My Son’s Birth Story

It was this day 2 years ago that we welcomed my sweet little boy into the world. I can’t imagine my life without my little guy. He’s such a funny little character and so full of energy! Today seems like the perfect day to share his birth story. Although it was the happiest day of my life, the day did not go smoothly for us.

I had attended the prenatal classes but I didn’t really pay attention to the parts on c-sections and the dangers of high blood pressure. My blood pressure has always been really low so I didn’t feel like high blood pressure was something I needed to be worried about.

On Thursday, May 5^th, 2011, my doctor recommended that I go into the hospital to be induced. I had been experiencing issues with high blood pressure for 3 weeks and was in and out of the hospital more times than I could count. She left the decision up to me on whether or not I wanted to be induced but she was clear about her recommendation. I was only two days away from my due date but the issues with my blood pressure were getting worse. I felt that being induced was the right decision and I was so excited to soon meet my little boy.

The next morning I received a call from the hospital telling me that they were ready to start the process for being induced. Knowing that it would be a long process, my husband stayed at work while my mom came to the hospital with me. The process seemed to go well and I was sent home a few hours later to wait until labor started. I couldn’t believe that I would meet my little man soon!

A few hours after I got home, something didn’t feel right. I started having major pain in my lower back and I didn’t know if this was some sort of labor pain. I took all of the prenatal classes but I wasn’t expecting such strong pain in my lower back with no pain in the front. Throughout my pregnancy, my little guy was always moving around in my belly but now he hadn’t moved in several hours. I called the hospital to ask if I should come in and told them that I was worried. They said that it was normal for babies to go periods of time without moving but I knew something wasn’t right and I went to the hospital anyways. I am so glad that I did – always trust your instincts.

Once at the hospital, I was hooked up to several machines to monitor both me & the baby. Even at the hospital, they weren’t seeing any movement from him at all and his heartbeat was dropping to dangerous levels. I hadn’t dilated at all and I remember thinking to myself “If labor hasn’t even started yet, how am I going to get through this?”. I was in so much pain and I was so worried about my little guy. The machines kept going into alarm and the nurses would come in saying things like “This doesn’t look good” or “I’m not comfortable with this” but the doctor kept insisting that it was too early to make the decision for a c-section. As you can imagine, I was completely overwhelmed! Do I insist that the doctor does a c-section or do I trust his expertise?

I was feeling such a wide range of different emotions and so many questions were going through my mind. Did I make the right decision to be induced? Would he be in this situation if I would have told my doctor that I didn’t want to be induced? Should I tell the doctor that I want an emergency c-section or was the decision even up to me?

After almost 12 hours at the hospital, the doctor told me that it would be awhile before my son was born. I sent my husband home to get some sleep and my mom came to stay with me. It was then that there was a shift change in the hospital and another doctor came on shift. The new nurse with me was looking at the monitor and I could see that she was worried. She went to talk to the doctor and within a few minutes the doctor came into the room and I received the worst news of my life.

“We have to do an emergency c-section right now. I don’t know if the baby will survive but I will do my best.”

As you can imagine, I was crying uncontrollably. My mom was trying to comfort me but she couldn’t stop crying either. I couldn’t imagine losing my baby. My mom quickly called my husband and my dad and told them to get to the hospital immediately. In the meantime, I was being prepped for surgery.

Thankfully my husband made it to the hospital just as they were taking me down the hall for surgery. My little guy was born about 15 minutes after my doctor made the decision to do the surgery. I’ve never witnessed a birth before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I always thought that when a baby was born that they would immediately start crying. My little guy wasn’t making any noise at all. There were so many people in the room, including a pediatrician, who immediately took my son into a corner and started examining him. I didn’t know if he was okay and I remember crying for someone to give me an answer.

It was probably only a few seconds before someone gave me an answer but it seemed like such a long wait. I had a healthy baby boy born at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 ¾ inches long. They took him to the nursery and my husband went with him while they finished working on me. It was close to 2 hours before I had the opportunity to see him and hold him. He was adorable! So tiny – so perfect!

The doctors never were able to explain why we came so close to losing him. This is why I’m too scared to go through another pregnancy. My little guy is healthy and perfect in every way and I am so thankful for him. I still cry when I think of the day he was born and all of the stress and uncertainty that we went through. I can’t go through that again.

So now we are a happy & healthy family of three! My little guy is my best buddy and I love him more than I could have ever imagined loving anyone.

Did your pregnancy go as you imagined it would?

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