Mike and I rang in the New Year at our home and then headed to the hospital. We were feeling every emotion as left our home and drove knowing we weren’t going to enter our home again without being parents. We were quickly checked in by our friends (the other nurses whom I was able to pick to work that night). Once I was all hooked up, IV in place and some inducing medicine placed, the lights were turned off and Mike and I were to go to sleep. HA! Yea, sleep is the last thing we did. We positioned the heart rate monitor/contraction monitor facing us and I taught Mike everything we were looking at. It didn't take long to notice that his heart rate was dropping a bit. Not a huge deal, everything was still okay, but something I didn't like seeing. This pattern continued then though the night.
I began feeling contractions at about 3:00 am and oh my word! I quickly learned I'm not a fan of contractions and they definitely solidified my desire for an epidural later on in the morning. By 6:00 am I was feeling strong contractions but not yet ready for the epidural, so I was an idiot and requested some medicine. I knew not to take this medicine; I just knew it from watching its reaction with other patients. However, the pain was speaking and I gave in. For the next little while I didn't really have much pain, but I was sure high on this medicine. Lets just say pretty drunk acting. Mike said the craziest things were coming out of my mouth. After getting sick 3 times, the medicine was out of me.
Around 8:00 am my epidural was placed. I was so scared getting the epidural. The fear of the unknown I guess, but it was the easiest thing and I barely felt it at all! It began working very quickly which I was SO thankful for. Soon after this my doctor came to break my water and that's when the excitement begun.
When your water breaks it’s supposed to be clear fluid, well mine wasn't, it was dark brownish. Its what is called thick meconium. Meaning little Brody had his first bowel movement inside the womb which means he was in stress, not a good sign. Sweet little Brody’s heart rate continued to drop down, however once my water broke, it dropped even further and lasted a whole lot longer. I kept turning side to side, I had to wear oxygen the remainder of labor, they kept giving me tons of extra fluid, my Pitocin was turned off and they also started an amnioinfusion on me (pumping fluid back into my placenta to give Brody more “cushioning”). Doctor was thinking this was all because one of two reasons. Reason one, what we were concerned with a few days before the induction, that my placenta just wasn’t doing its job at nourishing Brody anymore. Or reason two, his cord was wrapped around his neck being compressed often with each contraction. At this time I was only dilated to 3.5-4 cm. I stayed pretty calm through all this, trying not to alarm Mike, even though my mind was going nuts. I hated every second that I just knew too much. Doctor stayed in my room pretty much all morning watching the monitor and just trying to reassure Mike and I. I was so appreciative of having such a great doctor! At about 9:00 am, the talk of a c-section came into play. I signed all the consents and was just waiting for the word. I was surprisingly calm at this possibility, even though the thought of a c-section used to freak me out. I went into “mom” mode and whatever it took to get Brody out safe, I was willing to do. Doctor was going to continue to wait just a few more hours to see if anything changed, by noon a decision would be made.
My dad, step mom, sister and brother came up to visit for a bit. Meghan ended up staying the remainder of the morning. Also some friends came up to pray with us at 10:30. They brought such great comfort in reminding us that everything was in the Lord’s hands. Brody’s heart rate continued to drop low and I just knew a c-section was coming soon.
At 11:30 doctor checked me again. We were out of options. If I wasn’t close to being complete, we would be having this baby by c-section. Now, this is how great the Lord is. New moms don’t dilate quickly at all. It’s a very slow process. Well I went from 4 cm at 8:30sih to 9.5 cm by 11:30!!!! We were almost ready to push! We all just knew that baby Brody needed to come out. Doctor went to change and grab a bite to eat, while remaining on the floor. 10 minutes later as I was watching the monitor, Brody’s heart rate dropped to the 70’s. I remained as calm as I could as I asked Mike to help me flip my body to the other side and I pushed the nurse button quickly. My nurse hurried in, turned up my IV fluid and pressed the emergency light. My doctor and other nurses ran into the room and got to work. I looked at Mike and Meghan and calmly asked them to sit in the chairs that were in the room. I now was convinced we would be doing a STAT c-section and I didn’t want them in the way of everyone getting me ready to move out. Everyone was setting everything up VERY quickly, they put my legs in the stirrups and doctor just looked at me and said, “Ashley start pushing now.” I asked Mike to come back over and I became my own labor nurse as everyone was getting everything else ready. Mike and I did a few pushes on our own before everything was set up. After a couple minutes Brody’s heart rate went back to normal so c-section was for sure out of the running. For the next hour I pushed and pushed. He was getting stuck because he decided to come out face up!
At 1:06 pm sweet Brody literally flew out. My heart stopped when I didn’t hear him cry. The doctor and nurse left my side and took him to the warmer to suction him and place him on oxygen. After about a minute Mike and I heard the greatest noise, the cry of our son! I layed on the bed sobbing with joy as I watched everyone tending to him and hearing Mike, who was also crying, saying how perfect he was. I have never been so happy in my life. I was overwhelmed with pure exhaustion and complete love. I hope to never forget that moment! I later found out that Brody’s cord was tightly wrapped around his neck and his body and that is part of the reason he wasn’t doing so great. Also the placenta looked like junk! It definitely had stopped “working” a few days before this day. We were all so grateful that we went and scheduled the induction instead of waiting for my body to go into labor on its own. Everything has been sent for testing to see what happened. It may just be that I don’t carry babies past 38 weeks.
So, that is the story of how our little man came into this world. We joke that he did indeed make a grand entrance. We can’t stop praising the Lord for His provision and holding us all in His hands! Really, He is the ONLY reason that Brody is here with us now and doing so well! Thank you Lord!
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