Uppercase Woman

It's Sarah...with Photos!

Hello everyone, its Sarah here!

It’s been a very long day…one that began with terror and drama and is now ending in peaceful contentment.

Charlie phoned me at 10:15 this morning to tell me that Cecily was “hemorrhaging,” as he put it, and that they were on their way to the hospital. I slugged my coffee and jumped in my car to meet them there.

Upon passing the hospital to get to the parking garage, I saw Cecily getting out of their car at the front doors. I raced into the parking lot to park and ran down 6 flights of stairs to run over to the hospital. Arriving on the right floor, I looked wildly around for any sign of them but only found a nurse telling me and another woman to clear the hallway for an emergency they were bringing through.

It was Cecily.

I was able to say hello and grab onto her hand for a moment before they ran her down the hallway with Charlie and I following. The nurse told us we couldn’t go back but promised to come find us as soon as she knew anything. She was going to have an emergency C-section. After the doors closed, Charlie and I hugged and he let the tears flow a bit. We were terrified, but I was determined to stay positive.

They got Tori out incredibly fast. In fact, Dr. Mama practically bragged that he got the baby out in 20 seconds after Charlie told him he knew that doctors could get them out in 45 seconds.

A nurse brought Tori Anne out to see Charlie and to let him hold her soon after, and I have never seen a more beautiful father. With tears in his eyes he talked quietly and sweetly to her as he held her close. We found out that her scores were good and we could see how pink she was and she graced us with a little preview of her crying capabilities. It was the sweetest sound I heard all day.

Then the waiting began. I was able to go back and see Cec in recovery for a bit and show her the photos I took of Charlie and Tori, because she had yet to see her new daughter. Her blood pressure was getting high and they were just deciding to give her the magnesium, much to her dismay. She will be on it for 24 hours. She was in a lot of pain when I saw her the first time, but getting morphine that soon started easing things for her. We found out that her placenta was 70-80% detached already and what she had experienced that morning was a passing of a very large blood clot and the beginning of the placenta deteriorating.

Cecily told me then that she and Charlie had held a secret from me. They told me that they named their daughter with an extra middle name: Sarah. Victoria Anne Sarah. I was, for once in my life, speechless.

Hours and hours went by. Charlie and I visited Tori up in the nursery. We went and got lunch with Cecily’s mom. Still, she hadn’t been brought up to a regular room. Finally we were able to go meet her upstairs at around 7pm…but not before a visit to yet another lounge while they set her up.

She got a private room, and after much cajoling and pleading and having to delay because of a shift change with the staff, they brought Cecily her baby at 7:45pm.

As Tori was handed to her and Cecily held her in her arms, she gasped. She looked absolutely beautiful and very much like a mother. Charlie and Cecily were beaming.

And Victoria Anne? I am not exaggerating when I tell you that she is perfect in every single way.

Update on Mommy, Daddy and Baby

Elise here again.

Everyone is doing well - I've now had a chance to talk to Charlie several times and Cecily once.  She sounds tired and happy.  Charlie is staying overnight at the hospital in a cot, so the family will be together tonight.  Cecily is in room 554 in the hospital.

Sarah is staying until visiting hours end, and I think Cecily should probably be meeting her baby for the first time right about now.  Sarah has a camera with her, thank goodness!

We'll keep this space updated so you'll all be in the loop.  I cannot wait to see that baby and her proud parents!

-Elise

Welcome Victoria Anne!!!!!

Hi everyone,

This is Elise, posting on Cecily's behalf.   She wanted me to let you all know that Victoria Anne was born this morning at 11:05am, weighing in at 6 pounds 4 ounces.  The baby is reportedly gorgeous and perfect - I haven't seen her yet - and has a head of dark hair.

Cecily had some bleeding this morning and Charlie took her to the hospital, where the wonderful Dr. Mama decided to do an emergency C-section.  Sarah was there during the surgery, and then she and Charlie both got to hold Tori after she was born - screaming, according to Sarah.  Tori had Apgars of 8 and 9 and is in great shape.  She didn't have to go to the NICU, so that is a blessing.  Cecily is ecstatic, tired and crampy, and will be in the hospital until Sunday.  They are monitoring her blood pressure to make sure it doesn't go up.  She has been moved to a regular room, and Charlie said the nurses would bring Tori in sometime this afternoon to start working on nursing.

I am so pleased to have the privilege of reporting this fantastic news to all of Cecily's readers.  Thanks to all of you for being there throughout this entire journey - of course when she gets back she'll be able to properly thank you in her own way. 

So there we have it: Victoria Anne , born 6/7/2006, 6lbs, 4oz.  YAY!

-Elise

37 *DAMN IT I meant 36* Weeks

Sorry for the lack of posting. I had some computer issues (since resolved, bless Elise) and I have been hit by the fatigue train pretty hard this week. But I'm OK, the baby is OK, all is well.

This afternoon I had another non-stress test. Once again the baby refused to cooperate, and we ended up getting an ultrasound "profile." The baby was breathing beautifully in there; it was cool to see. She looks great. HUGE, but great. We go back for another one on Thursday.

And, without a doubt, we go in early Sunday morning (8am!) and begin the process of induction (starting with Cervadil, moving on to petocin etc on Monday). Tori is almost here, folks!

....................................

While we were waiting in the lobby for our appointment to begin, a woman came out of one of the exam room weeping.

I wanted to run over and hug her, I wanted to tell her she wasn't alone, that I've been there--possibly in the same room--and felt what she's feeling, that there are millions of us who've gone in expecting to see the beautiful flutter of a beating heart on that screen only to be told that it wasn't there, that the baby is dead. I just wanted to hold her and let her cry. But who the fuck wants a hugely pregnant woman to make assumptions about why you're crying and swarm on you and give you a hug? I'd have punched me right in the fucking mouth in her place. So I just sat there, wanting to cry with her. God, what an awful thing.

So if you could, just say a prayer for her. For all of us who've been there.

Postponed...

Sigh.

The amnio results this morning showed that the baby's lungs aren't quite there yet (level was 33,000, should be over 55,000), so everything has been pushed back a week. Instead of going in to the hospital on June 4, we'll go in June 11, hoping to deliver on the 12th.

There goes my 6-6-06 birth date...

I'd have thought I would have been more disappointed, but obviously we'd rather the baby spent another week in me than a week in the NICU, so we're resigned to it. I have to be more careful to take it easy this week--which shouldn't be hard, since we got everything done I wanted done.

Plus with the extra ten days we'll cross into being really full term, which should make things like breastfeeding much easier.

The amnio went very smoothly, I must say. I barely felt the skin prick, and I only felt the tiniest cramp when the needle penetrated my uterus. I cramped for a while afterwards, but nothing too overwhelming.

The hour and half preceding the amnio, however, was not so smooth.

The perinatologist had told me to go register at the hospital before I got the amnio; for some reason, Charlie and I both got it in our heads that I was registering for Sunday night's admission. But I was actually supposed to be registering for the amnio itself, which made no sense to me, since the amnio isn't at the hospital (it's at the diagnostic office across the street from the hospital. Affiliated, but not the same place). Bizarre.

Throw in the fact that my insurance changed as of Thursday--to a new insurance that requires referrals for today's amnio but they couldn't give me the referral until I became active in the new insurance which didn't happen until yesterday--and you have loads of paperwork fun!

While it was all resolved, I got to enjoy the following conversation in the waiting room between two young girls (one of whom was pregnant) about fifteen years old:

"Don't give that baby no ghetto name. Give it a good name like Oprah."

"Or Beyoncé; that's French."

"Your name, Kimtalya [sic], wins a prize for the most ghetto name EVER."

"Yeah, but I go by Kim, and that's ok."

...

Beyoncé; it's FRENCH.

So, what shall we talk about for the next week?

Last Days...

Today we went out and ran the last batch of errands. Managed seven stops in three hours.

Before you worry that I wasn't careful, I will confess that I broke down and asked to use the little motorized wheelchair while at Target. I felt both ridiculous and fabulous as I zipped around the store in that thing. We stocked up on lots of crap like batteries and pet food and various things like that. Got one more little thing for the nursery (it's actually a shoe organizer, but I'm gonna put it on top of the thing that now has the books on it and use the little cubbies for everything--the books will move to the top of that new thing, if that makes sense).

Also hit a store that used to be called a "stout shop" for a nice nightie and robe to wear after I get to shower in the hospital (per your suggestions!). Luckily, it's a bizarre pattern of roses on a background of leopard print (I know, it's not as hideous as you'd think, but there ain't much in the way of choices for us fat chicks) so if I bleed on it no one will be able to tell. Heh.

Went to the library and stocked up on books. Very important to have lots of books.

Tomorrow at 10am we have the amnio. We should have the results by the afternoon. I'll most likely rest all day tomorrow (really rest, not this running all over town resting I've been doing) and then Saturday Charlie and I are hoping to go to dinner and see a last movie (and hey, how good has his blog been lately?).

We'll get admitted to the hospital at 5pm on Sunday.

Here we go.

PS: Oh, and I'll post photos of the Bugaboo soon. It's under a lot of stuff right now in a corner of the living room, so it will have to wait a few days!