Baby Willa is here!!!!

We went to Ballard Swedish at 7:30am yesterday for our induction appointment. After talking through the choices we decided to do something called the misoprostal tablet. I had to be monitored for 4 hours after that so Matt & I watched a movie, had lunch, chatted with our doula and attempted a nap. I was having mild contractions from the medication so we decided with the midwife Heather as a next step to break my water. After that i was able to walk around so Matt and I paced the halls a bit. My body was dialating and progressing so we did not need to take additional steps such as pitocin. Around 4pm we had our doula Heather return because I had a feeling things would speed up quickly. I was breathing through the contractions but having a hard talking during them. I went in the jacuzzi tub and contractions quickly got more intense. After a little while in the tub, we went back to the room because I was ready to push. After less than half an hour of pushing, Willa was born! 

I knew right away that something was wrong because they quickly cut the cord as they called in more nurses. Her heart rate was good but she needed help with her breathing since the cord had been wrapped around her neck. She had low apgar scores,her skin was pale, she was not breathing well on her own, and she had a few other traits they were worried about. They decided to transfer her to Swedish first hill where they have a nicu where they could monitor her brain function. Their big worry was that she had a lack of oxygen to her brain (hypoxia) due to the cord around her neck. First Hill has the ability to do something called a "cool cap" where they lower the temperature of the baby which helps slow down or reverse possible brain damage. But this has to be done 6 hours after birth to be effective so they needed to transfer her and monitor her brain right away. While I knew that they were talking about the possibility of brain damage before they had evidence from watching the brain waves, it was a possibility and it was scary! They had her in another room and I got to touch her for the first time an hour or so after birth when she was in a big boxy incubator for her ambulance transfer. I was transported by a different ambulance which came over an hour later. It was really emotional for me: I had just given birth to a big beautiful baby who i could not hold and was at a different hospital than me because she had a possibility of brain damage. 

We got to swedish first hill around 10 but were not able to hold baby girl or attempt nursing. She had an Iv and various cords attached to her. The most important thing they were doing that night was monitoring her brain function. The cord was around her neck when she was born and there were some small signs that led to the potential for a big concern. They were still monitoring her for seizure activity etc but as of 11pm Monday night they were warming her because all brain activity so far looked good. 

So today they stopped monitoring brain activity since there were no abnormalities. The Dr explained that there can be 4 different stages of hypoxia severity and she was most likely a "1". Her symptoms were not severe enough that using cool cap would have been beneficial. 

Our current hurdle is to get her interested in breast feeding, wean her off the Iv and make sure her body processes the milk the way it should. In the morning they will also test her liver. They are estimating she could be here another 3-7 days. It seems so long to be at the hospital for a "simple" thing like establishing nursing and making sure she processes the food. But then I look around me at all the premies in the nicu and I think of the weeks and months they may spend at the hospital, at the hurtles they face, at the growth they must do. And it makes me so thankful that she was a full term healthy baby who just needs some extra monitoring.

I was so worried about induction but the birth went really well without the need for escalating intervention, Iv or drugs for me. Pushing only lasted half an hour. Her heartrate was always good so no one foresaw a need for concern. I don't know that there was anything anyone could have done differently. But of course I question if the same thing would have happened if she was born at 40 weeks, if we did not induce, if we had gotten her out of me faster, etc, etc.

For now I am trying not to think about the hospital bills, the bills for the ambulance ride etc. We have insurance but there is only so much they will pay. But the long-term care costs of a child with brain imparement are probably pretty staggering. So once again, something to be thankful for.

Matt's paternity leave is not going to go quite as planned since we will be doing so much shuffling between the hospital and home. I was discharged from the hospital today but they have special family overnight rooms that you can sign up for. We were able to get one for 3 nights so most of my time will be spent at the hospital holding her, watching her sleep and trying to get her breastfeeding.

Again, I am so thankful that there were no signs of brain damage and I am looking forward to when she can be at home with our family!