Declan's Birth Story: Unabridged/Unedited

            Just like his sister, Declan decided to make a late arrival into this world.  Thankfully for us, he decided to make us wait only 4 extra days to meet him since he arrived when I was 40 weeks, 4 days pregnant.  Although, according to the last ultrasound we had for him at 20 weeks, the 17^th was his due date making him really only one day late.  The doctors were using the 13^th as his due date though so that is what we went by since that would determine how long they would let us wait for him. J

            Our desire was to have Declan arrive naturally just as we had planned for with Alethea.  So this meant having a VBAC since I had to have a c-section due to Alethea’s position.  Our doctors were on board with that thankfully and so we planned accordingly.  The other factor that added some fun to the mix was the fact that I tested positively for group B strep so I was going to have to be on meds for a period of time before giving birth.  Despite all these factors, the plan was still to have a VBAC.

            However, as we have learned many times before, God sometimes has a better plan.  The Friday before his arrival, I had started having what I thought was extra discharge due to impending labor.  So, we were anxiously awaiting the contractions to arrive.  Saturday morning I started back labor and sporadic contractions that continued on into Sunday as well.  This is how labor started with Alethea so I knew we were in business before long. J  Sunday night I lost what I think was part of my mucus plug and lost more Monday morning.  Contractions got stronger through the night, but I was still able to get a decent night’s sleep.

Monday morning I went in to see the doctor and check on progress.  I didn’t really think there was any need to mention the extra discharge.  I did tell the doc that I had been having contractions, but at that point I hadn’t really been timing them at all.  I was measuring at 2cm dilated and about 75% effaced, which didn’t really surprise me even if I was hoping for more progress.  Just for fun, on the way home from the doctor I decided to count (not time) my contractions and I had 4 contractions in the 15 minute drive so things were looking like they were picking up. 

So I decided I might as well go for one last run, lol.  That’s when things got interesting.  I went for a 3.6 mile run and it felt great!  I was continuing to have contractions, even some that I had to slow down for. J  The only issue was that at this point, I was thinking that maybe the discharge I had been experiencing might have actually been amniotic fluid leak since I experienced it with every contraction on my run and by the end of the run, I felt like I had literally peed myself with the amount of fluid that had leaked.  Basically at this point, I knew we were going to the hospital that day, it was just a matter of when. 

When I got back to the house, I filled my mom in on what was going on and decided to take a shower and start actually timing contractions.  Just as I had suspected contractions were nice and strong and steady.  I started timing them at noon on Monday and for the next 4.5 hours and they were consistent at 1.5 to 2 minutes apart from start to start and 30 seconds to a minute long….and I was leaking with pretty much every contraction.  All signs were looking good for successful labor in my mind….except for the memory of contractions being like this with Alethea for hours and the fact that I was worried my amniotic fluid has started leaking.  So to pass the time, Alethea and I painted toe nails between contractions and then I went on several walks with Ben while Alethea napped since I couldn’t really relax at this point.

Even after timing for that long and them being consistent, I still wanted to call the doctor to see if I should come in.  It was pretty funny because they almost immediately said I need to come in to be checked.  I guess it should have been a little more obvious, lol.  So we sat down to eat the dinner I had made (pizza sloppy joes and green beans) before we headed to the hospital since we didn’t know how long of a haul we were in for.  I knew with Alethea I went 2 days without solid foods, so I wanted to at least go into the hospital well nourished, lol.

After dinner we said goodbye to Alethea and told her that hopefully she would be meeting “Baby D” the next time she saw us.  We arrived at the hospital and the same doctor I saw in the morning was on call at the hospital that evening (she also happened to be the same doctor that did my c-section with Alethea).  The nurse checked us in and we shared all the intake information and then the doctor came in to check me.  What do you know I was still at 2cm and still not fully effaced yet.  Then we proceeded to share our concerns that we thought I had been leaking amniotic fluid, but weren’t sure for how long.  So they ordered a test to find out for sure and about 10 minutes later we confirmed our concerns and I was leaking fluid; the clock was officially ticking and they were using Sunday night as the approximate start for the leak since that is when I saw the mucus plug.  To add to the bad news, we were informed that the doctor would not go along with a VBAC if I didn’t get an epidural.  This was not a part of the plan either.

At this point nerves were definitely kicking in.  There were lots of strikes against me so far: no progress, leaking fluid, having to have an epidural, and needing antibiotics since I was group B positive.  Then the doctor shared with us that the plan she was comfortable with was to go ahead and get the epidural going and a low dose of Pitocin to see if we could get things going.  We reluctantly went through with these steps and prayed that that Lord would allow us to have “baby D” via VBAC.  (Funny side note: it’s weird to be one of the few that has an epidural, but can still move their legs, despite not being able to feel pain in my entire lower half)

Unfortunately that wasn’t God’s plan.  When the doctor returned after almost 5 hours of Pitocin, I still was only at 3cm.  We discussed with the doctor how my contractions without Pitocin should have progressed labor and how with the Pitocin, they REALLY should have progressed it, but hadn’t.  She said the outlook was bleak, but that she would let us go another 4 hours to see if any major progress could be made, but it wasn’t looking good and we couldn’t wait much longer without progress because I was already at a very high risk for infection.  God is awesome and really gave me a peace at this point and we knew it was the best decision to go forward with a c-section.  Knowing I had labored for over 24hours with Alethea and still only made it to 8cm we felt like this labor was headed in the same direction and they were not going to let me go as long as they did with Alethea.  Plus we knew the fluid leak could have been since Friday and we didn’t want to risk any infection, so we opted for a c-section.  There were tears of disappointment, knowing this was pretty much my last chance at natural birth, but we knew it was the wise choice to make.

We let all of our family and friends know our decision so they could be praying for us and then we started the preparations for c-section.  It was a much different experience this time around because I was much more aware of what was going on.  With Alethea I had been awake for close to 48hrs so I was really groggy and barely staying awake for the process.  I don’t really remember much from her c-section.  So even though I didn’t get to have the natural birth experience I was hoping, I was still incredibly thankful to be mentally present for Declan’s birth.

Once they got me all set on the table, it wasn’t very long before I heard the first cries and I was so incredibly excited!  Whoever “baby D” was arrived at 12:15am on Tuesday, June 18^th, 2013 (just barely able to share Mamaw’s birthday) and he/she had healthy lungs.  The words I heard from Ben next created mixed feelings and went something like this “it’s a boy….is that the cord around his neck?”  God is soooooo good!  He knew that it would be safest for Declan to be born via c-section so I know it was Him who allowed the fluid to leak and the inexplicable stall in my labor.  Thankfully the cord being around Declan’s neck ultimately caused no harm for him, but if I had labored longer or even successfully had a VBAC, that outcome could have been very different.  I am so thankful for His protection over our sweet baby boy and I know for sure that the peace I felt when making the decision was truly a gift of wisdom only God could have provided.

After all that excitement it was back to staring at the blue sheet again for a while as Ben was with the nurses getting Declan cleaned up/checked out.  He scored all 9s on his APGAR test so he was a healthy baby boy.  His birth weight was 8lbs 9oz, his length was 20.5inches, and his head measured 36cm.  He outweighed his sister by 10oz though they were the same length.  The next part was the coolest, and I am so glad that I was able to be aware of it and not just remember it from videos Ben took.  Ben brought our sweet little boy up by my face and I was able to snuggle his little face for a few minutes until they had to take him off to be warmed up while I was sewn up.  Thankfully Ben was able to be with him during that time.

Because I had tried to labor with an epidural, they used a different pain medication this time around.  I was not a fan of it at all because every time they dosed me, it made me feel light headed (not to mention that after the fact, it made me itch like crazy during recovery).  So after I started feeling what was going on and they dosed me a second time, I opted not to have them dose me again.  As a result, the last third or of the surgery I was actually feeling more than just pressure.  Thankfully, I still had the adrenaline rush of his birth that I didn’t really mind.  Plus, I was just chatting with the nurses and doctor about babies, breastfeeding, and whatever else we decided to talk about, lol.  It was a bit of a weird experience to be so relaxed while all kinds of craziness was happening on the other side of the blue curtain.

About an hour later, I was reunited with Ben and our sweet little boy, Declan Timothy Hill.  I was able to nurse him shortly after that (he was a pro from the start, just like his sister) and, at that point, it didn’t matter how he arrived.  All that mattered was that he was here, he was healthy, and we were now a happy family of four!  I won’t be able to have any other births in any form other than a c-section and, though this is not my dream, it is my reality.  However, I know that God’s plan was for me to have Declan (and his sister Alethea) via c-section and should He bless us with more children, they will be born perfectly (and cone-head free, lol) in the same way.  God is good and we are so thankful to have our sweet little boy no matter how he made his grand entrance. J

Getting all cleaned

Perfect!

Alethea was his first big sister and she was in love right away!

First family photo....mostly a success :-)