"Along came this
little miracle and no day was ever ordinary again."
On September 29th 2015,
those pelvic labor pains started in earnest! I was convinced our boy was
coming within the next 24-48 hours but during my appointment later that day,
Dr. Field's said I was only dilated 4 centimeters but progressing. Only 4
centimeters??!? I felt defeated. I thought I was going to be
whisked away to the Labor and Delivery floor right then and there, calling my
husband at work to say "It's time!" But a day later, the
contractions I was feeling every 15-20 minutes stopped entirely. When you
are bursting at the seams in anxious anticipating of the arrival of your little
one, especially a miracle baby, I can't even describe to you what a letdown
this was. The weeks before my due date were filled with sleeplessness and
discomfort. As much as I loved being pregnant, I was very ready for him
to come out!
Then on October 3rd, I
woke up around 6:30am with a contraction and they continued every 10 minutes!
I called Dr. Fields to let her know that I discontinued my blood thinner
injection that morning like we had discussed in case this was the day of
delivery. I had to be off the blood thinner for 12 hours to minimize my
risk of bleeding during vaginal delivery or a c-section, if I needed it.
My husband took one last silhouette picture of my baby bump at 39 weeks,
3 days and then off we went to see Dr. Fields again. The contractions
were getting closer and I was sure this was it but once again I heard I was
only four centimeters. Sigh. What's a girl gotta do to move things
along? She told me that I could be admitted to the Labor
and Delivery floor but that if I didn't progress much in the next few
hours they would push to induce me. Knowing my birth plan was to go
un-medicated for as long as possible, Dr. Fields advised me to wait at home
where I would be more comfortable and I could rest. So back home we went.
I bounced on my exercise ball, napped a bit and around 7pm, the
contractions started getting closer and more intense. I had been texting
Dr. Fields about my progress, or lack thereof, for most of the day but this
time she said it was go time! YAY!! We were finally going to meet
this little one!
I was admitted to Labor
and Delivery at 9pm and at that time I was five centimeters and my contractions
were two minutes apart. I used my hypnobirthing techniques and was doing
great without medication. Dr. Fields checked me around 1am and I was
eight centimeters now, less than two minutes apart but my water had not fully
broken yet. I wanted to try the hot tub to see if that helped relax me
with the contractions. It felt great at first but then I began to
overheat. The jets were jostling me around and I started getting
nauseous. I remember looking up at my husband and saying "find a
garbage can!" and I was heaving a few seconds later. God bless my
husband because I know he is not one to handle vomit well! But he did!
He held himself together enough to hold my hair back and a trash can in
front of my face without throwing up all over both of us too. Talk about
for better or worse! Thanks, honey! You are a lot stronger than you
think. :)
Once I was back in my
room, Dr. Fields suggested manually breaking my water because I was still only
eight centimeters and now exhausted from laboring for over twenty hours.
Even though the contractions were coming around one minute apart with
little break between them, there wasn't any indication of progress from a
positional standpoint. If my water broke fully, my son's head would be
able to descend into my pelvis and hopefully get this show on the road.
This wasn't part of my birth plan but I accepted Dr. Fields
recommendations knowing full well she understood my medical history and the
current state of affairs. She also suggested a pain medication because
breaking my water meant that the contractions would come fast and furiously; the
medication would take the edge off a bit. She wasn't joking about those
contractions! The medication lasted for less than an hour though and had
me feeling loopy and very out of it. I did not like it! And the
pain? It was the worst I have ever felt in my entire life! It was
like endometriosis on steroids! I kept telling my husband that I would
prefer to be stabbed or shot repeatedly! At least the initial pain would
be over but those prangs of childbirth just kept coming wave after wave.
It wasn't long before there was no break between the contractions at all.
They just kept coming and coming but I never got the urge to push.
This went on for another five hours. I vividly remember praying to
God to just make it stop. I closed my eyes and tried to use my
hypnobirthing techniques but by this time, I was too far gone to mentally get
back there. I just closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and tensely prayed
for those five hours! I sang to myself, specifically hymns about
deliverance... literal deliverance! For me and this baby! I will
never again be able to sing "You Are My Hiding Place" and "As
the Deer" the same way again.
Dr. Fields came in to
check on me again around 8am. I was still only eight centimeters after
more than seven hours of transitional labor and the baby still wasn't
descending into my pelvis. When I heard this, I knew what was coming and
I was finally on board with it. I gave an un-medicated vaginal delivery
everything I had but this abuse had to end. If I was close to pushing or
had any sort of progress since the last check five hours ago, I am certain I
could have mustered up strength and determination to continue on but without
that glimmer of hope that the natural end was near, I relinquished my birth
plans and just said "we need to get him out!". Dr. Fields was
convinced my boy was stuck and it was clear that a c-section was medically
necessary. My husband was worried and we both started crying and holding
hands knowing that a surgery could further complicate my already complicated
pregnancy and delivery. In the brief moments when I could breathe between
contractions, I tearfully prayed for protection for our son and me. I
prayed that the Lord would hold us both close and bring us through yet another
hurdle in our path to becoming a family.
Moments later, I was
being prepped for surgery in the operating room. I was still in a
tremendous amount of pain and the anesthesiologist had to wait until the peak
of my contractions were over before attempting to give me the spinal.
This is when Dr. Fields placed my hands on her shoulders and wrapped her
arms around to hug me for physical support and encouragement as the needle
slipped in. It was exactly what this weary and battered mother-to-be
needed. I can't say enough wonderful things about Dr. Fields! Truly, God handpicked her to be my doctor knowing she would be there to
cheer me on and support me during my most trying days. The spinal
immediately gave me relief! And I mean, the greatest, fullest and
quickest relief I have ever felt in my life!
Once I was down and the
curtain was up over me, my husband was allowed to come in and sit near my head.
I could feel pressure and some pushing on my belly as he squeezed my hand
the way he does when he's silently telling me he loves me. The last
moments of our era as a party of two breathed their last and gently yielded to
our new, wonderful, hard fought season of three as our baby's cry filled the
air. The next thing I knew Dr. Fields said "Here he is!"
I couldn't see him because of the curtain but I could hear his sweet
little voice crying for his warm home and immediately my eyes filled with tears
and I sobbed! Like hard core ugly cry sobbing! We made it!
He's here! He's healthy! He has all of his little fingers and
toes! I still couldn't see him though and this was starting to upset me.
The nurses were busy cleaning our boy up and taking his vitals while my
husband took pictures. Then they brought him over to me and when my eyes
gazed at this tiny human who I knew so well but had never seen, I fell in love
with my son all over again. He was perfect, just perfect! And he
was mine! It was like my heart grew a thousand times larger in those
seconds and it felt like it would just burst out of my chest! With tears
still flowing from my eyes, I kissed his precious, little face and my soul just
kind of went "There you are! I have been waiting forever for
you!"
Stay Tuned for Part 15:
God Has Given
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