I simply CAN NOT believe it's been 5 years. Five years since I taught my last day of first grade. Five years since I became Mommy in addition to Stacy and Mrs. Darwin. Five years since our beautiful daughter came into our lives.
I pulled out her first picture album last night and flipped through the pages remembering those first few months. I don't think I've shared the whole story here, so what better day than today to tell you the story of Miss Miranda's arrival?
Like all first time pregnant moms, I had a pretty good idea of how it was all going to work out. I was due May 19, which was just perfect because I was teaching, and would be able to make it through most of the year. I actually had about 6 weeks of leave saved up and was due take them early so I could nest properly before the big arrival. We had just finished the Easter weekend, and I was back at work....the beginning of my last week before my long term sub took over. It was a Tuesday afternoon. The kids had gone home and I was trying to get my sub notebook organized to hand over to the new leader of the the classroom.
I worked until 6:00 pm and Ray came to pick me up to go to our first birthing class. We just had to swing by the house to get the required blanket and pillows that the handout told us to bring. Afterwards, we went to Schlotzky's for a quick sandwich before the class started. I was sitting there listening to Ray go on, and on, and on (and on, and on) about some baseball stuff, when I had the strangest feeling that I had wet my pants. I excused myself and went to the bathroom to check things out. (I was pretty sure I hadn't, since it was my custom back then to not drink much, what with teaching first grade, and all.)
I returned to the table to inform my husband that things were not good. My water had broken.
He said, "Oh, dear, let's get you to the hospital!"? NO
He said, "Oh, my goodness! Let's call the doctor!"? Yeah.....NO
He said, "Do you want me to wrap the sandwiches up?" Yes, he did. I'm not kidding, folks!
I, of course, did NOT want him wrapping anything up. We needed to head on over to where the professionals were. I had seen enough Baby-Birthin'-TV to know that this was not a good thing and wasn't going to end in a picnic complete with my turkey on rye.
We walked in to the ER all in a tizzy. They whisked us up to L&D. Let me tell you, you get ATTENTION when your water breaks at 33 weeks. One of the nurses told me they were happy that I didn't come in with a baby in my pants leg. They had me flat in the bed in about 10 minutes, a steroid shot injected, and IV flowing. We called our parents, and let them know that Miranda was going to be coming a little earlier than planned. My mom and dad wrapped up their own Schlotzky's sandwiches and went to bed so that they could drive straight to Tucson the next day. I sent Ray home to get a camera. All we had were the silly pillows and blankets that we were supposed to bring to the birthing class that we had NO IDEA what they might be for since we MISSED said class.
He got back around 9:00. In the meantime, I was calling the school secretary and my next-door teacher telling them where the lesson plans were between contractions. And that was the last time I worried about my class. I officially threw the towel in at that moment.
Things got really interesting about 11:00. The epidural arrived. The wouldn't even let me sit up in the bed hoping to gain a little more time for the steroids to work on the babies lungs. We managed to get some sleep, but Miranda couldn't wait any longer and was born at 3:59 am on April 3, ten hours after my water broke. She cried, they whisked her away after a quick snapshot, and we collapsed from exhaustion.
The next morning, Ray went to see her and took this picture of her under her oxygen hood. She was having to work too hard and would be on the respirator within 24 hours.
I'm not sure if this picture is artsy and cool or kind of creepy, but you can see everything that was going on. She was under the bili lights, so that's why she has the little baby shades on her eyes. The machine is breathing for her (she was almost 3 weeks old before I saw my baby without anything taped to her face since after this was removed the feeding tube was taped on), and the IV is giving her morphine and nutrients so she can be calm and get better. There's the oxygen monitor on her little foot and the heart monitors all over her chest. There was also a tube coming out of her bellybutton so they could take blood easier and not have to stick her so much. The machine breathed for her for about 5 days. The medicine worked and helped her lungs develop. Thank the Lord for modern medicine! One of the doctors told us that if she had been born 15 years ago at 33 weeks, she would have had a 50% of surviving. As it was, she had a 98% chance, and clearly she hasn't stopped thriving!
I'll share more of the hospital stay later, because I know I have you both on the edge of your seat now ;) But, THAT is the story of the day/night that Miranda came into the world!
Happy birthday, Miranda!
