Baby Gracie
Our little Gracie wasn't due til October.
I had a dr appointment September 16th. I was supposed to see the doc covering for my dr while he was out of town, but he had an emergency surgery so they tried to reschedule me. I asked to see the midwife because I hadn't been checked in two weeks.
I was dilated to a 3, 80% effaced. The baby's head was down and the water bag was bulging. The midwife was afraid if my water broke I may not make it to the hospital, so after consulting later with the Dr they sent me to the hospital.
We arrived at Cottonwood Hospital around 7pm and I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced.
Got my epidural an hour later, they broke my water at 9 and Gracie Anne was born at 11pm.
It was pretty tense for a minute because the cord was wrapped around her neck twice. It didn't tighten until right when she came out, so she was okay.
She weighed 7.6 and was 21 inches long.
She was having trouble breathing so they had to give her oxygen.
Kev and I weren't able to hold her.
She wasn't improving by the next morning. They did an x-ray of her chest and her lungs had fluid in them so they were thinking she had pneumonia.
She was hooked up to an IV, the oxygen, antibiotics and monitors.
Poor baby, it was so hard to see.
Kev and Papa Dave gave her a blessing and late that night she had to be life flighted by ambulance to Primary Children's Hospital.
She was breathing 100 breaths a minute, normal is 60.
It was actually a relief that they took her to PCH because they could put her on a ventilator and it did all the work of breathing.
Kevin and his parents went up to the hospital that night to see Gracie get settled in.
He returned to me at 1am to say everything went well and the dr's said the condition was very treatable and it wasn't uncommon for babies to get pneumonia.
I left the hospital two days after I delivered her.
I was having trouble with my legs so they had to do an ultrasound to check for blood clots. Once they ruled that out they discharged me.
Kev and I went home and took a nap and then went up to the hospital. This was the first time I could get a good look at her. Sweet baby. So tired and she looked worn out.
We couldn't hold her but we could touch and kiss her and she kept squeezing my finger. Loved that. Every nurse who's taken care of her has mentioned what a fighter she is. They often use the word "feisty". She threw a punch at one of the life flight crew when they were getting her all hooked up. She's had to have a little extra meds sometimes to keep her sedated because she tries to pull her tubes out. They all say the feisty attitude is a good thing.
The kids were so happy when they could finally visit.
For several days it was just Kev and I taking turns going up.
Papa Dave would go up on his lunch breaks to see her.
She had some jaundice after they took her off the ventilator but that cleared up pretty quickly.
Everyone I talk to is surprised I'm so calm about this. I guess I just feel very grateful she is able to get the care she needs and so grateful the cord being wrapped around her neck wasn't more serious. If I've learned anything about what we've been going through the last 9 months it's that things don't always turn out the way you plan and God is in charge. I just have to put my trust in Him and try to learn the lessons from the trials. Hopefully Gracie will be able to come home soon. The nurses tell me she may have to stay until her due date.
