Baby Bridget's Beats - The Story

I know I am a year behind in updating our family blog, I promise I will go back through and add in all the fun things we have done as a family throughout 2015. For now, I feel it is important to tell our baby Bridget's story. I want to have this down for our records, as well as have an easy place for people to reference when looking for an update. Here is the first part:

Monday November 30th 2:30 PM

I checked in for my normally scheduled visit with my OBGYN. The kids were with my good friend Lindsay because this was my Glucose screening where they have to draw blood and I didn't want my littles around for that. I drank the "special drink" and sat down in the waiting room for my appointment. I was anxious for some reason but couldn't put my finger on why and figured it was because I HATE needles and was going to be doing a blood draw in an hour.

The nurse took me back into the office area. Took my weight and my blood pressure. She and I joked about how I could run a marathon on the blood pressure I have. We laughed and she let me know the Dr would be right in.

Now I have to say that I LOVE my OB. Dr. Ryan Porter has been such an amazing Dr to work with and he always leaves me smiling after an appointment. He has just the right amount of caring bedside manner paired with the right level of honesty and straightforwardness. 

He could not find the baby's heartbeat on the dopplar machine and asked me to "hop up" so we could do a quick ultrasound. He mentioned my baby is a mover and she might just be moving too much to pick up the heartbeat so a picture of her heart would help give him a better read.

He began the ultrasound, we could hear the soft heartbeat. I felt it was slow but he wasn't saying anything. His face dropped and he told me to sit tight because he wanted to make a few phone calls. He rushed out the door and I was left in the dark room, looking at the picture of my baby's chest on the monitor and wondering what could be going on. I started to cry immediately.

The Dr came back and let me know that my baby's heart rate is really REALLY low. Her heart rate was around 60 when it should be somewhere between 140 and 150. He mentioned that this usually means we need to deliver the baby because it could be heart failure, there could be a cord around the neck, or the baby is in some sort of distress. No matter what the reason for the low heartbeat I needed to be admitted and he was going to make sure there was a room prepped for an emergency c-section. 

Lucky for me, his office is IN Riverton Hospital and right down the hall from the Labor and Delivery unit so we just walked around the corner to get me checked in. As we were walking he mentioned he was going to be calling some fetal heart specialists in the area to find out what the best course of action would be. 

I was shuffled so quickly. The nurses were taking vitals as I was STANDING at the counter to check in. I didn't even have time to call Tyson, so I sent him a text that said, "I need you here right now, we might be having a baby today". He rushed out of work and headed right over.

2:45 PM

I was rushed to a bed, an IV was started and they placed monitors on my belly to hear the baby's heart beat as well as watch for contractions. They were having a hard time getting a read on the heart beat but I wasn't contracting so that was a good sign. Baby girl was also moving around A LOT so they kept telling me that is usually a sign that she isn't in distress. They called up an Ultrasound Tech to monitor her that way.

3:00 PM

At one point, before Tyson arrived, there were 15 people in my room. Many nurses, 3 doctors an ultrasound tech and me. Nobody was talking. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the ultrasound screen and that is when it hit me that this is not normal at all. If I was this much of a spectacle that nurses were there just to watch then something was wrong. I began sobbing so hard that they couldn't keep the monitor steady. That is when I saw Tyson's shoes walk under that curtain. He stared me straight in the eyes and I knew I could do whatever I needed to do. He held my hand and stroked my head and with tears in his own eyes told me he loved me and baby. He was there, I could calm down, and we got back to the spectacle around us.

My mother-in-law arrived shortly after and I immediately told her that nobody was talking and I needed her to help with this. We chatted quietly for a minute until my movements started interrupting the monitoring and we were told to quiet down. 

My Dr was in and out a lot. Making phone calls to the University of Utah hospital. Trying to figure out where I should be admitted long term. Talking about where there was room for a baby of only 27 weeks gestation to be delivered. He was trying to get every piece of information he possibly could.

I wanted so badly to call family members and let them know what was going on but we had no updates. We had no answers, just a whole lot of "what ifs".

4:20 PM

I called my mom, she was working so I knew I had to be quick. I told her the quickest run down that I could. I didn't want her to rush over because there was so much talk about ambulance to Murray Hospital, or life flights to the U so I asked her to stay put and when I knew where I would be heading I would call her and want her and my dad to come over. I had so many people in the room with me and almost no answers so I had to keep things short.

My Dr came back with almost a smile in his eyes. He was relieved at something. He explained to me that there is a Primary Children's Unit in the Riverton Hospital. He explained that there isn't usually a fetal heart specialist there because they work at the U but for some reason there happened to be a fetal heart specialist there that day and he was going to come up and give us some answers.

Dr Miller walked in and I will never forget his face. He had the most kind eyes and he was a comforting presence in the room. He couldn't diagnose anything so he was very careful with his words but he really helped me to feel like there was hope. He explained that the baby wasn't in distress. Her heart rate had stayed in the 60s the whole time I was being monitored and she was moving so much that he had reason to believe she might be used to this slow of a heart rate. He talked a little about the communication centers in the heart and let us know it looks like a miscommunication to him. We talked a little bit about pacemakers but he didn't have the right equipment to really let us know what was going on or what we could plan on.

He spoke with my OB and let him know that things are okay and I should be sent home for the night. I was not in labor and the baby was not in distress, so now the job was to find out what is going on with her heart.

6:20 PM

I was discharged with strict orders of bed rest at home for the night and to head to the University of Utah Hospital first thing in the morning to have an echo cardio gram done of my baby's heart. This would be the appointment that would give us answers and a plan. I still didn't know if I would be hospitalized for the remainder of my pregnancy, if we were going to have a baby within the week, if I would be on bed rest at home or if I could continue a semi-normal life.

We headed home to get a few overnight things for us and the kids. We packed for a few days because we didn't know exactly what the plan was. Our kids were already comfortably at their Nana and Papa's house and I didn't want to be home so we headed up the mountain to stay with Tyson's parents over night. I called my parents and asked them to meet us up there so we could give them the run down.

Tyson's sister, Emily and her husband Andrew drove up as well. Another of Tyson's sisters, Carrie, and her husband Dan were staying with Tyson's parents so they were able to be there too. My mom and dad came and brought my Aunt Pattie with them (Pattie is staying with them for a week or two). We told our story, we talked about what ifs and we tried our best to stay positive. I received a Priesthood Blessing* and we chatted for a while. 

Those that weren't spending the night there left and it was just me, Tyson, Stan (Tyson's dad) and Abe in the room. I was looking for some comedic relief so I turned to Abe and asked, "What is the baby in mommy's belly named?" (he usually answers with Cletus the Fetus so we were expecting a laugh). He looked at me and said in his most matter of fact voice, "Bridget". All of us in the room looked at each other in shock, we don't know anyone by that name and it isn't a name in one of his books or shows. I asked him where he heard that name and he said "I didn't, it's just her name". Tyson and I looked up the meaning and it is "Strong willed", Abe was right.... That is her name.

*A priesthood blessing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a "prayer for healing, comfort or counsel given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, who lays his hands on the head of the person receiving the blessing."