The Arrival of Chloe Jane

Tuesday, October 27, 2009: Another doctor appointment, another ultrasound. We were expecting the usual. However, Chloe had only grown a few ounces, up to 5 lbs. 3 oz. She was in the 2nd percentile for size. A significant drop. She just wasn't increasing in size like she should be, a side-effect of a medicine I have to take. Up until now, they had always said that she was small but there was no reason to worry. Apparently, there was now reason to worry. This time, my doctor said that the baby would be delivered no later than 38 weeks. No question about it. Those were the doctor's parting words to me. Wow.

She then had me go over to the next room to do a stress test for the baby. They hooked me up to a monitor to keep track of her heartbeat, and they had me click a button every time I felt her move. She was moving around a bit and I clicked enough times to show that she's moving around ok, maybe like 10 or so kicks. This was acceptable, and I got to leave for the day, but had to schedule appointments to come back for more stress tests the next week.

Monday, November 2, 2009: Another stress test. I had to go in to school to get stuff ready, then run over to the doctor's office while an aide brought in my class and get them started until I could get back to school, only about an hour later. (Thank you, Lisa!) I was a little frantic, since the prior Friday was our Halloween day and the room was a wreck. I got things together just in time and made it to my appointment, but it was a lot of last-minute business for a 9-month pregnant lady!

My appointment was just for another stress test, but the assistant always takes my blood pressure. I can never remember what the numbers are or what they mean, but mine came up like 160 over 120. Even I knew that was high. She said she was going to try it again. No change. She had me lay down and hooked me up to start the stress test, then went and got another assistant to come and try my blood pressure. It only improved a little, so they were visibly freaking out. On top of all that, Chloe wasn't moving. At all. I thought they were going to rush me off to the hospital right then and cut her out! And I didn't have a substitute for the day!

As a last resort, they went and got me a "juice" to see if it would get her moving. (Hi-C, which is apparently 100% sugar.) After gulping down the juice, I only had to wait about 2 minutes and Chloe was kicking my uterus like she was warming up for a soccer game.

The doctor came in and said, "We'll deliver on Friday. Someone will call you this afternoon or tomorrow to schedule your delivery." And that was that.

Thursday, November 5, 2009: Another stress test. Even though they were planning on me delivering the next day. Things must look pretty bad. I made sure to take the day off so I wasn't rushing around, affecting my blood pressure. It still was kinda high, but way lower than on Monday, so it was okay. However, we could not get Chloe to kick at all. Not even with juice. I think I felt her move twice in almost a half hour. Not a great sign, but I knew she was just asleep. She's more of a night owl than an early bird; I had been feeling her kick and stretch all night long!

Friday, November 6, 2009: My delivery by cesarean section was scheduled for 5:00 pm. So not only did we have to sit around all day, anticipating, but I also had to fast for 8 hours before the operation. Fast all night, light breakfast, then fast all day. It was gonna be rough. And boring, waiting and waiting all day for 5:00 to arrive. Happily, my sister-in-law, Malissa, did some maternity photos with me. (I'll post some photos as soon as she's done editing them.) That helped pass the whole morning. Plus I still needed to pack my bags for the hospital. Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute.

Finally, it was time to head over to the hospital. Bryan dropped me off at the Maternity entrance so he could try to find a parking place. It was packed! Good thing I had an appointment! I walked in the door and went back to the second desk, past the information desk. The lady greeted me and I said, "Um, hi, I'm here to have a baby... I'm scheduled for 5:00." They checked the books and said, "Candace? Just go through those door there with the yellow paper on it." Nice! I filled out a bit more paper work (but seriously, what is the point of pre-registering if I'm just gonna do more paperwork when I get here??) Bryan met me in this room, and then she led us out to the prep- room to get ready for surgery.

Here's the last picture of me pregnant with Chloe. And here's Bryan getting ready for surgery. They had a devil of a time finding a vein to put my IV in. The nurses asked if I had any water to drink today because my veins were hard to find. Um, no. I had to fast for 8 hours, and before that was night when I was fasting in my sleep. My sister-in-law Malissa warned me that getting the IV would be the worst part of the c-section, and she was not kidding. But it was nice knowing that once they got the IV taken care of, the rest would be smooth sailing. We sat, prepped for surgery, and waited for over half an hour. Hmmm... We heard one of the nurses mention that the lady in the operating room was taking too long cause they couldn't get her to stop bleeding. Greaaaaat... just what I need to hear. But I had a blessing from Bryan before we left for the hospital, so I wasn't nervous or worried a bit.

We finally get into the operating room, and it was freezing in there. My anesthesiologist came to talk to me. His name was Dr. Seamus. He had a pony tail and an earring. But he was great! The spinal block was a lot of pressure on my back. It hurt, don't get me wrong, but the worst part really was the IV. I had to lean forward so he could insert the needle. I was trying not to shiver uncontrollably so it didn't mess him up, but it was so cold! Once he got it in, he said, "Okay, now your feet are going to feel really warm and heavy in about 2 seconds." I was in the process of saying, "Wow, that's really fast!" but only got out, "Wow! That...." I laughed and said, "There it goes!" They helped me to lay down, and Dr. Seamus said, "Now they're going to do a pinch test to see if you can feel it. I don't need to know if you can feel it or not, I just need to know if it hurts." I agreed and he said, "Well it must not have hurt cause they already did it!" Ha! Let the surgery begin! I was numb from the chest down, but the top of me was so cold I was shaking; I just couldn't stand it. Bryan was really more concerned with what was happening on the other side of the sheet hung up so I couldn't see what was going on (thank goodness) but I got his attention and told him I was freezing. He told Dr. Seamus, who then got me a nice warm sheet to drape across my arms and shoulders. NOW I was ready for surgery!

Bryan watched the surgery intently, but declined taking photos. I don't think I would have wanted to see that. He said at one point blood went squirting out. He still talks about it as the coolest part. I felt nothing at all and finally was warm enough, so I was doing great. It seemed to go really fast, I didn't feel like I was there long at all, when I heard a loud newborn's scream. My very first thought was "That's mine! She's mine! She's mine!" (That looks really creepy typed out like that, but think of me saying it in a sweet, excited, maternal kind of way.) As soon as her head was out, she was screaming, and she kept screaming, which was good. They got her out easily. She was a little blue, but warmed up and turned pink really quickly. I could see the nurses cleaning her up to my left as I laid there, with my doctor cleaning me up. She was so tiny! Just 5 pounds 5 ounces and only 17 and 1/2 inches long! But she was healthy! They nurses offered to Bryan to cut the cord, which had already been cut and clamped as they removed her from me. He hesitated, but I told him to do it, so he did. He later said it wasn't as cool to him because they had already cut it to disconnect us, this was just secondary cutting. (I still find it funny that he wanted to be the one to come between me and Chloe.) They took her away to get taken care of, and I was moved onto a rolling bed to be taken to the post-operating room to be taken care of, too.

Bryan and Chloe met me in the post-operating room. She laid in her bed beside me. Bryan's mom, my parents, and my brother Collin had come to the hospital to be the first to greet Chloe. Only two other people could come back at a time, so they kept rotating. I was so tired and drugged up, I wasn't really too sure what was going on. I was only allowed to eat ice chips, since putting anything in my stomach would likely cause me to throw up. Apparently even that was too much. My dad was standing near me and I asked him to pass me the tray that was on the table. He did just in time. I was waiting and ready. I was a professional at throwing up by this point.

Everyone kept asking how I was doing, but I was just drugged up and tired. They moved us up to our own room. Grandma Gigi (like G.G. short for Grandma Gifford) got to change Chloe's first diaper. Gradually I came out of my stupor. I still couldn't move my legs though so I sent Bryan home to sleep and Chloe to the nursery with the nurses. They knew what they were doing better than I did, anyway, and we'd all do better with a good night's sleep.

Saturday, November 7, 2009: We just sat around watching tv. Grandma Gigi was with Chloe as much as possible, and she let Grandpa Gifford come along and watch her hold Chloe. She was so excited; she didn't share well. Other visitors include my aunt Sharon; Bryan's sisters Kristy and Malissa; and some friends from our ward, Grace and Richard, and Vance and Anakate.

Sunday, November 8, 2009: I was healing well and Chloe was doing great so we got to come home, one day ahead of schedule. She was down to just 5 pounds even. Any smaller and not only would we have had to stay longer, she might have found herself in the NICU. But we were very blessed and able to go home. We are so glad to have her here!