Baby Z's Arrival!

Hope you are ready for quite the story!

Z's arrival was very unexpected and not the way I thought it would go at all.

Let me begin with Thursday.

THURSDAY 07-25-13 

5:50

After work I had my regular Dr.'s appointment. Everything went as normal. I got there, did my sample, my blood pressure, and then my weight. Then I went into the exam room and waited for the Dr. This was my first appointment ever going alone. This was the best time we could get and Michael couldn't take any more time off of work and I knew I was getting checked so I pretty much wanted to just go alone for that awkwardness. 

Anyways, the Dr. comes in and checks me and informs me that my cervix is nowhere near ready. He thinks I'll go 2 more weeks (which would be my due date) and maybe even a week later if my cervix doesn't cooperate. I just knew it would be just my luck that I would go another 3 miserable weeks. I was ok with that I guess. I was basically ready but this would give me time so relax and make sure everything was 100% ready. So I wasn't too disappointed but I wasn't looking forward to 3 more weeks in this heat.

As I'm at the desk making my appointment for the following week, my Dr. came running up to me. (He had been out in the parking lot looking for me.) He was going over my test results and saw that my blood pressure had been high and there were high levels of protein in my sample. All pregnancy my blood pressure has been perfect and same with my protein levels. So he wanted me to retest my blood pressure. So we did and it was still pretty high. 

He then asked me if I had any plans for the evening thinking he would tell me I needed to take it super easy or something. Nope. He told me I was to head straight over to labor and delivery.

I didn't think it was that big of deal. They just wanted to get me to relax and retest my blood pressure then take my blood and run some tests on that. 

When I got there I asked the nurse if she thought I should call my husband and she told me I would most likely only be there about an hour for the tests.

6:30

I get admitted into labor and deliver and get a room. I am still alone and start to get a little nervous. Luckily my sister Jamie was in town so I called her to come sit with me. I would have called my mom but she was out of the state that whole week and wasn't due to come back until Saturday the 27th.

7:00

Jamie arrived to come sit with me. By this time I am in the bed with a blood pressure cuff on and 2 sensors on my belly. One tracking baby's heart and one tracking my contractions. The blood pressure cuff would go off every few minutes and test my pressure. The sensor for baby's heart beat was hooked up to where we could hear her heart beat.

8:00

The Dr. came in to chat with me and give me some options. He told me my test results were not ideal, though he didn't give me many details. Probably because he didn't want me to worry and have my blood pressure go up. He did tell me that I would be spending the night for sure so he could monitor everything all night and test my blood again in the morning. He had to run and do a c-section and he said he'd be back afterwards to go over more options with me.

By this time I am dying to have Michael by my side. Though I was glad to have someone there, that someone just wasn't my Michael.

8:15

I had to google Michael's work number. You really can only call there if you have an emergency, other than that get a hold of them on their breaks. We were going to make sure his number was in my phone before she got here. Among other things. So I call him and the person asks me if this call is an emergency. I tell him, "Well, this is his pregnant wife and I just got admitted into the hospital." He said, "Yeah, I think that counts."

So I talk to Michael and even though we weren't going to be getting a baby that night I just told him what was going on and he asked if he wanted me to come. I tried not to cry and said yes I need you here. By 8:45 he was there. He had to borrow a car to come but that's another story.

11:00

Finally the Dr. comes in to let us know what our options are. We can either monitor things the way they have been and hope my cervix does something by morning, or he can insert what is called a cervadil that releases medicine every hour to help my cervix thin. That had to be placed and stay in for at least 12 hours. So either way it was going to be a long night and possibly a long day the next day depending on how things go. So we opted for the cervadil. I won't even get into how painful inserting that thing is. (Well I'm sure it doesn't compare to actual birth but, it was NOT fun. Thank goodness for Michael.) I seriously tear up just thinking about that night and how comforting Michael was for me. I could not have done it without him.

FRIDAY 07-26-13

First thing in the morning they did more tests. Blood drawn and all that. I didn't hear the results for about an hour and a half but they were still the same.

11:30

FINALLY after what seemed like forever, someone came in to take the cervadil out and check my cervix. Pain and disappointment. It hurt and my cervix had only softened from 50% to 75%. They wanted to wait a couple more hours after the cervadil was removed to see if my cervix reacted to all the medicine.

1:00

Dr. comes in to check on me. To my dismay, everything was the same. Still not dilated, cervix still not ready. He gave me the options of either breaking my water and getting labor started, or continue to see if my cervix will thin out on its own. Michael and I didn't feel it was going to do anything on its own, so we decided to go ahead with breaking my water and starting the Patossin. So by 1:15 my water was broken and the Patossin had started. 

If you've ever been on Patossin before you know the contractions start to get really strong and really painful. Michael was amazing letting me squeeze his hand and helping me breathe. (And we never even went to any birthing classes!) All this time I am still hooked up to everything. The monitors for my contractions and for the baby, and the blood pressure cuff.  Here's where things got a little rough. My contractions were killer and every time I contracted, the baby's heart rate would drop. That would stress me out and I worried about her so my blood pressure would rise. They tried many things, turning off the Patossin for a while to stabilize the baby, have me lay on one side then the other, and finally oxygen.

Michael kept the families updated and by this time my mom was on her way home but still about 4 hours out and starting to panic. We continued all of this for a few hours to see if anything changed. Every time I got an update it was, "We're going to continue what we're doing but if it doesn't work we are going to have to do a c-section." 

So we waited. And waited.

5:30

My parents finally arrive. And I just lose it. I was so relieved to have them there. My dad gave me a quick blessing then stood by my bedside and held my hand as I suffered through the contractions and the continually high blood pressure.

8:00

Finally we get the news we will be heading into a c-section. Things weren't progressing for a regular deliver and my Preeclampsia wasn't too severe but waiting would cause it to be. There was no use putting more stress on the baby. So we prepped ourselves for bringing our baby into the world.

9:00

They wheeled me into the operating room. Finally this was happening. I didn't know how to feel. I had never had surgery before so I was nervous for that but I didn't think I would have the strength to attempt a regular delivery at this point so I was a little relieved. They took me in and numbed me up. Covered me with the curtain and then let Michael in. He sat by my side and comforted me the whole time. When it was time for them to take the baby out he watched and I think from that moment on he has been smitten. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. They showed her to me then took her to get cleaned up. I just remember saying, "I can't believe she's here. I can't believe my daughter is here."

Never did I imagine it would happen this way and this early. Finally they brought her to me and put her by my head so I could love on her and enjoy her.

I will never forget this moment and I'm so glad they told Michael to go back and get his phone so he could capture it.

He also took pictures of her getting weighed and cleaned up.

Michael then carried her out of the operating room and into the nursery. She held on to his finger almost the entire time and he has been wrapped ever since. 

Zianna-Marie Rosela Jensen

07-26-13

9:17 p.m

5 lb. 9 oz.

19 in.

I am one lucky mama. She is perfect and Michael is the best daddy ever. He can calm her down way better than I can and he jumps at the opportunity to change her diaper and help me feed her. 

I cannot believe how lucky and how blessed I am. These two are my world! (And my doggie too!) I couldn't be happier and even though it wasn't how we expected it or when we anticipated it, it was perfect and I would do it all again. She was so worth it!