Lilah Laine Harding

As many of you know Lilah was born by Caesarean surgery early on Tuesday, 12/8 at 2:25am. Monday evening we went into the hospital as Christy had been experiencing regular contractions and had begun to dilate. Christy’s doctor gave her some medicine that they hoped would speed up the process and we settled in for a long night of contractions and little sleep. At 12:30am Christy woke up from her 2 hour nap for a quick (as you ladies know, quick for a 9 month expectant lady is pretty slow) potty break.

While she was up she began to experience some much more painful contractions and decided to ask the nurse for some pain medicine so she could get some rest during the night. At 1:15 the nurse gave her a dose of Stadol mixed  with Phenergan for her pain. The Stadol was to relieve the pain and the Phenergan was to offset the nauseau caused by the Stadol. The nurse stayed with us for a few minutes and then went to attend to another patient. Within 5 minutes Christy began to complain of dizziness and felt like she was going to pass out. Being the concerned and loving husband that I am I told her that it would pass and that she would be fine. Christy insisted something was wrong and I pushed the call button for the nurse and Christy promptly started snoring.

Thankfully the nurse was very quick to respond and we soon saw how serious the situation was. Christy was in and out and was unable to understand what was happening but Lilah’s heart rate was dropping to a dangerous point. Lilah’s heart rate had been near 140 beats per minute all night. Her heart rate dropped to 110 beats per minute and then over the next 10 minutes it continued to drop and was now dipping below 60 beats per minute. The nurses began to move Christy from one side to another in an attempt to manipulate Lilah and elevate her heart rate. They also began a free flowing IV to force the medicine through her system and dilute it with excessive fluid. Christy’s nurse, who was excellent, called her doctor around 1:30am and he advised her to prepare for surgery.

The next 3o minutes went past fairly quickly as they began to prep Christy for surgery. I called Christy’s parents as I knew the would want to know. We; nurse, dad, and husband, tried to talk to Christy and explain what was happening but she was completely oblivious to why everything was happening although she was fairly cognizant of individual events that were happening such as a catheter. Christy’s doctor arrived at 1:40am and told us that due to the reaction of Christy and Lilah he was going to go ahead and take the baby. Lilah’s heart rate at this time had now climbed past 160 beats per minute and was staying very rapid.

Christy was wheeled into the operating room (just across the hall) and I dressed in the scrubs provided so I could join them. When they arrived in the operating room Lilah’s heart rate began to fluctuate again and they made the decision to put Christy completely under for the sake of time. Due to her being completely sedated I was not allowed to enter the room. At 2:25am Lilah Laine was born weighing 6lbs, 11oz, and 19 1/4 inches long. The nurse did allow Christy’s dad and I to slip into a small anteroom outside of the OR and take a quick peek at Lilah as the Pediatrician checked her out.

It was almost 4:30am before they wheeled Christy down to recovery. During this time I was able to watch as the nurse weighed and measured Lilah and prepared her for her bath. Christy was brought back to her room at 5:15am and told me that she hadn’t “pushed” yet. While a very hectic and busy night there was not a moment that we did not know that God was in control and trust was only ours to give. For that one hour my prayer was simply, “Lord, you know what I am thinking.” Lilah is beatiful and now is 11 days old and is one day past her due date. We were thankful to have been in a hospital with a very caring and compassionate labor and delivery nurse, a competent and attentive doctor, and a host of others who were willing and able to do what was necessary to help my wife and daughter. Christy is doing great, although she has a tendency to overdue things right now, and is recovering well.

We probably will never know what caused Christy and Lilah’s reaction but we are grateful that all is well.