March 24, 2010: Zoey Elizabeth is Born

Zoey Elizabeth Wallace
Centennial Women's Hospital

4:19 p.m., 6lb 6 oz, 19.5" long

At 4:00 p.m. I received my spinal injection for the c-section. It was so easy and much less painful than getting an IV. I was calm as a cucumber, completely relaxed and so ready to meet my baby girl. The hospital took extra precautions due to our situation... I had 2 IV's going, one was on hold for blood in case the vessel from the vasa previa got nicked in the surgery. NICU was in there a well, ready and waiting for Zoey's debut. Surprisingly, the spinal med took a long time to work it's way up my body... they kept tilting the table back to help it move up to my belly. Being tipped back eventually made me nauseated, but a shot of Zofran in my IV took care of that.

I think I did pretty well during the procedure... I talked the whole time and enjoyed the moment. My OB said when she cut into me, that ugly vessel was looking right at her. I got to see this thing and it was definitely an odd-looking placenta! Zoey was born crying and that made me feel so much better. I knew it meant her lungs were somewhat functioning. After crying and gasping for a while, she finally decided she needed some assistance. She was put in NICU and there she stays... for now. Each day she graduates a little bit, progresses enough to where they can take her off something. Her lungs are still a little crackly and her x-rays a bit fuzzy, but she is fighting for her life and determined to get out of there.

Unfortunately, all that magnesium sulfate I was on has affected her and that breaks my heart. She is so sleepy... I hate it for her. But they say she just needs to sleep it off... eventually she'll work it out of her system. As for me... well. I'm also struggling quite a bit... bed rest for 5 weeks and all those meds have made my healing process much slower. I had a couple episodes today where I almost fainted and several nurses had to come in and help. I'm in a lot of pain, even on the Percocet and Motrin. My body is just exhausted from this journey.

In the meantime, the lactation consultants have me pumping to bring in my milk supply. Zoey cannot have anything yet, but they offered to freeze it for me. Pumping is definitely painful... but each time I do it, a little more colostrum (aka Liquid Gold) comes in and they will be able to give her what I produce. It's getting easier to deal with, too. I pump every 3 hours right now. It's worth it knowing I am able to provide for my baby girl what no one else can... what she needs the most right now is extra nutrients and my colostrum has that... every drop counts.

The hardest part for me right now is that I can't hold her. I held her (sorta) after she was born and was placed on my chest, all swaddled... but once she was taken away that was it... no more baby in my arms. That hurts the most. But I know she is in the best care and I finally got to see her tonight. We want to bond with her so badly but it's just not possible right now. We know she is much safer now though... the scary placenta is gone and I can rest assured that Zoey is safe.

Right now, we don't think she looks like either one of us... she is a pretty baby, but where did she come from? Her ultrasound one week ago was right on the money... she was over 6 lbs! She's in newborn size diapers right now but I think she'll be able to wear some preemie stuff we got as well. She is still small, even though she's considered large for a 35 week gestation baby. They aren't used to the babies being that big.

I look forward to her getting over this hump and coming home with me. She is a fighter like me. I am so proud of her :)