Birth Story

Everything had been going well, and all was quiet with my pregnancy. On Monday, October 15th, I was at home with Andy in the afternoon. I didn't feel like driving up to the store to mail something and get a few cards at Hallmark, so he agreed to drive. We went up and took care of the errands. We got home and I put in a dinner from the freezer and sat on the couch to email and check my message boards. A few minutes later I was about to get up to check on the food. I joked with Andy as I was standing up that the big belly had to go first as I struggled to get off the couch.

At 5:30pm I stood up and GUSH, something happened. At first I wasn't sure what had happened then I realized my water had broke. It wasn't just a little, it was a lot! I ran to the bathroom and sure enough my had certainly broken. Naturally, I panicked and yelled for Andy. He rushed down the hall. I yelled for him to get the phone that I needed to call the doctor. I left a frantic message for the doctor saying that my water broke and that I was on my way to Sierra Vista Hospital. He called back immediately and told me he'd meet me at the hospital.

That was the longest 40 minute drive as I was totally panicked and upset. How could this been happening already!?! I was only 28 weeks and 6 days pregnant (7 months, 1 week along and 9 weeks early). Way too early to have our girls. Mostly, I was concerned for Brooklyn, who we knew had a heart defect. We were scheduled to deliver in Los Angeles so that she could be admitted to Children's Hospital Los Angeles where she would have surgery a few days later. How would having them at 29 affect her chances? It was just way too early. I was also concerned that I had done something to bring on early labor. I felt like I should have listened to my body a little more. What if the severe swelling in my feet and legs was a sign? What if the pain on the right side was also a sign? Should I have gone off of work earlier? Should I have stopped exercising? Of course, there were a million and a half unanswered questions at that point. I was hoping that with strict bed rest we could hold off labor a few days if not longer.

When we arrived to the hospital Lynnette and my mom were waiting for us. I was wheeled up to labor and delivery. They put on heart rate monitors for the two girls and a contraction monitor. Other than my water breaking, there was no other activity. I had been having a consistent pain on my right side, really low near my groin for a few days and I explained that to the nurse. I waited a few hours for the doctor to arrive to the hospital. As soon as he arrived he checked on the babies via ultrasound. Everything was quiet, and in fact, Aubrey's water sack had broken. Aubrey was head down and Brooklyn was still transverse. My cervix had shortened since my appointment the previous week, but was still closed. Since I wasn't having contractions, he thought we could just stay on strict bed rest in the hospital for a few days. I was hooked up to an IV with antibiotics, given a steroid shot to mature the girl's lungs, given a catheter since I wasn't allowed up for any reason, and told to lay on my left side without any movements. The doctor went to make arrangements for me to be transferred down to Los Angeles. At 10:30pm everything was nice and quiet and Mom and Lynnette went home. I was starving since I hadn't had dinner yet so Andy went out to get food.

We ate dinner and I just relaxed in bed. I tried to get some rest. At about 1am the doctor came in and said, "Are you ready for a trip? Looks like you're headed down to Los Angeles." I asked how we would get there. Apparently, the OB down there, who I had not met yet, would not accept a transfer by ambulance. I actually hadn't even met her yet. Our appointments were scheduled for the following week. The only way she would accept me was by Life Flight. I was going to be flown to Los Angeles?!? It all seemed unreal.

At 2am the doctor came in again and told me that they couldn't get the Life Flight because of the fog and clouds. They scheduled me for transfer at 8am when the weather was better. Okay, so we weren't going any where yet. We settled in and Andy quickly fell asleep. I just laid there in bed, it was impossible for me to sleep. I was still having the pain on the right side. After a while that pain spread to the left side also. Nothing was registering on their contraction machine. Thank goodness, no contractions meant the girls could stay longer. At about 3am I had pains on both sides, down low. I told the nurse and she said that they weren't contractions and that maybe since Aubrey's water broke that she was sitting down low and I was feeling pressure from her. Okay, that made sense.

At 3:15 the pains started to become more intense and would come and go. At that point, I asked the nurse for some pain medication. She said she'd have to call the doctor and ask. Okay, so go do it! She came back a few minutes later and my OB approved Tylenol and a smooth muscle relaxer. Great! Thanks! I took my two Tylenol and tried to relax. No such luck, the pain was getting pretty intense and I couldn't even sleep through it. I told the nurse at 4am that I wanted more pain meds since I was really in pain. Well, no contractions were registering, so she didn't understand the pain that I was telling her about. I knew there was something wrong as I had been watching the clock. The pains were coming and going about 10 minutes apart. She said I couldn't have any more Tylenol for at least 4 hours. Super! Thanks! Within a few minutes, the pain became more intense and they were coming and going at about 4 minutes apart. Andy slept right through all my pain as I gripped the sides of the bed as they came and went.

At 4:45am I couldn't stand the pain any more and something was different. Now I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. I called the nurse and told her I needed to go to the bathroom, that something wasn't right. She asked me if I felt like I needed to push, and I said yes. Poor girl, it looked like her first day on the job, her eyes got real big and she said she needed to check me. She called my regular nurse and they checked me. Her face said it all. She said, "I feel a head, we need to move her now!" I yelled at Andy to get up and to call my mom as they were wheeling me out of the room.

Everything from that point is a blur. I closed my eyes and somehow ended up in the OR. Lots of lights, lots of noise, lots of people assembling. The pain was intense and I couldn't stop it. They told me not to push. Well, my body at that point was taking over and I couldn't stop it. Andy wasn't even in the room yet as he had to scrub up and put on all his special scrubs. The nurse helped me breath through the contractions. I hadn't paid too much attention to that part at birthing class since I knew we were going to have a c-section (because of Brooklyn's condition). Finally Andy arrived. A second later the doctor arrived and they told me I could push now. I shook my head no. I wasn't going to push yet, they were too early and couldn't come yet. My body had other plans and started pushing for me. Andy held my hand and helped me breath. I knew he was scared too, I could see it in his eyes. With the last contraction, I just remember screaming "I can't breathe!" as I pushed through the intense pain. I only pushed three times, through two contractions before Aubrey was born. Luckily, she was so little! Heck, I had only had two Tylenol for goodness sake!

After she came out, I started panicking and kept asking, "Why isn't she crying!?!" All I could hear was "1,2,3.... 1,2,3." I was so scared. Finally, a nurse came over and said, "Kelly, she is breathing, we are helping her breathe". I then asked Andy, "Is she beautiful?" His reply, "no". I can laugh at that now, but then, I was pretty upset since this wasn't supposed to be happening.

I asked the doctor, in my state of panic, "Can we keep Brooklyn in? I don't feel any more contractions! I'm not having any pain. Can we keep her in?" I know now that wasn't realistic, but then, I wasn't ready to deliver her for fear of her heart problems. (Actually, I found out later from one of NICU nurses that was actually the plan going into the delivery. They discussed delivering baby A and holding off baby B so she could be born at a bigger hospital. The NICU doctors felt nervous about her arrival there.) I had already decided that I wasn't pushing her out. That was that! She was going to be the sick one and I wasn't going to let her come out yet. A few seconds later, which I'm sure was a minute or two later, the doctor told me, "Kelly, we have to get Brooklyn out now! We don't have time, we have to do a c-section." I shook my head yes and they told Andy he would have to leave. Immediately they put the drugs into my IV and covered my face with the mask. I found out later that her heart rate dropped extremely low and it was time to get her out. I was relieved when he told me they would have to do a c-section. I was so scared and panicked that I knew I couldn't do it all over again.

I woke up in recovery with nurses all around me. Andy wasn't there. I started bawling. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. A nurse tried to console me, but it didn't work. Finally, the doctor arrived and so did Andy. He told us that the girls were both doing as well as could be expected for their age. This was a relief in some ways, I was waiting to find out how they were. He also said that Children's Hospital LA didn't have any beds available and neither did UCLA. He told me that Brooklyn was going to be transferred to Stanford by Life flight as soon as possible. Andy gave me a kiss and told me he loved me before he was whisked away to see the babies. I laid there crying, all alone.

Finally, they moved me down stairs into a private room. Still, I was all alone. Some how, my cell phone made it to my room and I called Joanna, knowing that everyone else was at the hospital and busy. She couldn't believe I was all alone in my room. We talked for a few minutes and then the family started arriving. Lynnette showed me pictures of the girls on her camera. They were beautiful, tiny little human beings.

Aubrey Lynn Sanders was born vaginally, with no drugs, at 5:31 am, weighing 2 lbs 8 oz, measuring 14 1/2 inches long. Her baby sister, Brooklyn Marie Sanders, was born via emergency c-section at 5:49am, weighing 2 lbs 6 oz, measuring 13.75 inches long.

I couldn't believe how fast things happened. Now the girls were here and what did that mean for them? Our lives certainly would never be the same from that day on.

At about 12:15pm, the transport team arrived from Stanford. They brought their own nurse and doctor on the plane. Andy and his mom would be driving up to Stanford to be with Brooklyn. My sister and mom would be staying with me. They brought Brooklyn down to my room and made it possible for me to touch her before she left. That meant the world to me. I couldn't imagine her leaving and me not being able to see her for days. It was amazing to see her tiny little body and cute little features. This was the very first time seeing our daughter. I couldn't believe she was already here. I spent a few minutes with her and then she was gone. Andy and I had a few minutes alone and then he too was gone.

Later that evening I was allowed to go see Aubrey in the NICU. She was so tiny and precious. I have to admit, looking at the photos, new babies aren't the cutest things. But to me, she was perfect. Although tiny, they both were perfect. By the time I got upstairs, Aubrey was already off the ventilator and breathing with the support of a canula with oxygen. She looked great and was just sleeping. It was amazing to touch her for the first time. She was so cute and prefect to me.

Now the challenge of balancing having too daughters at two different hospitals. I'm sure the next few months will be extremely hard for both Andy and I. This type of crisis situation is hard for everyone. Some how we will all cope and at some point our girls will both come home from the hospital. We already can't wait for that day!

Taken from the old website.