And.... her birth story, with lot's of pictures to follow.

On Tuesday, September 20th I had a follow-up ultrasound to check on Baby Baylee's kidney disorder. Based on the ultrasound, they found that there had been no improvement, her kidney was still swollen & backing up. In addition, my blood pressure had spiked - concerning my Dr. that I could have the beginning signs of Preeclampsia & because of Baylee's kidney disorder, he didn't want to take any chances of her becoming stressed, something that could lead to potentially damaging her kidney. He told me that I was in a favorable place to be induced & that he wanted it done ASAP. Tomorrow.

Of course, I was initially crushed... as I had, more than ever wanted to have a 100% natural child birth experience, plus a FALL baby and now neither of these things would, or could happen. Of course, I had to set these things aside... for the benefit of Baby Baylee. I came home & didn't know where to start! I hadn't even packed my hospital bag, or finished folding Baylee's clean clothes. I had wanted to do so much before this day arrived, I just hadn't had the energy. So, with the help of Garrick, I managed to throw some things in a bag, clean the house up a bit, and most importantly... RELAX! My OBGYN actually TOLD me to have a glass of red wine, eat something spicy & take a nice long bath the night before (in the hope that the labor would start relatively fast if he just broke my water the next morning).

I didn't sleep well at all, knowing the hard work my body would have to do, the following day. I laid in bed from 4am on... just wondering how the events of that day would go, what this baby would look like & what the results of her medical condition would be. I got up early & took a nice long bath & watched the sunrise. When I called the hospital to see if they were ready for me at 7am, they told me that they had so many women in labor at the moment (and that my Dr. had already delivered 2 babies that day), they told they would call when they were ready for me, between 9-10... So, we waited. I spoke to my Dr. a couple times & right at 9, I got the call - they were ready for me.

Garrick & I got the kids ready & hoped for the best, knowing that we had pretty limited childcare options & that there was a good chance I'd be laboring & delivering on my own. We got in - they gave me the room that Catherine Zeta-Jones had delivered her daughter in (something the hospital seems to pride themselves on - I think :)), got registered & waiting for my Dr. He was planning on coming in, breaking my water & letting my body react. However, once he got there, he realized I wasn't ready. So, he ordered me Pitocin (a synthetic hormone to start labor) - which ended up getting started at 1pm. At that point, Garrick had taken the kids home & it was just me. I could feel things getting started right away & within 30 min. I was having contractions every 2 min. I knew this wasn't going to take long.

Garrick came back with the kids around 4:30-5 & my labor was starting to REALLY pick up, as much as I had wanted a pain medicine free labor & delivery - I felt myself getting talked into the nurses persuasion of getting an epidural. Her reasoning's started sounding better by the minute (and contraction). However, things had picked up so fast - that, shortly after Garrick & the kids arriving, they had to leave - not because they had to, but because I was in such a rhythm with the contractions & having them there just wasn't good for my concentration.

While mentally searching through our childcare options, we decided to give our friend, John from Florida (who was living about 20 min. north in upstate NY a call), him & his mom agreed to come & sit with the kids while I delivered. Which was such a relief. Garrick took the kids to get dinner in the cafeteria & wait for John & his Mom. All the while, I was waiting for my Dr. to get there so that I could deliver. I was just about ready to start pushing & was being asked by my nurse to just hold on a little longer for my Dr. to arrive - such a difficult task. At that point, it was just me without any sort of pain relief, trying to breathe through each contraction & remember what those contractions were doing - "pressure", not "pain" :)

It was also during that time that I was reflecting on my faith. My mind had wandered to Jesus on the cross & the pain He endured - my pain couldn't have come close to His. I cried out, asking God for help, I wanted the pain to be over with. I had originally wanted to have a natural labor & delivery as some sort of small sacrifice for my children's salvation's. I am happy to say, that I succeeded in that mission.

So, my Dr. came in at 6:50pm, he didn't even change into scrubs, he just washed his hand & put on some sort of body apron - I delivered Baylee a few minutes later. It doesn't take long to push a baby out when you can feel EVERYTHING!

My Dr. put her up on me & I have to say... the moment felt surreal. Everything just didn't seem like it had happened. I was trying to put my mind around the idea that this little life who lived in me for 9 months was now laying on my chest - screaming her little head off, my body had felt at total ease. I know, it seems like the third time around, the experience shouldn't feel so much as it did - but with Aubree (although pain med free), it was not a good experience. Preston I had the epidural & couldn't feel much - I guess, this was the one labor that I had wanted to experience most. I mean, women used to deliver babies out on fields while working & women today still deliver naturally, and in far less ideal conditions... I wanted to do it also.

Right when Baylee entered the world, Garrick came rushing in, just in time to look at her. It was a good moment to know that he was there with her, while I was still being taken care of. I had the most wonderful nurse, Michelle who never left my side & took such great care of me during those last couple of hours. My Dr. was a wonderful support too, he encouraged me through the delivery portion & I don't know if most people would like his masculine approach of encouragement - but it's just what I needed to get the job done. After Garrick & I had a good 30-40 minutes of bonding time with Baylee, Garrick went and got Aubree and Preston. They were so excited & to my surprise, Preston fell madly in love with her! He's absolutely CRAZY about the baby... He held her & looks at her & says "cute" & "tiny". Whenever he sees her, he can't help but to smile... that reminds me of the other man in her life (her Daddy).

The kids & Garrick stayed with Baylee & me until about 9pm - it was so nice to all bond together. We felt complete & we all just felt so much joy.

Here is right before we left for the hospital...



Ok, so after her testing her Pediatrician Urologist (Dr. Tennebaum), came in to discuss his findings. He did confirm 100% that she only has 1 kidney. There is no second kidney (unusable kidney) in a different area of her body - which is a great thing! That means she has no reproductive issues. It's strictly just the kidney thing. In addition to her having the Hydronephrosis of her solitary kidney, she also has Hydronephrosis of the Ureter. Basically her kidney doesn't drain fully & not only is it swollen, so is her ureter. He doesn't know what exactly is the issue (i.e. Reflux of the Bladder), so Baylee is now on daily antibiotics indefinitely & we're scheduled to go into his office where they have some state-of-the-art medical facility where she'll undergo some specific testing. He said something about a catheter & dyed fluid. He wants to know exactly where the fluid is going & if it's backing up, etc. It will be after those tests that we'll get some idea what needs to be done about her kidney (surgery, or whatnot).