So only a month afterwards....
Ladies and Gentlemen, hold onto your butts. I am officially a Mommy. Swoon. Please allow me to introduce Ms. Cassandra Susanne Wiggins. Born at 6:08 am on March 13th, weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and 19.75 inches long. And in case you're wondering, that is the recipe for perfection. :o)
Because that is a big name for a tiny girl, we're calling her Cassie. Her first name was just a name her Dad and I liked, but her middle name is for her Grandmas- Susan and Anne. I'm feeling grateful that they aren't Renee and Esme :o)
So Cassie's birth story is quite a doozy. Prepare yourself to say "What?!" a couple of times, because that's what all our friends and family did. Apologies for the detail overload, but I'd like to remember as much of my daughters birth as possible!
I went into work on March 10th a little early, because there were rumors of a layoff and I wanted to be there at a reasonable time so that I would know what was going on before my 10:50 doctor's appt. Scott was worried per the usual but I reassured him that everything would be fine, cause it always had been. My dept has never been hit hard by layoffs and believe me, they have been numerous. However, as I was driving to work I began to do some math and started to feel not as confident. Sure enough, as I'm pulling into work my cell rings and its my boss and I know, I'm dunzo. My boss was/is amazing and had just found out and wanted me to be prepared. She had no idea that it was a possibility that I would be gone, or should would have warned me. Frankly, no one really saw this coming, certainly not to this extent. Over 2/3 of my department was laid off, over 30 people, like 400 from my company. But I digress...
I get an email asking me to attend a meeting at 9:30 to talk about Tim's note about the layoffs. I tried to hold back the tears, and for me, did an okay job. But I was 9 months pregnant so dang it, the tears came. My co-workers were amazing. Here we all sit in the room, all with the same fate and yet they're all fine until they see me and then the tears start. My SVP, who was giving the news, actually had to leave to gather herself before proceeding. When she comes back, she gives us all the news that there's been a reduction in staff and there are no longer positions for us. Then HR gives their spiel, but even the HR lady was teary. We were a tight group and you could tell this was really difficult for all. She asked for questions and my only questions was, if I have my baby before my real "last day" on Tuesday, March 15th, would I still get maternity leave? She checked and informed me I would indeed. Afterwards we all leave the room, everyone is hugging and giving each other reassurances and it was very surreal. I talked to Scott and he was worried, but I assured him we would be fine, because I believed we would.
After a couple minutes, I headed off to my doctors appt, resolute that everything would be okay and that the doctor would work with me. Sure enough, Dr Mills was wonderful and after being incredulous that they could fire a 9.5 month pregnant woman, she said she was on call this weekend so let's have a baby! She warned me that because I was only 38 weeks and it was my first baby it could take a LONG time, like two days, but we were going to try to avoid a c section. I was down with that and pretty much threw my birth plan out the window because, pitocin is the devil and I knew it. She had the nurse call the hospital to make sure that it was okay for me to check in the next evening (squeal!). Sure enough, she told me as I came out of the office we were on.
I texted Scott and let him know were were having a baby this weekend, then I called my mom and rocked her world. I gave her the old, well, I've got good news and bad news line. I think she may just now be recovering from the shock :o) I went back to the office and told my friend Kendra that I was having a baby this weekend and we squealed and somehow the whole floor found out and was celebrating together. It was a truly a bright spot in a ugly dreary day. And there was a lovely "stick it to the man" vibe to it, that just added to the ambiance. I went to my desk and packed some stuff, then everyone went to Clydes for a few hours to say goodbye and just generally grieve. I was a good time though and I'm glad I went. It was hard saying goodbye to all those great people who I've known for years though. I was definitely in another world though, thinking about what was coming. After that, I packed up all the rest of my 5 years and tied up all the loose ends. Then I went home and finished up the stuff I needed to do there also. My dear Jackie cancelled dinner with her grandmother so she could help me. I really do have the best friends and family.
I managed to sleep pretty well the next night, my parents came in around 10 and we went to Bob Evans for a little breakfast. Scott had to work for a couple of hours, but then we all packed up and finished stuff around the house. My parents and I also got the all important mani/pedis. I couldn't meet my daughter with raggedy feet!
My doc had warned me to eat before I came, because I wouldn't be eating for a very long time. We had dinner at the cheesecake factory and it was suuuper yummy and a nice way to wrap up the day. We had all kinds of seafood and I got a piece of cheesecake to bring home and eat later. My last meal as a pregnant lady :o)
We got to the hospital a couple minutes after 7:30 and I was excited and anxious. I was about have a baby! All the craziness of the past two days was coming in and starting to hit me. Luckily, Scott was in a super silly mood and amused me greatly, he's such a goob sometimes in such a great way. Also, I LOVED my nurse, Karen. She asked 1 million questions and then put me on a monitor and started the cervadil. Putting me on the monitor was far more eventful than the cervadil and apparently was just a hint of what was to come. Baby girl did NOT want to stay still and be monitored. Eventually we got her for a minute, and then the fun began. The contractions were not bad at all, and I took a sleeping pill and was able to get about 6 hours of sleep. I was still feeling excited about all that was to come.
The next morning, I got up early, took a shower and did my hair and makeup (why, I have no idea!). The cervadil had effaced me some and dilated me slightly, which was about all we expected it to do. Around 8am, the doctor inserted a foley catheter and we started pitocin. The contractions started off hard and heavy, but after about 30 minutes, I got on top of them and they were manageable. The hardest part was that Scooter would not stay on the monitor and you have to be monitored with pitocin. So I couldn't be mobile and use that to manage the contractions. It sucked. (This is a continuous theme btw, baby makes me stay in bed, can't manage contractions in bed) I did have a nice several hour reprieve where I rested and Scott and my mom took turns giving me counter pressure in my back and things were good. I even managed to sleep a bit, which everyone seemed rather shocked about. Around 2:00, I was 2-3 dilated and completely effaced, which we thought was a great indicator. Around 8:00, the foley had done it's business and I was 5-6 and they broke my water. Holy wetness batman. I was literally leaving a trail to the bathroom, it was crazy, so much fluid. But it was clear and things were good. I was having some back and hip pain from having to stay in the same position to keep Stinker, I mean Scooter on the monitor, but I was still managing to deal with everything without drugs. Around 10pm, I needed some help. I could handle the contractions but the back pain was too much, so I took some pain meds. They worked great for about 30 minutes, then I was done. By this point, I was throwing up and shaking severely. I knew I couldn't dilate like this, so I gave up and cried uncle (literally) and asked for the epidural. At the time, it felt like forever but anesthesia showed up in about 15 minutes. They had to poke me three times to get the epidural in the right place but it wasn't really that bad and once it was in, I understood what all the love songs really mean. That is some good stuff. I mean the numbness is what I expected and it was beautiful, but no one told me about the blissful warm fuzzies too! I'm glad I tried the natural way but there are no buts about it, the epidural rocked.
Once I was in la la land, my rents and Scott's mom came in to say hi for a bit, and then we all took a nice nap. I felt really good at this point, I'd made it to 7 centimeters and we were all sure that when I woke up it would be show time. Apparently Cassie had other plans! After a couple of hours, the nurse and Dr Mills came in a checked me and I had actually gone backwards. I was only 6 centimeters now. Rut roh! That is not how this is supposed to happen. Because both babe and I were doing well, they let us go another 2 hours but ended up coming in around 5 because my contraction pattern had gone to pot. Sure enough, no progress so it was c section time. I felt really at peace with the decision, which told me it was the right one. Scott was less excited, but we were where we were, and we knew we were going to meet our daughter in a hour!!
Karen, my awesome nurse, started to prep me and I had to drink this awful liquid that was supposed to settle my stomach, but made me nauseous. Once everything was done, my family came so I could show them I was okay and in a good place. I found out later that my super stoic mother actually cried when she heard I was getting a section. Turns out it really wasn't that bad though, honestly.
They wheeled me back to the room and the show really started. The put blankets on my upper body and this cool warming thing that blew hot air in, all of which did bubkiss to actually keep me warm. The shivering was the worst part. I spent the entire time trying to keep myself calm and stop shaking. It kept me pretty out of it. I did however, manage to stay alert enough to hear the most beautiful sound in the world, my daughter's first cry. She sounded all gurgly because of course she didn't even wait to get her lungs cleared, she had to let us all know she was displeased! LOL Then I heard peals of laughter from the other side of the curtain, and the anesthesiologist told me that she had grabbed the scissors on the way out and wouldn't let go! He said she was a born surgeon and I can only hope he's right! The moved her over to the warmer and I could see bits of her. Scott brought her over and I kept asking him to put her face next to mine but he wasn't sure how to hold her in a way to do that, so cute. One of the nurses came over and helped and I got to see my girls face for a moment. Then she and daddy went to the nursery to warm up and I was given something called versed (sp?) and I don't remember a darn thing from there to recovery!
Once I was in recovery, I was still shaking violently and it was sooo not fun. They had the blankets piled to the ceiling and I was trying to stay calm but it was a really uncomfortable feeling. I wanted Scott but I knew he needed to be with the baby. After a few minutes, they brought Cassie to me and any discomfort was forgotten. She looked so familiar and I truly felt like I knew her forever. They asked if I wanted to nurse her, and I made some joke about being a natural bouncy seat but she latched right on and went to town. The happiness really set in then, this was my family and I was a Mom.
