She's Here!!!
Vivienne Anne Storrs
Born: Monday, February 21, 2011 (President's Day)
Time: 4:38 am
Weight: 6 lbs. 0 oz.
Length: 17 1/4 inches
She's here! She's here! She's here! Little Vivvie was born yesterday & she is perfect in everyway possible...
She has 10 fingers and 10 toes...
She has a lot of strawberry blonde hair--well, way more hair than any of our boys had--and two dimples (a big one on her left cheek and a small one on her right)...
She is such a sweet, good-natured little baby...
And, I am in love...
Shhh...don't tell anyone how horrible I look in this picture. I had been up for over 24 hours at this point and just gone through the most horrible 90 minutes of my life (more on that in a minute.) Luckily, she was worth it...
Connor loves her to pieces. Aiden was way more interested in playing the iPad than meeting his new little sister. And, Cohen wasn't quite sure what to think at first...
What a good big brother...
She had lots of visitors to meet. Nana & Poppy, Grandma & Grandpa, and Tata came to meet the newest member of the family...
We all took turns loving and cuddling her...
She's such a doll...
I think I'm still in shock that she really IS a girl...
I'm having fun putting bows and pink beenies on her...
And she has Daddy wrapped right around her little finger...
We love you Vivienne! Welcome to our wild & crazy family!!
VIVIENNE'S BIRTH STORY
Sunday was my last day of work before maternity leave. It was a good, normal day. I had several contractions, but nothing out of the ordinary, considering I usually have 10-15 Braxton-Hicks contractions a day during the last trimester of each pregnancy. All my co-workers sent me off on maternity leave with a bang, including showing a timelapse of my expanding waistline on the news. I posted this timelapse on my Facebook page, if you want to see it.
As I was driving home that night, I had a really strong contraction. It was hard to concentrate on driving because it hurt so bad. I wondered if it was the start of labor, but when I didn't have any others after it, I figured it was a fluke thing and went on with life.
When I got home, I was still wired from work. I played on Facebook for awhile & ate a piece of birthday cake that my sister had sent home with Mike from Dan's birthday party earlier that evening. I finally went to bed around 1:00 in the morning even though I still wasn't feeling tired.
As I laid in bed & tried to go to sleep, I started to have some minor contractions. They just felt like my normal Braxton-Hicks contractions...nothing like the contraction I had had on my way home from work.
When I got home, I was still wired from work. I played on Facebook for awhile & ate a piece of birthday cake that my sister had sent home with Mike from Dan's birthday party earlier that evening. I finally went to bed around 1:00 in the morning even though I still wasn't feeling tired.
As I laid in bed & tried to go to sleep, I started to have some minor contractions. They just felt like my normal Braxton-Hicks contractions...nothing like the contraction I had had on my way home from work.
I fell asleep for a few minutes around 1:30 or 1:45. Then, at about 2:00 or a few minutes afterwards, I was awakened by extremely strong contractions, like the one I had on the way home from work. I was overwhelmed by the pain. I woke Mike up & we started timing them--about 4 to 5 minutes apart. At 2:30, we made the decision that I was really in labor & we called my parents to ask them to meet us at the hospital to take the boys from us. I got up and started getting dressed. As soon as I stood up, the contractions became even more intense & started coming every 2 to 3 minutes.
The contractions slowed down a little bit as we drove in the car...back to about 4 to 5 minutes apart, but they continued to grow in intensity.
We got to the hospital at 3:00 am. As I walked through the halls toward the maternity ward, the contractions started to come closer together again. In fact, by this point, I was only getting about a 30 second break inbetween contractions. One of the nurses got me a wheelchair and pushed me quickly to a delivery room.
We got to the hospital at 3:00 am. As I walked through the halls toward the maternity ward, the contractions started to come closer together again. In fact, by this point, I was only getting about a 30 second break inbetween contractions. One of the nurses got me a wheelchair and pushed me quickly to a delivery room.
Once in the room & dressed in a hospital gown, the nurse checked me and said I was dialated to a 5 or possibly a 6. I told her the contractions had only started about 30-45 minutes ago & she said she would get the anesthesiologist in there as soon as possible, since the labor was progressing so quickly. I was told he would be there within 20 minutes.
Well, that 20 minutes actually ended up being closer to 60 minutes and it was the worst hour of my life! Of that 60 minutes, I would bet I was having contractions for 55 minutes of the time. One would end just another was beginning. They were extremly painful. I had never felt contractions that strong before. It was pure hell...that's the only way to describe it.
The anesthesiologist finally showed up at about 4:00 am and started doing his thing. My nurse told me that the current contraction I was feeling would probably be my last I would feel. But, I continued to feel contractions. I also started to get a massive headache. Everything became a blur. The anesthesiologist was talking to me, telling me that something had gone wrong, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. All I could focus on was the pain from the contractions and headache. (It turned out that he had accidently gone too far into my spinal column and had punctured the dura and spinal fluid was leaking out of my back. When that happens, a spinal headache develops and usually lasts for several days.) The anesthesiologist pulled the epidural out of my back and said he needed to do it again.
I was still consumed by the pain & didn't understand what was going on. I just kept telling the nurse that I could still feel the contractions just as strong. She asked the anethesiologist to wait before performing another epidural. She was concerned that the reason I was still feeling pain was because the I was complete & ready to push. She checked me and, sure enough, I was dialated to a 10, 100% effaced, the baby's head was right there, & the bag of water was about to burst. The doctor was called.
Because I was so close to delivery, the anesthesiologist said he couldn't perform another epidural. I was told that if I laid down, my head may feel better. When I laid down, Vivvie's heart rate dropped. An oxygen mask was thrown on my face. Her heart rate improved after that.
As we waited for the doctor for a few minutes, the contractions started to feel a little less intense & I noticed my legs were slightly numb. The anesthesiologist said that he had given me a dose of epidural fluid before realizing he had gone too far into my spinal column, so that may have been why I was getting a little relief. I could still feel the contractions, but they weren't nearly as intense. Mike rubbed my neck and my forehead to help with the headache. It started to feel better. The anethesiologist explained again to me what had happened, now that I was more aware of what was going on around me, instead of so focused on the pain. He told me that I would most likely need a blood patch given to me to heal the puncture wound to my spinal column. I would most likely have my headache until then & it could become severe at times. Oh joy!
Dr. Broberg showed up a few minutes later. I was still in a lot of pain, both from the less-intense contractions & the spinal headache. He came in and said, "Okay Lindsay, let's get this baby out of you & end this pain you're in. Alright?" He got suited up & told me to push. Two pushes later, Vivienne was out. She was "sunny side up" meaning she was born face up. This doesn't happen much & it usually takes a lot more pushing to get a baby out when they are this direction, rather than face down. I felt greatful that it only took a couple pushes for me. I ended up tearing a little in the process, but nothing too horrible. The one dose of epidural fluid ended up helping a lot. I felt pressure, but not a whole lot of pain (besides the raging headache). She was born only 90 minutes after getting to the hospital, and only six hours after I ended my last newscast.
After she was born, I was told to lay down to releave the headache a little. She was taken to the other side of the room so she could be monitored. After a few minutes, the nurse said that she was having a bit of a hard time maintaining her body temperature because she was "SGA", small for gestational age. Babies that are SGA have a hard time maintaining body temperature & blood sugar levels. They kept her under the warmer for almost an hour before I was finally able to hold her for the first time.
I was moved to a postpardum room, and Vivvie was able to come with us. But, a few hours later, she was once again having a hard time maintaining her body temperature & she was having a little bit of a hard time breathing. She was taken to the nursery so that tests could be run on her & she could be given oxygen. They ended up putting an IV in her head so that they could give her fluids. I wasn't able to see her for several hours during this time. Finally, I was able to go into the nursery & see her. Shortly after that, her test results came back normal & she was able to improve enough to come back to my room for awhile.
Later that afternoon, my parents brought the boys to meet and see their new little sister. My dad and Mike gave both her and I a blessing. Connor held his little sister as she was given a blessing. Cohen, not wanting to be left out, did the cutest thing. He walked over to Vivienne during the blessing & put his hand on her chest. It was so cute!
Since that time, Vivienne has been able to maintain her temperature & blood sugar and she has been breathing very well. I haven't really had many complications from the botched epidural, except minor headaches from time to time and I haven't required the blood patch as of yet. We feel very blessed to both be doing so well.
So, that's Viv's story of how she came into this world. It definately wasn't an easy one, but it was sooooooo worth it! She really knows how to make an entrance! --Lindsay
