Birth Story!

Michael David is officially here! He arrived on August 9, 2012 weighing in at 7lbs 4oz and measuring 22 inches long! He is such a little fighter and after reading his birth story, you will definitely agree that he is the strongest little man.

It all started at my doctor’s appointment on Wednesday at 12:30. Doctor told me I was only dilated 2 cm but I was 75% effaced, so technically I was still progressing appropriately. Since I was already at 39 weeks 4 days, I asked for an induction and scheduled one for that Friday at 7am. Well, apparently Michael decided that that just wasn’t soon enough. I got home from the appointment and for the rest of the afternoon, I had some pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions. It wasn’t until later that night at 9:30 that I started timing them. What do you know, the contractions were on average, 3 minutes apart and lasted about 1 minute long. I then waited until about 12:30am before calling my doctor to ask her whether or not she thought I should go to L&D (Labor and Delivery) at the hospital. I went in and they monitored Michael and I for about 2 hours. They and I decided that I should go home for the night and “labor at home” and then return to the hospital when the contractions become way stronger to the point that they were unbearable. In the meantime, I called David and he immediately got in his truck and started on the drive up from VA. Fortunately, because it was the middle of the night, he didn’t hit any traffic and made it to my house at 4am. I was up all night as the contractions got stronger. At 6:30am, I was pacing the house trying to cope with the pain; I took a shower, called the hospital and let them know I would be coming in shortly. David and I got to the hospital at 8:30am – by then I could barely walk/talk the contractions were so bad. I was immediately put in a bed and told to relax and just “labor through the pain.” Yea ok. After a few hours of excruciating pain, squeezing David’s hands numb, and the standard birthing moaning noises, I was begging doctors for an epidural, literally begging. To hell with the whole natural birth thing, I just wanted pain meds & relief. At 2pm I finally got the epidural and it was amazing…for the hour and a half that it actually lasted on me. For some reason my right side would start un-numbing about an hour and a half after getting the injections. I suffered some more as the contractions on that side were ripping through me and got an epi refill around 4:30pm. Around 5:30pm, after realizing that my lazy cervix really didn’t want to dilate much more than 6 cm or so, the midwife broke my water. (aka she poked a hole in the sac where the baby was to drain all the amniotic fluid and move the whole process along) It was then that pretty much all hell broke loose.

Once all the fluid came out, the midwife realized that it had a really weird look and smell to it, not like “normal” amniotic fluid. It was infected. Immediately I was stuck with an IV and given fluids and antibiotics to fight whatever kind of infection this may have been. During that time, I spiked a fever of 103 degrees +, my heart rate was in the 140s and Michael’s heart rate fluctuated between 160 and almost 200. I had no idea what was going on during this time, but David and my mom knew that something very bad was happening. With the fever, I was sweating bullets but was soo cold I was shaking so violently it really must have looked like I had epilepsy. On top of all of this, my 2^nd epidural refill was wearing off again on the right side. Another anesthesiologist came in around 7:30pm and pumped me full of meds. He was awesome and really hooked me up; so much so that I was completely numb from the ribs down for a few hours after that. I felt a little better, but both Michael and I were still not doing very well. Around 9:30pm, the midwife came in to see if I was dilated any further; apparently I was about 9cm and was given the go ahead to start pushing. I started pushing around 9:45pm. Thankfully I was 100% numb “down there” and couldn’t feel a darn thing. I had record time pushing apparently and got little Michael out in 11 pushes – 20 minutes! It wasn’t all fine and dandy though. David and my mom were holding my legs so I couldn’t see what was going on, I just pushed like I was taking the biggest poop on the planet. As Michael’s head approached the exit, it became very apparent to everyone (except me bc I was basically in a trance) that something was wrong. He was kind of stuck and something was holding him back. All of a sudden, midwife says his head is out and she begins calling for clamps and scissors. I can’t see what she’s doing but I’m wondering why David wasn’t cutting the cord as originally planned. Everyone is quiet, my mom and David are staring at what she’s doing and telling me that everything is fine when it really wasn’t. Turns out the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around Michael’s neck 3 times. Poor little guy couldn’t get out because the cord was choking him. Once the mw finished cutting it, he came out all the way. No crying, no screaming. Just silence. There were about 5 nurses also in the room with us. 3 of them grabbed Michael’s limp body and rushed him to the heating table. The next 5 minutes were the longest and worst 5 minutes ever. At first I didn’t realize what was going on, but when I finally did, I was hysterical. He wasn’t breathing, he wasn’t moving, he was white. After about 4 and a half minutes we heard a little cough and he moved just a little bit. The nurses quickly wrapped him up, brought him over to me and let me give him a kiss on the cheek and then they whisked him away. David went and stayed with him.

I was sewn back together and waited and waited to hear back from nurses or doctors as to what was going on with Michael. Finally the neonatologist came in and gave me a list of all sorts of tests and things that needed to be done, to include a spinal tap. David and I agreed to everything in Michael’s best interest. Meanwhile, I was still running this crazy fever of 103 and was told that once I was fever free, I had to go another 24 hrs of being fever free before I could go into the NICU and come into contact with Michael. I cried. All I wanted to do was hold my baby and I hadn’t gotten to do that.

24 hours later, 12:30am the next day, I was able to hold my baby Michael for the first time. David has it on video…me crying and being emotional while meeting my precious little man. He is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and I couldn’t/can’t get enough of him. Later that day around 10am, I spike another fever of 103. Not only am I back in quarantine from seeing my baby, but doctors are realizing that there is something wrong with me too. After a bunch of blood tests, blood cultures and a catscan, it is revealed that I have an infection from the amniotic fluid, a kidney infection/UTI, and fluid in my lungs – awesome! They started me on antibiotics and I waited for the next 24 hours to pass so I could see Michael again.

He, in the meantime, was doing GREAT! His tests were coming back negative for all the scary things that he could have been suffering from. The doctors decided however, to keep him in the NICU an extra week to continue giving him antibiotics against possible infection from the amniotic fluid. He is such a strong baby and such a fighter. Throughout his whole ordeal, he was so calm and peaceful, rarely crying, making the cutest faces and just being the best baby on the planet.

Now- he started breastfeeding on Monday and is an absolute champ at it! He now weighs 7lbs 10 oz! He eats round the clock so David and I don’t really get much sleep. :/ to be expected with a newborn… I finished my rounds of antibiotics and am now staying at the hospital just waiting for him to finish his antibiotics. He is getting discharged tomorrow – Thursday and will finally be able to come home!! We will have been here for an entire week, but in the end we are both healthy and strong and more than 100% ready to begin our new life as a little family.

Thank you to everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate it!