May 21, 2013 ~ Berkley's Birth

May 21, 2013 ~ Berkley's Birth

The story of Carrie and Jeff getting pregnant and Carrie's pregnancy is quite amazing. Carrie and Jeff went through a lot to get pregnant and Carried went through a lot during the pregnancy. Carrie was sick her whole pregnancy. She could barely keep anything down in the first trimester. She was hypoglycemic and had to test her blood sugars and eat around the clock even if she wasn't hungry so her sugars wouldn't crash. She had placenta previa which forced her to have a C-section because she couldn't delivery vaginally because the placenta was in the way. Carrie was in the hospital on bed rest for 2-3 weeks before she was born because of spotting because of placenta previa. During the C-section the doctor noticed that the placenta was starting to abrupt and that her endometriosis was coming back which would prevent her from getting pregnant again. Berkley really is miracle.  Since she is premature she is very very small and sleeps all the time. I haven't seen her eyes yet because every time I have held her or seen her she has been asleep. She has to be woken up to eat and then falls right back asleep. I love being an aunt so at though! I just love everything about babies!! I think Carrie really tells the story of Berkley the best and so I am including some words from her blog.

From Carrie's Blog:

"During my time in the hospital, we were always unsure when I was going to actually have her. I just knew that I would have to have a C-section due to placenta previa. At 32 weeks, I got shots to make her lungs develop faster, because we wanted to be cautious since chances were she was going to come much earlier than we wanted her to.

We hadn't totally decided on a name, so we felt a little rushed since she could come anytime! We narrowed it down to Berkley, Reagan, or Holland (we're both Dutch so we thought it was cute and fitting for us).

As my doctor would come visit me every few days while I was in the hospital, he kept giving me the option to either just keep waiting it out or choose to get an amnio as early as 36 weeks and if her lungs were developed then I could choose to have a c-section right then. I had a really hard time deciding and kept going back and forth. I wanted to make the right decision, because I would feel awful if she had to be in the NICU or had any serious complications. I was always told that every day they grow so much in the womb and I didn't want to take her out early if it was best not to. I'd ask my doctor, "If I was your daughter, what would you tell me to do?" and he'd just always say that there is no wrong decision. 

On one hand, I didn't want to take her out early because she needed that time to grow and develop. On the other hand, I didn't want to start hemorhagging and have it be an emergency and have my doctor have to race to the hospital. I wanted it to be a controlled situation and a planned c-section. I just felt so much calmer about that decision and I just prayed that she will be healthy despite being 4 weeks early! 

So at exactly 36 weeks, I got the amnio (which I was so terrified about! Um, a HUGE needle going deep into my belly and into my uterus and possibly puncturing my baby?! Scary). It was pretty crazy, though, to watch on the ultra sound my doctor putting the needle in and see the needle and the baby on the screen guiding him so he doesn't poke her! The results came back 6 hours later showing her lungs were developed so the c-section was a go! The c-section was scheduled for the next day at 5pm.

Before I got wheeled into the OR, I asked if they could wheel me to a room with a scale so I could know how much I weighed before I had her. Haha, is that weird? I hadn't weighed myself in like 4 weeks so I wanted to know!

The c-section was so strange. Jeff recorded the whole thing and I just kept saying, "This is so weird."  I just felt numb and my body was being yanked side to side so roughly and I couldn't feel anything by pressure. 

Berkley Elizabeth Giles

Born 5:21 pm

5 lbs 15 oz

17.5 inches long 

and BEAUTIFUL.

The second Dr. Bohman threw her over the sheet so I could see her, I said to Jeff, "She looks just like you!"