on the day you were born

This last week has gone pretty smoothly. I had a (pretty hefty) list of things that I wanted to get done around the house, I have been preparing Avery to be a Big Sister and to change her routine up, and pretty much just trying to think of everything and anything I could do to get ready for a baby!! Some people may think that having your delivery scheduled is awesome! I would mostly agree. Knowing the day and the hour that I could expect my baby to come was nice. However, since I can't seem to have anything to do with delivering a baby without a huge slice of DRAMA on top, things didn't go exactly as planned. Here's how Thursday morning went...Klayton and I got to the hospital (after handing Avery over to Grandparents and packing our bags) right at 10am. My surgery was scheduled for noon, so they wanted us in to prep for surgery and check out the baby before it was time to dig in. Here is the last prego picture of me waiting for the nurse to come in and start my IV. Anyway, they hook up the baby monitoring system and start getting my IV in. Klayton was on my left holding my hand and teasing me about being afraid of needles, when the baby's heartbeat goes from about 140 (completely normal) to about 50 (sooo not good). Alarms start blaring. The nurse starts making fun of me. No joke. She says, "Wow. Calm down! An IV is nothing to stress about. That's just the baby reacting to your stress and a drop in your heart rate... probably."Well, besides sort of wanting to punch my nurse, I am now actually freaking out (despite disliking needles and any kind of pain intensely, I certainly was not panicking about a stupid IV. Psh. I'm not THAT big of a wuss). Well, when she's just about done placing and taping up the IV, it happens again. The baby's heart rate drops like crazy for about 30 seconds. Then it comes back to normal. I am now super freaking out but trying to be calm, in case I really am causing it. I don't know if it makes sense why I was freaking out, but seriously, I have been coming into the hospital to have the baby monitored (in what they call non-stress tests) twice a week for the last three months! I am used to hearing the rapid ba-boom ba-boom of her heart. I have even heard her having hiccups and kicking the monitors quite often. But I have NEVER heard her heartbeat slow to a near-stop! Nightmare.So, I tell the nurse I'm not THAT nervous about a stupid IV, but that hearing my kid sound like she's dying was sure making me nervous. She went to get a second opinion, and when she came back with another nurse or two and the baby did it again (!!!) they went into turbo mode. Called my doc. Called the anesthesiologist. Gave Klayton his surgery scrubs. Started having me sign my life away. Etc. My doc rushed in and said that baby wasn't sounding so good (oh, really?) and that we were going to bump up my surgery to as soon as possible. We rushed through the rest of surgery prep (the entire time of which I was violently shaking from head to toe. They piled me with blankets, but, looking back, I'm pretty sure I was just MAJORLY FREAKING OUT!), got my spinal block going (ick), got my belly all swabbed up and went to work! All I can say at this point is thank heaven for amazing nurses (the one that took over for Mrs. "Geez stop killing your baby because you're afraid of a needle" was an angel), doctors, hospitals, baby monitoring technology, etc. Klayton held my hand while they pulled out my little radish (Klayton's nickname for Carter since she came out so round and red: I LOVE this picture! It's so weird and awesome)and when I heard that beautiful little cry on the other side of the paper divider (the one they put up so I can't see anything they are doing, though, because of the spinal block, I could certainly feel all of the touching and tugging going on down there... *shudder*) and they held up our beautiful girl so I could see her, I felt exactly like the Grinch. It's like you can literally FEEL your heart grow 3 sizes. It's amazing.So, all babies are miracles, but, like her older sister, this one feels especially miraculous. If we hadn't been scheduled to go in that morning, who knows how long she would have been in distress before I got her checked out?! I'd just like to insert here that I truly believe in the power of prayer and the Priesthood- My bishop and father-in-law came over on Wednesday night to participate in a blessing that Klayton gave me and the baby. During the promises of comfort and peace, I felt the Spirit confirm that the Lord was watching over us and would bless us. It's an amazing feeling to know that God knows I exist, and He loves me and my family. I am so grateful. So... It turns out that our little girl was completely out of room, breech, and tangled up in her umbilical cord (it was wrapped around her middle and half-way around her neck!!), hence the heart rate drops. Poor kid. I'm so glad she toughed it out! She is an angel. She was born at 11:15am, 6 lbs. 3 oz., 19 3/4 inches. They swept her straight into the Newborn ICU to make sure she was stable, cleaned her off and sent her right back into the operating room so Klayton could hold her and I could hold her hand while they closed me up. She is going to be so sweet and curious! She refused to close her eyes for the first few hours of her life. And ten minutes after she came out she was looking for food! It's the craziest thing- it took Avery two months to figure out her sucking reflex and feed herself! Having a term baby, no matter how crazy D Day was, is so amazing. She's eating well and looking really good. On Thursday evening, after repeated testing, her blood sugar was dropping way too low between meals. They took her out of our room and into the NICU. They have been monitoring her there ever since and giving her IV fluids to regulate her blood sugar. She is doing well now, and, hopefully, will be able to leave the hospital tomorrow when I get to go home. The neonatologist asked about our family history and diabetes and whether I passed my glucose test at 28 weeks (I did!). Since it doesn't seem to have been caused by either of those things, he says that since the last few months of my pregnancy have been stressful and my blood pressure has been anything but stable, my blood sugar naturally rose to combat all of that stuff. So the baby had to get used to a higher blood sugar level, meaning her body now makes a bit too much insulin. Not the most uncommon thing in the world, apparently, but still dangerous. I'm so glad that they are able to help her and hopefully her body will start producing a normal amount of insulin soon! Craziness, huh?My mom flew in on Thursday afternoon, just after we had the baby. She picked up Avery from my in-laws and has been staying with her ever since. And boy is Avery getting spoiled! Lots of candy and presents, staying up half the night, going to the zoo and Toy Story 3 and all over... She is fine if I stay in the hospital indefinitely as long as Grandma sticks around. haha. I am so glad my mom was able to come. She is the best. A little later this week my dad and brother, Zach, are coming up for a few days, and then my Grandma Clark is coming for 10 whole days!! I'm so spoiled, too! I feel so blessed to have so many good friends and my doting family. It has been amazingly easy to not worry too much when I know that everything and everyone is in good hands.Speaking of good hands, I also have to brag on my husband, who has been sleeping in a recliner next to me for the last couple of nights through endless middle-of-the-night nurse checks and "Klayton, will you help me get up?"'s and everything, and he'll be here again tonight. He is an amazing father and the best spouse. Again, I am so blessed. Sorry to go on and on, but if counting my blessings is wrong when my heart is this full then I don't want to be right. :)We have spent the first two days of this baby's life trying to make sure the name we picked out for her fits, and we have finally decided. Her name is Carter Tietjen.