The beginning...

Kylie Brielle Keith was born on October 1, 2009 at 12:44 AM. She weighed 1 lb. 8 oz and was 13 inches long. Kylie, of course, was born prematurely; I was 26 weeks 6 days (barely) when she was born. She was born by emergency c-section, so I was put to sleep instead of being given an 14epidural.

To make a long story short, I came to Labor and Delivery at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children on Wednesday, September 30 around 7:30. My blood pressure was going up again, and I was feeling some tightening in my stomach. I was also feeling strange, like something wasn't right. They took me to Labor and Delivery room 14 and began to monitor my blood pressure and Kylie's heart beat. I was feeling a little nauseated because I hadn't eaten well and didn't feel well. I couldn't get comfortable, and my back was killing me. Finally, an ultrasound tech came in to check me (I was diagnosed with low amniotic fluid at the doctor on Tuesday). She found a leak through my cervix, and they found that Kylie was breech. Her heart rate was good, but my amniotic fluid was low. At the end of the ultrasound, my nausea really hit me, so I went to the restroom, where I got sick 3 to 4 times- it was terrible. Soon, the nurse came back in and said Dr. Conrad was admitting me, so she gave me an IV, and then told me she would be getting me to sign papers in case of an emergency delivery. Another nurse came in to help her, and she got the fetal heart monitor to watch her. When she found her, her heart rate was extremely low (I never found out the number). Within seconds, she said to call the doctor and to get me prepped for an emergency c-section. In a whirlwind, id bracelets were thrown on, I was signing papers, getting a catheter, getting blood drawn, getting a shot, and being run from my room to an OR. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. THey put me to sleep, delivered her, and woke me up within a matter of 30 minutes. The next bit was painful, as they had to put me on morphine after surgery, and it took a long time for it to kick in.

Everyone felt so bad for scaring me that Dr. Conrad brought my mom and Chris back to recovery to see me. The doctor was very grave and down about the situation, and we talked for a bit, though I have little recollection of what went on. They did go ahead and take me to the NICU to see my angel baby , and then they took me back to my labor and delivery room. It was a long rest of the night with pain, sleeping and waking, medicine drips, etc. By 7, they moved me to an antepartum room (205) and my mom and husband began talking to me about the things going on in the NICU, what to expect and etc.

By 3:00 yesterday afternoon, my catheter was out, my IV was out, and I was ready to see my precious baby. I visited with her for a little bit a few times that first afternoon/evening. I called in the middle of the first night to check on her. She's on a ventilator/respirator, and she is in an incubator. She has a tube through her belly button where she is getting her fluids, antibiotics, etc. There are lots of tubes and wires all over the place, but they are helping her feel better.

Today, as she is officially over a day old, we have had lots of wonderful things to happen. We went to her care time this morning at 8 (Oct. 2), and we were able to touch her briefly. I had to turn away as they gave her a shot- it broke my heart to watch them do that. I got to see her yawn for the first time, and she opened her beautiful blue eyes to look at me when i talked to her. The good thing about touching her was that her oxygen shot up to 97 when I touched her, which meant she responded positively to my touch. I went up at around 11, and she was doing really well. The nurse gave us footprints and handprints. Her respirator/ventilator level goes up and down but that's normal. At her 4:00 care time (amazing- wonderful) the nurse took our first family photo, and gave us the chance to touch her and take special pictures with chris's ring, holding her feet and hands, etc. We were even able to kiss her tiny little feet... I was just overjoyed to be able to do that. At 8:00, we were able to touch her for a moment. Right now, things are going okay. We're just taking it one day at a time.