Here is the story of Charlie's birth. As with all births, some details of this story may be graphic. This is also very personal to me. So consider yourself warned. :) I'm also going to refer to Charlie as baby because we hadn't officially decided on his name.
At 5:15 am on Sunday, December 18th, I was peacefully sleeping. I woke up suddenly because I felt something and I knew that it was not urine. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom. I knew that what was coming out was the amniotic fluid. At first I thought "Oh no! We're not ready! Our babysitters are all set up for Wednesday and Thursday, not today!" (I was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday the 21st.) But then I was so excited to know that I would be holding my little boy before the day was through. I called to David who was still asleep. He woke up and I told him that my water had broken. He jumped up and was about to start throwing things into a bag (because of course my hospital bag was not ready). I told him he didn't need to do that and we could wait.
I then called my parents to tell them my water had broken. My dear father got up and made the drive down from Layton so he could stay with William and Henry. While we were waiting for my dad to come, I showered, did my hair and makeup, packed my bags, and ate a light breakfast. My dad arrived about 6:45am. We visited for a few minutes while David and I finished getting ready to go. Henry also woke up about the time my dad came. It was really nice getting to spend a little bit of one-on-one time with my baby before the new baby came!
Before we left, David and my dad gave me a priesthood blessing. David has given me a blessing before the births of each of our boys and I'm so grateful for that. I was blessed with comfort and that all would go well with the delivery of our baby. We then said our goodbyes and drove to the hospital.
Checking in at the hospital was interesting. The lady knew my name because she had seen it on the induction list for Wednesday. And of course I hadn't pre-registered so we had to get that taken care of. We were quickly taken back to a room. We were put in a room 2 doors down from the room where Henry was born. I secretly hoped we could be in the same room, but I didn't ask.
Here is my only pregnancy profile picture. We were in our room by 7:30am.
Andra was my first nurse. I recognized her but couldn't remember if it was from Henry's birth or from a different visit to the women's center while I was pregnant with Henry. But now I remember that she was one of my nurses after Henry was born. She was very kind and very excited for us. And she recognized us too. She first checked to make sure my water had broken and to see how dilated I was. The litmus test and the fluid on her glove confirmed that my water had indeed broken. And unfortunately I was still only dilated to a 1, but I was 70% effaced. She then started my IV.
I was started on pitocin right away since I wasn't having contractions on my own. They started me out at a 4 and would increase it each time they came in to check on me. After an hour or so a new nurse named Lori came in. She was a really nice nurse. She referred to me as Sis. At first I thought it was weird, but then I really liked it. It helped me feel more comfortable around her.
I progressed V E R Y S L O W L Y. Seriously. I couldn't believe it. And it didn't help that my sisters and dad had all placed bets on when I would have the baby and one sister (ahem... Becky) didn't think I would have the baby until almost 6 that night!
Lori turned up my pitocin each time she came in. Doctor Holmes came to check on me around 10 or so. I still hadn't dilated much. I told them that I was hoping to go natural. They gave me a few pointers. Then Dr. Holmes did an ultrasound to check the baby's position. He was head down, but somewhat posterior. His head was turned to the side instead of being face down. During this time they told me if I wanted an epidural that it would take at least half an hour for the anesthesiologist to come since it was a Sunday and he was at home. I wasn't too worried because I was really hoping to go natural.
By this time my pitocin was at 16. 20 is the highest they take it to. For the next half hour at least I tried really hard to be strong. But the contractions were incredibly strong and were coming so close together. I could also feel my contractions in my lower back due to the baby being somewhat posterior. David sat with me and rubbed my back when it hurt. He was so strong for me. It was really hard for him to see me like this, though. The contractions were incredibly painful and I was really struggling. I prayed throughout this half hour asking for help. I told Heavenly Father I wanted to go natural, I wanted to have that spiritual experience I've read about on so many other blogs. But I was in so much pain. It was at this time that I learned a very valuable lesson. One I hope I will never forget. Jesus Christ knew what I was feeling. I knew that. He knew I was hurting, He knew my desires, and He knew that my main desire was to have a healthy baby. I felt that an epidural was the best route for this birth. David and I talked about it. I knew it would help me calm down and I knew that it would bring comfort to David. I also knew and felt that God loves epidurals. They were created for a reason. I pushed my call button and told my nurse I needed an epidural. She made the call to the anesthesiologist and our wait began.
The next 45 minutes felt like an eternity. Contraction after contraction came, strong and hard. I did my best to breathe through them and David did his best to help me. I was so relieved when my nurse came in with the anesthesiologist. While he prepped for the epidural my nurse helped me through each contraction. She also turned my pitocin off. David had to sit down by this point. He doesn't do well with needles - especially when they are going into me. I was somewhat close to hyperventilating by this point because my contractions were so painful. I was breathing so deeply I was making it difficult for the anesthesiologist to place the epidural. But I slowed my breathing and the epidural went in perfectly. The anesthesiologist even complimented my back and said it was perfect for epidurals. He said he could play darts with my back and the epidural. Ha! Pretty funny compliment! The epidural took about 15 minutes or so to take effect. And when it did I was so relieved and grateful that I had made this choice.
The nurse checked me during this time and I was only at a 3. A THREE! I couldn't believe it. All those hard contractions and still just a 3. They both left and David and I were left alone. Lori said she'd be back in 15 minutes to check on me. She didn't come back for an hour... That hour felt like the 2nd longest hour of my life. I just laid in bed doing nothing. I felt like nothing was happening and it was torture.
Lori finally came back in. The baby's heart rate kept dropping with my contractions. Time for the oxygen mask. I really hate oxygen masks. They feel so constricting and I feel like I'm suffocating.
I'll do my best with the rest of the details, but things are a bit of a blur. My doctor came and checked on me. He had seen how the baby's heart rate kept dropping. The heart rate was typically at about 150 beats per minute. Well, with my contractions his heart rate was dropping down to about half that. At one point it was at 30 beats per minute. They started an IV line up through my cervix and into the uterus to give the baby a bit of a cushion. They also placed a monitor on his head to better track his heart rate. I was checked again and was at a 5 at least.
At one point at least 5 nurses flooded into my room (I was the only one in labor at the time so they all were watching me). Some were prepping for the baby, but they all were checking to see how the baby and I were doing. They were also prepping for a C-Section. Lori brought in a razor and a vial of something. She told Dr. Holmes the OR was being prepped just in case. They hoped that by prepping and being ready for a C-Section that I wouldn't need one.
I started praying fervently that I would not need a C-Section. I did not want a c-section and I prayed that the baby's heart rate would stop dropping. Thankfully his heart rate seemed to stabilize. My army of nurses left. My doctor at some point checked me again. I had further dilated and was almost completely effaced. He also manipulated the head so the baby would be face down and not posterior. We talked about what I wanted to do when the baby was born. I asked to cut the cord. He said that was fine. He then suggested that I could help pull the baby out and put him on my tummy. His daughter had given birth just a few hours before in Arizona and her doctor had had her do that. I excitedly agreed to help pull him out.
By about 1:55 or 2:00 I was ready to push - finally fully dilated and effaced. I could feel when I needed to push. I only pushed a few times and he was born! Once his head crowned Dr. Holmes had me reach down. I grabbed onto the baby's shoulders and helped pull him out. It was amazing, beautiful, intensely spiritual, and perfect.
He was very slippery! Thank goodness Dr. Holmes had a good grip on him too. He cried a good, strong cry. The cord was tied/wrapped around the baby's neck. Dr. Holmes got it off of him and then placed the baby on my tummy. Incredible emotions flooded me. I cried tears of joy and gratitude. It felt amazingly spiritual to hold my sweet little boy. The baby peed in my hand so the nurses wiped that off and then let me wipe him up a little bit. I then cut the cord. I snuggled my baby close and then they took him to check him.
My sweet, perfect little boy!
5 pounds 7 ounces
20 inches long
Born at 2:05 pm
While he was being checked out, I delivered the placenta. David did take a picture of it, but I will spare you from seeing that. It's pretty cool though. The cord was pretty small. I had been measuring small at least since my 20 week ultrasound. The baby measured about a week behind at that ultrasound. By the time I was 33 weeks or so the baby was measuring about 2 weeks behind. At each appointment after that I had an ultrasound to measure the baby. There was very little difference. At my last appointment when I was almost 38 weeks I measured small still and he measured about 33 weeks. It was best that our baby came early. The placenta wasn't giving him the nourishment he needed anymore.
David and our baby!
Mommy and baby!
One thing I love about Orem Community Hospital is that there is no rush to take the baby away. I got to hold and cuddle and feed my baby for a few hours before he first visited the nursery. It was during this time that we prayed and felt his name should be Charlie. I'll do another post later about his name.
Every baby is a miracle. But I feel that this baby of ours, our sweet Charlie, is a huge miracle. It's a miracle that he was born healthy - small, but healthy. It's a miracle that I didn't have a C-Section. And it's a miracle because he is a precious gift from our Father in Heaven.
Welcome to our family, Charlie!
We love and adore you!
