So, lots to talk about in this one, as in not a lot of topics but tons of info.
As most of you know, our family grew by one on Saturday 7/7/12 at about 6:25 PM Central time.
Her name is Emmalyn Brinley Womack Beeson.
Friday night, Baby Momma and I were over at her parent's house for a bonfire party/get together thing. Super fun! We hung out there until pretty late, we got home a little after mid-night. Sure enough as we were leaving the usual jokes of "get that baby out already" and such were flying thick! Little did we know then that it was happening soon, like really soon. Fast forward just a couple of hours and Shayna woke up with pains in her tummy. At first she told me, "its no big deal, just go back to sleep". About 30 minutes later I woke back up, and she was in even more pain. She still thought it was no big deal and decided to take a shower to see if that'd help. We had monitored the contractions on an app on her phone, which told us she was in labor...but she figured it was a false alarm. She told me to go back to sleep and she promised she would after her shower. Me being me however, did not listen. I proceded to get dressed, get the bags ready, make sure the car seat was in, and start loading the van.
At this point, Shayna decided to turn her bath into a shower, thinking that might help lessen the pain so she could go back to sleep. It did while she was in the water, but once she got out it was much much worse. We decided then it was time to get to the hospital.
it was about 3 am at this point, and naturally I get stuck behind the two slowest cars in exsistance. They were driving side by side so I couldn't get around them, and they were doing 50 in a 55 zone. Eventually I got around them and we didn't have any other issues.
Once we got the hospital, Baby Momma was examined and admitted fairly quick. The only problem was that she was in a large amount of pain (8 or 9 out of 10). They gave her some pain med which I forgot the name of (let alone know how to spell!) and she felt better!
Then it was a matter of wait until she progresses enough to start pushing and get the epidural. The doc who gave her the epidural did an amazing job, Shyana said she couldn't feel a thing!
I'll skip over most of the boring and gross details...but basically, Shayna was a freaking ROCK STAR!!!! She never yelled at anyone, never cried out in pain, impressed our nurse with how well she was holding up, and basically made it look super easy! I can't express just how proud of her I am.
*Side note: if you ever are delivering a baby at Via Christi St. Jo...get Jamie as your nurse. She is awesome! She knew what she was doing, funny, compassionate, and made the whole experience that much less stressful!*
During some of the grossness that happens before the actual birth, Jamie noticed some Meconium. What that comes down to is that we knew we would need the NICU people in the room incase baby had gotten any in her mouth.
So, finally, at 6:25ish, Emmalyn was born.
*another side note: I did actually watch the entire process and didn't pass out or throw up. It was the coolest and most amazing thing I have ever seen. And a little bizarre too to be completley honest*
Now the fun begins right? Nope...she wouldn't be my daughter unless she did to me a little be of what I did to my parents when I was born.
The doc who delivered her gave her directly to the NICU people, who proceded to do thier thing to try and get her to cry.
She didn't.
They suctioned her mouth and nose trying to get as much of the meconium out of her airways as possible. They even had to put her on the ventilator to help her breathe.
All the while Shayna is still on the bed, and I am standing in the middle of the room, torn between should I stay with Shayna and be her support or should I try and get closer to our daughter to try and see what is going on. Shayna did have her mom there with her to help, and she had told me in advance to stay with baby girl, but I was still conflicted and terrified.
Finally, after what felt like an eternety....she cried!!!
WHEW!!!
I didnt realize, but I had been holding my breath. Later they told us that it was less than 60 seconds between her being born, and her letting out that first cry...but let me tell you, it sure felt like 60 hours rather than 60 seconds!
Her APGAR scores were 2,8, and 9. (10 being perfect). I got to joke about how out of the gate my daughter was already showing me up; she doubled my score for my first minute!
This is already a super long post, so check back for Part II, and possibly Parts III and IV depending on how long I let the other ones get!
In the mean time, have a great day!
Cheers,
Tom
