Our 3lb. Miracle

I have recently taken the past 2 or so months off to get ready for our baby girl that was born in February. Now that she has just past her month mark, I figured that I needed to get back in the swing of things. My upcoming wedding season starts in April. Lots of fun things to come! But first, before I post any more on flowers, I have had the feeling that I needed to share Claire's birth story. Its going to be a big one, just a warning! The night of February 17th and the early hours of the 18th were probably the scariest moments of my life....

Around 7 am on February 17th, I woke up to some strange pains, these were what people call contractions. They did not hurt, But I could tell that they were different. I was a day past my estimated due date and very excited to have a baby come into our lives. I didn't think much of my contractions, I thought that most people have them days before so I fell back asleep. My husband Ryan was headed out to work around 10 to a job (he owns a road construction company) and I didn't want to be alone that day. He needed help anyway so I decided to ride along. He didn't make me do hard labor, but I was feeling up to it and wanted to help, so I swept up dirt and got the tools out that he needed. All in all it was a great morning, we talked about our lives changing and how happy we were. I never told Ryan how fast my contractions were changing. They were a little more intense now. Like really bad period cramps. They were about 10 min or so apart by noon that day. I didn't want Ryan to worry or not finish this job. As the day went on it got to the point of needing to sit every time I had one. By 4 pm they were 5 min. apart. I insisted that Ryan finished the job, he was so close to being done, and I was going to take a nap in the truck.  We made it home about an hour and a half later. I ate some food, took a shower and did my hair. I was in no rush to get to the hospital. Still in a little denial that it was going to happen any time soon.

Contractions are not fun at all. They were moving faster and faster. Ryan sat on the bed doing homework and timing them while I shouted out every time it one came on. They hurt, oh did they hurt. My back hurt the worst too. Seeing that this was my first baby and not knowing really how this all worked, I thought that you went to the hospital when contractions were lasting 1 min long, and about 5 min apart. I didn't want to get sent home so I made sure I stayed home for a bit before we left. At this point they were 3 min apart and lasting about 40 sec. long. Ryan was freaking out! So.... what did I do? I went shopping for our weeks groceries. haha. By the time we left Target I was in tears. We called our parents and let them know we were headed to the hospital.

We arrived around 9 pm that night. I was only dilated to a 3.5 and I was pretty bummed that all that pain was only a 3.5! I really wanted to be more like a 5 at that point. Through out my pregnancy I was strongly considering going natural. I really liked the pros of doing it that way. I had decided to go into this very open minded and see where I get. A couple hours later when I was at about a 6 something told me to get the drugs. Oh boy did it feel so nice when the epidural kicked in! The doctors told me to sleep and get rest. I was glad to do so, I felt good now and needed sleep. So did Ryan, but unfortunately this is where the trouble started.

As soon as I started to fall asleep, the monitor went crazy. My babies heart rate shot down from 150 to 30 in seconds. We had a flood of people rush into the room. And just like that it went right back up to 150. "That was weird" I thought, never thinking that my babies life is in danger. Everyone adjusted monitors and looked at charts then left. My eyes shut and it happened again! I could hear people running down the hall to my room. and then again, it bounced back up to 150. By this point they had to break my water. I was at a 7. Her heart rate did the scary drop 2 more times and about a min. later came right back up each time. She was face up, and needed to be turned, every one thought that this was the reason she was stressed. They turned her and everything seemed to be fine for a few minutes.

I was in a complete daze, trying to figure out in my mind what was going wrong. I didn't even see that when her heart rate dropped the very last time, the Dr.'s had all their C section tools out. Some of the nurses were even dressed and ready to go! As her heart stabilized, they told me to start pushing. 40 min. later, I was holding a beautiful, tiny little girl named Claire. She looked up at me and made the smallest little squeak. Just like that, I was a mother. Just like that, I fell in love with her.

The room went silent. The Dr.s gasped. "She is soooo little!" " Oh my gosh, she is so small!". Ryan and I both were like, "Yep, she is a baby! she is supposed to be small." haha even after I held her, I thought that maybe she would be 5 lbs. or so. Though out my pregnancy, I was told by 3 different individuals that I was estimated to have a 7lb. baby. So when the Special Nursery Nurse yelled out "3 pounds 15 ounces!" Ryan and I went into shock. At this point, I knew the trouble was not over. I knew that we were not going to have the "normal" experiance that most people have.


Ryan went with Claire to the NICU. My mom came up to be with me. I didn't see my baby for about 3 hours later. Ryan didn't get to hold his baby girl till about 48 hours later. We were both sleep deprived, hungry and very emotional. The first 2 days were the hardest. Learning how to be parents to this itty bitty baby, Seeing her with cords and monitors all over her small body, and having Dr. after Dr. come in and tell you that "you shouldn't have a baby right now" or "we don't know why she is alive." It was so hard, I cant even explain. My husband was amazing though all of this! I could not have done it with out him. I am blessed to have him as my husband. Claire is blessed to have him as a dad.

Claire was in the NICU for 6 long days. The things that took place in that Nursery were very special and spiritual to us. The nurses there are truly amazing. My gratitude can not be expressed through a blog post. I am indebted to them! They loved my little baby. They took care of her and watched here when I could not be there. They took care of me and put my mind at ease. They taught me some of the most important things I needed to help Claire and to be a good mother. I love them and miss them! I also know that my Heavenly Father was there with us in that little room. He also took care of all 3 of us. I am grateful for my knowledge of Him. He too, helped me stay calm and comforted during this hard time. He let me cry out to him when I needed to. He was the best listener. I had many quiet nights in the NICU with Claire when I went to feed her. I needed these quiet moments to ponder and to realize how much of a blessing it is to have my baby! She is a miracle!

So many people prayed for Claire while we were in the hospital. We felt every prayer! She could have been there for 4 weeks, but was able to leave in less than a week. She is a fighter and was able to stabilize her blood sugars. Her poor little body had zero fat so she didn't know how to keep herself warm. After 4 days under a heat lamp, her body took over and did what it needed to do. All of these miracles happened so fast, because of the power of prayer. Thank you to so many who kept us in their thoughts. I appreciate all the kindness shown to our family. Thank you for the text messages and phone calls. Thank you for the visits and dinners that kept us fed. We are blessed to have you in our lives. We are so lucky to have the family and friends that we do.

As an update, Claire is now 1 month and 2 days old. At last weeks weigh in she weighed 5lbs. 9oz. (I am hoping by next week we are up to 6lbs!) She is happy! She is Healthy! She loves to eat and watch the celling fan turn. I am doing great! Recovery for me was easy, I mean come on, I pushed out a 3lb baby.:)

Dr.'s say that my placenta started to fail somewhere between 28 and 32 weeks. My last ultra sound was at 20 weeks and everything was fine. I was measuring like I was supposed to be so no one saw the need for more ultrasounds. Test results for any infections and diseases all have come back negative.  I did not have Preeclampsia. We really don't know why she was so small. I guess I don't make good placentas! We may never know why this all happened, but in the long run, we were lucky. Even though we had some hard scary times, we also had some amazing times as well. I think I needed some of those experiences to make me a Mother. I am so so happy to be Claire's mom. It was all worth it!


xoxo
Heidi