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Birth Story

It's been 2 months today since our daughter was born and time had just flown by! I finally found a moment to post her birth story:

Amara Zion Hayes was born Wednesday September 23, 2009 via Cesarean Section. She weighed 7lbs 9-3/4 oz and was 18" long.

David and I spent the night before making sure that her nursery was completely ready for her. We went to bed around 10:00, but because of our excitement didn't fall asleep for another hour or so. I again needed to refrain from any eating or drinking for at least eight hours.

It was to be a balmy 90 degree day, but we were up well before that. Our alarm went off at 4:30 and we got up to pack the car and get ready. Since I wasn't going to have to go through normal physical labor I decided to this would be opportunity to put makeup on and do my hair because I wouldn't really have to worry about it getting messed up. :)

We stopped to pick Amy up first and she had already been up for hours. It really felt more like we were going to catch an early flight at the airport rather than prepare for a baby arriving. We arrived at Kaiser Sunnyside around 6:00am and checked ourselves in.

We went to wait in a labor room and they got me all set up with an IV again. They were expecting me to be wheeled into the O.R. around 8:00am.

They got David prepped in scrubs. He was just dying to walk around to see if anyone would confuse him for a doctor. (After the baby was born he wasn't allowed to wear them anymore for that very reason!)

Amy was working feverishly to finish the blanket for her before she was born (the one she had been wok ring on since January... :P). My parents arrived a little while later. They had originally planned to go to California for a business/vacation, but Mom cancelled going to be here. Pop needed to go ahead, but he didn't need to be at the airport until noon so we thought he would have a chance to see her before he had to go.

My memory is a little blurry now, but eventually Doug, Lisa and possibly a few others showed up. I remember it being crowded...I just don't remember all who was there beforehand. :/

As I mentioned they thought I was going to be going in around 8:00, but there was an emergency C-Section so I got pushed back. Then my doctor was sent to to the ER (not sure if it was related to emergency C-Section) and I got pushed back again. This continued on all morning. My dad had to leave and when my mom got back from dropping him off I was still waiting...then around 12:30 or so my doctor came in and told me she had several C-Sections still waiting for her, but a new doctor would be coming on shift at 1:00 and he could get me in at 1:30. Thank Goodness! (In all honesty I really didn't like the original doctor when I had done my meet and greet with her a few days beforehand, so I was happy to switch her for someone else). I got to meet the anesthesiologist, nurses and new doctor and I was really comfortable with all of them.

You may not be able to tell from theses pictures, but as the time drew nearer I began getting more nervous. This was becoming real...I'm going into surgery! (GULP!) I asked for a group prayer before being taken away, but my nerves just got worse as I began to walk down the hall. Reality was just hitting me. When I went through the doors of the OR (the one room we did not get to tour beforehand) I almost lost it. They took David to a separate room while I had to get numbed up. The nurses took me to the surgery room and it was the scariest thing I ever had to face. It was stark white with sharp silver instruments along the wall. There was a loud beeping noise and a bustle of 6 or 7 staff people ready to go. My heart was racing and I was seriously considering running out. (But really where would I go?) They got me on a bed and I remember telling them I didn't like the beeping noise, but they said it was to just monitor my heart rate. I was having a hard time keeping my nerves down, but the nurses were great. While I got my anesthetic they held my hands and told me to keep looking at them. (Unbeknownst to me David was able to see me from the room he was in and he said I looked really scared). The anesthetic was painful, but the pain didn't last long. They laid me down and I began to feel very drowsy (I had been up since 4:30 after all). They drought David in and set up the curtain so we wouldn't be able to see the operation. I kept wanting to fall asleep but David kept talking to me telling me to wake up. They said I might feel tugging or pulling or sensation of being "unzipped," but I really don't remember feeling a thing. Then at 2:00 on the dot the doctor proclaimed, "Here she comes!" and we could hear the wail of a little baby. She was here - Amara Zion Hayes was finally here.

Up to this point I had wondered how connected I would feel to her. I had a wonderful pregnancy, and I knew I loved her, but I wasn't sure if I was going to have the instant bond with her. I was wrong. The moment I saw her I knew she was mine. She was perfect. :) They got her cleaned up and weighed and let me hold her for a little bit while I was being stitched back together.

After they were done with that they took me into a recovery room where she was given first bath.

We were there for about two hours while we were being monitored. Then they took me back to the labor room because the postpartum rooms were all taken at the moment (we got moved later that day). Their we introduced our families to our daughter. I don't have a picture of everyone that was there or came and went, but we were truly blessed by everyone's presence.

Here I am recovering. I was so hot that they gave me a cold pack for my head. I probably went through three of those. :) I hardly remember this time at all. In fact I don't even remember telling people her name.

One of the nurses showed David how to change a diaper.

A little while later they asked me if I was hungry yet- YES! I was only allowed a little something so I got apple juice and graham crackers. I tell you it was heaven! The best thing I had tasted in a long time. For the rest of my stay I kept requesting more that they eventually just brought over a big pile of grahams and a couple bottles of juice. :) In fact it became a sort of comfort food for me during my six week recovery. (Okay I'm still eating them) My mom brought in a strawberry flavored yogurt spread to put on them and it just topped the flavor for me.

The first night we didn't get any sleep since Amara kept waking up every hour and a half. Then the nurse at 6:00 am wanted me to try to get out of bed an walk to the bathroom which was all of 5 steps away. Wow that was incredibly hard! I could barley move myself but I somehow got myself out (with the nurse's help) and walked to the bathroom. Then I started feeling really dizzy and felt like I was going to black out. I told this to the nurse and she got me onto a stool and scooted me back to bed. Ahhh much better! She checked my blood level and apparently I had lost 10 points of blood during the surgery, so that's why I was still weak.

The next three days were great. I got waited on hand and foot. People came in and out to visit and the three of us got some great family time too. I started to feel better each day, but still not in any condition to walk around. I did try to get up and walk with a walker or wheel Amara in her bassinet on the recovery floor a couple times.

Then Saturday morning they told us that I could now be discharged. We got our stuff all packed up and the discharge nurse gave me some final instructions.

I changed Amara into her coming home dress which was an experience she did not care for.

Until I wrapped her in a cozy blanket.

We were ready to go!

We had to figure out how to get her in her car seat.

All set.

We got home and were welcomed with a surprise waiting for us.

A gift box from Classic Pianos. (This is actually a picture of the many gifts received while at the hospital as well as the gift box).

Welcome home Amara, you've been worth waiting for!

Nursey Decor Finished!

Yay, with only 4 days to spare we finished decorating the nursery! When I first found out I was pregnant this was one of the first things I started trying to think about, but I got so stuck. When I thought it was a boy we were going to go "neutral" with monkeys but when it turned out to be a girl I really had no idea what to do. I thought I still wanted to go neutral, but it so much fun to look at girl stuff. :) I knew I still wanted to do green and brown, but aside from that I had no idea. After we got the crib bedding things slowly started to come into place. I didn't really want a theme, but we kind of stumbled upon a nature theme drawing inspiration from the crib set. Anyway, here are the results. Not too shabby considering we really had no budget. :) Many thanks again to all who helped bring this room together.

View from the door.

We already had this rocking chair. David refinished it to match the crib.

Changing station. Masha created the picture for us, isn't it cute?

David also made a little foot rest to match the rocking chair.

We have pink letters that spell her name that goes over the crib. They are set up and ready to go. We just took them down so people wouldn't see her name. We left the first letter up though. :)

Closer view of the collage.

Closet.

Her closet is all set up! :)

External Version

Monday morning we were supposed to go to the Birthing Center to have an external version performed. I got a call about an hour before our appointment saying that the version needed to postponed for a day due to a couple of emergency Cesareans that needed to be performed. The next morning David and I called to make sure our appointment was still going to be held. It was. We got to the center and got checked in.

They took us to one of the labor rooms and performed a quick ultrasound to see if she was still breeched and where her heart was. She was still there so they hooked me up to a fetal monitor to perform a stress test. Basically it was just observing the baby to see if she was in shape to handle the version. It was only supposed to take 20 minuets, but the nurse was really busy and didn't come back for an hour. By this time I hadn't had anything to eat for 10 hours and all I had was a cup of water a few hours beforehand (I was only supposed to drink 8oz of clear liquid an hour and wasn't supposed to drink anything once I left home), so I was pretty dehydrated. This was when they decided to put the IV in me. It took a while for them to get a vein to come up, but the nurse was very patient and did a lot of different of techniques to find it to make sure it was going to be a one and only poke. She then used the IV port to draw some blood (which David helped her with-to my surprise. He doesn't handle blood very well. Neither do I, but I just didn't look). I hope the picture below isn't too gross for anyone...

It did cause my hand to swell a bit. Then David and I were left alone again. We sat and waited for doctor to come.

Get that baby to move now!

Awhile later we met with an anaesthesiologist just in case this procedure was going to cause me to go into labor. Then the nurse came back with the doctor and the anaesthesiologist sat in the corner waiting...

They gave me a drug that softened my uterus (don't remember the name if it), it took affect right away but it made me feel really jittery as if I had just had 4 straight shots of espresso. Then the doctor went to work. She had me take deep breaths while she pressed on my abdomen. She tried to move her but she wouldn't budge. Then tried again. And again. And again. And again. It wasn't like she wasn't able to grasp her, she just didn't want to move. They kept checking her to make sure she wasn't in any distress and she was doing just fine. A procedure that should only take about 10 minuets ended up taking a half hour! The doctor said she was pressing harder than she normally would, but nothing worked.

Since it was not successful a C-Section was scheduled. Unless she goes back down she is set to be born on September 23rd. I never wanted to go through a C-Section, but I had a feeling this wasn't going to work mainly due to the history I already have her. (Remember trying to get her to move with the club foot incident?)

Waiting for the doctor to come back with a date of the C-Section.

While the version didn't really hurt it was it did take a lot of energy out of me (well one of the attempts did hurt my lower back, but that was it).

Right now I've accepted that this going to happen. While it wasn't my ideal plan to do this, God is in control and He has everything pre-planned, so who am I to question that?

I'm getting excited since I have a date and we can get the final details completed. We get to meet our daughter in just one week!

Stroller Time!

Yay, it came in!!! David's mother, Lisa, bought us a stroller for her grandbaby. David and I had spent a couple of months researching what kind we wanted and we even did "test drives" at a store in Beaverton called Segal's. We knew we wanted something that can be durable, but functional. We had taken Henry with us to help us pick one out to see how well we liked it with a child in it. :) We had narrowed it down to 2 strollers and Henry was a big help in helping us figure out what it was we wanted.

We ultimately decided on the Phil & Ted's Sport model. It starts off with a basic and you can add features to it to make it a double. It has all-terrain wheels and can hold a newborn, a toddler, a newborn and toddler or 2 toddlers. Since we plan to have more kids we I liked the idea of having the ability to turn the stroller into a double and it would still be in-line instead of double wide. It also lays flat for your baby to sleep more comfortably.

The stroller was ordered last week and came in today.

Here it is for newborn (or you can also do it without the car seat, but it just fits so well in there.)

For a toddler

Newborn and toddler

2 toddlers


It also folds very easily. The wheels come right off to make it even flatter for storage or travel.

THANK YOU LISA (MOM)! We love it!

To Everything Turn, Turn, Turn...

The day after the shower I had my mid-wife appointment. This is one I had been anxiously looking forward to becuase I wanted to see if this little missy had decided to cooperate and get back into position. David, of course, came to find out as well as Nancy Spears since she was staying at our house for the shower. The mid-wife wasted no time in checking her position, because I told her that I really wanted to know. She pulled out the ultrasound and unfortunately she was still breeched. Since I'm already 37 1/2 weeks we needed to schedule a external version ASAP. They only do them on the weekdays and in the morning (because I'm not supposed to eat anything for at least 8 hours beforehand). We have it scheduled for 9:00 am Monday morning. I am praying hard that this will cause the baby to turn. The mid-wife said that it would be 50% success rate and that there is a rare possibility that this could induce labor and that if that were the case I would get a C-Section right then and there. I'm basically going to be prepped beforehand as if a C-Section might occur. Thus the reason for no eating for 8 hours and I'm going to be getting my blood drawn and an IV put in for medication if it becomes necessary.
I would really covet your prayers that the baby will turn by Monday morning or at least the version be successful and she is cooperative and stays turned.
If she doesn't turn then we will be scheduling a C-Section for no sooner than my 39th week.

Showered with Blessings!

This past Thursday was the church's baby shower combined with some Shubin and Hayes family members. It was held at Doug and Amy's house and was featured a sit down fondue dinner. (So yummy!) What a turn out too! It looked as though approximately 70 ladies showed up. It was amazing to see so many people come together to shower our little girl with blessings!

Many people worked hard and made this event so special and I am truly grateful for their sacrifice and generosity to make this the best baby shower I have been to. :)

I especially want to thank Amy, Masha, Mom, Grace and Brenda Kolbe for spending so many hours preparing for this.

The banquet set up.

Close up of the tables.

Baboonya, Masha, Me, Rachel and Mom (Wow, we don't look related at all do we?)

This was a poster of pictures from mine and David's childhoods. It was for the shower game. You had to look at the pictures and get a list of questions to answer based on the pictures. I thought was clever. Though the picture of me sticking my tongue out with my hands in my mouth is not one I am neccessarily proud of...(anymore). :)

Dinner time!

Mmmm, yummy! Fondue is one of my favorite foods!

Rose didn't really appreciate being photographed while eating...

View of the present table.

Other side. Here you can see our designated spots. The signs read "Grammy," "Mommy," "Boonya" and "Baboonya."


Everyone gathered to listen to the devotional and watch the presents open. It was starting to get dark, so we had a bit of a time crunch.

Amy reading the devotional to me. It was one of the sweetest things ever given to me and I'll treasure it. Doug posted a transcript of it on his blog and you can view that here.

Opening the gifts. Again, it was getting dark and I had so many to open I tried very hard to get through them quickly. It still took me about an hour to open them all.


David admiring the gifts we got. We went through them all over again which was good since I didn't see everything that clearly the first time around.

David had really wanted a co-ed shower and jokingly pondered dressing as a women to indulge in the fondue and open gifts himself. I can't blame him for wanting to come, it was obviously quite the epic shower. :)