Addison’s Birthday!!

Well it all started out on December 10th. It was at least 4 o'clock maybe even earlier, I wasn't paying attention to time since I was working on Ebay. I started getting pains in my lower abdomen and me being me and having to know about everything I got online and went to WebMD.com, searched Braxton Hicks, and read up on it. From what I could tell I was having "false contractions" which can start as early as 20 weeks but usually happen between 27-36 weeks. So there was a chance it was Braxton Hicks and not just some odd pain that has no explanation. For me everything has a reason LOL!!


So I went on with my day and worked on Ebay; answering questions, printing shipping labels, and packaging items that had sold. As the day progressed the pains got worse but I thought this was "normal" cause a friend had told me that the "fake contractions" hurt. Well DHL shipping service finally showed up to pick up the 40 packages that we had to ship out that day. Me and Lauren, my cousin, moved all of the packages from the kitchen to the living room door so the guy could put them all in his van. Finally all the packages were gone. I continued to answer questions and package more items not knowing i was in labor.


Bekah, my other cousin, got home from work and me and her went to Walmart so I could get a bra and some tee-shirts since I forgot to pack some and was getting uncomfortable being in regular clothes all day. By now it was 10 o'clock or so and the contractions were getting worse. As we drove up to Walmart they started getting closer together but I still thought it was Braxxton Hicks. We went into Walmart and walked around for awhile looking for tee-shirts that they did not have and i ended up getting one bra that doesn't even fit now and one tee-shirt that i ended up having to pay 4.50 for vs. the 6.97 for a pack of like 3 or 4. This whole time I am leaning on a buggy everytime the contraction comes. Contractions don't last very long so I would have one for about a minute or so and then I would be fine and I still thought it was Braxton Hicks.


By the time we got back to the house it was 11:30 and the contractions were getting really close together. I was talking to Wendall and kept having to stop talking because I would get one contraction then another and another. I started to get the feeling that something was not right so I called Cassie. I figured she's had a kid so she should know what's going on and if this is normal. I was hoping she was up but knew I had to call someone. When she answered the phone she had told me that she was just falling asleep and then I told her what was going on. She told me I should call Dr. Owens right away but I insisted that I lay down for a little while to see if it would get better. I called Wendall back and told him what Cassie had told me and not long after I was on the phone with him I had decided to call the Dr. They got my number and called me back telling me to go to the hospital and I told her that I was out of state at the moment and they told me to go to the nearest hospital.


I asked Lauren if she could bring me to the hospital and she said she didn't know how to get there. So i kinda started laughing while I was in the middle of a contraction and walked to my Uncle Frank's room and asked him if he could take me to the hospital. By then I was freaking out that Lauren didn't know how to get the hospital and started crying and having a panic attack while my uncle was trying to figure out what was wrong. We left the house and were on our way to Methodist Hospital which has the largest NICU wing int San Antonio. We hit EVERY red light on the way there.


When we got there we went into the ER waiting room and didn't know where to go. It looked nothing like a "regular" hospital. We were in the children's wing so I walk around and finally found the regular ER and waited forever behind this lady that was just talking to the receptionist. When I was up and talking to the lady I told her that my doctor told me to go to the nearest hospital and she asked how far along I was. I just froze and a lump formed in my throat as tears started rolling down my face. As I gained my breath I told her I was almost 26 weeks and I fell apart. She got some people to get me in a wheel chair and they wheeled me to the second floor. I was now in shock and crying the whole way there. When I got the the nurse's station in the labor and delivery wing I filled out my name number and something else... Then they asked me for my social and they asked me who my doctor was. I told them my doctor's name but also that I was from out of state. So they set me up with an ER doctor. Her name was Dr. Feinstein.


They brought me to my room and gave me a gown to put on and wanted me completely naked!!! So i got dressed in this huge gown and layed on the bed. They had none of my medical records so they had to start from scratch witch seemed like forever! The nurse hooked me and the baby up to monitors to watch us. As soon as I heard her heartbeat I felt so much better. I kept having contractions that I was breathing through and still was not sure if they were real contractions or not and the nurse was telling me nothing.


After being there for about an hour and a half, I felt a gush and looked down and saw blood. This was not long after she had asked me if i was having any spotting, bleeding, or any type of discharge. I told the nurse that I saw blood and she looked to see so she could write it down on the chart. This really freaked me out and I started crying. At this point the nurse still was not telling me anything and had not checked me to see if I was dilated. I now come to the conclusion that this was when my water had broken and they had never even checked me cervix. After this they left me in the room and told me that ultrasound would be up.


I waited for a good while as the contractions started to worsen and get closer together. Ultrasound finally showed up and started. She had the screen facing her to where I could not see. So I was having almost back to back contractions while this lady was pushing the probe in my lower abdomen which was horrible. After about an hour or so she finally stopped and wouldn't tell me anything. So now I've been in this hospital for about 2-2 1/2 hours and know nothing that is going on with me or the baby.


Finally a nurse came in to check me and was telling someone outside of the room that I was 10cm dilated. This was when I started freaking out!!! I didn't even know I was in labor cause they had never told me anything and never got any type of pain medication or epidural. So this whole time I went through the whole labor without anything. Minutes after the nurse had said that nurses that I hadn't seen started pouring into my room pulling blankets out and doing all kinds of things and then the doctor comes in and tells me that I am fully dilated and the baby is breach so they will have to do an emergency c-section on me. I started crying and hyperventilating and didn't know what to do. They started getting me to initial and and sign all kinds of paper work. My cousin bekah had been there with me the whole time and was on the phone with Wendall telling him that he needed to get down here. The nurses started trying to give me an IV on the side of my left wrist and ended up blowing my vein and then took blood from me for tests i guess. Then another nurse started an IV on the other side since the first didn't work. They were all rushing and talking about how they needed to hurry cause the doctor wanted me in there like five minutes ago. So they rushed me out of my room and into an OR.


When we got in there it was freezing cold and the contractions were back to back with no break now. They got me to move from my bed to the operating table and then started giving me gas. Someone started sterilizing my stomach I guess which was excruciating while someone else was giving a catheter. After they gave me the catheter they were trying to pull my legs together which was putting even more pressure on my stomach. By this time the gas was starting to my me woozy and they were pushing it on my face and I couldn't breath so I started to resist and move my face around and I guess they thought I was trying to take it off but I was just trying to breath. That's the last thing I remember before waking up and Bekah being next to me.


It took me a little while to come to and they wheeled me to the NICU to see Addison. She was born at 2:26am on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007, weighed 2 pounds even, and was 12 1/2 inches long. I was still kind of out of it but got to see her for a little while. Bekah took a picture of her for me with my phone. She had a little pink hat on her head and they had her hooked up to the ventilator. Her poor little body was bruised up and she was really dark, but she was stable.


The next day I waited by myself until Wendall got to the hospital. He had taken the first flight into San Antonio that left from Lafayette at 5:30am. When he got to the airport he realized that he bought a ticket for the next day and somehow ended up getting it fixed in time for the flight that was leaving in 20 min. When he walked into the room I was so relieved and comforted. I had my support with me now and would be fine. He left again to go pick my mom up from the airport since she flew back in from Vegas. Her flight was delayed in Denver for a snow storm and didn't get into San Antonio till 2:50 when it was supposed to land at 12:00.


This was one of the biggest challenges I have ever had to face. Delivering our baby girl without him there was terrifying. I still wish till this day I could have carried her longer and Wendall could have been there for the birth.


Addison weighs 1 pound 9 ounces at the moment and will only get bigger and healthier. Please keep us in your prayers. She will need all the love and hope she can get. She has been a strong little fighter and has shown great promise. She has been very stable and is looking better each day.