Alexander's Birth Story

 

One year ago, we were blessed with the sweetest gift from Heaven...

 

 

It was challenging getting diagnosed with preeclampsia at 32 weeks.
It was challenging being on bed rest for 5 weeks.
But nothing was more challenging than trying to make life-saving decisions for my unborn son.

We were supposed to go to the hospital on February 1st. Check-in was at midnight so I could be induced on February 2nd. Alexander would be 3 weeks early due to my health issues--which could only be cured/fixed/etc. if baby was born. My doctor made the decision to take him early so I could begin recovery and Alexander would no longer be put at risk for low oxygen and blood flow.

My best friend had flown in that Friday to be here for what would have been Alexander's baby shower on the 30th. It was cancelled because I was put on bed rest. Kayla arrived and I instantly felt a weight lift off my shoulders. I knew she would help me in any way she could. And being the fur- mom that I am, asked her to take care of my first-borns while I was at the hospital. She graciously agreed.

About three hours before I was supposed to arrive at the hospital for induction, I felt ill. Almost like I was going to throw up. I decided to take a bath and then lay down. One hour later, I woke up to a terrible contraction. As I started to make my way to the bathroom, I stopped in my tracks. Am I...leaking? 

Sure enough, my water had broke! Two hours before I was supposed to check-in.

We rushed to the hospital. Kelly may have run a few red lights, which I told him was dumb. But then we started timing my contractions. 3 minutes apart. 2 1/2 minutes apart...

I made it to the hospital--contractions and all.  Because of my preeclampsia, my doctor wanted to avoid my feeling contractions due to the pain. Pain raises blood pressure. Sure enough, my blood pressure was really high when I finally laid safely in a bed. The nurse ordered my epidural immediately (it should be noted I was always for having an epidural. Turns out my intuition was correct because the pain could have caused seizure, stroke, etc.).

A Romanian anesthesiologist came into my room after another major contraction. My nurse told me if I wasn't sick, I probably could weather natural birth like a champion. I told her I would prefer the epidural at this point.

The epidural itself wasn't bad...until the very end. I told my nurse I was going to be sick. Then it was over. However, I still felt nauseous. Don't even get me started on receiving a catheter. I'd rather get another epidural.

At one point, I told Kelly I was going to puke. He ran to get my nurse and she immediately gave me some medicine--which knocked me out. I slept from 1am - 7am without waking once.

Then things took a turn for the worse.

I was awoken by two nurses putting oxygen on me and telling me that they were going to have to take me to the OR immediately. I felt Kelly grab my hand as they wheeled me out of the room. I didn't even get a chance to see his face as they rushed me through the hospital. I just closed my eyes.

Once I was in the OR, the nurses began telling me that Alexander's heart rate dropped to 40. As they started prepping me for an emergency c-section, I felt myself beginning to panic. But I knew that if I panicked, my blood pressure would spike and I would only cause more problems. So, I just closed my eyes and waited for my doctor.

The nursing staff that prepped me were absolutely wonderful. They talked to me the whole time and asked questions, keeping my mind off the inevitable: an emergency c-section. They held my hand and gently rubbed my shoulders. As someone who was very much against induction and a possible c-section, the more I thought about it, the calmer I felt. My fears of a c-section started to alleviate when I realized that I wasn't feeling well at all. Not a "sickness", but something deep in the pit of my stomach. Something was very wrong.

Since I found out I was pregnant, the idea of my water breaking and Kelly rushing me to the hospital--where I would happily get my epidural--was kind of my "dream" birth experience. The moment I was told I would either have an emergency c-section or have to be induced at 37 weeks broke my heart in two.

"But I wanted the whole experience," I told Kelly, frustrated.

I cried a few tears, then got over it. Alexander's health was far more important than what I wanted for my birth experience. And I have learned a thing or two through pregnancy: God knows what he's doing. And everything always works out. Always.

When my doctor finally arrived, her beaming face put all my fears at ease. "We have Alexander stabilized for the moment. We can wheel you back to your room and see what happens, but I have a feeling we'll be right back here in 20 minutes or so. What do you want to do?"

Panic.

"What do you think I should do?" I asked her.

"I can't make that decision for you," she told me.

More panic. Where was Kelly?!

I took a deep breath and just breathed for a moment. Something inside of me said, "This does not feel right. Get the c-section."

"Let's do the c-section," I told my doctor.

Peace immediately followed.

"Can I get you anything?" one of the nurses asked.

"My husband," I told her.

Just as I said it out loud, I saw his face. "I'm having a c-section," I told him.

"I know," he replied.

It felt like forever waiting for that little baby cry. But I sat there, holding tightly to the love of my life's hand as my doctor got to work. Here's something no one ever tells you about c-sections: you feel stuff. You feel pulling and tugging. And right before your sweet little one enters the world, it feels like someone or something is sitting on your chest. Then baby cries follow.

As I was patiently waiting to hear my son's first cry, the doctor looked over and Kelly. "Kelly, get over here! You're cutting the umbilical cord. And get your camera out!"

Kelly's face turned white. "I don't know if I can handle seeing my wife like that."

"You will regret seeing this," she told him.

I pushed him in the direction of my son and he released my hand to go meet our child for the first time. As everyone was getting ready for Alexander's entrance into the world, a look of horror filled my doctor's face. She looked over and Kelly and said, "If we didn't do this right now, something really bad could have happened."

The umbilical cord was wrapped around Alexander so tightly that even if I had pushed, he would not have been able to come out vaginally. We would be where we were right there and then, but with possibly different results.

Kelly cut the umbilical cord after my doctor unwound him from its grasp. I heard the sweetest little cry and every nurse in the room said it was the sweetest thing they'd ever heard. They placed my son beside me and his little whimper subsided.

 

But when they took him away to take care of him, he screamed his head off, making the whole room giggle. Where had my sweet little whimpering boy gone?

Kelly spent the first hour and a half of Alexander's life with him as I snored loudly in recovery. I kept asking the nurse for more blankets (because warm hospital blankets are to DIE FOR) and she kept obliging. When they finally wheeled me back to my room, Alexander was immediately placed in my arms and I watched him for a long time while he slept.

When a new nurse came in to "check on things", she pulled off blanket after blanket laughing. "I was really cold" I told her as she gave me a hard time about the number of blankets I had acquired in recovery.

All-in-all, giving birth to my sweet little boy was the highlight of my life thus far. It didn't turn out as planned, but God taught me a very important lesson: things are not always as they seem. Sometimes, they turn out even better.