Thursday, March 14, 2013

The Baby Arrives: A Story of Heaven and Hell

 2012 On the plains in Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.


The last time I posted was March 4th. On March 5th all hell broke loose, with a big piece of heaven to balance it. According to the birthday book we have, March 5th is the day of heaven and hell. Our sweet Sadi Belle Whiteside, my first grandchild, entered our lives that day, and her birth date lived up to the hype.

All farm matters went on hold. All writing projects were suspended.

My daughter-in-law started labor at 6:00 am, March 4th. They admitted her into the birthing center that night about 10:30. We hung by the phone, but the night passed. On March 5th, we joined her parents in the waiting room vigil at the birthing center.

Proud Daddy wheels Sadi out
A little background: this had been one of the easiest pregnancies I'd ever witnessed. But then Christie is in amazing shape. She is a yoga practitioner, walks every day and eats incredibly healthy. She was bound and determined to have a total, no drug, natural delivery. Every indication was that she would.



Lance got zzz's while Grandpa rocked
First bottle during Mom's surgery
Okay - so - by the afternoon she was not progressing. Her back pain was so great she couldn't relax enough. She and my son finally agreed to an epidural. She quickly went from four to ten. Labor continued with my son coaching and Christie pushing. Then the contractions lessened, a side affect of the epidural. Unhappily, they consented to an inducing drug. But after over three hours of pushing, Sadi was stuck. The doctor rushed her in for an emergency C-section. At 5:24 pm, we had a beautiful granddaughter. The doctor said he'd never encountered this problem before. Christie has an odd shaped bone which turns in instead of out restricting the birth canal. Sadi's head stuck and she had the bump to prove it afterwards. Once they had her out, all seemed well. She immediately nursed, and Mom was beaming. An hour later, hell broke loose. By the time Christie made it back into surgery, she'd lost half her blood. It took eight units to get her through this. She'd pushed so hard she'd torn her cervix in two places. The surgeon did an amazing job of saving her and her chances for future children. We nearly lost her, and each day one of us tears up with the memory.

After several days in the hospital, Mom and daughter are home and doing fine. Christie has many weeks of recuperating to get through, but she's looking stronger each day. Sadi is a happy baby who is gaining weight and already has grandma and grandpa wrapped around her finger.


Yesterday was the first day we'd been able to turn some attention to the farm and me to my writing. I've just about finished trimming the blackberry rows. Frank and Lance got the supplies to build the green house. The watering system is on order. We couldn't wait any longer so we're funding it with credit. We hope to have two commercial crops, and I'll elaborate on that in future blogs.

For sure, life on Tortuga Flats Farm will never be the same!

33 comments:

  1. Lovely story! Make sure you save a copy in a file labeled Sadi Belle. She read your little vignettes of her early life with such eyes of awe and love that her Grandma thought enough to leave her this legacy.

    So glad Christie is going better. Too close for comfort in my book. Enjoy Grandmahood. Isn't it grand?

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    1. What a great idea, Vonnie. Not sure how to do that but I'll for sure figure it out.

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  2. Wow, you never think things could go that wrong! I'm so glad it had a happy ending for everyone. Congrats on a beautiful grandbaby!

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  3. Oh my goodness, Brenda. You had my heart in my throat. I teared up reading that. Thanks goodness everything turned out okay. Congrats on a becoming a grandma. She's gorgeous!

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  4. Brenda, I tear up, too, just reading about your ordeal. We forget so easily how dangerous childbirth can still be. I'm so glad your family came through with flying colors.

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  5. So glad everything worked out, Brenda. What a scary birth!

    Tami

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  6. Congratulations and I'm so glad everything turned out all right. What a scare! But now you've got a beautiful granddaughter to spoil rotten.

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  7. Was happy to hear all turned out well. Congratulations to everyone!

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  8. Congratulations, Grandma! And hugs to all of you on the scare. I'm so glad all turned out okay. Edna

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  9. So glad it turned out all right. Congratulations on the wonderful blessings and the newest miracle in your family.

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  10. Congratulations, Grandma! I'm glad your family got the perfect "happy ending". :-)

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  11. Hi Brenda,
    What a drama, glad everything ended up so well and you got your beautiful granddaughter. What a joy she will be for all of you.
    Hope Mum and Dad have recovered.

    Regards

    Margaret

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. Everyday is a little bit better.

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  12. What a harrowing time you had! I'm so pleased everyone survived! And I think Sadi Belle is absolutely beautiful. Bless you all!

    Love and hugs
    Jenny
    xxx

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  13. Brenda,
    I'm glad everyone is on the mend after that. The baby is beautiful. Congratulations to you all!

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  14. So sweet and beautiful.

    Congratulations.

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  15. OH, my goodness, I teared up, too! I'm so happy all is well for you all.

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  16. Brenda I am so happy everything is alright. How scary for all of you. And such joy at the same time. What a beautiful baby she is. Hope your DIL has a speedy recovery.
    Sue B

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    1. All is good now. Christie bounced back and is healthy. Thanks!

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  17. Hi Brenda! I'm quite late reading this but hoping at now both mom and baby and bouncing and mostly mended. Remind her to take any moment she can when baby is napping to grab one herself. She'll need to til for a long time! Birth plans seem so simple when its before birth but so much can happen during it that they often don't go accordingly but this was beyond that. I'm thrilled they and you are all enjoying little Sadi while she's still a baby. Congrats to you all! Hugs! Cathie

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    1. Hi Cathie! So glad you took the time to respond. All is great with Christie and Sadi. Thanks for commenting.

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