Aubrey's Birth Story!

On our way to the c-section!

She's here!

They brought her over so I could see her!

Shane's first time holding Aubrey!

My first time holding her!

We welcomed our daughter, Aubrey Noel into the world on Monday, March 12th at 1:54pm.  She weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz and was 18 1/2" long.  We are so thankful that she and I are healthy. 

As many of you know, my c-section got moved up from 39 weeks to 37 weeks, due to atypical preeclampsia.  I was very glad for this change in delivery.  The last month of the pregnancy was really hard on my body and I was ready to just meet my daughter.

I was supposed to go in at 9am on Monday to get ready for the c-section at 11am.  The Friday before, my Dr. asked me to come in at 7am instead, for some bloodwork.  I wasn't sure why until we arrived there at 7am on Monday.  Apparantly, the Friday before, when I had blood drawn, it came back that my platelets were low (114).  So, they needed me in early on Monday to check them again.  They begin talking to me about how if they were below 100, they would put me to sleep for the c-section because if your platelets are low, you are not allowed to have a spinal (epidural type medicine) done.

At first, I was really hoping the platelets were low and they'd just knock me out.  You see, I was very afraid of the spinal.  It was by far the worst part of my c-section with Meghan and I was terrified of getting it done again.  It was something I had been praying would go great this time, but I didn't have my hopes up.

Then, the nurses explained that being put under was not the best thing.  It isn't good for the baby or I.  I would most likely wake up very sick and in a lot of pain.  So, my dream of that being better went out the window.  I then thought, 'Okay, I can put up with a 2 minute spinal proceedure.  I can do this!'

Thankfully, the platelet count came to 109, which isn't great, but still okay to do the c-section.

Though I was set for 11am, they had an emergency c-section they had to do first, so I got bumped to 1:15.  I was fine with this and thankful I wasn't an emergency.  The only thing about being bumped was that my Dr. couldn't do the c-section now.  But I had an amazing Dr. end up being my surgeon, whom I am very thankful for!

Mine and Shane's parents, along with my sister & 5 week old nephew were there at the hospital.  It was fun to hang out in my room with them as we all awaited to meet Aubrey.

So, 1:15 rolled around and they got Shane and I set to go in for the birth of our daughter.  A friend of mine from church was able to be in on the c-section (as well as Meghan's 3 years ago).  It was so comforting having her in there.  She stood in front of me 'holding me up' while I held onto a pillow, bent forward and the best anasthesiologist ever gave me the spinal.  This was such an answer to prayer.  Sure, it hurt...it's a giant needle going into my back.  But the pain was nothing like last time.  It was very bareble and seemed to be done in no time.  I remember breathing very heavily into my pillow and at one point whispering to my friend that I thought I was going to fall off the table :).  She didn't let that happen.

They laid me down on the bed and got me hooked up to all kinds of tubes and things.  They kept asking me if I could feel my toes, which at that point I could and I began to be nervous that the spinal didn't work and they'd have to do it again.  Thankfully, that was not the case.  It worked fine, and in about 10 minutes I was completely numb. 

The shock in my body set in and I began to be freezing cold.  So they pumped a heating pad thing that blew warm out onto me.  That helped a lot.  This c-section was more scary for me.  You'd think after 2, I'd be a pro at it, but for some reason I felt very anxious this time.  I asked for oxygen so I could just breathe deeply into that and try to relax.  I was suddenly very aware that it was the 3rd time I was being cut open.  I was nervous that I'd start bleeding to death.  I know, very irrational thoughts, but it was what was going on in my head.

It's really weird lying on a table, not being able to see anything, just waiting to hear your baby cry.  I remember them saying 'there's her head'. Then the most beautiful cry came at 1:54pm.  Followed by, 'there's your daughter'.  I was really glad she was actually a girl :).  I didn't have time or energy to re-do a bedroom and shop for boy things :).

They brought Aubrey over to us so we could see her, then went and weighed her & checked her out.  She was perfect!

They let Shane hold her for the remainder of my procedure.  Though I was upside down, I was able to gaze back and watch him hold his brand new daughter.  What a beautiful site that was.

They finished up with me, then for the first time, they actually put her on my chest and let her lay on me while they wheeled me to recovery.  With Josiah and Meghan, they took them away and I didn't see them for an hour.  This new way they're trying was so much better.  I loved being able to hold Aubrey almost right away and stay with her.

In recovery, I started feeling very nauscious.  It was the first c-section I had experienced that with.  I told Shane to grab Aubrey because I was going to be sick.  They gave me medicine really fast, so I ended up not throwing up.  I remained quite nauseous for a while, even throughout the time that the kids and family members came in to meet her.  Hence, why I look so sick and out of it in the pictures :).

The recovery has gone very well.  I thought it would be worse the 3rd time around, but maybe my body just knew what to do.  Getting out of bed the first time is the hardest, but after I started walking around, the pain got a lot better.

Shane has been amazing this past week.  I am so thankful that he has helped me otu so much.  He's done the laundry, dishes, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.  I am grateful for him!

We are overwhelmed with love for her.  It has been such a joy to have her as part of our family.