10.10.2013

May 21st. Part 3

My midwife tells Mike it’s time to cut the cord, but before he even has the chance to grab the scissors, the umbilical cord completely falls apart in Robins hands. It broke. In half. And that was that. No cutting the cord for daddy.

Emma was immediately placed under a warmer & dr’s went to work on her. Checking her lungs, clearing them out, trying to get her to cry, examining every single detail. To be honest I don’t remember hearing her cry. But I was so out of body at this point. Robin and her student were working on me & I felt so tingly all over. I was freezing. To the point of shaking. Mike’s standing over by E. I told him to take pictures, but I think he was just in awe of our daughter because there aren’t many in focus pictures from that time.

Robin is telling me they are still waiting on my placenta to come. She apologizes for yelling at me. Emma got stuck. Her right shoulder wouldn't come. There was no time for me to take a break because I needed to get Emma out. Robin says she didn't have the time to explain what was happening while it was actually happening because everything happened fast. (Mike agreed that this was a quick thing. The bruises all up & down Emma's right side are further proof that she was stuck. Robin had to use force to get her unstuck. To get her out) She also tells me that the umbilical cord was the shortest one she had ever seen. They are pushing on my stomach. She tells me I tore just a sliver but it’s so small she can barely tell its there anymore. I feel like I was in and out of it here. I only remember these details because Robin told me about them the next morning so I was able to write them down.

Mike is by my side again. He says she’s perfect.

I was told early on that I wouldn’t be able to hold her right away. No skin to skin. No immediate nursing. Because of her premature birth, the dr’s needed to assess her and make decisions for her health immediately.

But God is so good. As I’m looking at Mike & asking for details of what she looks like, his eyes get big and he gets a huge grin on her face. At the same time I feel the warmest bundle placed on my chest. I look to my left and there is the sweet nurse from the nursery that we had passed many times on our hallway walks earlier in the day.

She says to me… “You have 30 seconds to love & kiss on your girl, I’m not sure when you’ll get to hold her again.” Oh friends, those 30 seconds were so surreal to me. E smelled so sweet. She wasn’t cleaned up at all, but her scent was so strong. She was perfect. Her eyes weren’t open & she didn’t seem to even flinch, but she was in my arms. Something I thought wasn’t going to happen for awhile. In hindsight, my heart cries thinking of what the nurse said to me…She knew things were much more serious than everyone had thought. She knew that Emma wasn’t doing very good. She knew that I needed to hold my baby before she left that room. She just knew. 

And for that, I am so thankful.

Then they took Emma to the nursery. Mike said he planned on staying with me to make sure I was ok & I told him no. I needed him to be with her. I couldn’t imagine her alone for even a second. So he went.

Robin finishes up & I’m left alone. Completely by myself.

The room is still full of everything that was used during labor, yet it was so empty. It was cold in there. The nurse had brought me a heated blanket but I was freezing. It all hit me that I just had a baby & that baby wasn’t in my arms. I had no idea what was happening to her. I don’t think I prayed. I think I cried. Just cried. And stared at the clock. Wondering how long it would be until I wouldn’t feel so empty.

My midwife comes back in & tells me how proud she was of me. That she knew I could do it without the epidural. That everything was going to be fine. She leaves with the promise of stopping in the next day to check on me. A nurse helps me out of bed to get cleaned up. Mike stops back in to tell me that E is getting a chest x-ray & needs oxygen. He doesn’t know much of anything else. Except that she weighs 6 lbs 9.5 ounces and is 20 inches long.  He goes back to the nursery & the nurse wheels me to a new room. She gets me in the bed & I’m left alone again.

Adrenaline kicks in at this point, it had to. Because my behavior over the next few hours is nothing like me.

The pediatric nurse comes into my room & tells me that Emma is having an extremely hard time breathing. She can’t do it on her own & there is a nurse specifically assigned to pumping air into her lungs through one of those green oxygen bags. She tells me that the decision has been made to transport Emma to the children’s hospital. In Buffalo. Over an hour away. She needs a drug that Olean isn’t able to administer. She needs care that Olean isn’t able to give her.

I don’t remember crying. I think I actually smiled and said ok. I was numb to emotion then. 

I didn’t understand what was happening, which meant I didn’t know how to deal with it either.

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to be continued...

7 comments:

Claire Flores said...

I'm so glad you had even that short time to hold your girl and to cradle her after birth. That is the best moment of it all, and even though it was brief I'm so glad you had that. I can't even imagine having to be told your child is being transferred out of the hospital where you are. I'm so sorry! I can imagine how numb you were feeling though. It's like when so much is going on we go into survival mode. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the story, and I'm praying that this act of writing it all out is so healing for you. Lots of love.

libbyuglesich said...

so her birthday is May 21st? That's so cool! Zane's birthday is the 21st too :)

Liz Edwards said...

Thank you friend. It was such a strange, uncomfortable feeling when they told me. I was definitely in survival mode because I don't know how I didn't go completely crazy over it..

Liz Edwards said...

Yes!! She's got a cute birthday twin ;)

melissa1219 said...

Oh Liz, I'm reading along and crying. My goodness. I remember praying for you during that time. My heart was SO happy to read that the nurse let you hold her. Bless her heart. And I have to say that I loved reading about Robin. I miss her. She is such a fantastic midwife. The first part of your birth story reminds me a lot of when I had Landon. That awful Pitocin especially, and just feeling so out of body right afterwards. The exhaustion was unbelievable. We were told initially that Landon was fine, and then he ended up on oxygen and there were several concerns. A doctor came in the middle of the night to tell us that (one of the worst moments of my life for sure), and he ended up all hooked up to numerous things for the next few days in the nursery. I remember being by myself and just feeling so alone and sobbing and sobbing. It wasn't supposed to be like that, you know?! They were in the process of transferring him to Buffalo when the doctor decided to check his lungs one more time and it turned out that he had made process. I just wanted to encourage you, though, that whenever you have future little ones, the process (in my experience) is much easier the second time around. I couldn't believe how much faster everything went, and how I didn't feel like I was floating above my hospital bed after Sophie was born. I actually still remember all the details. And then getting to hold Sophie and keep her in the room with me was such a gift. Sorry, I don't mean to ramble and make this "all about me," but since church is always crazy and I never think to share that with you, I wanted to now. Emma is such a gift, and I have such admiration for you and Mike and what godly parents you are.

Liz Edwards said...

Thank you Melissa. Your prayers were so felt. It was by Him alone that I survived being by myself that night. You're not rambling :) I love your words of encouragement & your experiences! Good to know that baby number 2 won't be as overwhelming!!

libbyuglesich said...

Yay! I love that they're birthday twins :)