Elizabeth joins our family!

We welcomed Elizabeth Mary Yeager on July 11, 2008 via c-section at 4:53pm. She is a very welcomed addition to our family, and seems to be fitting right in! Following is her birth story:

My blood pressure readings had been slowly increasing over the past weeks, and Wed night they were in the 150's/mid 90's, so my doctor wanted me to come in Thurs morning to see him. They found a substantial amount of protein in my urine, and along with high blood pressure and some swelling, he was tracking me for preeclempsia. I took a Non Stress Test to monitor the baby's activity, and thankfully the baby was really moving, so my doctor let me go home with orders to rest for the rest of the evening. He wanted me to come back on Fri morning at 11:00 to check my urine and blood pressure, and to do a sonogram to check amniotic fluid level.

Fri morn my blood pressure was really high again (hard to relax when everyone is telling you to relax ), still had high protein numbers, and there was a very low level of amniotic fluid. So after going over the pros and cons, and giving me his opinion that we should deliver, my dr. asked me what I thought and wanted. I told him that I would rather have her in the NICU delivered, safe, and being watched over, than still in utero where anything could happen in an instant without being able to control it or help instantly if needed (Matthew was on my mind). So he just smiled at me and said OK, let's deliver.

I had brought a packed bag, so I walked around to the L&D building to check in. I also called Jeff (who was on alert at work where he was finishing up some business meetings with out of towners, but ready to drop everything to "come on down" ), to tell him to drop everything and come on down. Then I called my mom who had our 3 girls to let her know what was going on.

I was set up in L&D, scheduled for 4:30 in the OR, so I just chilled until Jeff got there. Of course my blood pressure was now 132/78, because there is nothing like knowing it would be over soon and that I was under the watchful eyes of the nurses. I ended up getting the same delivery nurse I had with Kate (Thanks, Jennifer, you rocked!) which was great. Jeff and I watched TV and started talking about middle names, because we still didn't have one. We were searching for something short that would just flow, but nothing seemed to go, nor did they have any special meaning. Then Mary popped into my head, and I wondered why it hadn't earlier, because while it's not my mother's full name, it is the name she is known by to most people. We are hoping it means lots of extra babysitting sessions, seeing that Elizabeth can be called her namesake :)

Before we knew it, it was time to be rolled into the OR to do all the prep. They shot me up, made sure I was numb, got me all ready, brought Jeff in, and started. I was crying at this point, not really sure why, but figured it was nerves, relief, fear, and anticipation all wrapped together.

They had a NICU team there ready to take her (mandatory because of her gestational age of 34 weeks, 4 days), and also on alert because of the anticipation she would need oxygen and other help. She was born at 4:53pm with a full head of black hair, weighing 5lbs 14ozs and 19.75 inches long, but best of all screaming her lungs out. The NICU team didn't need to do anything, she was treated and looked over there in the OR just as she would have been if she were full term. She was taken down to the NICU for observation, and we would find out later for how long. Jeff got to go with her, while I went to recovery.

She ended up being there for only a couple of hours because all her tests came back great, and she was breathing on her own. So we rested in the hospital for a couple of days, and went home Monday afternoon with Elizabeth. We are now attempting to just rest and spend our days planning the logistics of everyday outings that used to be a cinch but now may prove more of a challenge.

One of the eeriest moments for me was during the c-section, my doctor showed Jeff the umbilical cord. It had a "true knot" in it, and the doctor told us that through divine intervention all this stuff happened to bring us to the point of delivering her when we did. All it would have taken was a couple more active days and her moving around enough to tighten the knot to the point of cutting off her oxygen and causing a cord knot accident. It still gives me chills, but also makes me smile the biggest smile that everything happened the way it did.