A Nerd Like Me

7

Westley: A Birth Story

What a month it’s been! The last few weeks of pregnancy were rough on me. So rough that by the time Westley was induced at 4 days overdue, 50% of my legs were covered in a rash (poison oak, PUPPS, something else?) and I was so incredibly miserable from that. Basically, my immune system gave up on me, so I scheduled the induction. Our story is one that still scares me to think about. It was the longest, hardest day of my life, but also the happiest. Our little family went through things that day that I will never forget.

The day before going to the hospital, I began having second thoughts. I was scared of being induced, worried about the possible complications, thought I was cheating my way into labor, and sad that I was taking away our “Oh my gosh, I’m in labor!” moment. In the end, I calmed down and let it happen as planned.

I was dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced for an entire month before getting induced, so as soon as they put me on the drip at 8am, I started contracting and my water broke on its own shortly thereafter. Y’all, I was so excited about my water breaking on its own! It was nice to have that moment of surprise in such a planned and scheduled event. the contractions got harder and I was progressing, slowly but surely.

By 4pm, the contractions were so intense and awful that I just KNEW I was already 10cm and ready to push. I mean, what I was feeling just HAD to be the end of labor. Keep in mind, I wanted an unmedicated birth, so I was feeling absolutely everything…and “everything” turned out to be super intense back labor. Fun times, let me tell you.

I told Drew to get the nurse because it hurt too much and it must be time to push. I cried when she checked me because of the pain, only to find out that I was just 4cm and nowhere near ready. That’s when I broke down and begged for an epidural. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I gave up on my unmedicated birth plan after 8 hours, but I was not upset with myself for it. I tried, which was what I wanted to do. I couldn’t have even gotten through the first hour without Drew by my side. He was the most amazing coach. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to have gone through this with.

After the meds, things got so much better…for a little while. I was still progressing, but Westley had other plans. He was no closer to my birth canal at 7pm than when I came in 12 hours earlier. My doctor wanted to give it a little more time to see if that would change. She didn’t want to jump right into a c-section without absolutely trying everything else.

The next few hours are a blur to me. They were the most intense hours of my life. My blood pressure began to drop, which made me very sick. Also, Westley was in distress, causing the nurses to constantly move me every which way to hopefully alleviate his stress and get his heartbeat back on track. After a few hours of this and still no drop from our little man, the doctor came to the conclusion that the cord was most likely wrapped around his neck in such a way that it was keeping him from moving down. At 10pm, after 14 hours of labor, the decision was made to perform a c-section immediately.

That’s when things got really scary. This is when I had sort of an out of body experience. My doctor was in the middle of telling us all about the surgery when my BP dropped to the point that I became very ill. My body began to shake uncontrollably, my vision blurred, my arms and hands were tingling, and I started vomiting. I could hear the doctor order some kind of medicine for me and could feel the nurses helping me, but I was in my own world at that point.

Finally, I was being carted off to the operating room. I remember telling Drew that I’ve always wondered what it felt like to be rolled away to surgery. Now I don’t ever want to experience it again.

My doctor and the entire L&D staff were amazing. The c-section went well. It was, in fact, the cord wrapped around his neck, which actually makes me think that labor never would have started on its own anyway, especially since I was dilated for a whole month without making any further progress.

Westley came out with a big voice! And he was a super healthy 8 pounds, 20.5 inches. He’s built like a linebacker, I tell ya! And I’m definitely a proud mama because his Apgar score was 9.9, which is basically the best you can get since apparently no baby gets a full 10. In other words, he’s perfect!

Drew was such a proud parent in that OR. What a sweet sight to see tears in his eyes as he walked over and told me how beautiful our son is. I’m tearing up just remembering (but I’ve been doing a lot of crying lately, especially when I think about the birth…stupid hormones).

After 14 hours of labor and major abdominal surgery, Drew and I were so happy to welcome little Westley into the world. He stole our hearts in an instant and we will never be the same. Things may not have gone as planned, but I can’t help but think that this was really the plan all along…I just didn’t know it.

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