Okay, so it's been over three weeks, I guess it's time to tell Miss Kenasyn Rayne's birth story.
As most of you know from reading past posts, our we knew that our little Kena was going to be born with some issues. We really didn't know the extent of the issues, other than she had a shortened limb, a club foot, and possible spina bifida. Little did we know...
I had been having ultrasounds and non-stress tests every Tuesday and Thursday for what seemed like forever. And as far as we could tell, she was growing right on target. So, my doctor took pity on me and had me scheduled to be induced on Monday, May 14th. But my body had planned otherwise. I woke up Saturday the 12th, with terrible back pain. I just assumed that I had stayed in one position to long, and my muscles were tight. So I adjusted, and fell back to sleep, only to wake up again with the same pain. This time as I was trying to relax and fall back to sleep, I got a shooting pain in both my back and my lower abdomen. I knew exactly what this pain was. But I tried to sleep through it again, thinking it was just braxton hicks, and that I was just getting myself worked up over nothing. But of course I couldn't sleep, as the excitement kicked in thinking that my baby was going to be born this day!!! So after about 4 or 5 more contractions, I decided to get up and tidy up my house, and either see if these contractions would get stronger with movement, or if they would die down. So at 5 o'clock, I decided to wash the pans in the sink from the night before, and do a few quick loads of laundry. By 6 o'clock, they were getting to be about 4 minutes apart, but not lasting very long, nor were they very strong. So I then decided to go for a walk. And if anyone knows where I live, there is at least a stretch of 2 miles where I can see my house. I knew Rayce couldn't come with me because he couldn't just leave the other kids alone, plus I knew that if I REALLY needed him, he was a phone call away, and could get to me in the car within 1 minute. So I headed out, and I was so scatter brained with excitement that being in labor that I walked out the door with my slippers on. (and I didn't realize it till I was about 200 yards from the house) I decided to call my Grandma to have on call to come and watch the kids, since it was only 6 in the morning. By the time I headed back, after walking about 1 mile, I decided that this WAS the real deal. I called Rayce (and of course my luck, he didn't wake up cause he was in such a deep sleep) to tell him to get out of bed and get ready, cause we were going to be going to the hospital.
My contractions at this point were about 3 minutes apart, and really strong, but only lasting about 20 seconds. Now seeing that this was my 5th baby, I knew that the closeness of the contractions were not to be messed with, but the fact that they were so short had me questioning my decision to go in.
But not to long after I got home, my grandma showed up, so I headed to the shower. I turned the water on to nearly as hot as I could stand it and just let it run on my belly. This did 2 things, relieved alot of the pain that I was feeling, but after getting out, the contractions seemed to double in intensity. It took me a while to finish packing my bag, and doing last minute things around the house (as Rayce and my Grandma are trying to hurry me to the hospital.)
We arrived at EIRMC at 8 o'clock. (Luckily I had called, so they knew when I arrived that I was a high risk patient) The nurse came in to get me all set up, and at the same time, the NICU nurse came in to talk to us about all we knew with Kena. Their biggest concern (and ours as well) was that her heart wouldn't tollerate labor because of her 2-vessel umbilical cord. They started monitoring her right away, and once I was in my gorgeous hospital gown, they checked my dilation. And to my surprise, I was at a 4! By 9 o'clock, I had my epidural, and was comfortably waiting for my little angel to arrive.
My Doc came and broke my water and checked me at noonish, and said that I was a 6. I told her not to go far, because I usually go really fast once I pass a 5. And with a few visitors in our room, at 12:30ish, I felt her start down the birth canal, and I knew she was on her way!!! The nurse came in and confirmed what I had said, and paged the doctor and the NICU nurses.
There seemed to be a break in all the excitement as we were waiting for the doctor to arrive, and it donned on me how terrified I was. Not for the pain of delivery (I'd been there before, with no pain meds whatsoever). I was instantly hit with the fear of what my poor baby girl was going to have to go through, in just a matter of minutes. Here she sat for 8 months, cosy and warm. Protected from prodding fingers, and lights, and instruments. I just laid there so helpless, so excited for my angel to be in my arms, but at the same time, I wanted her to stay in there. I wanted her to not cry, and be hurt by people that didn't love her like I did. I wanted her to be safe and happy.
But like it or not, she was headed out... literally, and my sister Genice had to run and get the nurses, cause at that point, I thought that Rayce was going to have to catch her. And within a few minutes, everything, and everyone was ready to do their job, and as easy as clouds floating in the sky, Kenasyn Rayne Bird joined our family at 12:42 pm. (Literally, it was that easy. Doc told me not to push, so I just let my body do what it needed to do, and she delivered herself) One of my biggest stresses with delivery, was if I was going to be able to have my little one placed on my chest right away, or if they would just take her. But I was lucky and my Doc laid her on my chest and I got to hold my little angel. She was screaming with all her might, and I was crying with all of mine. She was perfect, and beautiful, and misshapen, and covered in blood and goop, but I didn't care. She was mine, and in my arms. But that didn't last long, they took her over to the warmer and started cleaning her off. They were really concerned, and had her over there for quite some time. I knew something was wrong when Rayce was pacing (and had tears in his eyes) and my sister Genice also had a look of worry on her face too. I finally asked if I could hold her before they wheeled me away to surgery. They said that they had some concerns, and brought her over and showed me her bottom. I could clearly see something was wrong, but I couldn't really tell what. The way they had her positioned, I couldn't tell what they were showing me, and of course, they wouldn't say. They just said that they were concerned. But they handed her to me, and everything else in the room disappeared. I just held my baby and wept. I wept with joy, and I wept with fear. I knew that there was major problems, problems we didn't anticipate, but I didn't care in that moment. I knew she was healthy enough for me to hold her, and for that moment in time, that's all I cared about. I didn't want this moment to end, but the anesthesiologist came in and told me I had to hand her to Rayce, he had to up my pain meds for surgery. And before I could think, she was out of my arms and I was headed out the door. And as I lay in the operating room, I just laid there and cried. I wanted my baby to be okay, and I wanted her in my arms.
Luckily for me, time went by quite quickly while I was getting my tubes tied. I really thought that I had only been in there for 20 minutes. When the nurse wheeled me to recovery, I asked her to make sure that they weren't feeding Kenasyn, as I wanted to nurse her. She called down to the nursery, and informed me that they said that I possibly wouldn't be allowed to feed her. She couldn't (or wouldn't) tell me why, but I knew deep down that that was a really bad deal. Something was terribly wrong if I wasn't going to be allowed to nurse her. The nurse left the room for a minute, and all emotions started streaming down my cheeks. Genice and my Dad came in to see me, and they had panic all over their faces. I asked them what was wrong, and they said that I had been in surgery for over an hour and a half (and we were told it would only take 30 minutes). They hadn't been told anything about me, and they hadn't been allowed back to talk to Rayce or see Kenasyn. As I laid there with them by my side, I realized how lucky I was. That they were there for me, when I really needed them. Rayce came in for a few minutes, but I sent him back to the nursery, I needed him with our Angel. After my allotted time in recovery, they wheeled me to the nursery, and I was so relieved to see our beloved Dr. Christensen there looking Kena over. We knew that He could take care of her immediate issues. The reason that I was told that I couldn't feed her was they thought that she had an imperferated anus (meaning that her bum was sealed shut), but Dr. C discovered that it wasn't and she had her 1st bowel movement. (And later, Rayce told me that if this wasn't the case, they would have life-flighted her immediately down to Primary Children's Hospital for surgery). And in Rayce's eyes, I saw relief. For the first time in hours, I took a small sigh of relief and held my baby girl. I nursed her, and to be down right honest, my whole boob was hanging out, but I didn't care (even if we were in the nursery with people - nurses anyway - all around us). All I cared about was that I was holding her, and feeding her, and that was one step that we got behind us.
Her leg is clearly twisted up and unusable
She was a tiny thing 5 pounds 15 ounces
Kenasyn getting x-rays at just a few hours old
The girls checking out Kena for the 1st time
Can't believe I have 5 kids!!!!!!!
Ivory holding Kenasyn for the 1st time. She begged the whole time she was at the hospital, and would throw a fit whenever we took the baby away from her!
Despite her small weight, she had quite the chubby cheeks!
The 7 of us! I love every single one of these 6 other people more than words could ever describe!!!!
The rest is just the boring stuff. They did lots of testing, along with xrays and ultrasounds. We could physically see the problems with her leg, but we did find out that she had severe scoliosis, but her internal organs seemed perfect. By the next morning, Dr. C and diagnosed her with Caudal Regression Syndrome.
Here is a link if you'd like to learn more about this syndrome. By Monday morning we were able to bring her home. By the time she was 6 days old, we had her down in SLC and found out that Kenasyn would have surgery to repair her anus. She was diagnosed with Rectovaginal Fistula. There's not a whole lot of info on the net about this, but in Kena's case, her anus formed to close to her vagina, and she also didn't develop her out protective labia lips. She goes in on June 5th for surgery for a colostomy bag, so that in a few months her fistula can be repaired, and then the colostomy can be removed when everything is back to normal. We also learned that her leg will be amputated just above the knee, and that she will need spinal surgery to repair her malformed spinal vertebra.
Ya know, hearing all this is really hard, and I don't want my baby to have to go through the many surgeries in the next year or so. But I know it's for the best. I know that she will have a better life in the long run. I know that she will be in the best hands at both Primary's and at Shriner's, but ya never want this for a child, especially your own. I love her though, and couldn't imagine life without her. Here are just a few pix of us at the hospital, and x-rays of her lower body.
Her leg, straightened out as much as possible (May 31st)
Her spine, you can clearly see the curve. (May 31st)
