Sarah Grace Ekelund
Born 9:33am December 25, 2009
5lbs. 14ozs. - 19 in. long
I wanted to blog this soon so I don't forget all the little details of the time surrounding my 4th baby's birth...
I was scheduled for a c-section on December 28th at 8am for a couple months. As December rolled around, I was getting sicker and more uncomfortable (as many of you moms know) as my belly grew bigger and bigger. I was having contractions all the time, but they were never in a definite 5 minute pattern. Therefore, they were considered Braxton-Hicks. But let me tell you, having been in labor with my Caleb, the contractions that I was getting the week of Christmas were serious pain. Not wanting to be a "burden" to the hospital OB staff (part of my preg. hormones talking), I decided that I wasn't going to go into the hospital with mere BH contractions. I was going to go in when my water broke or December 28th. I just wanted/needed to make it until December 26th at 11:41am when the cavalry (my MIL) flew in from Rhode Island to sweep my lovely 3 young children away into Gramma/Granbaby bliss for three weeks.
I had serious low contractions on Christmas Eve. I wasn't feeling very well, the presents weren't wrapped. Honestly, because of my uncomfort, I could've cared less about my favorite holiday of the entire year. I didn't care if we had a tree, I didn't care if we put up any decorations, I didn't care if we had presents, I didn't care if we sent Christmas cards, etc...you get the picture. I went to bed. Adam woke me at 3am saying, "Rebekah, I don't know which presents go to which person." You see, we tried a new tradition this year. We dropped Timothy off at a babysitter's house and took Caleb and Hannah to the Dollar Store to buy presents for each other's Christmas stockings. I didn't want to wrap stocking stuffers, but Caleb said to Adam, "If you don't wrap each present in my stocking, I will take out the present that isn't wrapped and say, 'Guess you needed to spend a little more time on this one'." What a character that boy. So, Adam desperate to make up for my lack of interest in the project set out to wrap each gift and stocking stuffer. Thus, I got up at 3am with him to direct his project. We stayed up until 5:30am wrapping the gifts. Then, I crashed back in bed and Adam didn't even get off the couch after wrapping the last one.
***TMI ALERT***
My eyes popped open at 7am and 10 seconds later, I felt a gush of water. I jumped out of bed so as not to drench the Tempur-Pedic, grabbed Timothy's blankie, put it between my legs, and hopped onto a pile of dirty towels on our bedroom floor. Thankfully, I have been horrible at keeping the house picked up so there was something for me to drip on other than the hardwood floors. I yelled for Adam a bunch of times...no response. Finally, almost at the top of my lungs, I yelled, "Adam I know you are exhausted, but you MUST wake up right now. ADAM! My water broke!" He jumped up and tried to get his bearings, came into our room and helped lay out a path of towels to the toilet. I called the hospital and Lois R. said, "Come right in and have a Christmas baby! Do you have someone to watch the kids?" I said, "No, but I will find someone and come in as soon as I can."
I sat there trying to think who can I possibly call on Christmas morning to watch my three dear children that aren't out of town? I called the Pribbs. No answer. I got bold enough to call their cell phone. Mr. Pribb answered in a tired voice. I felt so bad, but what could I do? I just resigned myself to be indebted to their family for the rest of my life. Mrs. Pribb said she would be over as soon as she could.
Oh wait! Did I fail to mention we were in the midst of on of the biggest snowstorms of 2009? It started off as maybe a 1 to 2 inch accumulation to a three day, winter storm warning with 18 inches forecasted.
With someone on the way to watch the sleeping cherubs, I got an interesting outfit together. My pj t-shirt under a long sleeve shirt of Adam's, a bath towel as underwear beneath black yoga pants, socks, and my winter boots. This typify's my lack of caring throughout my pregnancy as I wasn't prepared months ahead of time with the hospital bag packed, the baby furniture set up, or the infant clothes washed in Dreft.
We arrived at the hospital at about 7:45am. Nobody was on the road as they were covered in at least 6 inches of snow...and it was Christmas morning. They prepped me with an IV even though the doctor wasn't answering his page. Thankfully, my OB doctor was on call. He told us later that he hasn't been on call on Christmas for like 5 years. He finally answered his page and called a Class 2 C-section which means ASAP because it is dangerous for a 3-time c-sectioned uterus to go into labor. Everything started moving much faster at that point. I was having those hard, low contractions irregularly, but they weren't showing up on the baby monitor...TRUST ME...I was having contractions.
I was feeling very uncomfortable and really, super nervous. Repeat c-sections have been more and more difficult for me emotionally because I know what is coming up. I know about the large needle in the back. I know the stretching and pulling uncomfort in surgery. I know the risks. They wisked me down to surgery. The doctor came too. It was funny because I have always just met him down there. It felt more personal with him pushing the gurney to the OR. My nurse in surgery was Alisa. I didn't recognize her with her hat and mask on, but she said, "I have met you before. I go to Bethel." That helped calm me down...ok like a tiny bit. The anesthesiologist had me sit on the side of the bed and bend my back towards her while I kept a death grip on Alisa's poor hands. I stared into her blue eyes and pretty much moaned like an idiot until the spinal was put in. I was embarassed at my display of fear, but guess what? didn't care.
While chatting to try to distract me, the doctor said that he entertained the thought of riding his snowmobile to the hospital. I thought that would have been cool. Then, I remembered the needle going into my back. I apologized to him (and his family) about "ruining" his Christmas, but he said they were almost done with presents anyway. He also said that he was thinking, "Wow this is the first time that I haven't been called in on a holiday in a long time." 10 minutes later the OB floor called telling him of Adam and my arrival. I smiled at the irony. Then, I remembered the needle going into my back.
Once the spinal was in and they were ready to go, they called Adam in. He sat next to me and I seemed to feel ALL the pulling this time. As he opened me up, the doctor said, "I see an ear." I couldn't believe we were going to meet another Ekelund in a few moments. We didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl. Alisa asked me what names we had picked out. I said, "I think Sarah Grace for a girl. I can't remember what we decided for a boy." She said, "Well, it looks like you won't have to remember that boy's name because It's A Girl!"
I couldn't believe it. Neither could Adam. He started crying. I started crying. I looked over at the warmer to catch a glimpse of my girl. She looked so tiny. I asked, "Is she big enough?" She didn't look very big at all. I didn't know if she was capable of operating those big lungs in her chest. I heard the cries and felt relaxation endorphins flood my brain. Adam held her while we had the anesthesiologist take some pictures.
Adam left with our girl while they cleaned her up and did all the things they needed to on the OB floor. The doctor stitched me up and they wheeled me to family recovery. It is a new policy at the hospital where dad and baby come to recovery with you. I loved it. It was the first time I was lucid coming to the recovery area. Normally, they put me out and I wake up in some room trying to pretend I am awake and ready to go to my OB room so I can rejoin my family. When I got there, they asked me my baby's name. I said, "I think it is Sarah Grace, but Adam has the last say." I found out later from my mom that when she asked him her name, Adam said, "I think it is Sarah Grace, but I have to talk to Rebekah first."
When Adam got there, I found out she was indeed Sarah Grace Ekelund and she was 5lbs 14ozs (so small compared to my three 7 pound babies) and her blood sugar was great so she wasn't given sugar water on the OB floor and I was able to nurse her right away. So awesome!
I choose songs for all my babies. Sarah's song is Psalm 62 by Aaron Keyes.
So, that is the story of the best Christmas present, besides the birth of my Savior, that I received on December 25, 2009. Thank you, Lord for this amazing Christmas blessing!
Psalm 62:1,2
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
