Introducing: Mommas Little Vampire!

Last Monday, I was just not feeling right. I was nautious and had no energy.....I had been contracting for awhile now, and even though I had been dilating, they weren't consistent enough to put me in labor. On Tuesday, I dropped the boys off to school, and Averi off to preschool, and headed to Walmart to buy a diaper bag. While I was there, the contractions started to get a bit more painful and were coming at a faster pace. I called my doctor to see if I could get checked, and he told me to come in at 1:00 in the afternoon. I still thought they would go away, since I was 2 1/2 weeks before my due date, and have never delivered early before! However, while shopping, they just kept getting worse, and I called Steve to came home from work. I called the doctors back and told them that I wasn't going to make it til 1:00. I made plans with my parents to watch the kids, and then I planned the shortest escape route out of Walmart. It is funny how slow the checkers are when you are having contractions!!!! I headed down to get Averi from preschool, and told my parents to meet me in front of the hospital because I would never make it to their house before the hospital.

Then...the fun began!!!!

I was at three centimeters when I first got there, and just kept thinking to myself, wow, the baby is coming today! Steve and my mom were there with me, and all was going well. I got the best epidural of my life. The anesthesiologists was quick and painless, and the epidural actually worked throughout my entire body this time. So, I was thinking that in a few hours I would push this baby out. I happened to be GSB +, so they had already dripped me with one bag of antibiotics. I need to get one more in me before they would break my water in order to be safe for the baby for delivery. However, when I was at about 5 centimeters, my water broke naturally. I sent Steve to go and tell the nurse, and it was lucky I did. When she came in and checked on me, she said, "I don't like what I am seeing!" There was a bunch of blood, and she proceeded to quickly tell me to hold still, she put oxygen on me, and told me to breath deep for the baby. She said she thought my placenta was tearing away from the uterine wall. She immediately called the nurses desk and asked for the charge nurse, my doctor, and the anaesthesiologists....STAT! My doctor arrived very quickly...luckily he had two other women in labor at that time so he was close by. He checked me, and that was when we lost Reagen's heartbeat for a moment. He immediately said, "let's roll!" I was pushed into the O.R. where I haven't seen people move so fast in my life. I was in tears, and very scared and immediately just started praying that all would be well. I kept telling them I wasn't numb enough to get cut into. The anaesthesiologists quickly took care of that. They had me transferred beds and the sheet up ready to go in no time. The nurse told me that Steve wasn't going to be able to get dressed in time to get into the room and be with me. I asked her to just hold my hand, and "GET THE BABY OUT!" It was a total of about ten minutes from the time my water broke to when Reagen was born. I was still in tears, even when she came out screaming, which was music to my ears.

As it turned out, I had a placenta abruption, which is very dangerous. Reagen swallowed a lot of blood, which is why I call her my little vampire! My doctor told me in situations like that there is a 1 in 3 chance of loosing the mother and/or the baby! He said, along with many of the nurses, that I was very luckily that I was in the hospital when it happened. I think it was more divine intervention than luck!!!!

Reagen was in the NICU for six days, and proceeded to get better every day. I couldn't get out of bed for the first 18 hours, and let me just say that C-Sections are highly overrated. I have never been so sore in my life. The NICU kept sending me pictures of her, but I was hysterical that I couldn't see her. I am a mom and need to see my baby! They finally told me that if I could make it down the hallway, I could see her. I told them that I didn't care if I had to crawl, I was going to see my baby. It was hard at first, because she had so many tubes coming out of her everywhere, and oxygen in her nose. But, she was so beautiful and looks just like like Averi when she was born. She had a couple of setbacks, mainly running a fever the second day, and not being able to keep her food down, because she had swallowed a bunch of blood. I had my dad and Steve give her a blessing.

I stayed in the hospital til Friday and then went back and forth a couple of times a day to feed Reagen in the NICU til she came home on Monday. I was so excited when the Dr. said she could finally come home!

Reagen Dorothy Smith was born on 9/8/09 at 2:15 p.m., weighing 7 lbs 4 oz., and measuring 19" long.
My first look at my baby! It was 18 hours later until I could hold her!

This was her first day in the NICU.

All the tubes and Oxygen!

A visit from Averi and Wyatt!

It is so nice to have Reagen home now! She is beautiful and healthy, and I count my blessings every day that we were both watched over and safe through the whole delivery and that she continuously got better every day while in the NICU! How blessed my family is again!