Cannon's Birth Story
I went in for a routine OB visit on Tues, April 19th at 3PM. Did my NST (non-stress test), went over our "Birth Plan" with the doctor and got my routine ultrasound. The doc told us they wanted to admit me to the hospital to monitor me and baby - they saw some fluid in his chest on one side that they had not seen the week before (or atleast didn't notice it). And there was a little bit of fluid around his heart that had reappeared.
We were admitted to an L&D room shortly after arriving at 7:30PM.They hooked me up to the EFM, the doc examined me and said I was already dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced. They kept me on the EFM until 2AM and FINALLY took it off of me so I could get some sleep, so I got about 4 hours total.
The next morning they did an echocardiogram - he still had the fluid but was doing well as far as heartbeat, movement, etc. The OB came in and said that we would probably be able to go home, we just had to wait to hear back from the cardiologist. This wasn't the first time we heard this either so I was excited to be able to go back home! We'd been doing our Bradley Method for 10 weeks and I knew if they had to induce me...the chances of natural birth would be rather slim since they'd be augmenting my labor. We WAITED forever and the cardiologist gave us the news...baby was safer out than in. They basically said they weren't sure why the fluid was there or how much faster it could accumulate and there would be nothing they could do for him unless he was in their care. I cried...this was NOT part of my plan but I was not about to risk the safety of my baby. The next step was to get me started on pitocin but I asked them if we could wait for a little so I could "prepare" myself.
My bro-in-law Quinton went and picked some stuff up from our house since we had only packed to stay 1 night, Carrie stopped by to visit and Kara came and worked on my feet for me. We stalled for quite some time, we went to eat, walked around the hospital, curb walked...just to see if I could put myself into labor :~) haha! (Stubborn I know). When we got back the nurse said the nurse midwife from my OB office stopped by to break my water for me. Say what? That was not presented to us as an option before! With the help of Kara, Q and our Bradley teacher...we decided breaking my water would be the most natural approach. I would still be able to move around, wouldn't be hooked up to an IV, and the doc said my cervix was nice and ripened so they thought it'd be pretty successful.
5:10PM - OB breaks my water - 15 mins later I felt my first contraction. I had 4-5 min breaks in between so it wasn't too bad. We figured we'd go walk around the hospital but that didn't happen b/c they started coming hard and fast. The only breaks in between were to change positions or have the nurse readjust the stupid EFM that I wanted to rip off of my body!
6:45ish - Nurse checks me and I'm at a 7 - contractions are 1-1.5 mins apart. Rod was incredible...he was there with me the entire time helping me relax and encourage me. Couldn't have done it without him!
7:15 - I got in the shower and that's when I went into transition...it was short lived b/c a few contractions later I felt like I had to push. They moved me to the bed and I was at a 9! Not being able to push WHILE trying to relax was so frustrating!!! Talk about cancelling eachother out! HA! They checked again and I was at a 9.5 and that's when the room started getting prepped. I had 2 awkward pushes - I felt like I was going to break the stirrups off the bed and I didn't quite know what to do. 3rd push baby crowned...4th he was OUT at 7:50PM.
They put him on my tummy b/c the cord was too short, he wasn't changing color fast enough so Rod cut the cord and they took him to NICU where Rod was with him the whole time.
3rd stage was not ideal...I had cord detachment/placenta retainment. Basically meaning if they didn't get my placenta out quick - I was going to bleed out. Unfortunately for me that meant i wouldn't be able to deliver it on my own...the doc physically had to retrieve it! This is the part that hurt...I may have been screaming just a little bit - which I'm quite embarrassed about now! :~(
I realize there's no gold medal given to anyone who delivers naturally, and I don't think epidurals are bad...but with everything our little man was already having to deal with - I didn't want anything "extra" getting to him that wasn't necessary. I can't put into words what a miraculous experience it was. Rod was utterly amazing and is the cutest daddy ever (which I knew he would be).
I can't seem to get the pics off of my camera for some reason - so I'll have to attempt that again later. Cannon is a trooper - we are so in love with this little boy! Thanks for all the prayers on his behalf, we are truly blessed!
