Emily Elizabeth Hand
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Ben went to Grandma and Grandad’s while Jen and Jason went to L&D. Jen spent the night having a Non-Stress Test while Jason stayed in the bed next to her. Though they were contractions, they weren’t very regular so we weren’t too worried, but the on-call OB gave Jen 2 shots of steroids to mature the baby’s lungs should something happen.
At noon on Friday, Jen was released, as she wasn’t dilating and her contractions were going away, though she was scheduled for an ultrasound at 3:30pm as her cervix felt soft instead of hard. At 3:30pm the ultrasound went as scheduled and Jay and Jen were assured it was a girl. In the ten minutes of the ultrasound, the little baby had turned from head down to feet down. The baby was now breech. Afterwards, they waited for the results from the OB (Dr. Andregetti) and were told that her cervix was shortened to half and as a result Jen would need to be on complete bed rest until delivery to avoid any further ripening of the cervix.
Jen and Jay went to Grandma and Grandad’s and had dinner. After dinner, Jen lay down and the contractions started again. But this time they were much stronger. So feeling really embarrassed, Jen & Jay went back to L&D.
Jay dropped Jen off as he thought she was just going to be admitted to the hospital. Jay was dying for a shower and need to get clothes for Jen’s stay. Dr Sharma, the on-call OB, came in and checked Jen. She found that Jen was 2cm dilated. Dr Sharma started to make phone calls to other hospitals to find a bed with a level-3 nursery as the baby was so premature and would probably not breath on it’s own. Jay was then getting a 911 page as he pulled into his home driveway. He found out that Jen was going to be transported and he had to head back to the hospital ASAP so he could go with her. Jay tried to grab as many clothes as he could in a mad rush.
Jen & Jay were told that there was a possibility of being transported by air as far as Ottawa or Windsor. Dr Sharma then checked Jen again and found that not only was she now 4cm dilated, but that the baby was a footling breech (feet down in the pelvis). This is dangerous because if Jen’s water broke, the umbilical cord could come out with the foot and endanger the baby’s oxygen supply. Dr. Sharma made the decision that Jen would likely end up giving birth during the trip and decided transportation would be too dangerous. He then called both Sick Kids Units in Toronto and Hamilton to come and get the baby once she was born. Jen and Jay were then told that because the baby was footling breech, that it was really risky and a caesarean had to be done. Jen was then prepped for surgery.
Dr. Wang, the anesthesiologist, came in and gave Jen the epidural. Jen thought this was wonderful, felt like warm water running down her legs and took away all the pain of the contractions. Unfortunately, this wonderful feeling was replaced by full-body itchiness, but Jen decided she could put up with that. Jason got dressed in his scrubs, hat and booties (which he thought he looked JUST like a doctor in!) and went to the recovery room to wait. Jen was taken into the OR and moved over to the operating gurney. Her legs were strapped down and an oxygen mask placed over her face. The anesthesiologist then continued to administer more epidural until Jen could feel nothing. Jen was so tired at this point though, that she kept falling asleep. Jason was then permitted to enter and he sat by the right of her head, behind the screen.
The surgery began. Jen found there was one spot on her stomach that never actually froze and she could feel EVERYTHING that was done in that spot, including the scalpel. Though she decided it was still less painful than labour had been with Ben. Jay didn’t dare look over the screen at any point as he was afraid he would pass out if he did. He could see Jen’s body being jerked around by the doctors as they pulled the baby out. Within 5 to 10 minutes, Emily Elizabeth Hand was pulled out feet first at exactly 12:44 am on Saturday, August 2nd.
Within seconds she started crying! Everyone was amazed. The pediatricians quickly flashed Emily in front of Jay and Jen and then she was whisked off to the nursery. Jason stayed with Jen while they finished the surgery. Jason recalls hearing the doctors say, “let’s put that muscle back” just before she was sewn up! Jason left to follow Emily. They finished cleaning up Jen and moved her too recovery.
In the nursery, Dr. Eggar, the pediatrician, stabilized Emily and asked Jason and Grandma a lot of questions. Once she was stable she was weighed and measured. She weighed 3 lbs. 13.5 oz. and was 16.5 in. long. Her head circumference was 29 cm. What a difference from Ben! She was breathing on her own, with a little bit of extra oxygen for help.
Jason and Grandma went back to Jen who was feeling great after her mix of epidural and morphine. Her only side effect was shivering. The nurses asked her to wiggle her toes and all cheered when she did. Jason soon brought Jen a picture of Emily that the nurses took and she could finally get a look at her new daughter. At this time it was almost 2am and Jason and Grandma decided to go home. Jen was soon wheeled back to her room, but the nurses took her by to the nursery to see Emily once before going to bed. Jen then slept until 8 the next morning when her horrible meal of clear fluids arrived.
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