At 7:08pm last night, our baby daughter made her official entrance into the world and as they say, "the rest is history." Jill's labor moved slowly in the early stages, but Jill's lack of sleep combined with increased strength in her contractions pushed us to the decision to call for an epidural. Around 6:30pm last night, the epidural procedure was finished and Jill began to fill some relief. Seeing an opportunity to step out, I made my way to the waiting room to choke down a chicken sandwich and talk with everyone. I began walking back to Jill's room and was about to bid farewell to my parents (I had just got out of my mouth that the birth was still maybe 4-6 hrs away) when Anita gave me a ring on my cell. Abby's heart rate had dropped from the 145bpm earlier to 75bpm. She was going into fetal distress and Jill's OB made the call for an emergency cesarean section procedure to save her. I ran back to Jill's room just as the nurses were wheeling her out, so the nurses got me suited up in surgery apparel and down to the OR I went.
While Jill lay on the table already being opened up, I waited outside for them to take me in. Within a minute (felt like an eternity) I was sitting inside the OR behind the curtain trying to comfort Jill as they pulled Abby from her womb. I was completely traumatized because this event was supposed to be all about overwhelming joy, but instead I was having to watch my semi-sudated wife go through some excruciating pain. Once Abby was out Jill was given a heavy sedative and I was able to pay attention to our baby girl crying over on the warming table. Of course, she was beautiful and already wiped down I might add (since I joked with Jill throughout the pregnancy that they should hose her off before handing her to me, ha). I know I've heard it a hundred times from other fathers, but when I walked over and begun to talk to Abby, her cries quieted and she opened her eyes at me. It was just about the coolest, most heart-warming thing I've ever experienced. After Abby was measured and weighed (18", 6lbs & 2oz.) and they had Jill all sewn up, the 3 of us headed right back to the original delivery room.
There we were met with Jill's parents and my parents (proud grandparents) and watched the nurse give Abby her first bath. The rest of the night seemed to fly by, but we did manage to move to our permanent room and have the many visitors stop by for their first visit with the newest member of the family.
....I now pause tonight's blog as we all sing "Happy Birthday" to Abigail... :-)
Jill, Abby and me both managed a few hours of sleep last night after a little restlessness with Abby early in the AM. We all woke up first to talk with Jill's OB doc, and then next we met with the on-call pediatrician. The OB explained the situation that led to Jill's C-Section and talked about a few other details, while the pediatrician checked over Abby and gave her a great bill of health. Both Jill and Abby are recovering from the delivery very well, although Jill is still a "little" sore from the surgery. Despite that, both my girls managed to get more rest this afternoon (about 4.5 hrs each). While I've been cleaning Abby's black-tar meconium poop (3 times already, woohoo), Jill has switched over to solids and just ate her first meal. I'm not completely sure, but I think we may be able to go home by Tuesday if Jill continues to recover well.
We're all set for night #2 here, so wish us luck everyone. I've managed to get most of the photos from last night converted over, so look for more photos to pop up as tonight and tomorrow go along.
