Everything for a Reason

For the last month I've been trying everything, and I mean everything,
to get Alessandra to turn.

Thank God she didn't.  

We arrived at the hospital for our scheduled c-section.  

A barrage of nurses and doctors came through the room all of them telling me what I could expect, 

poking me with things, 

and having me sign my life away ta'boot.  

As they were getting me prepped I asked if they could check one more time to see if Alessandra had turned.  Although I had a feeling she hadn't  I was still disappointed to see that she was still breech.

It was 12:15, everything was ready and the whole operation was running right on time.  

It wasn't until they asked me if I was ready to go that my sunny/funny disposition melted away 

and I became nervous/scared. 

I stopped everything and said a little prayer
asking that everything would be alright, 

that tomorrow at this time I'd be able to feed my little one lunch.  

I told the nurses I was ready and they rolled me in.

The operating room was smaller than they look like on TV and
there were way more people in the room than I was expecting
(if my memory's correct there were at least seven).  

They gave me my spinal, and got me all set up on the table.  

They finally let Jon come in, rolling his chair with his camera in hand -
hence all the pictures!  

They started painting my belly with iodine and then the put up the curtain.  

Jon was sitting there at my head just staring at me and I was getting so scared.  I finally said to him "Jon you can touch me."  He said "Oh, okay - - where?"  I asked him to hold my hand and that's when it started.  All of a sudden I felt it, not pain but pressure and tugging.  I thought I was going to be sick.  I asked Jon what was going on and he asked the anesthesiologist if he could look.  Jon then stood up and gave me the play by play, only to be disrupted by whispers of encouragement and kisses.

"They're cutting the fat away from the muscle"

"Are you okay?  You're doing great!!"

"They're separating the muscles."

Little peck on the cheek

"They're cutting into your uterus."

"I see the baby!"

There was music playing in the background and the doctors and nurses were talking but nothing really stood out until our Doctor, Doctor B. said "I see a butt!" to which I responded "A boy butt or a girl butt?"  

That got a laugh from everyone in the room then Jon said "We can't tell yet, it's just a butt."

They continued working to get Alessandra out.  Jon told me that the umbilical cord was wrapped but the anesthesiologist assured me that it was pretty common and not to worry.  They were all surprised to see that it was wrapped a second time.  Suddenly the mood in the room changed and everyone became very focused, you could almost feel the intensity.  The tugging became more frantic but Dr. B was trying to keep the mood light.

Finally she was out.  Someone announced that it was a girl.  Jon was beaming and kissing me on the cheeks.  But I was worried.  I kept saying "She isn't crying, is she alright, she isn't crying!"
She wasn't making any noise and then when I finally saw her I became even more worried.
She looked like a fish out of water and I was so scared I was going to lose her.  

    

Jon stood up and started to follow her when he stopped in his track.  He stood there staring at Alessandra and then back at me.  He didn't want to leave my side but he was worried about his little girl.  He was so afraid he was going to lose one or both of us that he just froze.  I told him to go but he took another step back toward me.  I became more insistent and told him to stay with her and that I would be fine.  He reluctantly left.  She wasn't responding very well, and her first APGAR score was only 3, but after what felt like a lifetime I finally heard her cry.  And then I cried - Thank God my baby girl was okay.

Jon hustled back over to me and told me that she was fine and that everything was going to be okay.  I reminded him that he was in charge of naming her and he smiled from ear to ear.

He went back over to be with his little girl and to cut her umbilical cord.  That's when they told me that her umbilical cord was extremely long, in fact it was twice as long as it should have been (it was roughly 6 feet in length) and the reason she hadn't flipped was because she was wrapped in her cord not once or twice but five times.  They said it was a good thing she didn't flip and that we didn't try to deliver vaginally because it would have cut off her air supply and she probably wouldn't have made it.

All I can say is thank God for unanswered prayers!!

Before I was able to see her Jon came over and gave me a kiss and told me she was an Alessandra Mae, I asked him if he was sure and he said "Yes, she's definitely an Alessandra".

They were finally done at the warming station and Jon was able to bring her over so I could see her.  She was beautiful, all pink and alert.  All I wanted was to hold her, feed her, but that would be later - much later.

They left to go to the nursery and I was taken to the recovery room.  

And four hours later I was finally able to hold, and feed, 

my little Alessandra Mae.

Alessandra Mae

November 18, 2010

12:33 p.m.

7 lb 3.6 oz

20”

St. Francis Medical Center

Colorado Springs, CO