Carolena Reve Roemke is here!

Our beautiful little girl has finally arrived!!

Carolena Reve Roemke was born via emergency c-section on Thursday, February 28th at 4:59 pm. She weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 19 inches long.

My water broke around 12:30 in the afternoon that day, and all I could do was sit there and cry! Ever since the day I found out I was pregnant and did the due date calculators online, I was worried that my baby would be born on Leap Day. I was due only five days later. And I had been told by my doctor that a typical first time mom labors an average of 12-15 hrs. So when my water broke 11 1/2 hrs before Leap Day, I was just sure she was going to be born then. And I was almost inconsolable. I did not want her to have a birthday only every four years!

Jim got me calmed down enough to get ready and we headed off to the hospital. In OB triage they confirmed that my water broke and started monitoring my contractions, which had begun to come every two minutes or so. I was getting frustrated because they weren't showing up on the monitor but they were definitely very real. I was also mad because the nurses kept asking me the same questions over and over again and I didn't like the doctor that was tending to me.

After a while they moved me into a labor and delivery room. They asked me if I was going to want an epidural and I was really torn. During my pregnancy I had just assumed I would get one because I don't do pain well at all. However, in our childbirth class we were told that getting an epidural could potentially slow labor down. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't have deterred me from doing it. However, I was still obsessed with the whole Leap Day thing and thought that if something I did caused her to be born that day, I would never forgive myself. So I explained all of this to the nurse and they told me that if I could wait to get the epi until I was dilated to 5 cm, then it probably wouldn't slow labor down.

I was only at 2 cm at this point, which was really frustrating considering the intense pain I was in. I was really surprised at how quickly the contractions were coming and how intense they were. They were having problems with the monitors around my belly, so they decided to do the kind that they insert. That meant putting one in the baby's head. Sounds awful, but it really isn't that bad and is much more accurate. They gave me some kind of pain medicine through an IV. I started feeling loopy, but was still having awful contractions. Suddenly I'm aware of the doctor standing by the machine that prints out the monitor's results and he has a worried look on his face. Then he's telling me that the baby's heart rate is elevated and they are concerned, so they want to do a c-section.

I was kind of out of it, but I remember thinking, "Okay, whatever." Then when it filtered through my brain a little more, I was like, "YAY!!! She won't be born on Leap Day!!" I was so happy! That was honestly the only thing I was thinking of, not the long recovery time or anything like that.

They wheeled me to an operating room and the nicest nurse helped get me ready for surgery. The contractions were still so incredibly painful, right up until I was numbed from the ribs down. What a relief that was! It felt like a lifetime before I finally saw Jim come in and sit next to my head. They put the sheet up between us and the doctors and I was never sure when they actually started the surgery. I was really scared that I was going to feel something. It is the weirdest feeling knowing that someone is slicing you open and you can't feel a thing. At one point whatever they were doing to me was jostling me around like crazy. So strange. After a while the doctor made an announcement that Jim and I will never forget:

"It's a girl, she's really cute, and she's pooping!"

We thought it was funny at the time, but it ended up being not so funny. They took her over and started working on her. We didn't hear anything for the longest time. They said she was having some problems breathing. Jim and I kept holding hands and praying. I was still a little out of it. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we heard her cry. And then we cried. It was the most wonderful sound. They asked Jim if he wanted to go look at her. The sweetest man in the world, he asked me if I wanted him to wait until we could both see her at the same time. I said yes. So he stayed by my side while we waited. I wanted to hold her so badly, but they said she is having problems breathing, so they have to take her away. As they did, they showed her to me, all swaddled up with a precious little pink hat. I was able to briefly brush her left cheek with my finger before they whisked her away. I didn't get to see her again until the next day.

Next thing I remember is being wheeled out of the OR back to triage. I started feeling really nauseous. I told them, "I'm going to get sick." They kept telling me to just hold on, we're almost there. When we got there they handed me a pan and I threw up in it before the nurse even let go of it. Then I felt much better. For some reason I was so cold that I was shivering uncontrollably and my teeth were chattering. They brought me a heated blanket and it was heavenly.

The rest of the day is kind of a blur. Mom and Hilary arrived shortly after Lena was born. I remember wanting to see her so badly, but they told me that she couldn't leave the special care nursery and so I couldn't see her until I was able to get into a wheelchair.

She had breathed in meconium (aka her first poop) and that was causing her lung problems. Also she was born with a fever and her heart rate was still high. She was in an oxygen tent for the first 20 hours of her life and was hooked up to IVs and a million wires. I got to see her on Friday and hold her finally. I couldn't believe that she was ours. I couldn't believe that we had made this little baby I was finally holding in my arms.

Long story short, we were in the hospital until Monday afternoon and she had to stay in the special care nursery right up until the end. After we came home, we had a home health nurse come to our house twice a day to give her antibiotics in an IV. She had a bit of jaundice, but it never got bad enough that we had to treat it.

We give thanks to God for blessing us with such an amazing gift. She is the best thing that happened to us and we are so grateful to have her in our lives. We can't wait to watch her grow up!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for a healthy baby.

There are too many pics to post here, so here is the link to them on my Picasa page:

http://picasaweb.google.com/aseleener/BabyLenaAndHerBigDebut

More ultrasound pics

We had another ultrasound today. That makes five for this so-called "normal" pregnancy. They did it because they were worried she was not moving enough. I knew firsthand that she moves plenty, so I wasn't worried. And she ended up passing "with flying colors." No kidding? I'm glad they are being cautious though. And it gave us the opportunity to gaze upon her cuteness once more before she is born. We got a couple of really great face shots. She has such chubby cheeks! It's amazing to see how much she has changed since week 20. And Jim insists that she looks like me, right down to the nose (poor kid.) The funniest part of it was when she started sticking her tongue in and out. And I don't mean just the little tip came out a little. She was sticking it all the way out. It was so funny to watch. I guess maybe that accounts for the hiccups she gets several times a day.

Here are the pics.

Here you can really see her chubby cheeks and her little nose.

Another face shot. Her nose looks squished or something, but the tech explained that it's just because of the way the pic was taken. I like how you can see her lips in this one too.

This one is not 4D like the first two are, so she looks a little skeletal. This is the one of her sticking her tongue out. She is laying in profile and her tongue sticks straight up out of her mouth. Too cute!!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the tech said she saw lots of hair. Imagine that!!

We just can't wait to see that little face one-on-one! Hopefully she will come soon. Only 2 1/2 weeks until my due date.