In the Beginning... (Part II)

I barely slept that night. My heart was pounding the whole time and Jim held onto me all night long. We had to talk about something I never imagined I would have to ever think about, let alone right before my baby was born- if she couldn't do it on her own would we want her intubated? or compressions done? or lots of meds pushed? I remember getting mad at the gummybear because she was up all night too giving me lotsa "butt bumps" into my ribs (something I loved), which would make me cry- I didn't know at that time how much time I might even have with her. 6am finally came and the docs did their rounds, we went for our more formal ultrasound and waited for the peri to come back in and tell us what they did and didn't see.

There was a lot of fluid and her cortex was badly damaged. Her cerebellum and brainstem were intact however so her cardiac and respiratory function should not be affected. At 10am we went back to L&D for our c-section. Both of us already exhausted and scared out of our minds. I got settled and Jim came in. The docs got going and at 10:28am on April 30 our gummybear was born- screaming her head off, the diva had something to say. I was so relieved I started crying and laughing at the same time. We got a very brief glimpse of her before they handed her off to the NICU. She was the most beautiful baby in the world- huge (a measly 9lbs 6oz), screaming, full head of hair and still a lil purple (which scared the crap out of jim, but she pinked up immediately). I could hear her screaming through the window that connects to the NICU, she had APGARS of 8 and 9- perfect! She was doing so well that they let Jim go over to see her right away while the OBs finished up with me.

She continued to do so well- aside from a lowish sugar due to her size- she was allowed to come meet me for the first time while I was still in the recovery area which doesnt usually happen. Having had an "in" with the department is helpful too I think! Watching her for the first time it blew my mind that there was anything wrong- her head didnt look that big, she ate great right away, she moved all her extremities around equally, she had great tone. Most importantly she was beautiful and perfect in every way despite the long road we knew was ahead of us. Our Annabelle was finally here!