I went up to the hospital about 1:30 yesterday to be with my sister and Craig. I couldn’t WAIT to watch the baby be born (or pop out), it’s such a magical, wondrous, incredibly amazing experience, to actually watch a person be brought into this world. I think part of me wanted to see what it was like to be on the other side of child birth as well. I was telling my mom I must be an adrenaline junkie or something, I always have to be where the action is.
Kristin’s doctor broke her water about 12 or 1, and we all thought it would go pretty fast from that point on — emphasis on “thought”. Three O’clock passed, four o’ clock passed, FIVE O’ CLOCK passed, then six o’ clock started creeping up on us. During this time Kristin and Craig worked and pushed and tried their hardest to get baby Julie out. Poor Kris pushed for an hour at a time with short breaks in between. I had SO many questions, and tried my hardest to be quiet. I finally asked “So at what point do you get the doctor?”, and the nurses reply was “When the baby is ready to come out”. I wanted to say “So when the hell is THAT?”. But I didn’t.
At one point the nurse (who by the way, was very competent, and patient with me), noticed that baby Julie was turned sideways. Meaning that instead of her head facing down, it was facing to the right, and this is the reason she is having a hard time coming out. She had Kris do a couple of different positions to try and persuade the baby into the correct position. Kris had to lay on her side for 20 minutes to see if that would move the baby. After pushing for about 30 minutes we decided that didn’t do the trick. So they emptied her bladder — man it was full! It was like Austin Powers after they defrosted him, Craig had to quickly find another bucket thingy just in case. Okay, probably TMI for most of you, but at the time it was pretty damn funny. At first everyone was quiet, but then it started taking so long that we were having normal conversations like nothing was going on.
But I digress…. we all thought surely THAT would give baby Julie AMPLE room to do her flip and just glide right out. But first Kristin’s doctor wanted her to sit completely upright for 30 minutes before she pushed. During all of this, we asked “so if this doesn’t work, what next?” — we all knew the answer though– C-section. Kristin DID NOT want a c-section, I can’t say I blame her. Who wants (or is prepared for) major surgery while taking care of a new born? While Kristin was sitting upright for 30 minutes Craig went to go get something to eat. Cool, now I can be the nosy sister and ask all of the questions that I have been holding back for the past 4 hours like:
What happens to Kristin during a c-section
What happens to baby Julie
How long does it take
What complications do you foresee
When can I see the baby
When can I see Kristin
Can I be there with her
How quickly will you/the doctor decide to do the c-section
Is a c-section the best thing for Kris and the baby
Is baby Julie stuck because she’s so dang huge
By the time the nurse answered all of my questions, Craig came back in the room. WHEW! It was push time now. 6:06pm had passed and Kristin and Craig decided that 6 was their new lucky number, after all it was 6/6/06 and they were in room six. Mike later asked me if the baby couldn’t come out because her horns kept getting stuck…. always the comedian. Anyway, Kristin pushed for 30 minutes with no luck. Looks like she’s headed for surgery.
We all prepared (noticed I used “we” like I was with them) for Kristin to go to surgery once the doctor checked her out and assured her that she wouldn’t do this just to do it. Dr. Gunn didn’t like that the baby’s heart beat dropped significantly (they call it D-cell) after Kristin pushed. Normally the heartbeat should be 130-140, but after Kristin pushed it would drop below 60. This could be caused by a number of (scary) things. The umbilical cord could be wrapped around the baby, or the baby’s shoulders could be pressed against it, I think she added a few other (less frightening) scenarios but those are the ones that echo in your ears. As we (notice I am using that word again) started wheeling Kristin off to surgery I am literally two steps behind everyone, and when the nurse turns around to tell me something I am so close we bump into each other, her words are “you. Stay here.”
Oh… Right… Me… I stay here. I will be here if you need me to fill in at the last minute. But your right, someone needs to stay with the stuff. 20 minutes right? Just call me if you need me. I’ll be right here…
Then they completely kicked me out of L&D, — they needed the room. I made a few phone calls to update the grandparents and told them I will call them back when Kristin is done. Craig came and got me about 20 minutes later — with baby Julie. Craig and the nurse were on their way to take her to the nursery to get all of her important numbers (weight, length, etc.). She is beautiful. Such and angel. I couldn’t stop looking at her. What a miracle. Craig said “say hello to Tessa Ann”. I said “hello baby” and in my mind I added … Julie…
Baby Julie (or Tessa if your her parents) was born at 7:05pm, 6/6/06, 8 pounds 12 oz., 20 1/4 inches long. I wish I had a camera. We watched them do all the things they do to newborns. Then they fed her. Man, did she drink too. At least 1/2 the bottle (go Julie, go Julie, go Julie). She is strong and healthy, and will be able to come home with Kristin and Craig on Friday. I waited until about 9:30pm for Kristin to get back to her room. I wanted to see her before I left. She is doing fine, as expected, and as long as everything goes well, should be home by Friday. Kristin told me that the doctor said her umbilical cord was too short, that’s why she was stuck — poor thing was tethered to her momma. Also, Krisitn did a really neat thing, she donated her cord blood to MD Anderson to be used for transplant or research. I thought that was very noble, it made me proud and happy at the same time. If she didn’t then it would be throw away and couldn’t be used to save a life.
So, there it is. I’m an Aunt again (crazy Aunt Julie). Instead of the word “crazy”, which has such a bad rap, I like to think of myself as the Auntie Mame type, except without all of the jewelry and fine clothing — I have kids instead. In the words of Auntie Mame, “Life is a smorgasbord, and most poor suckers are starving to death!
