Gods plans trump our plans everytime - part 2

I arrived home to find The Designer outside, trying desperately to finish putting up the fence. Yep, we just moved in and we needed a fence RIGHT NOW! Why? Well, because our dog is not the friendliest to other dogs and the girl we had planned to watch the dog was not going to bring him outside on a leash every time, so we had to get the fence up. When I told The Designer that we were leaving 2 days earlier than planned, he told me that there was no way that he could get the fence done. Against his desires, I called his parents to ask if they could come over to help him. I explained the situation. They were happy to be of assistance. They said they would be over after his dad was out of work.

It was about 2:30 pm when I got home. I called my mom to let her know I was there and she said she would come over soon. While I was laying on the couch, helpless, tired, and overwhelmed I couldn't do anything, but everything was running through my mind. I already had all the excitement any woman would have, knowing that my baby girl would be arriving in the next few days, but I was also so very scared. We didn't know how bad Lil' Bugs Spina Bifida would be and the biggest concern was her hydrocephalus. We wouldn't know anything about her brain damage until she arrived. So, although I was excited to meet her, I was scared to death about what life would look like in just a few short days.

As I was laying there, I could see The Designer our working on our deck. That's right, I didn't mention the deck. We live in a bilevel house, so the deck is about 1 1/2 stories off the ground. There were no stairs to get down, so the dog sitter was going to have to leash him up, walk him around the house and get him into the backyard. Ummm, yeah! That wasn't going to happen. So, he took on the challenge of adding stairs as well. Well, apparently our lovely dog found the stairs to be optional. He took a running start and over the side he went. Normally a 10 foot drop wouldn't be that big of a concern for a young, agile lab, but, of course, there is more to the story...When the pooch was 11 months old, he was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. Of course, he was our baby and we weren't going to let him suffer or put him down, so we did pain management for a long time. When he was three we couldn't help his pain any longer, so we had to do something for him and putting an otherwise healthy dog down was not going to happen. So we decided on a hip replacement. Yep, that is right...but not only was it a hip replacement. It was the Cadillac of hip replacements...I am talking titanium hip, dedicated recovery nurse and all...yes, we were crazy kids then. The final price tag...(drum roll please!)...just under $5k.

Ok, back to my story...so, here I am, laying on the couch, feeling sorry for myself, etc. and I see the dog take a flying leap off the deck. I flew off the couch to see if he was ok. I knew that if he were to injure his hip again, we would not be able to afford fixing it again and the thought of losing my pooch was unbearable at that moment. Fortunately he turned out to be ok, but that got me very upset (and up off the couch!).

My mom called to say she was almost to our house and asked me if I had eaten yet that day. I informed her that I had not eaten because I didn't feel well. She said that was my nerves talking and forced me to decide upon something to eat. I reluctantly decided upon a veggie sub from Subway. She arrived at the house about 20 minutes later with food. She nearly forced me to down the sandwich, which I did admit later, tasted pretty good once I began eating it.

While my mom was at our house, my sister decided to make a surprise visit before we left for California. She was a nice distraction. It wasn't long before I assigned her the task of going to the grocery store to pick up some groceries for the dog sitter. The Designer decided to go with her as he needed some stuff for the plane ride, so away they went on their "assignment."

My in-laws were on their way over at this time to help The Designer out with the deck/fence project.

My mom was cleaning my house, packing stuff up, being wonderful and then suddenly IT happened!!!!!

What happened, you ask? Well, let me tell you! I was readjusting myself on the couch and GUSH! I was suddenly peeing all over myself, or was I? Nope, nope, it couldn't be, could it? You're right! My water broke! This couldn't happen...no way! I ran to the bathroom and called for my mom to join me. I asked her to grab my cell on her way by. She asked if I was getting sick. Uh, no! This was much worse than that!!!! (just so you can keep track of the time line...this was about 2 hours after my doctor's appointment in which they assured me, I was fine to fly the very next day!)

My mom FREAKED out! I mean seriously, she went nutso on me. The Designer didn't have a cell phone, so I called my sisters phone and told her to get home ASAP. I told her what happened. They were checking out and The Designer told the cashier to forget everything and just ran out without ANYTHING. :)

Since we had just moved to the state (and our house is about 40 mins from all of our family) we had no idea how to even get to the hospital. I sent my mom to the neighbors house to ask if she could give us directions or drive us. I called my in-laws (which were only about 5 minutes away and told them of the news). They said they knew how to get to the hospital, so we called off our neighbor and waited for their arrival.

When I was at the doctor's office earlier that day I requested that they fax all of my medical records to the Children's Hospital "just in case." They laughed at me, but obliged. They also made a copy for me to keep, in case I needed them in California. So, on my way out the door, I grabbed my copies.

The Designer was freaking out! He kept saying, "You can NOT have that baby. You must keep her in!" Ha! Like that was going to happen! Was he serious? I turned around (I was sitting in the front seat, my mom was driving, The Designer and my sister were in the back seats) and I said to him, "Get ready, daddy. You are about to have a little girl!" We followed my in-laws to the hospital. I can honestly say that I was the only calm person in all of this. Everyone else was freaking out.

The Designers fear was very legitimate. Consider this...when we lived in Colorado, all the necessary doctors knew about our situation. In California, of course they knew our situation. We never dreamed of contacting a neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon, pediatric doctor, etc. We definitely needed a c-section, for the sake of our daughter, but would we be able to convince the hospital of that quick enough? Would they take us serious? I was scared, but there was an enormous about of peace that filled my entire body. I was ok. I knew our daughter would be ok. I was actually looking forward to meeting her, even though I had no idea what the next few hours would hold.

On the way to the hospital, The Designer did calm down a bit, but the fear was still showing on his face. I tried to calm him between contractions. We arrived at the hospital and as I was checking in, I informed them that I MUST have a c-section. They didn't completely discount me, but they didn't completely take me seriously either. I was mad!

They got me to the labor and delivery floor. I told them my water had broke, (uh, yeah...just look at my clothes for proof!), but they told me they couldn't take my word for it, so the doc checked me. OMG!!! That was pain. The contractions were hard and coming faster and faster. My MIL called the whole family and before I knew it, my room was FULL of people...I was mad about that too. I didn't want them all there. She was scared and wanted them for her (as support), but they were surrounding me and every time I had a contraction, I was furious that they were standing there looking at me! I swore at the doctor. Yep, that's right..I said that he was pissing me off! I told him this was ridiculous, I wasn't suppose to have labor pains, only c-section and emotional pains. I am sure they are used to getting yelled at, but I really wasn't nice. My family laughed and that made me mad too!

I told the doctor that I was sure the c-section needed to happen NOW! The contractions were hard and I was feeling the need to push. He wouldn't do the c-section because I had eaten that dumb sub a few hours before. He wanted to wait until it had been out of my system for 6 hours, but there was no way that was going to happen. This little angel was ready to make her grand entry into the world NOW!

Finally, after about 4 hours of pain, they agreed the c-section could wait no longer. During that 4 hour period, they were able to contact all of the specialists needed for Lil' Bug after her arrival. I was wheeled into the OR and not long after the spinal was put in, our little girl arrived.

During the actual c-section The Designer stayed up by my head and sang to me. I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was the sweetest thing he has ever done for me. He sang a song that we learned while we were teenagers at a Christian summer camp. I have no idea what it is called, but on rare occasion he still sings it to me. It always makes me smile. The gist is that only God can make the "right" things happen and He will.

I didn't get to see my princess when she was born. They moved me to the recovery room and brought her to who knows where and then ultimately to the NICU. The Designer did video record the entire process, but for some reason God didn't want me to see it, I guess. The Designer was able to show all our family, but by the time I was able to watch it, it was gone...it vanished like it never existed. We brought the DVD to a specialist and they said it looked as if nothing was ever even there. I am not sure what God is protecting me from, but even though I am sad I never got to see it, I am relieved as well. We don't have pictures either, as that is the one thing we forgot to take with us to the hospital (not bad considering the circumstances, huh?). So, we have pictures of her in the NICU (a couple hours old) but nothing before.

I will write more at a later time discussing the details of her first couple of weeks of life in the NICU.