Leah Taylee Norton

LONG POST....No really, VERY long.

This post is obviously very overdue. She is 4 weeks old! But, any mother will back me up when saying they take ALL of your time, thoughts, and energy. But i'm finally sitting down to do this post.

The delivery went so well. I had been having mild contractions for a couple of days in a row, but they were about every 20-30 minutes. Then sometimes they would stop for an hour or so. On the second day of these contractions, they started to become a little more intense, but nothing that was unbearable. I had a doctor's appointment that day already, so I went in to get checked. He said I was at a 3 and I probably wouldn't be pregnant by next week. What a relief! I was SO over being pregnant at this point. Moms out there, was I just a whimp? The last couple of weeks were so hard. I wanted more than ANYTHING to be done. I was at the point where I was happy to start feeling painful contractions if that meant going into labor!

I went back to work for a little while after the appointment and told my boss I might not make it through all of next week. In the back of my mind I really thought I might be having this baby girl soon! As in...tonight. So I tried to finish/finalize everything at work. I tried to get all of my responsibilities taken care of and I cleaned up my desk, etc. Then I went home early just to rest. The contractions really were pretty uncomfortable and every fifteen/twenty minutes. At this point I was wondering if this was "it". I wasn't due for another 12 days...she probably wasn't going to be that early, knowing my luck. That's what I was thinking anyway.

So that evening I went visiting teaching and was telling the ladies how i've been feeling. They were all excited and expected that I would deliver soon. I was trying to not get my hopes up! But sure enough, as the night went on, my contractions starting getting closer and closer and they were lasting longer. However, they were still about 10 minutes apart. Well, this lasted for several hours, and we obviously didn't even try to sleep. At about 10:00 they were every five minutes! We were both SO excited, nervous, anxious, scared, ecstatic!!!

However, the LAST thing I wanted to happen was to be sent home from the hospital. I don't think I could have handled going in, thinking i'm ready and then them saying "Nope, go home!" I would have been devastated. So we waited and waited.

Finally at 2:00 am they were STILL five minutes apart, and had been for 4 hours. So we decided to go in. We get on the highway (by the far the fastest way to get to Mckay-Dee) and after a couple of miles we see flashing lights ahead of us and the road is blocked off... We could not believe it! We pulled up next to an officer, and he said "Sorry guys, there was an accident, you'll have to go down to the freeway". I just looked at him and finally said "Well...we're on our way to the hospital to have a baby." He said "Oh lovely....hmmm" He looked behind him at the accident scene and said since there was lifeflight there, he really couldn't let us pass through. So he told us to head to the freeway and to drive fast because all the cops were up there. :) Nice guy!

Anyway, it ended up taking us about 40 minutes to get to the hospital cause of the accident. But all was well! I got there, checked in, and after an hour of walking around and seeing that I was in fact progressing, they said I was not going to leave the hospital with out our babe. :)

I got the epidural about 4:00 am. Best thing that EVER happened to me! I had slightly considered the possibility of natural birth before...(slightly). However, now having had an epidural and going through birth, I have absolutely no desire to do it natural! I think it's great if you choose to do that, but it just isn't for me.

Some people say they don't want an epidural because they want to experience the birth more physically, and be able to feel what their body is doing. I felt like I was still able to experience that, I kept the epidural low enough that I definitely still felt it progress. I could feel when I needed to push, and the epidural had actually mostly worn off by the time I was pushing. It wasn't fun...it was the hardest thing i've ever done. But thanks to Taylor, I did it.

There were some points that I really thought I was too exhausted to go on. I truly couldn't push anymore, and I was in so much pain. I just wanted to give up. But Taylor gave me such encouragement and my doctor and nurses were wonderful.

At 2:16 pm Leah Taylee Norton was born. This should have been the most wonderful moment of my life. I should have felt the most joy that I've ever experienced. But those feelings had to be put on hold.

Leah wasn't breathing.

We were terrified.

I was supposed to be hearing the first cry. I was supposed to be holding my beautiful girl.

But she was on a table surrounded by nurses.

The doctor kept us calm and explained that she just had some meconium in her lungs, which was pretty common. But after a few minutes of suctioning her lungs, the liquid was all out. But she still wasn't breathing. The doctor still had not said anything to the nurses, he just kept saying it'll be okay. But now I could tell he was getting nervous. He looked at the nurses with a look that let them know that this wasn't working.

They then called a code blue. Several people rushed into the room, and immediately started working on Leah. They were bagging her at this point, but after about 10 minutes they decided to intubate her. That was so scary! She still wasn't breathing on her own.

Scary thoughts were going through my head. It is not something I want to ever experience again.

After what seemed like forever, she finally was breathing on her own. I was finally able to see her! It was so amazing! I cannot describe it.

She had trouble breathing the first 24 hours of her little life. She wasn't breathing enough, and her heart rate was low. It was so sad and still scary. The nurses checked on her very often, and finally on the second day, she was doing much better.

I'm so grateful for the doctor's, nurses, and respiratory therapists that day. I know God was in control and he blessed us with a miracle.

After this experience, I simply have to say something. Please, please do not give birth at home. I know that it's growing in popularity right now, and it's something that seems appealing for a lot of mothers. But I spoke with my doctor and asked him what would have happened if this birth was a home birth. He stated that it would not have turned out like any parent would want. She probably would not have survived. Even if there are highly trained midwives at the home, there is simply not the equipment or staff necessary for situations such as this. It required machines, dozens of medical staff, and medications.

If you are opting for a very natural birth and do not want a hospital setting, there are many birthing centers that will meet most of those needs! Please deliver at a birthing center instead of at home. I don't see ANY situation where the pro's of delivering at home would out weigh the risks. How can anyone risk their child's life just for their idea of a perfect delivery?

Anyway. I just needed to say that. I truly am not trying to offend anyone.

Since delivery, life has been crazy! Wonderful, Amazing, and Incredible. And hard. We love her so much and she's already grown up so much!