On December 11, 2012 Peyton was born in Providence Holy Cross Medical Center by Dr. Mojan Gabbay via C-Section. She is a tiny 4lbs 14oz and 19 in. This little ball of love arrived a bit early but we couldn't be happier. She is the best Christmas gift I have ever received. She's beautiful :)
Around 2am Francis and I decided to head to the hospital after getting a blood pressure reading of 186/110. We tried waiting it out hoping that my blood pressure would go down but no such luck. So we were off to the hospital. I think deep down we knew that this was it, so we nervously packed our bag and double checked everything before going to the hospital.
Upon our arrival, we were admitted into tiny, freezing cold room to wait for morning to hear from Dr.. Gabbay. The admitting nurse said what I was so nervous to hear but knew was coming, "I think they should just deliver you". My blood pressure was consistently elevated throughout the night and when morning came, it was decided. I was scheduled for my C-section at 4:00pm. Last time I only had a few minutes to deal with knowing I was going to have a C-section, so 9 hours was just torture. I had 9 hours to think about all the ways that this could go horribly wrong. I talked to Francis for a bit about how nervous I was, and being the sweet husband I married, he reassured me and reminded me how strong I was. Then we talked about how by the end of the day we were going to have little Peyton in our arms. I knew whatever happened today, it would all be worth it.
Right before I was wheeled into the surgical room, our families came in to see us. I felt better knowing that they were there. They started a spinal on me, laid me down on the bed and prepped me for surgery. All of a sudden I started to get a horrible headache and I told the anesthesiologist right away. I was nauseated and as soon as he gave me something for that, the headache started. The pain went from unconfortable to excruciating within a matter of seconds. I looked to the right and saw my blood pressure climbing. 170/100. 180/110, 200/110, then finally 232/?. I didn't dare to look at the bottom number in fear that seeing it would make it go higher. At that point I felt like my head was literally going to explode and the only thing I could think of was "stroke!!!". I remember hearing Dr. Gabbay ask me if I was ok, but the pain was so excruciating that all I could do was shake my head and cry. The pain was worse than any contraction or labor pain I've felt. Then finally the medication kicked in and the pain slowly subsided. Francis was walked into the room when they had my BP under control and the surgery began.
A few minutes passed and I heard the most beautiful sound a mother could hear. I heard Peyton cry!!!! Beautiful and tiny, she was placed in my arms and it was a moment of complete bliss. Francis and I had just brought another beautiful baby girl into this world! We were in love for the third time. There's no happier feeling than seeing your child for the first time. Nothing else mattered in that moment except for her. She was perfect! After recovering a bit, the family trickled in one by one to meet her.
The next few days were a complete blur! I got a whopping 2 hours of sleep over 3 days (10-20 minutes at a time), Peyton had jaundice, and I cried uncontrollably every time Alana went home with my parents. Between the exhaustion and raging hormones, pretty much anything made me cry. And the recovery fro the C-section wasn't a picnic either. The only thing that kept Francis and I going was the fact that we now had 2 beautiful daughters to come home to. As painful as everything was, going home with my growing family kept me motivated toegt through it.
Looking back on this past week, I feel so lucky. Peyton is beautiful and healthy and that's all a mother could want. I didn't think it was possible to love so much, but my little one made room in my heart just for her.
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