Mailey Anne Part 1

After 7 big bleeds, 4 weeks of hospital bed rest, 2 weeks of home bed rest, 19 ultrasounds, 5 weeks early and millions of prayers later, our sweet little girl has arrived! Mailey Anne Sabin was born on Friday April 6, 2012 (Good Friday). She was 6 lbs 5 oz and 17 inches long.

The day that Mailey was born I woke up to another bleed. I had a feeling the instant that I saw the blood we would be meeting our baby girl that day. I also knew about the same time that I woke up, that my doctor had gotten on a plane and wouldn't be there for the delivery. I am so thankful that I work in the OB dept of my hospital and I knew I would be just as comfortable with the doctor that was covering as I would with my own.

When I got to the hospital I was contracting every 2-3 minutes and was dilated 1-2 cm. They gave me some medicine to try and stop my contractions but the medicine only slowed them down for about 20 minutes. When the contractions came back they weren't quite as close together but they were much stronger and I was getting really uncomfortable. After a couple of hours the Dr checked me again and I was 2-3 cm and he told me it was time to have a baby. At that moment I was so relieved that the pregnancy would be over but at the same time I was nervous for my baby because she would be 5 weeks early. At 2:30 pm the surgery crew came in and walked me back to the operating room and at 2:59pm our little miracle was born! She did really great initially, was kicking and screaming and doing all of the right things. The nurse wrapped her up and Nick brought her to meet me.

I was so emotional meeting this little girl that I had worked so hard to keep healthy for 6 weeks. She was so beautiful and perfect. I was so relieved to know she was ok.

After a minute or so being with me, she got tired and started to have difficulty breathing and was turning blue. My nurse and I both told Nick at the same time to get her to the nursery. I knew she was going to need a little bit of extra help breathing. I was initially really nervous that they would have to ship her to the NICU in Yakima. I said many prayers in my head while I waited for news on how she was doing and was filled with comfort that she would be fine. When they got her to the nursery, her oxygen saturation was only 56% (you want that to be above 95%). The nurses immediately put her under the oxygen hood and her O2 sats came up pretty quickly.

They also had to start an IV to help her blood sugar rise. Her blood sugar dropped because her tiny body was working so hard to breath that she didn't have the energy to keep her blood sugar up.

It was pretty amazing after getting some IV fluids and extra oxygen how quickly she began to perk up. My sweet Mom sat in the nursery and held her hand all day. It was so nice for both Nick and I to know that she was there with Mailey so Nick didn't have to worry about if he should be with me or baby girl.

Around 6pm my brother Mitch brought big sister Makenna to meet Mailey. She didn't really understand that this baby was her sister she just thought it was a cute baby. My mom was showing Makenna all of Mailey's fingers and toes. I imagine because of all of wires and tubing she was a little hesitant to touch her.

When Makenna warmed up a bit she would pat the oxygen hood and touch her hands and say "Ah, dats a nice baby!"

My moms finger and Mailey's tiny little hand.

When she was born and Nick first saw her he said "Oh my gosh! She has TONS of hair! And it's dark! He wasn't kidding!

About 8:30pm when I could finally feel my feet I got my buns out of bed and to the nursery, I had to see my baby!! There's nothing like the motivation of a mother when it comes to seeing her baby! A little after I got there she was stable enough that she didn't need to be under the oxygen anymore and I finally got to hold and feed my new baby girl! I was so surprised/thankful when my little 35 week baby latched on right away and was a nursing machine!

Makenna wanted to hold her to so she sat in my wheel chair with me. It was a wonderful moment getting to hold both of my beautiful girls in my arms!

Giving her sister kisses!

Nick got to hold her to! He had a huge sense of relief that she was here, safe, healthy and beautiful!

After Nick and I finished taking turns the family members that were still around got to hold her to. It was getting late and it had been a long day and my dad and brothers had gone home at that point.

Grandma Sherrie holding Mailey for the first time.

Nana Carole was so excited to hold this sweet baby finally!

Grandpa Larry.

Auntie Amie with Makenna supervising.

Uncle Taylor.

She also got to get her pretty hair washed and a quick sponge bath.

Makenna also had to supervise that. She was so funny! I loved seeing her so protective so quickly.

Snug as a bug!

It was a long day but a great day! We were so happy Mailey was healthy and all of our stress over the last 6 weeks had paid off. This day also brought a new meaning to "Good Friday" at our house, because it was a GOOD Friday indeed!