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| Our Beautiful Baby! |
It’s
been an interesting, life-changing week for the Robertson family, and it’s been
exciting to see God’s hand in it all.
A few weeks ago, around July 17th,
Roger and the boys went on the Father/Son outing with several others from our
church. While on the canoeing trip, Roger and the boys were playing “keep
away” in the water. Roger stepped on something in the water and cut his foot
with a long, deep gash. When he got home, he told me he needed a “band-aid” and
I told him he needed to go to the Emergency Room to get it looked at! He did take
my advice and the doctor ended up putting seven stitches in the side of his
foot. He was supposed to come back in 10-14 days to get the stitches removed,
so he went in on August 5th. Meanwhile, his foot had started to
swell on Sunday, and it was pretty red by the time he went in to get the
stitches removed. The doctor removed two, gave him an antibiotic and said that
it looked like it was getting infected and to watch it carefully. Well, by the
time Tuesday afternoon came around, the redness was swelling, Roger had a low
grade fever, and the foot was very swollen. He called the ER, and they said
that the antibiotic should be kicking in soon, but he needed to make an
appointment with the doctor for Wednesday. Since I already had a prenatal visit
scheduled for Wednesday, Roger came along to my appointment. Our family doctor,
my ob-gyn, and our baby delivery doctor (all one person!) took a
look and said that she would schedule him an appointment with the surgeon.
Fast forward…Wednesday afternoon…the surgeon
schedules Roger for 3pm. The infection was spreading quickly and the surgeon
felt the need to cut it open and clean it all out before the situation turned
more serious. So, off we went to the surgery department on Wednesday afternoon.
My parents took the boys, and Roger was prepped for surgery. While we were in
the prepping room for surgery, I could feel contractions starting! Since I had
already been in on Sunday with labor pains that went nowhere, I decided not to
say anything to Roger. He went in for surgery around 4pm. and the contractions
were starting to increase. They weren’t necessarily getting stronger though, so
I decided to walk across the street and walk on the track. After walking two
miles, I thought maybe the REAL deal was on! Contractions were coming 2-3 minutes apart and they were getting uncomfortable!
I decided to call the birthing center (from
the surgeon’s wing of the hospital!) After talking
to the nurses there, they encouraged me to come up, especially since I tested
positive for Group Strep B. So, I went to tell the surgeon’s receptionist that
when Roger got done with his surgery could they please wheel him up to the
Birthing Center. The look on her face was priceless! She
willingly agreed to let the surgeon know and off I waddled to the Birthing
Center.
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| Our "Rose" among "Thorns" |
I arrived about 5:30pm. with consistent,
uncomfortable contractions, but I wasn’t in terrible pain yet. When the nurse
checked me, I was at 3 cm and about 80% effaced. This wasn’t a huge change from
Sunday, and I knew I still had a long ways to go! I was
hooked up to the monitor for about 20 minutes, but baby was doing great. I was
then up and walking, bouncing gently on the birthing ball and trying to keep
those contractions coming! About 7pm. , the surgeon came up
to tell me that Roger was done with surgery, but they were waiting for some of
the effects of the anesthesia to wear off. He told me good luck, and said he
was glad that we decided to have our baby and the surgery done at the same
hospital! Shortly after that, the nurse came back in
and I was hooked back up to the monitors. The contractions were still coming,
but the intensity wasn’t increasing. We discussed what to do, and then decided
to go ahead and get the antibiotic going for the Group Strep B. I’m allergic to
penicillin, so we couldn’t use that one. The next one they use, I have a
resistance to; so I was given the third option. In went the IV, and the
antibiotic started dripping into my body.
About 7:30pm., Roger arrived upstairs. It was
a sight to see my big, strong husband being pushed in the room in a wheel
chair! The nurses
got him situated in a chair with his leg elevated, and he was given strict
instructions not to move. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be out of the
surgeons wing since he couldn’t wiggle his toes yet, but they gave him a pass
since his wife was in labor. The first thing I remember
telling Roger is that my hair felt like I had lice, and my scalp was itchy! Twenty
minutes later, I was telling Roger to call for the nurse…my head, my face, my
chest were breaking out in hives! YES, I was allergic to the antibiotic given
for Group Strep B! So, between contractions and itching it was a miserable
hour! The nurse came in and immediately turned off the antibiotic, but I had already
received about 75% of the dosage. I was given Benedryl, which helped with the
itching, but made me tired! About 9pm.
the doctor came in to talk to us. I wasn’t progressing as quickly as I would
have liked, but I had already received 75% of the antibiotic, so we had ten
hours to have a baby. Otherwise, we’d have to repeat some type of antibiotic
for protection against the Group B Strep. That being said…we started on
Pitocin!
Pitocin was started about 9:30pm. and I
quickly became miserable! I really wanted to have this baby without an
epidural, so I was determined to stick with it! The last check I had at 9:30
ish revealed that I was still at 3cm and about 90% effaced. The cervix was
still too high to be comfortable breaking my water, so that’s why I was started
on Pitocin. At about 11:30pm…labor was getting old fast! I wasn’t
dilated too much more, but my cervix was lower, so my water was broken. That
really started to increase the contractions, and the intensity was hard to
take. Roger was stuck to his chair, so he felt like he wasn’t much help, but I
tend to need to labor through pain on my own, so it was for the best. He was on
one side of the bed in the chair, I was on the other side of the bed on the
birthing ball, so we were quite the pair!
I survived the Pitocin, contractions, and
continuous monitoring of baby until about 1:30am. My body was really fighting
the contractions, and I was having a hard time relaxing through them. I was convinced
this baby was never coming, but since I had been on Pitocin for four hours, I
thought that I had probably really advanced and how long could I possibly have
left?! After the nurse checked me and told me “Well, your almost to 4cm, and
almost completely effaced.” I promptly told her to please go find that
epidural! (Much to my husbands relief as he was feeling helpless, the pain was
intense, and he knew the epidural would at least provide some relief for me)
The nurse came back and said that they would start the IV fluids, and the anesthesiologist
would be up in 30 minutes…which was the longest 30 minutes of my life!
Finally, epidural was put in about 2:20am. It
helped immensely, except it was only working on the right side! The contractions
were hard and intense on the left side, and I was feeling every one of them! It
took some time, but about 3am. I felt the left side go numb as well, and relief
flooded my body.
Around 3:20am. the nurse was going to drain
my bladder to see if that helped things speed up. However, when she went to do
that…I was complete and ready to push! She then told me not to push, she was
going to get the doctor! Yay…finally! J Even with
the epidural, once I sat up, I could feel the pressure to push. Thankfully, the
doctor was ready, and after about 3 pushes…baby Robertson came into the world! J She was
tiny, petite, and priceless…and a complete shock! The whole room erupted with
squeals of delight as her identity was revealed. Roger had already known…since
the ultrasound!...but managed to keep it a secret for 18 weeks! I had no idea,
and promptly told the doctor, “I didn’t know we could make girls!”
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| Emma Kate Robertson...at nine hours old. |
We had no ideas on names, but she didn’t
mind! She weighed
in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. and 19 inches long. We did decide to name her, Emma Kate, to
which Wyatt calls her “Emma Cake”.
In and through it all, God’s perfect timing
has been amazing! Going into labor while Roger was in surgery was an unusual
and unique experience for us both. Roger said the first things he remembers
after surgery is being shaken gently and told, “Your wife is up in the birthing
center, she’s in labor.” But he wasn’t coherent enough to care at the moment,
so when he woke up again, he was in a different room. He was wondering if he
dreamt the whole thing, when the nurse came in to confirm where I was and that “no,
you can’t go up until at least some of the medication wears off.” Thankfully,
he didn’t miss the important and exciting part, but in God allowing us to have
Emma on Thursday, Roger was able to have off Thursday and Friday to rest his
foot …praise the Lord! We are truly blessed beyond measure!
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| Travis has adjusted to loving his sister...even though it's not a puppy like he requested! |
The boys adore their little sister and she receives
more love than she could possibly know what to do with! We are
absolutely delighted with our little girl, and as tired as I am, I wouldn’t
trade these moments for anything! I could do without the fatigue, tears, and
emotions…but it requires me to depend on God for every source of grace He
gives.
Roger’s mom has been able to come for a few
days and help out, which has been a huge delight to my heart. The boys are
adapting well, but our family is going through transition, so prayers are
appreciated!
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| Much Love! |
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