Nevaeh's Birth Story

 
WARNING: Somewhat graphic, if you don't want to hear about mucous plugs and blood clots, exit out of this now. Read at your own risk.

Nevaeh Izabela --- 10/26/07 8:48 AM;; 6 lbs. 14. oz 20 in.

The back story: Her dad and I had gotten married 12/29/06, and got pregnant pretty quickly after that. I went to the ER because I had a bad virus, and when the nurse came in and told me I was pregnant, I was in complete shock. I busted into tears and when the nurse asked why, I couldn’t even talk. She asked if I was scared and I could just nod my head. After the initial shock wore off though, I was really excited. I had a pretty good pregnancy. I had morning sickness in the first trimester, lots of heartburn and nausea throughout my pregnancy, and I was considered high-risk, but it was definitely an easier pregnancy than my second. I gained 22 lbs. total and delivered 3 weeks early. She was 8 hours away from being considered a "preemie". Her dad was in jail and obviously couldn't attend the birth.

Around midnight on 10/25/07, I felt my first contractions. I was in denial, I thought I was just cramping. I tossed and turned all night and got up around 5 AM because they were getting pretty painful. I ate, took a shower, got ready for the day, and then sometime around 11 AM lost my mucous plug. I didn't know what it was, I was just disgusted and wondering why a giant booger just came out of my vagina. I went on with my day, actually drove myself around running errands and doing whatever, continued to have contractions, and they kept getting worse. Around 7 PM my roommate came home from work and I was sitting on the couch watching TV. He kept looking at me tense up during every contraction, and he kept asking "are you sure you're not in labor? I think you need to go to the hospital." Every time he said that I got really annoyed and told him no, I wasn't in labor. (Clearly I was still in denial.) He left to sleep at his girlfriend's house and told me to call if I needed anything. I called my mom after he left and started crying on the phone with her because of the pain. She told me that Braxton Hicks contractions wouldn't be making me cry, so they were real. She started timing them out and told me I needed to go to the hospital. After I got off the phone with her, Ryan  (my ex-husband) called from jail and I told him I was going to the hospital. He told me that everything would  be fine. (Easy for you to say, I'm doing all the work.) Like a dumbass, I decided to drive myself to my dad's house around 9 PM, and have him drive me to the hospital. During the 20 minute drive to my dad's apartment, I had at least 5 contractions, and every time I would start screaming at the top of my lungs and punching the steering wheel. I remember people staring at me at stop lights but I didn't care how I looked. I was in SO much pain. Climbing the 3 flights of stairs that led to my dad's apartment while contracting felt like climbing Mt. Everest. I pounded on the door. When he answered I told him it was time to go to the hospital. He answered me with "right now?" No Dad, I'll wait til next week. Wtf. He got his keys and we left to the hospital, but of course had to make a quick stop at Baskin Robbins to get a cookie dough shake. (Hey, although I was in excruciating pain, I still wanted my damn milkshake.) After what seemed like forever, we got to the hospital. After checking my vitals/getting my information, they checked me, and I was at 4 CM. They asked if I wanted an epidural and of course I said yes. They actually had to do the epidural twice because during the first attempt I had a contraction, so they had to start over and stick me again. Wonderful. After I got the epidural, I finally slept for the first time in over 24 hours. They kept checking me but I was stuck at 4 CM so they decided to give me some Pitocin to speed everything up. Shortly after that, my water started leaking so they broke it all the way. Around 8 AM I started feeling like I needed to push. They told me I was at 8 CM, and I couldn't push. Do you know how hard it is not to push when your body is doing it by itself?? About 20 minutes later I started screaming for them to get back in the room because I couldn't control it anymore. My dad was in the room with me the whole time, and I remember looking over at him and he looked scared out of his mind. He was holding my hand, and I remember being so thankful for his support. (My mom lives in SC and was on a plane but made it 2 hours after I gave birth.) Because I delivered at a "teaching hospital", there were a ton of people in the room (doctors, nurses, med students, etc.). I only pushed 3 times (after crapping during the 1st push), and then Nevaeh was born at 8:48 AM. Her oxygen levels were low so they took her out of the room right away, and I remember asking "Why is she purple? Is she supposed to be purple?" and they told me she was fine, they just wanted to take her to the NICU to check her out. They checked me, and I didn't tear (yay!). A nurse came in and helped me to the bathroom, made me go pee, and helped me change my hospital gown. Then she wheeled me to the recovery room. I took a nap, and when I woke up my mom was there with my dad. About an hour later, my mom wheeled me to the NICU to see my baby girl. They made us scrub our hands/arms, make sure everything was sanitized, etc. Nevaeh was hooked up to a bunch of monitors, but I didn't care, I was so happy to see her. I got to hold her for the first time, and I couldn't stop staring at her. I was really sad because she looked a lot like her dad and I was heartbroken that he wasn't there to share this with me, but at the same time I was so grateful that my family was there for support. Later that afternoon her dad somehow got a non-collect call and I got to tell him her stats and talk to him for a couple minutes. I couldn't sleep at all that night, it sucked. I remember my friend Nikki calling me at 4 AM and I was so happy to have someone to talk to, because I was so sick of laying in the hospital bed not being able to sleep. They released me from the hospital the next day. It was hard not having Ryan there at the time, but overall it was an amazing experience, one I will never forget.

Recovery was average. I didn’t tear, but the first couple weeks were still painful. Nevaeh was in the hospital for almost 3 weeks after she was born, and Ryan was in jail, so between visiting both of them it was a lot of walking and I probably should’ve rested a little more. I actually left the hospital early to go visit him the day after I gave birth, and I could barely even walk. I wasn't expecting my boobs to balloon up from my normal 34C to a 34DD but they went down within a week. Ouch. The only time I had to call my doctor is when I was concerned about a blood clot that I passed, but it ended up being fine. I was back to normal within a couple weeks. I did wait the full 6 weeks after giving birth to have sex again, and I was so scared that it was going to be excruciating for me, but it wasn’t.

 I still remember it like it just happened yesterday. I was only 18 but I had an instant connection with her and I loved her with all of my heart and soul. I had no idea at the time the struggles I was about to go through, but it was all worth it because I have an amazing, talkative, beautiful blue-eyed little girl, && her and her sister are my world. <3

3 Weeks Old

She never kept her foot in the blanket.

Christmas 2011