From my journal ~ ~ ~

As I mentioned, I found my journal I wrote while I was pregnant with Mary Dalton. This was the last entry, thought I would share it! :) It brought back lots of memories (some good and bad ones!ha!) but reminded me again of God's faithfulness.


The Birth Story of Mary Dalton Dowdy
On August 17th , I had my 37 week check up. I had been feeling sick to my stomach, tired, and crampy since the previous Thursday. I was scheduled to have an ultrasound to check your position and weight, and your Daddy was going to meet me there. He was running late, so when it was time for my ultrasound, I let the lady ahead of me go. He arrived and then I was called back. As soon as I got on the table, the nurse came in and said that Dr. Christie had an emergency and wanted to see me because she was leaving. So, we went to the room and she quickly looked at me while the nurse took my blood pressure. I knew something was wrong when she asked Dr. Christie to take it again. After she checked it twice, she told me that it was high and she might send us to labor and delivery to be monitored for a while, but first she wanted to check my urine and see the ultrasound. She then decided to do an internal and I was 2 cm dilated.
I went straight to the lab and had my lab work done, and while it was processing, I had my ultrasound. You had gotten so big! We could only see one part of you at a time, instead of your entire body! The tech said that you weighed 6 lb. 3oz. When we were done, Dr. Christie was waiting and said that the amniotic fuild was getting low and since my blood pressure was up, that we were going straight to labor and delivery! This was a HUGE shock to us! Your daddy said, “For what?” Dr. Christie laughed and said, “To have a baby!” We were so surprised! I had not had breakfast and we were planning to go to lunch after my appointment and run some errands.
We both started calling everyone to let them know of our news! Nana & Pawpaw left as soon as we called her ~ They were in shock! We called Suz and Aunt Sue-anna to bring our bags, and before we knew it, I was in the hospital bed!
My nurse Tricia was wonderful! She got me hooked up to the IV and started medicine (magnesium) for my blood pressure and pitocin to speed up my contractions. After she hooked me up to the monitor, she said that I was already in Stage 1 of labor. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, I had contractions all day, but they were not unbearable. They offered the epidural, but I waited on it. Dr. Christie came by about 5:30 and checked me, I was about 3 cm, and she decided to leave me on the pitocin until 7:00 and then shut it off until the next morning at 6 a.m.
That night, Nana and Pawpaw got there about 10. Big Daddy, Suz and Sue-anna came by to see us and bring us our things. Your daddy stayed with me that night. The nurses continued to monitor my blood pressure all night, so we did not get much sleep. I had contractions on my own all night.
Bright and early on Wednesday, August 18th, the nurses started my pitocin drip again. They increased the amount every 15 minuntes. Nana and Pawpaw got to the hospital about 6:30. I was still not in a lot of pain, but was beginning to feel very sick from the magnesium and from my bllod pressure being up. I was so hot, everyone else in the room was bundled up, but I could not get cool! Tricia brought me frozen pencilin packs to cool me off.
My contractions were getting stronger, and about 10:30, I decided that I was ready for the epidural. I was 5-6 cms at the time. It was not bad at all compared to the contractions! I felt MUCH better for awhile, then the epidural made my blood pressure dip really quick and I would get extremely nauseous. Tricia would put some medicine in my IV and within a minute, I’d feel fine, until it happened again. She checked me again at noon because I kept complaining of pressure. She was shocked to see that I was complete! I did a few pratice pushes while they called Dr. Christie. The nurses turned the pitocin off because they were afraid that I would have you without the doctor there.
About an hour passed, and we found out Dr.Christe was in a meeting, this made me very nervous! She finally got there about 1:30 and I started pushing. We found out very quickly that the pitocin should have been left on! We had to restart it to make my contractions come at regular intervals. I pushed for about an hour and was not making much progress, so Dr. Christie brought us a Benson birthing rope. This really helped bring you donw into the birth canal. After almost 3 hours of pushing, you were born. I will never forget how I felt when I saw you being pulled from my body. You were so tiny and perfect and I instantly felt a love that I have never experienced before. Dr. Christie laid you on my chest and the tears started to flow. I just remember saying, “Thank you Jesus,” over and over. I could not believe that you were mine and that God was so good to give you to me! You are truly the little girl that I have dreamed of my enitre life. I love you more than anything my precious baby girl, Mary Dalton Dowdy…..