The Birth From Nana's Perspective

While today has been incredible and happy and celebratory, we still have a lot of the story to tell. This is my mom's version of what happened. Aaron's will be finished soon as well. Then I can finish my side of the story! Once again, read at your own discretion. It may seem repetitive but I really wanted all points of view for our own family history.  Enjoy!

We had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Nickell, Aaron and the boys. Brock was keeping us updated as to their whereabouts. The latest update was that they were almost in Victorville. “I can lay down for a minute, they will be here soon and we probably wont go to bed for awhile after they arrive so I need to take a little nap” Oh how I wish I had taken that nap! A few minutes later I got a call from Nickell, somewhat incomprehensible, crying, panicking, she didn’t say hi all I heard was “Mom, what does labor feel like? What do contractions feel like?” 

What? What’s going on? As she described to me the pain she was feeling my first thought was uterine rupture so I told her to get to the nearest hospital and I would meet her there. I jumped out of bed, got dressed and told Lloyd, I am going to Victorville, you can come if you would like to or you can stay here and sleep but I am going. I explained what the phone call was all about and he got Brock and Becca (good thing) and we all headed north for an unexpected trip, hoping we would get a call somewhere along the way saying it was just gas and we could turn around. Somehow I knew that call would never come. 

I texted Aaron the whole way…45 minutes away….30 minutes away…turning the corner, we will be there any minute, I could tell he was worried as he was not able to go inside with her because they would not allow the boys inside. Once we got there we got Brock and Becca situated with the boys in the car and we headed inside. What I did not expect was the first aid center they were calling a hospital. If you get in an accident in the parking lot of that hospital you should demand to be taken down the street to the other hospital. Looking back now it was just one of the stumbling blocks that got Nickell to Henry Mayo. If she had gone to the actual Victorville hospital she may never have made it to Henry Mayo. For that, we are grateful. What a testimony, that the Lord knows much more than we do and is so involved in the plan. 

Without going into too much detail they basically said…no they actually said…there is not really very much we can do for you other than to give you Tylenol. Tylenol? Really? I did my best mama bear impression and demanded that they give her some kind of pain reliever. To which the physicians assistant replied (ps, I am not making this up)…”she’s pregnant, there is nothing we can give her. I’m pretty sure all pain relievers are schedule C but let me check.” He pulled out his phone typed something in and scrolled a few times with his finger on the screen “yep, I was right they are all schedule C and not approved for use during pregnancy” We then sat in the waiting area of the ER triage and listened while he tried to treat a few patients. With each patient he “treated” I got more and more nervous about being there. “we think its..” “yeah you are bleeding but we don’t know why so you should just follow up with your regular dr” I’m sorry, what? What we heard is obstetrics does not feel comfortable treating you and the ER dr does not feel comfortable treating you. At this point the ER nurse said it will be at least 2 hours before you see a real doctor so if you can get to a different hospital, “I cant recommend it but…If you can get there sooner”…(shrug, motion toward doors with eyes). So we followed her recommendation and left –AMA. 

 As expected, on the way to Henry Mayo she went into labor. Nobody knew why other than the pain which was still unexplained. I got to the hospital after dropping the family home and making sure the boys were in bed and assured that everything would be fine. I hurried over to the emergency entrance sometime in the middle of the night 2 or 3 am, not really sure when. They took me straight to labor and delivery where there were 3 very competent nurses doing their thing all around Nickell. I could tell she was much more comfortable in this environment and the first thing I heard a nurse say was “I am going to get you something for the pain” tender mercies once again. The nurses were amazing, she was hooked up to monitors one for the baby, one for the uterine contractions which were small but coming every 3 minutes or so. I helped her breathe and focus during contractions, reassured her with each one when she was on the downhill that the worst was over and it would not get any worse until the next one. I don’t know if I was helpful or annoying but she didn’t kick me out so I kept on doing the doula thing. Reassuring, comforting, breathing, supporting, kicking Aaron when his snoring got too loud ☺. We were all exhausted and I was going to let him sleep, if even for a moment. 

Everyone seemed very calm. They allowed her to have some ice chips, we snuck a couple small sips of water when the nurse wasn’t looking. She was so thirsty. They filled her full of fluids and pain meds. Whats that? Its not working? Then lets try another one. Still not working? Try another one---Finally a little relief. Finally she slept. She moaned a little through contractions but the exhaustion had caught up with her and she rested for quite awhile. So did Aaron. I watched carefully. Watched both of them, knowing they had just buckled into a roller coaster ride that would not end anytime soon. Watched the monitor, knowing enough to know that late decelerations in the baby’s heart rate were not good. Watched the sun rise and wondered when we would have answers. And then the visit from Dr. Izu. 

He was very calming and reassured us that everything would be fine but he was worried about Max and thought that it would be best to deliver Max early. He didn’t really give us much choice. The conversation was never: option a option- b which do you choose. He turned to the nurse and told her to prep the patient, notify the NICU and bump the 2 other pre scheduled surgeries so that we could get in there right away. However, there was never a point where I felt panic from him. He was calm and very matter of fact. I appreciated that very much. It made everything that would follow much easier to deal with. 

I made a few phone calls though I only remember talking to Lloyd, “get here as fast as you can, this baby is going to need a blessing the minute he is born, they will transport him to another hospital and you have to be able to give him a blessing before he goes. Please hurry!” I called a family friend who is a Dr in the ER in case Lloyd would not make it in time. He was not in that morning. So we waited and prayed that someone would make it. Kelsey called Dan who showed up within 5 minutes. What a relief. At that moment, I knew Max would be ok, the power of the Priesthood was going to be at work. I held my breath while we waited to hear a cry or see some kind of indication that everything was ok. Finally they came rushing by with a very tiny, perfect, baby boy. He was SO tiny and SO perfect.

 The nurses in the NICU were not pleasant and would not allow the men in to administer the blessing so we stood outside and waited again. Waited to hear a cry, waited for the “singing” sound he was making to turn into strong breathing. We watched as they did compressions for a second time as the little bundle of perfection struggled to live, to breathe, to grow into the strong man we know he will be. Then the doctor came by. Once again he was calm, matter of fact and told us the only thing that was wrong with Max was that his lungs were immature. That’s a relief, they can fix that. He told the not so kind nurses that they should allow us to give him a blessing so they finally did. The stern one left the room, the other one stood quietly near the bedside with her head bowed in reverence and respect for something she did not understand but could no doubt feel. I took a few pictures if the massive hands on the tiny head. I sent the photo to the kids with a text that said something like this…This photo is not for Facebook or Instagram its just for you so that you will all know that the power of the Priesthood is at work and everything is going to be just fine. Please pray for this little guy. At some time shortly after the blessing we experienced something I will never forget. Another tender mercy of a loving Father in Heaven. 

The Northridge transport team showed up to take Max to the Northridge NICU because there was no room for him at Henry Mayo. They introduced themselves, this is Zully, she will be the nurse that is with Max during transport and when he arrives at Northridge. I instantly loved Zully and the whole team. They were kind, compassionate caring and treated ALL of us. Zully made everyone aware that they would absolutely not leave the hospital until Nickell was out of recovery and had a chance to hold her baby’s hand.

(This photo was taken at the NICU in the Northridge hospital. It's unfortunately one of the only ones we got of our angel nurse.)

“He is fine, he is stable and nothing is going to happen to him. We will wait” 

Tender mercies (the Henry Mayo team had been telling us we had better take lots of photos because Mom would not get to see him for a few days). 

This is when I finally broke down and the tears flowed. I’m not sure why, because I was happy, sad, scared, exhausted, drained or all of the above. I went to a quiet corner and cried until I was ready to be strong again then walked with the team down to Nickell’s room so that she could see her baby before he was taken 40 miles away, She held his hand and brushed his cheek, said her goodbye’s and I love you’s and get well soon’s and they took him away. 

She cried as he left, realizing that she would leave the hospital without a baby. Something a mother should NEVER have to experience. At least he was in good hands. At least he was going to the best NICU in the area. At least he had a blessing before he left. At least he wasn't going to be alone.