Come Meet MALAYSIA!

At our PPA doctors visit last Thursday (7/14) we had another stress test and growth ultrasound done. The doctor having reviewed everything told us that he was going to recommend to Dr. Yosowitz that the baby be delivered at 37 weeks.  He felt that although she was still doing well, they didn't want to take any further chances and felt that she would do some catch up growth better on the outside than inside of the placenta with all the unknown issues.

Over the weekend, Shamara and Ken got to decide what day they wanted Malaysia to be born. Looking at the calendar and all that was going to/needed to happen next week, they decided that Tuesday, July 26th would be the day.  So this past Tuesday at our weekly visit with Dr. Yosowitz everything was set in place and scheduled for Shamara to give birth.  She would check into the hospital on Monday, July 25th to start the procedure and be induced on Tuesday, July 26th...

So we began to speed up the process of getting all the final details completed: new little bady clothes, sheets, etc. washed - car seat placed in truck - hospital bags packed - house cleaned - baby swing, stroller, pack-n-play (you get the picture) all put together...

Well Malaysia with the hand of our Father guiding her decided that she didn't want her mommy and daddy to pick her birthdate and she didn't want any doctors deciding when she needed to present herself - and with that said she decided to enter this world her own way... on Tuesday night (7/19) a little after 11pm, Shamara's water broke but she wasn't certain if it was actually her water because she didn't have the BIG GUSH. Upon my instructions, because I really felt that from her description of what had occured it was her water, we went to the hospital. They took her into triage and did the swab test to see if it was actually her water, we had to wait 10 minutes for the results.  Shamara was really hoping that it wasn't because she had some appointments that needed to be completed before she gave birth.  Hair appointment in the morning, nails on Friday...  but it wasn't to be, the test result came back POSITIVE and she wasn't going home until she became a mommy.

After checking her into the hospital, she was moved from triage to a delivery room where we all awaited the arrival of MALAYSIA!  I think the pictures will best tell how the story unfolded from here...

GETTING READY

At 5:15am the nurse slipped into the room (they were all alseep except for me) and gave her a dose of pitocin. The nurse and I talked quietly for a few minutes and she told me that she would probably start feeling the contractions in 30 minutes or so. When the rest of the gang woke up we spent the time talking and even took some bets on what time the baby would be born; how much she would weigh; and how long she would be.

ACTIVE LABOR
Shamara was a CHAMP!  She went into this and have talked for weeks about having a c-section, she had a real fear of giving birth the natural way and about some of the other things that might happen if she tried to have it the natural way. Dr. Yosowitz wanted to at least have her start her labor naturally and if needed he assured her that he wouldn't hesitate to do a c-section. So the pitocin kicked in but for about 2 hours they weren't bothering her, she said that they felt like mild cramps.  As the family kept up the lively banther, I kept my eyes and attention on Shamara and the charts which showed me when she was having a contraction and how intense it was.  As time passed I could tell each time she was having a contraction because she would pull out of the converstion and bow her head but she wouldn't say a word. She was silently doing her breathing methods thru each one. I kept asking her if they were getting to be to much to handle but she kept saying, "No, not yet."

When we placed our bets earlier, everyone guessed that she would have the baby in the afternoon, but I said no it would be before 12noon.  Around 8am I think I had them change my delivery time guess to 10:30am or so and they were like "really."    At this point I had to also remind the family to quiet down a bit whenever she was having a contraction, they were starting to come about 3 minutes apart. She was still handling it well and hadn't ask for any medication... and then it happened, just before 9am she wanted out of the bed, she said she just needed to move or do something.  She tried the medicine ball for a bit but couldn't handle sitting on her bottom, she said it felt as if she needed to have a bowel movement. I knew then that it wouldn't be much longer.  I helped her get off the ball but she didn't want anything to do with the bed, so she climb unto a chair and kneeling on it lean forward across the back of the chair.  She now wanted to get that EPIDURAL so I called the nurse and she said she would send for Dr. Yosowitz who was in the hospital finishing up with another patient.

She was ready now and felt like she wanted to push, Dr. Y still hadn't come in and so Nurse Natalie decided to go ahead and get her back in the bed so she could check to see how far she had dilated.  For all you mothers out there you know that this is not a pleasant experience and they always seem to want to do it in the middle of a contraction.  I could so feel her pain and wanted badly to just take it for her... she had fully dilated to 10cm, it was time to give birth... at this point she was really asking for anything to ease the pain but it was to late she had to finish this on her own AND SHE DID!

I just can't even explain the emotions of those moments, to watch your child bring a life into this world. She was so brave, so strong, not one single tear, not one single scream. She was AMAZING!  There was one point when the placenta burst (remember I said her water broke but she never got that GUSH of Water) when she was like oh sh... that was her most verbal and loudest moment and she caught herself before finishing the word but the nurse was like go ahead and cuss, you deserve it. We all kind of giggle.

As you can see from the pictures this birthing room was filled to the brim with family members, doctors and nurses but it was a wonderful experience.  They took care of us and made certain we were in place and as involved as we could get.  Of course you know there was alot of movement going on in the room, but each time one of the doctors or nurses moved by any of us, they were like, "excuse me" for getting in our way WOW!  ALL THUMBS UP once again for Scottsdale Healthcare North, they really go out of their way to treat not only their patients but the family as well with so much CARE, COURTESY, COMPASSION.

and now without further ado (drum roll please)....

Meet MALAYSIA
born on Tuesday, July 20, 2011 at 9:20am - 4lbs 2oz 17in - HEALTHY despite all the odds!


MALAYSIA MEETING HER FAMILY