!  Did I hear that right?

The doctor stayed in the room for a good long while. I was already feeling awful due to the high blood pressure and the medication.  Now I thought I was given a death sentence.  All night I was afraid to sleep for fear of dying.

The next day I was talking to a very nice nurse who reminded me of Nicole Kidman. I told her I thought how wonderful working in the maternity ward must be. She said she loved her job and when things turn out right it is good. " But,"  she continued, "when it is bad it is very bad." She told me that there were more than the usual number of nurses for a delivery present at H's birth. With the doctor's initial magnesium sulfate stat order the room filled up with personnel at the ready if an everyday natural event turned very bad. It was His  intervention that prevented the very bad from happening that day.

Could not keep them out of the dirt.  The desert's equivalent to mud puddles.

We were both released from the hospital on Saturday.
 

Sweet 15. Happy birthday my dear H.

Love you always,
Momma