Alayna Kate

Ok here's what's going on.....I'm going to make this as much to the point as possible.

I was induced Thursday morning because I was having high blood pressure. My labor was going FABULOUS and quick. The baby was doing perfect and not showing any sign of stress. They started Pitocin at 10am, broke my water at about 3:30 and I got an EPIDURAL at 6pm (oh my gosh it was heavenly). Things were going really well and between 9:45 and 10:00 (totally a guess) it was time to start working with the contractions and pushing. All of a sudden the monitors on my belly weren't picking up her heart rate anymore. They thought she might've dropped lower in my pelvis, but after searching and searching they couldn't find it. They put an oxygen mask on me, found the heartbeat and it was extremely low, and things started turning to a panic. I felt like I had totally lost control as about 10 doctors and nurses were suddenly in the room and I heard words like forceps, vacuum, C-section, etc.

They gave me a shot to stop my contractions and I was told to push as hard as I possibly could, that we had to get the baby out NOW. I knew my baby's life depended on it. I was cut open pretty badly (I have third degree tears) and pushed her out in a matter of 2 or 3 minutes. She was born at 10:22pm. She came out and I couldn't see her very well because she was immediately handed off to the doctors waiting for her. She was purple, limp, and wasn't breathing. I thought that was the end and was totally in shock. It felt like forever and I had no idea what was going on while they were working on her. They got her heart to start working and from then I was able to calm down.

Shortly after, she was taken to the nursery to be further evaluated and then was preparedto be taken to a different hospital in Salt Lake City that has one of the top NICUs (newborn intensive care unit) in the country. I can't tell you how much I hated being stuck in one hospital and having my baby transported to a different one, but I knew she was in good hands. I hadn't even seen more than the top of her head until they finally brought her to me on their way to the ambulance, in a huge machine with monitors all over her.

I was released from the hospital this morning and we went to go see her before we went home. In the NICU she has her own nurse and she is getting the best care possible. I still haven't been able to do anything more than touch her.

They have no idea what happened to her during the delivery that caused all of this. She is stabilized now, but the question is how much damage was done during the time she wasn't getting enough oxygen. She has been able to breathe on her own since the night she was born and her kidneys are functioning (which is a good sign), and her muscles are getting more tone. She was totally limp when she was first born. They are doing a special treatment on her called whole-body cooling, where they lower her body temperature for 72 hours to reduce swelling in the brain. She was having some mild seizures since she's been born. Once the cooling is completed (Monday) she will have an MRI and that will tell his the condition of her brain. That will tell us a lot and I can't tell you how nervous I am for Monday. She also can't eat (because of the cooling) and has IV's in her arms and legs, it is totally heartbreaking.

Please please pray for my little daughter. I've learned so much the last 3 days about how fast life can change. I planned on a labor as natural as possible, had an outfit packed for her to come home in today fully in mind that she'd be coming home with us. You never think something like this will happen to you, someone who has had a perfectly healthy pregnancy and has done everything possible to prevent problems. No one should have to come home from the hospital without their baby. We love her so much and she is so beautiful. She has tons of curly dark hair and was born 6lbs. 14oz. and 21 inches long (tall and skinny...she certainly didn't get that from me!).

Jeff and I appreciate all of you that have us in their thoughts and prayers. Please continue to do so, we need them so badly right now. In the picture above, we call her our little ninja because her matching head thing and diaper reminded me of a ninja. And because she's a fighter. She's come so far but still has a long ways to go.