Grace Lauryn Schwengel

Grace's Birth Story

On Monday afternoon I started having consistent contractions & by 7:00 they officially called it active labor. I was taken off of Heparin at 9:00 & needed to be off of it for 4hrs. Then they checked my blood to make sure it had "thickened up". I would not be offered an epidural until the risk of bleeding was gone. We got the results at 1:00am that my blood levels were normal so they called in the anesthesiologist. My doctor had warned me that he was going to drag his heels about doing this epidural but there was documented proof that I was under no more risk than someone without a massive blood clot. The minute the anesthesiologist walked in the room I knew he was against it. I was already at 5-6cm then & in quite a bit of pain. He told me that I was at a 50% chance of developing a spinal hematoma after delivery from the epidural which could lead to me being paralyzed permanently. I wanted to know why, since my levels are normal, I would be at anymore of a risk than anyone else. His answer was because I had been on Heparin. I said but it's all out of my system now. He said, well, you've gone throught 2 half-lives and the appear normal but not to bank on it. Andrew asked about re-checking my levels to confirm...and he said, no, it's already been checked. Now, I was in a lot of pain...but that made no sense to me at all. I asked him if he had ever done an epidural on someone in my situation...he had not. I asked him if he was a Christain (thinking maybe we could pray about it...) and he said he was...but this had nothing to do with God. At that point, I was done with him...through my scared little tears, I said...that's it then, I'll just do it natural. I told him atleast 5x that was my decision...then he said if I changed my mind to ask for him. I really just don't think he wanted his name anywhere on my chart...everyone is scared of me & my big 'ole blood clot. Then at 3:00...I'm now about a 7, I think...He came back in and asked again if I wanted it (I'm pretty sure Dr. Gates asked him to...he wasn't happy with how things went down...or quite possibly he heard me screaming down the hall) I was beyond annoyed...I said what are you doing here...I said I didn't want it. So, things get a little fuzzy from here on out... It was really, really painful... I am so proud of my husband & family for standing by my side. Andrew has blown me away by his love & care...He has done above & beyond what I think either one of us ever thought we'd have to do. I know it must of been just awful knowing how much pain I was in & not being able to help me at all. Thankfully, I would say the worst of it lasted only 2 1/2-3 hours. And at 5:41 a.m., our beautiful, healthy baby girl arrived & the room changed from a war zone to pure JOY! She weighed 7lbs 12.2oz, 21.5" long...very long & lean. Both sets of parents and Erika were there to welcome her. We are just in awe of her...she's been a wonderful baby...never cries, eats every 4hrs...perfect...so worth all the effort it took to get her here.

They put me right back on Heparin after delivery to prevent the clot from moving. I'm also on an oral dose of Coumadin...they told me I would be here for another 5 days...but!!!!...they decided today there was no reason I couldn't be on injections & oral meds at home... The new Schwengel family is going home tomorrow!!! (as long as my levels stay put) I tell ya what, I'm certainly looking forward to not getting stabbed every 6hrs! The blood clot will not go away for several months...one doc thought it could be up to 6 months. I can resume daily activities but no exercising until told otherwise.

Praise God for all His blessings! And thank you for all your prayers...we have felt truly loved!

I love this picture...It was finally over!...We did it!