Birth Story

Rob & I were so prepared for Carleigh’s delivery. We took a Childbirth Education Preparation class with Liz Chalmers from Birthzone while she was visiting Sig. I typed up our birth plan and we went over it with our OBGYN. I packed our hospital bag with great care & detail, being sure I would have everything I might want during labor.

 

At about 38 and a half weeks we started really wanting Carleigh to make her entrance. I ate tons of pineapple & we walked around the neighborhood a lot. Despite the discomfort & huge belly, it was kind of fun knowing baby girl could come any time & doing whatever little things we could to try to get my body ready.

 

My mom (Grammie) arrived in Sig on Wed Nov 7. We got her all settled & thankfully she got some good sleep Wed night. She went with us to our 39 week appointment with our wonderful OBGYN  Dr. Elizabeth Adriano the next morning.

 

At this appt the Dr wasn’t even planning to check my dilation because I wasn’t having contractions & I had no desire to for her to check me up to this point, but Rob really wanted us to do something. Thank the Lord for putting it on Rob’s heart to be so persistent and encourage me to get checked. She also didn’t feel the need to check me because Carleigh had been head down at my last appointment, but when she checked she found that baby girl had turned breech (head up, butt or feet down) in the last few days. She did an ultrasound to confirm. It is very dangerous especially for first time mamas to deliver breech. At this time we didn’t even know that Carleigh’s umbilical cord was also wrapped around her several times, which would have also made delivery very dangerous for us.

 

So we went back in to the hospital a few hours later for an “external cephalic version” which is a procedure where the Dr used her hands on the outside on my belly to actually flip baby’s body and turn her head down. They gave me an epidural & some terbutaline before the procedure to help my body be completely relaxed in hopes of the procedure being successful. And it was. Dr. Adriano successfully flipped Carleigh & turned her head down. The plan then would have been for her to go ahead and induce me to avoid Carleigh turning again. But we didn’t get that far. My heart rate was up & Carleigh’s heart rate dropped. It went from the normal 160’s to the 60’s & 70’s and wasn’t coming back up. We knew c-section was a possibility later in the day if the version didn’t work because it would be a safer option than delivering her breech. I’m sure they told us the risks and possibilities but we honestly did not realize/expect that emergency c-section might happen because baby girl was fading fast. We also didn’t realize the huge difference in a planned/calm c-section and an emergency/baby & mama’s-lives-are-on-the-line c-section. At this point my mom & Rob were watching the monitors & ultrasound screen while the Dr was trying to find Carleigh’s heart beat. I had on my oxygen mask & all I could hear was Rob telling me I was doing good & our wonderful nurse Katie telling me over & over to take deep breaths for Carleigh.

 

When baby girl’s heart rate didn’t come back up, they rushed me to the OR. Thankfully I already had an epidural from the version so I was able to stay awake & avoid general anesthesia & intubation (I would have had a breathing tube & not remembered anything.) The nurse anesthetist was wonderful. He kept me calm when Rob wasn’t in the room & continued talking to me through the whole thing. Everyone was so serious & everything was happening so quickly. My heart was breaking that this was happening & I was so scared waiting on them to get my baby girl out. She was probably out about 5 to 10 minutes after they decided to do the c-section. Dr. Adriano was so amazing and Carleigh was perfect! Rob & I both cried right away when we heard/saw Carleigh. She was so beautiful & we are so thankful to God that she was so healthy & strong. They took her right away to be assessed & it was hard laying there alone in the OR but I wanted Rob to go with her. Then I heard someone say her Apgars were 9/9, which is great! I was so thankful to hear that. After they took Carleigh back to our room, the rest of the c-section was pretty painful so they added some meds and finished up.

 

 

I had to stay in recovery lying pretty flat for about an hour but they brought in my sweet girl after a little while and put her skin to skin on my chest. She was having some problems maintaining body temp so skin to skin was perfect even though I couldn’t breastfeed right away. This is when I learned that her umbilical cord was wrapped around one leg, the other arm, twice around her neck, and twisted! Oh my! So a vaginal delivery would have been dangerous not only because she was breech but because baby being wrapped in the cord like this would have most certainly caused cord compression or difficult delivery.

 

Oh, how our birth plan went right out the window! We knew it was just sort of a flexible guideline of how we wanted things to be, but I thought things would sort of, kind of follow our plan. But God is bigger than my plans! This was the scariest & most awful experience of my life, but I am so thankful that God did not answer my prayers about Carleigh coming soon & me going into labor. He knew she was breech & all wrapped up in her cord long before we did. Even though the delivery was difficult for us, it was the very best thing to keep us both safe and healthy. Baby girl is still doing so well & we are so in love with her!

 

I don’t know what we would’ve done without Grammie! She helped us get through those nights at the hospital & held Carleigh for hours. At home she insists on doing dishes & laundry, etc & still helps a ton with baby things. She has been a life saver.

 

 

 

I also could not imagine this experience without my sweet husband. He held my hand & talked me through the pain. He stayed by my side, encouraged me the whole way, & physically helped me with things like my first painful shower at the hospital & walking to the bathroom. He is also wonderful at being a daddy. At the hospital he got so good at swaddling & calming Carleigh with the techniques we learned from Happiest Baby on the Block. I am so thankful for my love.

 

 

 

I am also thankful for several friends that came & visited us, especially Jen & Phil and Shannon & Jon for keeping us fed & just being awesome. Oh & the sweet ladies from the Sigonella Mommy Helpers group that fed us dinner all week!

I could not possibly have included all of the details and things that happened, and this post is already so long. I have been humbled by this experience and have learned to stop thinking that things will go a certain way just because I said so. I have learned to rely more on God & my sweet friends & family. This Thanksgiving, I just have so much to be thankful for!