She's HERE!

I know...I know... she's here a bit earlier than expected.

On Thursday, I went in for what I thought was a monitoring of her little heart.  I was so WRONG!

So, I got to the Drs' office and the hooked me up to the monitors.  They noticed after about 15 minutes that she wasn't moving... at alll.  Her heartrate was normal, then would dip, then normal, then dip, and she was showing signs of fetal distress. They took me in for an ultrasound and tried to find any sign that she was okay.  Everything they looked for, they couldn't find.  She wouldn't move.  The only sign that she was still alive was her heartbeat that was a little "iffy".  I thought that Dr. Ghandi would send me to the hospital for monitoring, but instead she surprised me with the announcement that the ambulance was on the way to run me to Banner Desert for delivery.  It all happened so fast and the only thought that I had was "I wonder if my brother, Rich, would be one of the paramedics?"  (They said that he'd just gotten finished for the day or he would have been.  Too cool.)
So, in office, they started quizzing me about everything and putting in an IV.  They told me that I was a Code 3 and I got to have the sirens and lights!  That was pretty neat and we joked the whole time.  I knew it was serious, but I was still in shock this was all happening. 
I had called Curt from the Dr's office and told him that he needed to meet me at the hospital.  He called his brother to pick him up from the lightrail.  We both thought that we'd have a little more time.  When I was getting prepped for surgery, they told me that they wouldn't wait for him.  I called him and told him that they were rushing me in for emergency C-section.  Finally, as they were wheeling me into the OR, they threw scrubs at Curt and told him to hurry and get changed.... they weren't waiting.
I was chatting with the anesthesiologists and they were doing the spinal block and I told the one to get in front of me because I needed something to hug to hold me still.  So, as I was getting stabbed in the back, I had my arms around a Dr. that I'd met only 3 minutes before.  I grabbed onto his love handles on his back and everytime something stung, I'd squeeze.  He told the other Dr to quit hurting me because he was going to get bruised by my pinching hands.
Finally, as they were starting to cut me open, I heard Curt's voice in the back of the room.  The doctors were giving him all the information that they had learned so far and told him that when he would see Jellybean she would not look like she was living.  They asked Curt if he was prepared for the possibility that she might not make it.  So, when he got to me, he was crying and just kissed me on the forehead and sat down.  I grabbed his hand and told him that she was going to be okay.  He just shook his head and I told him to trust me.  I KNEW that she was gong to make it. 
Anyway, they told me to not be surprised if she didn't cry after she was born.  I was prepared for anything.

So, they got her out, and took her to the back of the room and started working on getting her stable.  Her belly was extremely distended and swollen.  They did a temporary patch on her back and got her stable.  She was much more reponsive than they expected.  The Drs were very surprised.  Before they took her upstairs, they brought her over and I got to kiss her and tell her that I loved her.  Curt went with her as they brought her to the NICU.  I was sewn up and sent to recover.  My Dad came and chatted with me and Curt came down to tell me that the doctors were so happy with Jellybean and had her mostly stable.  She was doing well with everything that was going on.  Then, my sister Jen came to visit and made me feel happy while Curt went to stay with her for a while longer.  They drained some of the fluid out of her belly and sent it for testing.

They finally got me up to a room and the Neurosurgeon came to talk to us and tell us that he thought she had become stable enough to have surgery the next morning.  I felt strongly that she'd need a blessing before she was operated on and had he back closed.  So we decided to go on ahead and give her a name and a blessing.  

After the surgery, Dr. Elton came to see us and told us that everything looks beautiful and her back is swollen, but that it will go down.  When we went to see her later on, she was still sedated and they'll keep her loke that for a few days.  They don't want her to move when she's swollen; they want her to heal.

They had the urologist come visit and he found her bladder.  She's urinating great now.  After the ultrasound, they found out that the fluid wasn't urine acites and the bladder hadn't ruptured.  Hooray!  Now they have to figure out what the fluid really is, where it's coming from and why it's there.

So, she's stable for now.  Well, as stable as she can be.  We trust the Doctors and all the wonderful staff at the hospital.

Oh yeah... her name?

Olivia Gwen Mellor

(pretty cute, huh?)

I'll post more later.

Yes, I'm healing. Little by little.
Yes, it hurts.
Yes, I'm grateful she's here, early

Please keep her in your prayers.