Sadie's story

Sadie Rose Merkley.

Born September 27 @ 10:59 PM.

6lbs 6oz. 20 and a half inches.

She's here.

Sometimes I can't believe it.

It all happened so fast. We are so in love. I just can't even handle it!

This girl has had sass since I first felt her kicks. She has made it very clear that she is going to do things on her terms and in her timing. I should have known her birth would be an adventure!

I was all set to be induced on Monday the 29th. We planned on spending the weekend getting everything ready for her arrival. Friday we went on a date. Saturday we got up and started cleaning. By noon I started realizing that she wasn't moving as much as usual. I was trying not to be paranoid, but I'm Kaitlin. I'm always paranoid. After lunch I laid down to do a kick count and she was hardly moving. I called the on-call doctor at my clinic who told me to wait a little bit longer. Well, I am not good at waiting. We immediately went in to labor and delivery at our hospital. We had been cleaning all morning, and I hadn't even brushed my hair. I was in sweats and the only thing I brought was my wallet.

The drive there wasn't fun. We had made this exact drive before, with the exact same concerns. We said a prayer and I felt some tiny movements, which comforted us. We got into a room quickly, given my history. The nurse was so sweet, and she found the heartbeat fast. I cried. She cried. It was a happy moment. They were monitoring us for 20 minutes and we were just making small talk with our nurse when her heart rate dropped to 90bpm. Suddenly, the room was filled with nurses. They were moving me, hooking me up to an IV,  and rushing around the room. Her heartbeat went back up again after just a few seconds, but we were all worried. I have never been so glad that I listened to my gut and the spirit and went into the hospital.

They called the oncall doctor and she ordered a big ultrasound. 5 minutes later she called and cancelled it. She told them that even if the ultrasound looked great, she wouldn't feel good sending us home. So she wanted to keep us and induce us.

BAM.

Suddenly, we weren't going home without a baby. We were so excited, yet so scared about her heart rate dropping. Since we literally had nothing with us, I sent Nathan home for our hospital bag and they got me into a room and confirmed that she was still head down. She still had TONS of fluid though, so who knew what was going to happen. They started me on pitocin and I was contracting by the time Nathan got back.

Labor came fast. I was holding off on the epidural for as long as I could because i know it can slow down labor, and I just wanted her here. My contractions got about as big as they get and I was dying. So I got the sweet relief of the epidural. Ahhhhh. The anesthesiologist is my favorite man. I actually had the same guy I did with Madelyn. And he really is a super nice guy. 

Little Sadie was not handling the contractions very well. Her heart rate would drop a tiny bit with each one. Nurses weren't too worried yet. The on call doctor, who was amazing by the way even though I was super depressed it wouldn't be my doctor delivering me, broke my water and made sure she was still coming head down. Just like all the doctors and nurses warned me, my fluids were insane. I gushed forever. At one point I couldn't stop laughing because there was just SO much coming out!

After that things picked up even more. Then suddenly, just like the first time, Sadie's heart rate dropped drastically. Down to 70bpm. Again nurses rushed in and my nurse was immediately checking me. They were worried the cord had come down and was being compressed by her head. Instead, they found her nose. Little girl was presenting face down. FACE down. It was putting her in a lot of distress. All that fluid has flipped her around so much and she was coming out one of the worst ways. Her heart beat went back up and the doctor came back. She told me what I kind of knew all along- I would probably need a c-section. She said babies presenting face down rarely can ever be born vaginally. She was already slightly distressed, and it would only get worse. Basically, we could do a c-section now, or have to do a rushed, emergency one in a little while. At that point, I was ready. I wanted her out. It was too scary with her heart rate dropping so much. I needed her out and safe!! So they prepped me!

Before I knew it, I was lying completely naked on a operating table, all doped up, and making jokes with my anesthesiologist about how many people had seen me naked that day. Nathan stayed on my side of the sheets with me and held my hand. The anesthesiologist stood behind us and talked us through what was happening. I was slightly nervous, but more just anxious for her to be out and be okay. Her heart rate had dropped one more time in the operating room. Before I knew it, they started. I didn't feel a dang thing, but lots of weird tugging and pulling. Weirdest thing ever, I can't explain it.

Suddenly, the anesthesiologist was saying, "She's just about here! There's a head!" And then I heard her cry. And I cannot explain the joy and happiness that I felt in that moment. I couldn't see her. I couldn't even really feel her coming out. But I heard her. And I fell in love with that cry immediately. I'll never get over that moment. Giving birth in a silent room last time was hard. Births are supposed to be loud and exciting. Mine was still and silent. This time was amazing. The relief I felt in that moment was indescribable.

Nathan got to go right back with her and watch and help as they cleaned her up. He videoed the whole thing so I could watch it later. The anesthesiologist (Have I said that word enough this post? He was our best friend this whole night) sat with me and talked to me to distract me as they closed me up. Then he moved the curtain a bit so I could see into the room and I could see Nathan and my little girl's feet sticking up in the air!

I usually don't like when people post newborn nakie pictures, but this makes me freaking crack up. She's like, "I'M HERE!!"

She was incredibly swollen on her head and lips when she came out. She had been poked in the face several times by doctors checking her position. It was also hard for her to just be sitting with her face in my pelvis for so long. She also got a little scratch on her face from the doctor doing a c-section (who cried about it after the surgery, haha, so sweet), so she was pretty beat up. But her swelling went down almost immediately. Poor little thing.

They took us back to our room so I could officially meet her, and have some skin-to-skin time. It was also the first time we were all alone, just us 3! She was so alert the whole time. She just stared at us. I could not get over how beautiful she was. My heart was so full!

Sorry for the kinda racy pic. It was our first family picture!!

We had gotten to the hospital around 2:30. And by 11, we had a baby. Our Saturday definitely didn't go how we thought it would have. It went a BILLION times better! We had a baby! A teeny-tiny, perfect baby!

They moved us into the recovery room and we were exhausted. I still couldn't believe what had just happened. We spent some time just holding her and trying to feed her and trying to digest the fact that we had a baby. I was so tired, but I didn't sleep a wink the entire night. There wasn't too much time left to sleep since we didn't get to the recovery room until almost 2 am, but still.
We love her so much! Those first few hours of her life are so special to me. I still can't believe how blessed we are.

It was love at first sight with this lady! She gave us quite a scare getting here, but I could not be more grateful that she's here! She's finally here!!