The Stork is in Flight!

At about 12:30 am on Sunday the 15th Lindsey started contractions that were more severe than the Braxton-Hicks she'd been having for the past two days. That morning at about 4 she woke Ryan up and they decided to call the Birthing Center. With their instructions they went about waiting for the appropriate conditions to arrive before heading off to the hospital, and Ryan got to get out of one of his Master's classes (Thanks Bailey!!). The Grandparents-to-be were notified and began arriving throughout the day, and at about 3 pm Ryan and Lindsey called the nurse again, and decided to head off to the Hospital after a brief snack.

In the Triage Evaluation, the nurse monitored Lindsey for 20 minutes and checked to find that she was only 3-4 cm dilated, so they were instructed to walk around for an hour, so they sought out the Cafeteria for some more chow. When they returned to Triage they discovered that they had been admitted and then the nurse began the paperwork.

After what seemed like a long wait, they were taken to their birthing suite, #147. Their nurse Tessa took them through the room to see all the features and explain some of the procedures/pain relief options/emergency code alarms and what to expect for those (which turned out to be a good thing to know).

With Tessa's help, Lindsey began exploring some non-medicated pain reduction options of the room, and had a wonderful time getting her IV placed. The, at that time still anonymous, baby was doing just fine according to the monitor, so off it came so Lindsey could "hop" on the birthing ball (which is really one of those yoga exercise balls, for those of you who don't know, it helps position hips, and relieve some pain) to help with her back pain, which is where she was feeling most of the power of the contractions.

During this time, Lindsey and Ryan were weighing their options for additional pain relief, with a growing sense of taking the Epidural path. The plan was to try out the snazzy jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and take it from there. Before the whirlpool jets could be fired, the nurse decided to have a check of baby and things got a bit scary.

The heart rate was extremely low, so nurse Tessa calmly said, "I don't want to scare you, but this is one of those times we discussed earlier when I am going to push that blue code button on the wall, and there will soon be many more people in the room."

Push it she did, and moments later a phalanx of additional nurses appeared from all directions. Ryan imagined some of them must have repelled from the roof outside, swat-team style, not to make light of a very serious situation. It was wonderful to feel the comfort of the professionals in that situation as the mood of the room went from ominous uncertainty to a reassuring mood of order and control. Lindsey was placed on oxygen, marching orders were given to various nurses, doctors were paged, and things really got going. At this point, Lindsey was instructed to lay on her side, and then baby's heart rate went from very low to very very high: around 200 bpm.

Doctor Andesen, a very calm and knowledgeable fellow, decided to get a better read on the little one, after monitoring her for a few minutes. Water was broken, and a skull clip monitor was placed directly on baby's little head. Similar results were presented with this monitor, so Doctor Andesen informed Lindsey and Ryan that he didn't know why the little heart was going so fast, but it was not the greatest situation, and since Lindsey was still only around 3-4 cm dilated, labor would continue for several more hours and that would be a bad thing for baby. His advise was to "make the right kind of mistake" and just get the little person out, which in his experience, usually solved these types of problems. Lindsey and Ryan agreed.

Nurses began darting to and fro, one handing a package of scrubs to Ryan, which he had on in almost four seconds so he could spend the next 20 minutes waiting around with not much to do but ask God for the courage to be man enough not to freak out or pass out while things were getting going.

Ryan took a few moments to inform those in the waiting room what was going on before the bed was wheeled out to the operating suite. Once there, at the OR, Ryan was instructed to wait outside while Lindsey was receiving her "spinal"(a paralyzing shot in the spine that allows moms to remain conscious while the birth is taking place). This wait was particularly difficult for Ryan as he sat there in his four second scrubs for the chance to rejoin Lindsey for the procedure.

Then the time came to go in, and Ryan was placed at Lindsey's right shoulder in a small room with lots of very calm, (very un-ER[the TV show]-like people were listening to music and chatting with each other about what they were planning to do with the next weekend. It seemed to Ryan like the atmosphere of a low-key place of employment, like an office, rather than one of the scariest places on Earth. Lindsey was in no pain at this point, so the Epidural decision was taken care of by fate. Things began to transpire beyond the sheet blocking Lindsey's view of her belly, and after a few moments, the nurse-anesthetist said to Ryan, "Hey, why don't you look over there for a second?" and indicated the region beyond the sheet.

As Ryan tentatively peered beyond the sheet, an image that took a few moments to make sense met his vision. It was the color of Lindsey's exposed lower torso that confused him first: it was a strange yellow-orange like something out of a horror flick (not to in any way detract from the wonder of the next few moments) but something was sticking out of the lower part of the baby-bump...a little HEAD!! A wiggle, a tug, and a snip later there was a small voice that called out and changed the nature of the universe at 10:03 pm. It was a little girl, Ryan told Lindsey, and the little one was taken over to be cleaned and checked where Lindsey could see her.

Everything was just fine from that moment on, and whatever caused little baby's heart to beat too fast was no longer a problem. She was in daddy's arms, and placed by mommy's head while she was being closed up, and her name was finalized from the short list.

Despite the semi-crash/emergency landing of the Stork, Bailey Eve Anderson was here at last!!

Dad got to take Bailey back to the room as Mom was being wheeled back to room 147, and on the way ran into some of the waiting relatives, namely Grandma and Grandpa Bliss, who were told the news of the little girl, and walked back to the room with Dad following the bed with Mom. Some of the other waiters got a chance to see little Bailey at the door to the room, like Grandma Lynnette, and Aunt Avery, but they had to wait for an hour or so for Lindsey's recovery period to come see her. During this time, Bailey was weighed and measured. She came in at 7lbs and 19 inches long.

Everything turned out just fine, and Mommy healed well, and baby Bailey began quickly winding her father around her tiny little fingers.