Friday, June 20, 2008

Daisy

Luke was 3 and Bo just 15 months old when I really started wanting more kids...  It was on our ninth anniversary 10/29/04 that Daddy and I sat down with a good bottle of champagne and discussed our past our present and our future.  I let him know I really wanted a daughter and he let me know he really wanted to wait,  we went to bed that night agreeing that it is hard having really little ones and putting an extra year in between wouldn't hurt.  On November 6 just a little over a week after our long talk I found out that you really should consult God on Your Big Plan because I was already pregnant.  I was happy, Daddy was not convinced, I took 3 tests and he said Ok, not our plan but it will be ok.
Of course as the next few weeks unfolded we both became even happier about our baby growing inside of me and the possibility for a daughter.  I had been praying for a daughter since right after Bo was born, don't get me wrong, I love my boys with all my heart but I wanted to have sons and a daughter.
I had lost so much weight before I became pregnant with Daisy, I was worried about weight gain with her which was my only worry.  Until January, Dana and Joe got married, I was the Matron of Honor and I had to fit into my dress so with all the weight loss I was in a size 8, well on baby number 3 I think I was showing by week 6.  I had to get this whole body, booster which was so tight I felt sick.  I almost didn't even look pregnant with all the under garments...
The next day Joe' s best friend had a brunch in honor of the newlyweds and everyone was shocked at my stomach, I was evidently pregnant!
I started feeling Daisy kick very early like around 16 weeks and she never kicked as much as the boys, it felt different.
Around this time I had a dream I was holding a baby girl in a large stadium and I held her up and told all the people here is my daughter **** (her real name, which is also a biblical name).  I loved the name Madison and I was sure I was going to name my daughter Madison so when I woke up from this dream I was like no her name will not be ***** it will be Madison.  I dreamed this same dream again, and I talked to Daddy about it and we decided if God was going to bless us with a daughter we would name her what he was telling me.
We went for our ultrasound at 20 weeks and we found out we were indeed having a little girl I cried and cried!
My pregnancy with Daisy was really relaxed except that my hated and I say HATED with a passion my OB.  At one of the first visits a child was crying one room over and the actually said "I can't believe they bring that brat here, I thanked God they didn't bring him into the delivery room"  I was so shocked!  I just sat there with a paper gown on mouth open wide staring at him.  A few weeks later I receive a letter in the mail that said No children are allowed at the OB office.  If you come with your children over 6 weeks we will reschedule your appointment.
At 26 weeks we took the glucose tolerance test.  I remember well that my number was 139 and I  was diabetic because for gestational diabetes you must be under 120, but not here in po-dunk...  I was really distraught they kept telling me that I was not diabetic but my time at the diabetic institute taught me totally different.   So needless to say I had absolutely no faith in my Doctors and was fearful for our daughter.  I watched what I ate and tried to follow a point system and prayed alot.
At 38 weeks My Aunt came to visit, because I was really over being pregnant, it was hot, it was July and I wanted to be done!  I had never been pregnant this long before, and to this day I swear 40 weeks is overrated!  I was just so tired.  I even went to CVS and bought a bottle of Castor Oil, but I never used it.  I begged the Doctor to induce me but she wouldn't. Dana came just in time, the next day Bo who was almost 2 started throwing up, I then started praying please don't let me go into labor.  Funny I remember thinking how God always knows better than we do!  
At two days before my due date I had an appointment and the Doctor said that I was measuring a little on the big side so she said she would induce me the next day, I had been begging for so long...  
Happy Daddy, Dana and I dropped the boys off at a friends house and headed to the hospital we arrived at 9am on July 11, I was dilated to a 2 at admittance.  The Doctor on call was actually a mid wife.  She was very kind and said that she had orders from the Doctor who I didn't like to give me some kind of gel that could maybe make me go into labor.  I laid there all day it was really 5 hours of nothing and boy was I getting hungry!  Finally at 3 I begged (I begged alot in  my pregnancy with Daisy) for her to just break my water, see with the boys once they broke my water we were able to get down to business.
She broke my water at 4:30pm and gave me pitocin, I started having really strong contractions right away.  But with only one anesthesiologist on staff, I had to wait, and wait and wait.  I remember Daddy reminding me to breath, I'm not a yeller I just hold my breath.  Finally at 5:45 I received the epidural and could rest for a few minutes and then they told me to push...
I didn't feel well, very sleepy and funny.  But 2 pushes and our beautiful baby girl was born.  The mid wife allowed HD to deliver her, she stood beside him and told him what to do, he rotated her and helped ease her out on the second push, it was amazing for him to be able to deliver her like that!  I held her right away, and then Daddy and Aunt Dana, at some point I kept telling my husband I can't keep my eyes open, he said just rest, and with everyone paying attention to the baby, no one was listening, I got louder NO SOMETHING IS WRONG!  The nurse came over to me, at that point I got sick every where, and my blood pressure dropped so low they slammed the bed down and gave me a shot of epinephrine.  I started feeling better right away, I found out later that this can happen to woman with the kind of epidural that I received.  
I was able to hold our beautiful girl with a head full of black hair and nurse her right away.  About 2 hours after her birth they checked her blood sugar level and told me she need formula, (so all my fears about gestational diabetes was accurate) I have never done anything but nurse and I had been through this before with Luke, and I insisted that they attach a tube to my breast so that she could nurse and still receive small amounts of formula to raise her blood sugar level, the nurse left the room and came back with another nurse who said that I really need to think of my babies best interest and stop arguing with the staff....  WHAT!  I am totally thinking of my babies best interest, I don't want her to get confused, we don't even own one bottle, she will be nursing and what in the world is the problem with my request!  I guess, no one in this small town had ever asked for such a thing and being that Luke and Bo were born is a large city they received more state of the art technology, you know like a small tube.  Ultimately I won and they found a tube (its called pinkie feeding) and Daisy did fine with that.
Her blood sugar level came up just fine but then she started gagging, she choked several times and we had to clear her out with the nasal aspirator, she then started turning a funny shade of red not pink our girl was RED!  The nurse noticed that she was sighing, I thought how cute listen to her she is talking like her mama already, but was quickly informed that no she was having breathing difficulty.  They need to take her to the nursery for a better look, let me just confess right now, I have cast a whole lot of judgement on this issue and I have stated before that ever single judgment I have cast especially as a parent comes right back on me!  I have in the PAST been under the impression that it was lazy to seed the baby to the nursery, I wait 9 months to see this baby and no one but me is going to take care of her!  And now I was left with no choice she was having breathing difficulties.  I cried and cried and cried some more, I instantly realised that some of those babies at the nurses station the ones whom I had judged their mama, need to be their, I asked God please don't try and teach me anything here Lord, I am tired and I love that little girl enough to die right now for her, please let her breath ok and come back here to me quick!
After several hours Daisy perked up.  I was able to be with her and Dana brought our boys to meet their new sister, Luke was in love he is one of those kids who just loves babies and still does,  Bo was more interested in the hospital equipment than the baby but he gave her a little kiss and off they went to play with Aunt Dana.
We came home on a Wednesday, my best friend Susan was here waiting she had come up and watched the boys all day so that Dana could go to an appointment with Joe.  Susan is one of those friends who you can hand your kids to and go lay down and that's just what I did!
Our sweet girl still was red!  We found out at around 8 months that our girl who by now had already had 7 ear infections needing antibiotics was severely allergic to milk (that's why she was having breathing difficulties after the formula)  I will have to write a whole post one day about how she went into anaphylactic shock after eating peanut butter.  She had tubes put in her ears at around 7 months.  And she had also was tongue tied she had to have that little skin under her tongue cut.  So our girl had a rocky start, but I assure you it has not held her back one bit!  She is our princess and she loves to sing and dance!  She loves Jesus and prays for everyone we know (literally) each night,  she is such a blessing our whole family!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I, too, had a little girl after two boys. I love my boys to death and wouldn't change things for anything...but there is just something special about the relationship between a mama and her girl! What a sweet story!

marky said...

Wow.. thanks for sharing that amazing story. So glad that you have your sweet daughter today!

Kristen said...

Oh, that is a tough story. I'm so glad she's doing so well now! Bless her heart. I cannot imagine how horrible it was to find out about her peanut allergy!

Thanks for sharing her special story. She's so precious, just like her Mama.

littletoesandcheerios said...

When I worked for an OB/GYN the billing clerk decided she would make the rule for no kids allowed in the exam rooms. She wanted me to inforce it and I told her to do it that I just could not do such a thing. We helped bring those kids in the world and then to tell them we don't want them back there was rude- I thought. Before that I assisted a Dr. with minor surgeries and he would tell me he hated kids, old people and animals.
Needless to say, I did not work there very long.
I bet when you think back to this day you just want to go and hold Daisy in your arms! We have a lot to be thankful for.
I'll tell Madi's birth story soon on my blog.

Mozi Esme said...

What an incredible story, and way to go, Daisy!

Every time I hear stories like this I'm so thankful for the wonderful midwife and care I had with Esme. I've been toying with the idea of becoming a midwife as part of my midlife crisis life changes!

Anonymous said...

I love this post! I love that you insisted on feeding your baby breast milk! Right on, sista! I worked OB and always hated the attitude of the other staff members. One doctor shared my views on birthing and labor. She thought pitocin was horrible stuff that made labor more painful and would, instead of strapping her patients to a bed, have them up and walking. She also encouraged her patients to use gravity in their favor. Most of the babies she delivered came out of a mother who had tried many different birthing positions (again... not strapped to a bed). This was unheard of in regular hospitals at that time. I loved working with her. She truly cared about the women in her care.

Wish she could have been your OB!
Blessings!
Lacy