The Hospital Happening-Audrey's Birth Story Part 1 (Brandon's Version)

We always assumed that Audrey would come on Jenna's due date (Saturday) April 25th, or later.  So, we were a little under prepared Tuesday night when Jenna was having strong contractions.  We were already exhausted because we were trying to get all of her sub plans in order for her maternity leave.  We went to bed Tuesday evening, but neither of us slept well.  Around 11:30pm I started timing Jenna's contractions to see if we should go in to the hospital.  While timing contractions I was running around trying to get everything we needed for the hospital together at the last minute. Jenna kept saying that we needed to get our hospital bags together, but I kept assuming that we would have more time.  So, I procrastinated until the very last minute, and I got burnt by it.  I was frantic because I was trying to get everything ready to go, and Jenna's contractions were less than 5 minutes apart.  It was 1:00am Wednesday morning when we started driving over and I was worried that we should have left sooner since her contractions were now 4 minutes apart.  Little did I know, we would be sitting around waiting for 16 hours.

When we got to the hospital they began monitoring Jenna and Audrey.  Audrey's heart rate wasn't as strong as they wanted, so they gave Jenna oxygen.  I was worried about how tired we both were before we even started the long labor process.  Jenna was in a lot of pain, so we got the epidural and she began feeling much better.  Around 4:30am Jenna was able to fall asleep with the epidural doing its job.  I was  glad she got some sleep before she would have to start pushing.  There was a fairly hard couch in Jenna's room that I slept on.  It wasn't the most comfortable couch, so I didn't sleep very deeply, but I got what sleep I could.  The labor was progressing very slowly, and we spent the day waiting and trying to nap.  Around 4:00pm they said we could try pushing.  Jenna pushed for about an hour and Audrey hadn't come down at all.  They said we could keep trying, but because there wasn't any progression, Audrey's heart rate was less than ideal, and a couple other factors, we decided to do a C-section.

We went into the operating room and the had me sit in a chair at Jenna's head with a barrier put up.  They said I could stand and look over the barrier, but I couldn't reach over because the other side was sterile.  I had no desire to see Jenna cut open, so I was happy staying hidden on my side of the barrier.  Jenna was completely numb, but it was still a scary situation, so I just tried to keep her relaxed.  It didn't take long before they were finished.  They said Audrey wasn't breathing well, so they were going to take her into the NICU.  I wanted to walk over to the NICU with Audrey and the nurses, so I left Jenna in the hands of the doctors and headed for the door.  I kept my head pointed down and away because while I don't think I get particularly queasy with blood and such, it is still not something I am going out of my way to look at.  Especially when it is someone I know.  As I walked toward the exit, I saw a bunch of bloody towels on the floor, but that was the worst of it.  I felt wrong leaving Jenna alone, but I didn't want Audrey to be alone either.  I walked with the nurses as the took Audrey to the NICU and hoped Jenna would be back with her parents soon.

In the NICU, they put a CPAP machine on Audrey to blow air into her lungs.  They said they would keep her on the machine for a while, then make sure she was breathing well on her own once they took her off the machine.  She was very small, and I was scared to mess something up so I asked if it was okay if I touched her.  The nurse paused and probably thought "Umm... she's your baby, you can do what you want", but she said "Yes, babies like to feel pressure rather than being rubbed, so just put your hand on her".  I remember how small and fragile she seemed, but even sitting there in the NICU, I never felt worried that she wouldn't come out okay.

Audrey seemed to be doing well, so I took some pictures and went back to the room to check on Jenna and show her pictures of her baby.  Jenna was doing well, and she liked seeing the pictures of Audrey.  The next hour or so was spent bouncing between the NICU and Jenna's room because I felt like I should make sure Audrey was okay, but I also felt like I should be there for Jenna.  They took Audrey off of the CPAP machine, and she was breathing well on her own, so she was allowed to leave the NICU.  They wheeled Jenna's bed over to the NICU where she could hold Audrey for the first time.  It was good to see them finally together. Audrey was without her mom for the first 2 hours of her life, so it was great to see Jenna hold her for the first time.