Around 34 weeks, we found out during a routine ultrasound that Tyler was breech. As it was, my doctor was concerned at little man's ever growing size, which is what originally prompted the ultrasound. All negativities had been ruled out...no gestational diabetes, no pre-eclampsia, etc. Apparently this little momma was just growing a big, healthy baby! We were given 2 weeks to see if he'd turn. Wanting very badly to avoid, not only an external version (an outside attempt to turn the baby), but also a c-section, I went home and hit the virtual medical world, trying to find any wacky way to encourage Ty to flip head down. Most suggestions involved me laying at strange angles, but I will be honest...I tried most of them. I'm sure it was quite entertaining, seeing as my balance was awful, and thanks to the fact that I was currently sharing a blood supply with a fetus, I got dizzy very fast. Like I said, I really didn't want the c-section. Feeling no such crazy movements over the next 2 weeks, and kicks and punches staying relatively in the same place, I returned to the doctor at 36 weeks and received the news I was expecting...Ty was still breech. Fearing what I had heard about external versions, I was a bit on edge at this appointment. My blood pressure was a little high and Ty wasn't cooperating during the ultrasound (he was marked as low activity), so I wound up on a fetal monitor for the next hour. When the doctor came in to check us, she began feeling around my ribs where his head was located. Next thing I knew, she was moving him. Oh holy geez. You certainly can't breathe when someone's entire fist is up inside your rib cage from the outside! Due to his inactivity, she didn't try very hard that day. I was sent home and told to return a week later with a decision to make. I spent the next week stressing over whether I should let them try to turn him again or go ahead with the c-section. I had to try. I desperately wanted to experience childbirth and I wanted to hold my baby as soon as he was born. At 37 weeks, ultrasound confirmed, yet again that little man was not only still breech, but exactly where he had been for a good solid month now. My gut said he wasn't going anywhere...but I let them try again. During the first attempt that day, the doctor actually made some pretty good headway. I found that mentally preparing myself for another external version made the whole process a bit easier. Still painful, but I at least knew what to expect. With the help of a nurse, they moved Ty's head from my left rib down to my right hip. Stopping for a breather for both me and herself (its takes a lot of work to move an unwilling baby in the womb!), she went to get an ultrasound machine to check Ty's heart rate (in the past he didn't like being moved). In that time Cooter and I watched at the bulge that was Ty's head slowly started moving back up my side. Stubborn, maybe? Apparently this little boy knew what he wanted! The doctor then tried to turn him the opposite direction with no avail and promptly scheduled a c-section. Feeling like I had truly exhausted my efforts to have a vaginal birth, I forfeited.
The upside to a scheduled c-section...an official countdown began! Unless I should go into labor on my own, we were anxiously awaiting Friday, June 10 at 7:30am.
I was pretty sure the night before my c-section would be one of the most restless nights of my life, but I spent surprisingly well, considering. We had to be at the hospital around 6am to get the show started, which meant waking up around 4am. You know that morning, Christmas Day, the day you leave for vacation, that's how I felt...times 1,000. Trying to keep both my nerves and excitement at a reasonable level, Cooter, Donnie and I headed off to the hospital. Mom, Dad, Jer, and Nicole beat us there. It was all completely surreal. There I was thinking, "I'm having a baby today." My mom even commented on how funny it was that I walked up the stairs (no elevator for me!) and into labor and delivery as calm as could be.
my belly shot at 38w6d
in front of labor & delivery
They put me in a triage room since I didn't need to take up any space laboring. I got changed into a gown and IV's all hooked up. From there it felt like time was crawling. We had nothing but a good hour to kill. If I was in an L&D room at least the family could've been there keeping us company. I've learned over the course of our 2 year baby journey that when Cooter is nervous, he is very quiet. So, he wasn't much entertainment either. I just tried to soak up all of the last few minutes of feeling Ty on the inside. Thanks to my nerves, he wasn't moving much. I did a lot of belly rubbing knowing I would feel completely different next time I felt it. The doctor came by around 7:15 to see if we were almost ready, the anesthesiologist came to meet me, as did my surgery nurse. They let everyone come back in my room for a minute and peek in to say goodbye. We had quite a crowd...Mom, Dad, Jeremy, Nicole, Tricia, Donnie, Rupert, Melissa, Justin & Emily. How weird, I thought as I hugged everyone...I'm off to have our baby!
this pic was text to everyone out in the waiting room
A little after 7:30 my nurse walked with me to the OR. Kinda weird walking in and sitting yourself on the operating table. Cooter was sent elsewhere with a pile of scrubs. I was surprised at the number of people busily working in there. Last time I was in an OR during my D&C, I was happily drugged up and honestly don't remember much about it except laying on really warm blankets. I know why. Its FREEZING in there! I was shivering so badly (and probably a bit from nerves) that the nurse had to bring me blankets to drape over my front while the anesthesiologist administered my spinal. That spinal is a trip! I had to practice sitting correctly and pushing my back out in a certain way. I don't really remember much pain from the stick (all I could think about was being SO cold), but once he began to inject the fluid into my spine, I felt a shock radiate down my left leg. I can't describe it. It was as if lightning struck my leg. The pain was short lived, but I was left with an uncomfortable sensation. Before I knew it, it was over. The nurse began to help me lay down on the table and I fully expected to be able to lift my legs myself. Talk about dead weight...I was amazed at how quickly my body had gone numb. Once I laid down, things started moving fast. A curtain was placed just under my chin (I don't know why, but on TV I always thought it looked further away), a nasal cannula was giving me oxygen, a thermometer stuck to my forehead, a clamp was put on my finger to monitor my pulse, a blood pressure cuff on my arm (which checked my BP every few seconds it felt like), and my arms were secured outward to the sides of the table and covered them with more warm blankets. The anesthesiologist parked himself right next to my head. I could hear voices everywhere. My doctor came in and let me know we were about to begin. For a second I panicked and thought that they forgot about Cooter. He appeared by my side shortly after and kissed me on the forehead. All talk of watching the whole c-section went out the window when he sat down beside me. When I asked him about it, he just shook his head silently. I've never seen him so scared. Apparently I was already prepped and covered in iodine when he walked in, so all he saw was a yellow belly.
My doctor made the announcement to begin. Freakiest sensation ever...I felt the incision being made. It didn't hurt, but I could tell that they were touching me. I felt the direction, she cut from left to right. Naive me thought any second we'd hear Ty's first cry. It takes a lot longer to cut through skin, muscle and fat, then into my uterus, break my water and fish around to find the baby. Being that my c-section wasn't an emergency, they took their time with each step, something I would later be thankful for as I recovered and nursed my scar. Before surgery, the nurse told me that I'd feel a lot of pressure all the way up to my chest. She described it as an elephant sitting on me. She nailed it. Between nerves, anxiety, excitement and lord knows how many arms up in your body cavity, its hard to get a good breath in. Suddenly I was thankful for the extra oxygen. My anesthesiologist was incredible. He was my play-by-play throughout the entire surgery. It felt like they dug around in me FOREVER. Then the anesthesiologist told Cooter he should stand up and look...there were two feet sticking out of the bottom of my belly. I began to well up knowing that I would get to see our baby soon. From there, I looked up and watched Cooter's face the rest of the time. Feet out, legs out, "it's definitely a BOY," chest out, arms out...pause. Yeah, his head was stuck. My biggest fear of delivering vaginally, and it happened during my c-section. LOL. Cooter said he was floored at how far back they pulled my incision as they wiggled Ty's head back and forth to get it out (I felt that part too). Suddenly a tear rolled down Cooter's face and I heard one small cry at 8:13am. Our baby is here!!! I watched my son being born through the eyes of my husband. My doctor held him up over the curtain and said, "look, quick, he's heavy!" I saw this scrunched up, gooey, red little baby. The most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on.
sneak peek
Meanwhile, my c-section was far from over. I was in the OR another 30 minutes or so while they delivered the placenta and put me back together. C-section fun factoid...you are gutted like a deer during delivery. Seriously, Cooter said he saw me inside out. I was taken to recovery for another hour or so (which felt like an eternity). Cooter came to see me and brought the camera so I could see pictures of Ty. I was really kind of bored in recovery since I was still completely numb. The highlight of my time there was eating ice chips. No food or drinks 12hrs before surgery, I was parched! I was feeling quite itchy all over and was given some medication for that. Finally a little after 10am I was wheeled to my room. When I left recovery, I saw my mom and Cooter in the hallway. During my transport I started feeling very dizzy and nauseated. I attributed it to the anesthesia and rolling around from bed to bed. Cooter left the room and went to get Ty from the nursery.
in recovery
proud Daddy
I had trouble nursing the first two days. The first day I was so weak and sick, I couldn't hardly sit up long enough to feed him. I also found out he wan't latching on correctly. With the help of a lactation consultant, we fixed the problem and got him eating like a champ. The second morning they came to get him for his circumcision shortly before his next feeding. He was gone for several hours. So between the first two days, he didn't eat well at all. He started losing weight (which is somewhat normal for newborns) at a faster rate than they were comfortable with. I kicked up the nursing, even staying awake to feed him every 2 hours at night. By the 4th day, my health had progressed well and they were ready to discharge me. As soon as they signed my discharge papers, the pediatrician came in and said that Ty had lost 9% of his body weight and his bilirubin levels (jaundice) were considered intermediate high. She recommended he spend the next 24hrs under the bili lights in the nursery. It wasn't required to discharge him, but she felt like if we took him home, we'd probably be back at the ER within 48hrs. I was immediately crushed. The only time Ty was not with us since his birth is when they took him to the nursery twice a day for his check-up. We decided it was best to have him taken care of then. They didn't waste time either...he was taken way within a couple of minutes. My mom was with us that morning. Oh I was SO sad. I had also been working so hard to nurse him and I didn't want to lose ground by not feeding him over the next 24hrs. I was really upset about giving him formula too. The lactation consultant came back and she was wonderful. She brought me a pump and showed me how to use it. She made a deal with the nursery that I could come in and feed him every 3hrs, or as often as he got hungry. I could nurse him in there for 20 minutes (that's as long as they wanted him out of the lights), and they would top him off with pumped milk instead of formula. A little background...the reason babies are jaundice is because their bodies aren't producing enough bilirubin, which helps eliminate waste. So basically we needed to feed him as much as he'd eat to get him pooping as often as possible. As soon as I'd feed him, I'd return to our room to pump for another 20 minutes. Considering I'd only been breastfeeding a few days, pumping was going great. I was able to send more than enough milk to the nursery for him each time. In fact, at discharge, we brought about 8oz of milk home with us!
If you remember correctly, right before Ty was sent for his light treatment, I had been discharged. I was NOT about to leave my baby, especially after all we had been though. Shift change was at 7pm and my nurse was working with our insurance company to see if they would cover one more night's stay. We contemplated staying at a hotel beside the hospital and coming back to feed him, we thought about basically "renting" the room for one more night, we thought about sleeping in the waiting room...we felt so helpless. Literally minutes before we thought we were getting kicked out (we had already loaded the car), the nurse came in and said she found a loophole. Technically, they would cover 96 hours of hospital time from the time I was checked in (6am Friday morning). So that meant we could stay the night! We had to be out of that room completely by 6am, but we didn't care. So my nurse did my discharge and had me sign all the paperwork that night since we'd have different nurses the next morning. The lactation consultant also said I could keep the pump as long as I was at the hospital, I could just keep it in the nursery. You have no idea what relief this was. My mom met us that morning, sitting on benches in the hallway, staring at the wall. She said we looked homeless. There we were with a diaper bag, boppy and cup of water. I had plastered my number all over the nurses station and Ty's bed in the nursery so at shift change that morning, I would continue to be called to feed him. I happened to be nursing during shift change and got to talk to the nurse. Ty's bloodwork at about 4am showed great improvement and if she was guessing, they'd be sending him home that day. I heard angels singing! I was SO ready to get my baby home! Another couple of hours passed before the pediatrician checked him out and said he was good to go and his discharge paperwork was all done. About midday, we got to take our 4 day old baby boy home! We brought Ty home on June 14th, our anniversary!
What a rush. What an amazing experience. What a blessing. This past year has been all that and more. Our son is the greatest gift from God.
Here's some of my favorite pics from Tyler's birth...
welcome home!
this is the same outfit Cooter wore home from the hospital
meeting Laila
