Let's begin with a small history/medical lesson. I have a genetic diagnosis of pelvic dystocia which basically means I have a small pelvis so my babies don't drop, I don't dilate and (according to my doctor) I don't go into labor on my own. My Mom and my sister have the same "thing". Therefore, Lucy and David were both planned c-sections. It's really pretty sweet for my personality. I get everything all ready, the house is clean, the babysitters (my parents) know weeks in advance of the plan, etc, etc. So when my doctor told me a few months ago we were planning to have Vivian on May 25th at 7:30am, I moved forward with "the plan". I even believed so strongly in this plan that I was so bold as to say to people when they would make comments like, "Well you know babies come whenever they come." That I would respond with something to the effect of: "Well not my babies. They are planned." Boy did I eat those words!
The week prior to Vivian's birth I kept having A LOT of pressure in my lower pelvis. There were even a few times I could not walk because of this pressure. When I explained this to my doctor he told me it was because it was my third baby and they were fairly close etc, etc. So I just went with it. I left my appointment on Tuesday, May 17th with the plan to see my doctor in a week on May 25th at 7:30am in the operating room for my PLANNED c-section.
The pressure still continued, but I just went with it. Then on Thursday I saw my chiropractor who helped relieve the pressure a bit. Friday morning (May 20th) Marc got up at about 6am and headed off to exercise and then he would go to work from there. We had our prayers and I stayed in bed to rest until Lucy & David got up.
A little before 7am Lucy came in and asked me for some milk. I got up, took a little drink of water and brought her some milk in her room. As I stood up from handing her the milk, the thought came to me, "I just peed my pants." I had not done this yet with this pregnancy, but I knew it was a common thing to do while pregnant. I thought, "Well I've got 6 more days left and I wonder what else will go out in my body."
I went to the bathroom only to realize that there was a decent amount of fluid that had come out. I was so confused because I had no sensation of peeing and yet this trickle came out of my body??? I then thought, "Did my water just break?" I decided to give it more time and see what my body did. About 30 minutes later of an uncontrollable trickle that kept coming out, I decided I had better do something. I thought, "Either my water just broke or I have lost complete control of my bladder."
Having your water break is bizarre! You really feel like you're peeing because you have a constant trickle and yet you have no sensation of actually peeing. So crazy!
It was 7:30am at this point and I knew my doctor would be in his office at 9am. I figured I could go to his office then and he could test to see if what I was leaking amniotic fluid or not. I decided in the mean time to call my Mom to see if she could come watch the kids if we were going to be having a baby that day. She of course said she and my Dad could be right out and then she told me that I needed to call my doctor's emergency number and see what they wanted me to do.
I followed her advice and the nurse said I needed to get to the hospital within the next hour or two so they could confirm if my water had broken or not. I asked if I could just go to my doctor's office when he opened. She then said something awful, "Your doctor will be out of town until Monday!!!"
Finding out my doctor was out of town was the only time I cried.
I then began packing and I put on a movie to keep the kids busy. Marc had returned my 36 missed calls and texts at this point and I said to him, "I'm about 98% sure my water just broke." He said, "Ok, I'll be right there." And he headed home from where he was in Orem.
I explained to Lucy what was happening and that Grandma Sampson was coming to be with her. When I got done I asked, "Are you so excited to see your baby sister?" she looked at me with a smile and said, "I'm so excited to see my Grandma Sampson!"
We finished packing, showered, got ready and by that time my parents were there to watch the kids. Marc and my Dad gave me a blessing. Marc blessed me that I would have peace and comfort and that I would advocate for my needs to be as comfortable as possible. I instantly knew form the blessing that everything was going to be just fine.
It was hard to say goodbye to David because he just came over to me and cuddled me. I knew he could tell something was up, but just couldn't quite grasp it. I held him for a few minutes and then we needed to go. He cried a bit, but was perfectly content to be with his Grandma too.
I couldn't believe Marc and I were actually having a surprise birth! All the other times we headed to the hospital we had just gone on a leisurely walk, dropped our Redbox movie off and met our parents on the way. Now we were heading to the hospital completely unannounced with my pants looking like I had just peed them.
We got to the hospital and no one was at the front desk as a woman in a wheelchair in front of me was acting like her baby could come out at any moment and I stood behind her with my pants all wet. Finally someone came and took care of both of us. They got me back in a triage room and with a strip quickly confirmed the liquid coming out of me was in fact amniotic fluid and in deed, my water had broke. Marc said even my belly looked different. I was quite surprised just how much liquid kept coming out.
I technically was still not in labor as I was not dilated nor was I having any contractions. They said if they waited too long my body would eventually start contracting and since I was having a c-section anyway, they wanted to get the baby out fairly soon. My status was "urgent" but not an "emergency".
We checked in at 9:30am and the surgery was scheduled for 12:30pm. The doctors came in and introduced themselves. They were so good to visit with us and get to know us a bit before they delivered our baby (and we put our lives in their hands). My friend Julie came to watch Lucy and David so my parents could meet our little lady when she got here.
The surgery was very, very peaceful. I felt as though the anesthesiologist did everything in his power to make me as comfortable as possible. Marc was keeping me updated with comments like, "Now they're through the skin." "Now he's to the uterus" And just when he held up the camera and said, "They're all through the uterus and she's about to be born." He showed me the camera with a black screen and said, "The batteries dead!" The anesthesiologist told him to go grab his phone from our triage room, but then the nurse said, "I'll get it, you're having a baby!" She got the camera and was great to snap shots for us.
Then little Vivian was born and she just squacked and squacked. The first thing the doctor said when he pulled her out was, "Hi chub-a-lub." Then the doctor told me to look up at the ceiling and he held her up for me to see. She was just screaming and she was so petite. I was instantly in love.
Marc went back while they cleaned her up. She was born at 1:04pm, weighing 7lbs 6 oz, 19 1/2 inches long and had APGAR scores of 8 and 9 out of 10.
Marc was able to bring her out to me all wrapped up while they finished stitching me up. The two words I would use to describe the moment he brought her to me would be: love and peace. I loved having her head pressed beside mine. She was so peaceful and looked all around while she kept sticking her tongue in and out. It was the sweetest little tongue I have ever seen in my whole life.
Then Vivian needed to go to the nursery to be checked out. When they went to take her to the nursery they asked Marc if he wanted to come. He looked at me and I smiled and said, "Go be with her." He bent down and kissed me and told very slowly and sweetly, "I love you. You did great." It was a beautiful moment.
Then I just hung out with my doctors and nurses for another 20 minutes or so while they finished stitching me up. The nurse wheeled me back in the recovery room where they monitored me for about an hour. Marc, my Dad and my Mom all came in to be with me. It was like Christmas as we shared stories about what all had just happened and we looked at pictures together.
Marc and my Dad went back to be with Vivian while my Mom and I sat and enjoyed the moment together.
Finally I was able to be reunited with my daughter. My Mom handed her to me (she has been the first one to hand me all my babies). I just held her and got her all unwrapped so I could look at her. Her perfect little fingers and toes (which are all quite long might I add). I am in love with her tiny little nose. She is perfect in every way. Then I nursed her for the first time and she latched on like a champ! She has been a sweet little baby ever since.
I have treasured every moment with her. I am so grateful to be her Mom. And I am so thankful to be a Mom for the third time. I feel like I have learned how to treasure each season all the more with each baby I have had. You really understand just how quickly time passes and how beautiful each moment we have together is. I love my little Vivi.
May I also add that I love that we got to have our "surprise" birth. As scary and stressful as it was, it was also fun to call Marc and tell him my water broke and to have my parents come out to hep in the middle of the craziness. It was also fun to race off to the hospital and to be admitted without an appointment. It was all very exciting.
I also learned that it's actually quite uncommon to have your water break without being in labor first. It happens less than 10% of the time. So, thanks for the unique experience Vivian. I'm looking forward to the many more adventures you will bring our way.
