August 7, 2011 {Brandy & Mike welcome their daughter, Rayne}
Let me start by saying that in the beginning, I never dreamed I’d be having a cesarean section to have my child. I wanted no drugs, no painkillers, all natural birthing. However, things change and you have to adapt to whatever life throws at you.
Rayne, pronounced Rain, has always been a little stinker in the womb. Around 32 weeks, we found out that my daughter was transverse in my uterus. She was side to side, something we had not caught at all until when I was having cramps, and we went to the hospital to make sure I wasn’t going into premature labor. They felt my daughter, and did an ultrasound to confirm. I was told that she had 4 weeks to turn, and then we would be scheduling a C-Section. Well, that fateful appointment came around, and she was still nice and snug in her little spot, so we scheduled a C-Section for 38 weeks, August 10th.
My labor started on August 7th, in the middle of the day. We had been hoping she would come anytime in the last week, because my mother and father were visiting, and were SO hoping to see their granddaughter be born. Well, she waited until the day they headed home. I began having labor pains in the late morning. I figured it was more Braxton Hicks contractions, so I decided to spend a good long time in the tub, and have some chamomile tea, to calm myself down. I tried napping, drinking water, light yoga… my normal remedies for it weren’t doing anything… They grew stronger, and I knew… the little monkey was on her way!
Due to the high risk of a transverse breech birth, my significant other, who will henceforth be called Daddy, came home in minutes, and helped me get the bag, her bag, and a few comfort items, and we headed to Peace River Medical Center. We did not want her coming without medical personnel present.
We got there at around 5pm, and I was admitted for the night. My contractions grew worse and worse, and the painkillers nor the medicine my doctor gave me to try and stop them helped anything. My nurses called my doctor, and I was told that as long as my water stayed intact and nothing changed, I would be having my baby in the morning!
Excitement ensued, and the barrage of bloodwork, pre-op, and ultrasounds began. The scariest thing was in the middle of the night when the machines went off… The nurses ran in, and found her heartbeat again… strong, but in the wrong spot by far. So, they decided to do another ultrasound at around 6am. That was when we discovered the little peanut had flipped… in the wrong direction. Instead of head down where I could just wait it out, she was butt first. That determined it, we were definitely looking at surgery in 2 hours. Daddy was excited, supportive… he was perfect. He combed my hair, fluffed pillows, got me ice to suck since I was banned from water and food after midnight, took care of my every craving until midnight, and made sure I was very well looked after.
The big moment came. Family was waiting in my room, and they led me to the operating room. Words do not describe how scared I was to be having an operation and be AWAKE for it… I got a spinal block… that is not something I want to do again for a long time… and was helped to the table as everything from the chest down got heavy and numb. I began to get very woozy… They brought Daddy in right as they began the surgery. I don’t remember much, just that I was nervous… but as soon as I heard that cry, I was alert and close to tears… I kept telling him, look what we did! She’s perfect!
She was a healthy 7lb and 13 oz, and she was 19 inches long. She was fluffy, had soft hair all over, and when she opened her eyes right then and there and looked at me as they held her to my cheek, it was done. This little one had my heart forever. Of course, after a few moments of bonding, they had to take her and get her cleaned up, Apgar her, and the rest of what needed to be done. I made Daddy go with her. “Do not let her out of your sight…” I told him. I refused to let her leave a room without one of us there…
I don’t remember the rest of the surgery, I blacked out after he left. I woke up as I was being wheeled back to the room, and my daughter was there, being cleaned and put in a onesie that we brought for her. She was placed in my arms and I snuggled her, held her close, and just inhaled her scent. She was just perfect in every way…
She had some struggles through the night… she had Vernix stuck in her throat and nose and stopped breathing twice, and had to spend most of the night in the NICU… I believe she was fed through a bottle there, because when they brought her back, she wouldn’t latch. I had a difficult time for the rest of the time I tried breastfeeding her for a week. She did fine before they took her to NICU… but we did what we needed to so that she gained her weight.
My daughter is about a week away from 6 months old now. She is a happy, healthy girl, she tries to crawl and gets on her hands and knees, she toddles around in a walker and gets into everything, she calls for us saying Mama and Dada, and looks at us as she does so, she eats solids, plays with her puppy dog, sits up unsupported, and has teeth that will pop in any day now. She loves people and she adores meeting new people at the store and anywhere we go. She sits in store high chairs by herself.
We look back now, and it seems like yesterday that she was our little peanut, fitting in one hand. Now, she’s huge. She went from 7lb 13oz to 15lb. She’s gone from 19 inches to 25 inches. She has regular hair now. She went from the name peanut to Booger britches. She’s grown into her own personality, and she’s a sweetheart, she sleeps well and everything. We wouldn’t trade her for anything, and while we didn’t get to have her the way we wanted, we got her here healthy and that’s what matters, and besides, we can always try for a VBAC next time.
Rayne Leigh Mollohan- Born 8/7/11, at 8:35 AM. 7lb, 13 oz, 19 in.
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