Meet Emery David!

On October 14th, at 5:44pm, Emery David Schmidt came into this world, 4 weeks early!

Here is Emery’s birth story!

Let me back it up to how we got to that point of having our son an entire month early. The first weekend of October, Anthony + I went down to Dallas for the OU/Texas game. It was our 16th anniversary of when we met, + we figured it would be our last big hurrah before the little guy arrived. I was definitely on my (very swollen) feet more than normal that weekend. I chalked up the swelling going up my legs to that specifically. On Monday morning, I was shaving my legs + noticed that I no longer had defined knees. My legs were massive! I kept my eye on it, but by Thursday I knew something was up. I was having a hard time focusing at work, it was difficult to have conversations. I contacted our midwife + we had a quick appointment with her on our way up to Tulsa for the Bruno Mars concert. (Nothing was going to stop me from seeing Bruno!) She took my blood pressure which was really high. She sent me “home” with some magnesium powder, told me to kick my feet up + relax.

On Friday morning, she wanted me to come back in for her to do some more testing + take my blood pressure. My blood pressure was still really high, but before we could go to the hospital, I had to have two high readings within 4 hours of each other. She sent me home with a blood pressure cuff, told me to relax, + take my blood pressure at 1:00pm. I was still in denial about all of this, so when I came home, I decided to make chicken tortilla soup for dinner! At 1:00pm, I took my BP – you can probably guess that the reading was still high. Charlee told me to pack our bags + get ready to meet her at OU Children’s. I texted Anthony, he came home from work, + we made our way to triage. After filling out paperwork, getting my BP checked multiple times, doing some blood work, etc., the triage doctor told us that we weren’t leaving the hospital without a baby, that we had gestational hypertension.

Around 5:30pm, we had a room in labor + delivery. I was immediately hooked up to a magnesium drip + pitocin. Let me tell you, magnesium has some of the worst side effects. I was hot the entire time I was on it. Everyone that came into our room was in multiple layers while I was stripping everything off with a fan blowing right on me! I had to have a catheter because if I was to get up, I may fall. It made my nose dry out. It made me lethargic. Ugh, it was awful!!!

Labor hadn’t started by lunch time on Saturday, so the doctor basically demanded they break my water. She was pretty aggressive, after spending all morning in the OR. Her “breaking my water” was by far the most painful thing I experienced while in the hospital. Our midwife was with us throughout most of our time, helping us navigate decisions + keeping us informed on what/why/how of everything happening. A true godsend. By Sunday morning, I still wasn’t having contractions (that I could feel – still no epidural at this time). I had asked our nurse to check me to see if I had dilated any further , + she felt another pocket of water. Basically the doctor on Saturday didn’t break all the water. When the resident on duty came in, he took care of that pocket. I felt the gush of water that time + immediately strong contractions started. At this point, I had maxed out of pitocin twice. They backed it off, the contractions stopped. I’m not sure what the time frame was, but sometime in the afternoon on the 14th, I was told that it’s been over 24 hours since they broke my water + to prevent infection, we would in essence need to do a c-section. After I shed tears, talked it over with Anthony, we made the decision. We would be meeting our child very soon!

I was rolled into the OR with our amazing nurse, Christina. She was such a calming presence for me as I was getting the spinal block. When Anthony + Charlee finally came in, I lost it once again. It was a very emotional experience, considering I had wanted a non-medicated birth at the birthing center. Now I was on the table, about to be cut open. Completely opposite! After some major tugging + pulling, our little man arrived at 5:44pm, weighing 6lbs 7oz + 19 1/4 in long. That first little cry of his made Anthony + I get even more emotional. He’s here on this earth + absolutely perfect!

At the time, I didn’t know that Anthony was able to cut the umbilical cord. My mind was still pretty fogging from all the magnesium + of course they were putting my insides back together. Once he told me this after we got home from the hospital, I felt so much better. I had originally wanted delay cord-clamping but that obviously wasn’t going to happen in the OR! When given the choice of holding him while we went back to the room or not, I had said no. Thankfully Charlee said no, you need to hold him. I am so thankful she did. At that time, there was nothing I could process mentally other than I didn’t want anyone else in our room during those first few minutes/hours. I wasn’t able to articulate that though. 🙁

After the baby nurse did all the things she needed to do with E, Charlee immediately put him to my breast. He latched on right away, but that was the only time we nursed until Tuesday afternoon. Anthony did skin-to-skin with him, then wrapped him up to sleep. The nurses never once woke me up to try to nurse him again. They would come in to take his blood sugar levels. They kept dropping. At some point in the middle of the night, a NICU nurse came in to tell us with a lump in her throat that they would be taking my baby to the NICU since he couldn’t regulate his blood sugars. I was so tired that I allowed them to do that without any questions. This is one of my biggest regrets that I didn’t nurse him regularly throughout the night to see if that would help wit his sugars.

Some point in the early morning of Monday, a barrage of doctors + nurses came in to ask me how my breathing was. My oxygen dipped below 80 I believe, so next time I know I’m getting a cannula of oxygen put in my nose + a chest x-ray. All the while, Anthony spelt through all the commotion! I was irritated about being woken up, having the oxygen in my nose, about my baby being in the NICU. Ugh, so many emotions happened in that short amount of time!

When your blood pressure is at stroke/seizure level (as mine was), you have to stay on the magnesium drip for 24 hours after delivery to be sure you don’t develop preeclampsia or have a seizure/stroke. That meant I was tied to my bed for another 24 hours. All while my baby (who was still nameless at this point) was in the NICU. I couldn’t see him. Oh I cried so many times during that. I just wanted him to be near me. I ended up having to be on the magnesium even longer than 24 hours after birth because my BP was still too high.

Around 2:30am on Tuesday morning, we were transferred to the mama/baby unit, utterly exhausted + confused. Why couldn’t we wait until a normal hour to move?! I finally made my way up to the NICU mid-morning to see my baby!!!! We received the best news when we walked in, that his blood sugars were stable + he would be able to come back with us soon! He + I did skin to skin for an hour or more. Basically until the residents made their way to us to give us a report (really they were reporting to one another!). It was the best feeling in the world to have my little man in my arms.

We made our way back to our room, spending lots of time together, talking about what his name was going to be. At 3:30pm, my blood pressure was checked. Guess what? It was high – too high. We took it again 30 minutes later to make sure. We ended up being transferred back to labor + delivery, with the likelihood of being put back on a magnesium drip. I was dreading this more than anything – the dried nose, the heat, the catheter. Another 18 hours of magnesium, I was finally removed from all things IV related. My blood pressure was stable. That Wednesday afternoon, I was finally able to take a shower for the first time in 5 days. Thankfully there was a bench in the shower because I was still off-center from being tied to a bed for almost the entire 5 days. That shower was one of the best I have ever taken in my life! That same day, Anthony + I finally settled on Emery David as his name. We had played around with a few names the night before, + felt like he looked like an Emery. Emery means strong + brave, which is exactly what he is. He is our little warrior!!

Thursday afternoon we finally were released from the hospital, with 5 medications to pick up from the pharmacy. I’ve been on blood pressure medication since giving birth, again to make sure I don’t develop preeclampsia again. You can develop it up to 6 weeks after delivery!

It’s now been 4 weeks since I went into the hospital. It’s been a wild ride getting us to this point, as I type this up on his original due date. I am so thankful we have a healthy little baby, one that is chill + cooler than either of his parents. We love him to pieces!