Malia Rae Mana'olana Murdock was born on June 15th at 10:56pm. She was 5 weeks early and weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz and was 18 in. long.
I have had preterm labor for the past month and a half. I was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes and put on insulin. Because of that, I had to go the hospital twice a week for a non-stress test. Basically I was hooked up to monitor contractions and the baby's heart rate for about 30 minutes each time. Well, last monday I went in for my bi-weekly appointment and was monitored for about an hour. Naturally they saw the contractions I was having, which I'm always having so this was nothing new. But occasionally the baby's heart rate would drop for no reason. Because of this they decided to send me to labor and delivery to be monitored for a few more hours to see if it stopped.
I was annoyed as this totally messed up my plans for the day and I knew nothing was wrong. But I went down and was hooked up again for 3 hours to monitor baby. The nurse came back after the test and said that the baby's heart rate was doing better but the perinatologist doctor thought I was in labor. I laughed. "I'm not." I explained. This is normal. I have these mild contractions all the time. My OB doctor agreed that I was not in labor but felt he had to do what the perinatologist said which was to admit me overnight for more monitoring. Aghhh! "How silly" I thought. They obviously didn't know my case very well.
I called Munro and told him what was going on. He thought that admission wasn't neccesary either but better than safe than sorry. He had a lot of work to do that day and since we both knew nothing was happening, he stayed home and kept working while I hung out at the hospital.
The nurses were trying to get in IV line into my arm but couldn't because I have very thin veins. After poking me a few times they decided to call the anethesiologist because he was good at getting veins. While we waited for him and my frustration built over the whole thing, I got up and went into the bathroom to say a prayer.
I explained to Heavenly Father how exhausted I was from the discomfort of the contractions to the pain I had in my ribs every time I laid down. I hadn't slept much in weeks and the whole experience of pregnancy had been pretty miserable for the most part. I begged Him for mercy. I told Him that only He knew what the condition of the baby was and that if she would be okay being delivered now, I asked Him to let me go into full blown labor now. I said amen and then heard a pop and a gush of water. I jumped up and said "Oh crap! Oh crap!" as I waddled back to my bed and got into it. Water kept coming out as I pushed the call button for the nurse. "My water broke!" I told her in a panic. Then I called Munro and told him to come to the hospital "Right now!"
The anethesiologist showed up just as the nurses came rushing in and asked me if I wanted an epidural. "Yes, Yes Yes!!!" I told him. I had an enormous amount of water which we already knew because of previous ultrasounds. I was measuring at 40 weeks instead of 35. The nurses couldn't believe how much water was coming out. After the epidural everything was dandy for the next 4 hours as I dilated from a 4 to a 10. They decided to deliver in the operating room and have a NICU team ready because they didn't know what the condition of the baby's lungs would be since she was early. I pushed for a maximum of 2 1/2 minutes, maybe 4 pushes and she was out. They rushed her out of the room and Munro went with them. I waited impatiently, straining my neck trying to see over the doctor's head into the windowed room where they were checking Malia. The nurse finally went in to see how she was and came back saying her APGAR scores were high, she was breathing fine and weighed 6 lbs 14 oz!!! Wow, I'm so glad I didn't go full term. She would have been a monster baby! But what she is is our little miracle baby.
It's amazing how a body can go from the brink of death, with white cells at 0, no plateletes, and chemo destroying all healthy cells just to kill the bad cancer cells: to being able to create another human life inside of it. I'm so grateful to have this last little child join our family. What a blessing and a miracle she is to us. I'm so grateful for a loving and merciful Heavenly Father who knew that I could handle no more and mercifully delivered me of my burden.
Malia is doing well. She is jaundiced right now so she has to be under the bili lights. But she is the sweetest little baby with a wise look in her eyes. Yay for miracles!
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