When 2 became 3...the continued post on Caelynn Rose

I was pretty blessed throughout my pregnancy. I was sick but I could still work through it all. Some days I barely made it and sometimes I thought for sure I'd be sick all over the place but God was so good in allowing me to be able to work the whole time, because we wouldn't have financially survived otherwise. Looking back now - while Caelynn's pregnancy was difficult, if Matty would have come first, I would have had to quit teaching b/c his was about 10 times worse! 

Anyway, as we neared the end of the school year, I was HUGE. I had horrible edema (that went undiagnosed, I might add) and I'd get home at night and my feet wouldn't be able to fit into any shoes or slippers (Hawaiian term for flip flops). I'd have to sit with my feet up. At the same time, Rich had a job that constantly changed his schedule. He'd work a week of days, then a week of afternoon/evenings, and then a week or two of night shift so there were times that we didn't see each other until the weekend or the next week. It was difficult but okay. I made it into the very end of the pregnancy. School ended, the grades were turned in, the annual awards banquet happened, and graduation occurred. I was so sad b/c I knew that was my last year of teaching. We weren't sure what God had in store for us next, but we knew that it would most likely involve moving. Being pregnant and emotional didn't help the situation. I was excited for the arrival of our baby girl, but sad to see that chapter of my life closing. 

The week after school ended and I had my classroom packed up, I threw myself into writing thank you notes for the awesome baby shower my church ohana threw me, washed all of the clothing, put the swing and pack-n-play together, and got her "room" ready. We lived in a one bedroom TINY apartment so we dedicated one wall of our living room to Caelynn and had it all set up, the diapers in the side pouch of the bassinet, everything ready to go. We were set. Then the waiting game began. I started to not be able to sleep, I read every baby book or blog or website I could, I asked a billion questions to my friends with kids, and waited. And waited. And waited. I played endless games of solitaire on the computer when I couldn't sleep, watched tv at random times, researched the whole "going into labor" thing a billion times, packed and repacked our bag...nothing. Then my friend, Aimee, that I went to elementary and high school with and who was due AFTER me...went into labor. I was devastated. Rich and I would go for walks for hours - nothing. July 4th came, and it was HOT! We didn't have any air conditioning so we went to Sam's Club (my first time EVER!) and walked around for hours. Nothing. My due date came and went. I went for my appointments, which became every two days after my due date - nothing. No dilation, NOTHING. I was going from cranky to just downright MAD! "Let's GO, kid!" 

I woke up one morning and didn't vomit - my first time since like 10 weeks pregnant. I called my mom - "THIS IS IT!" Nothing. Next morning, threw up. Crap. Next morning...no vomiting. Again - "THIS IS IT!" Nothing. The day I hit one week overdue, I told Rich, "Pack the bag in the car. I am NOT leaving his office until he TAKES ME TO THE HOSPITAL!" I was up at 6:30 a.m., washed the last loads of laundry, revacuumed the apartment, took out the trash, did the dishes...cause apparently I thought Caelynn would be able to comprehend "cleanliness" and would judge me if it was messy. We headed to the appointment, and my family was waiting for the news of induction.

Turns out I didn't need to use my whole "I'm not leaving this office until you induce me!" speech b/c I was about 2 cm dilated and I had lost a bunch of my amniotic fluid so it was GO TIME!

Proud Daddy with his baby girl, all of one day old!

Or so I thought. We walked over to the hospital (our ob/gyn's office was next to the hospital, and coincidentally, our apartment was a 3 minute drive from there!), giddy as gumdrops b/c we both thought, "in just a few hours, we'll meet her and hold her!" We were idiots. I was excited about getting Pitocin, which any woman who has had it knows it is the Devil's Drug. We got into the room, settled, I got hooked up to the IVs, and we were off. Rich decided to quickly run out and get a bite to eat before all the action happened. The hospital cafeteria only served vegan foods to non patients so he had to drive into town. Soon after he left, my water broke all over the place. The nurses were like, "This is it! By 7 p.m. you'll be holding her!" The pitocin was going strong and the contractions started from NOTHING to hard core VERY fast. I was determined (another stupid, naive rookie mistake) that I would go "all natural" b/c I thought maybe there was a bonus medal for that. Nope. There isn't. Very quickly I was struggling with hard contractions that were topping the charts and coming hard and fast. The nurses asked me repeatedly, "Sweetie, are you sure you don't want the epidural?" "NOPE - I'M FINE! We should be close!" I asked them to check me. I was at 2 cm. I'm sorry - didn't I COME IN HERE at 2 cm???? It had been hours and I was DONE. My friend Colleen, who is a PICU nurse, came by and stayed with me for a while, just talking with me, swaying with me, keeping my mind off of things. She brought Rich some more food and said she'd come back in a few hours. By around 9 or so, I had HAD IT! GET THE EPIDURAL MAN IN HERE NOW!!!!! Oh sweet blessed relief! Later that night, as we realized we would NOT be having a July 14th baby, Cae's heart rate began to dip too low between contractions. They turned off the pitocin to give her a break and put me on an oxygen mask. So now I was not only not progressing at all, I was also worried for my baby girl. They had me on a special blood pressure cuff that went off every 15 minutes. Rich was sound asleep but the baby monitor kept going off. I was scared to death and kept praying, "Please help my baby. Please let her be okay. Please help my baby." One of the scariest moments moms can face. The nurse that came in that night looked like my Aunt Sue. She talked like her, looked like her, even smelled like her. 

Keep in mind - I had no family there. No one. I truly believe even to this day that God especially sent her to me to give me a little piece of home. I almost called out, "Aunt Sue? Is that you?" What a comfort to me!

By around 4 a.m. or so, Cae's heart rate had become steady again and the pitocin was turned back on but I had to keep my oxygen mask on. I was at...4 cm. Some progress for almost 20 hours of labor so far! The sun came up over the Koolau Mountains, which I had an awesome view of from my room. Soon, things progressed quickly and I could feel the epidural wearing off and delivery coming fast. I had an intern there (named Melissa, of all things) that was learning how to check for dilation. My nurse checked me and said, "Wow - you are at about a 9! When you feel the urge to push, let me know!" Okay, couple of things, lady...how does a woman who has NEVER had a child know that that "urge" is? She left the room and maybe 2 minutes later, I was like, "Um, something is happening here - Rich GET HER NOW!" He got her, she came back, checked me, said, "We are at a 10! Melissa, go call Dr. Battacharrya!" I swear that girl child walked out of there in slow motion. "Please, don't hurry. I've only been in labor for 25 hours. You jsut take your time, sweetie." They began to prep me for delivery and started to coach me through pushing. My doctor arrived probably within 10 minutes or so - Cae was already crowning. Some genius had turned off my epidural so THAT was all natural, baby. It was a VERY fast delivery - I think maybe 10 minutes of pushing? However, upon Caelynn being born, there were no cries. I was waiting and I heard my dr start barking codes and orders. Oh - forgot to mention that as I was about to push, my dear friend Colleen came into our room with flowers and balloons, thinking I'd had Cae. She was like, "Wait, what? You didn't HAVE her yet?" I begged Colleen to stay so she came up to my head and coached me and wiped my forehead and stroked my hair - I'll never EVER forget that. I'll be forever grateful to her for being there for me. Rich followed Caelynn as soon as she was born. She was totally gray. The cord had been wrapped around her neck and it took her a bit to start breathing. Longest seconds of my life. I knew something was wrong with my baby - I didn't even get to see her. Most of the nurses left me and I had no clue what was happening to my baby girl. I could hear Colleen's voice shaking too. She knew the codes they were calling - she knew something was up. Thankfully, a bit later we heard Caelynn start crying (that child has her mother's set of lungs on her!) and Colleen assured me that everything was okay. It was traumatic to be sure but once again just reaffirms that the whole process of childbirth, from conception to birth is such a God-orchestrated ordeal. 

Have I bored you yet? Are you all still there and reading? ;-) I'll sum it up quickly for you. :-) Caelynn Rose McConnell was born on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. Hawaiian time. :-) What a blessing!