Baby Boy's Birth - An Answered Prayer

Tonight will mark 22 day since Baby Boy was placed in our arms for the first time.  There really aren't words to describe how incredible and wonderful these 22 days have been.  Justin and I have walked a hard road the past few years in our quest to become parents.  Even during this pregnancy, I kept waiting for the bottom to drop out but God was at work... and this became increasingly apparent while I was in labor with Baby Boy.
We arrived back in Norfolk when I was about 33 weeks pregnant.  I hate having to find a new doctor.  Being 33 weeks pregnant, the urgency to find a doctor only made me feel more stressed.  How on earth am I suppose to just choose a doctor... and what if I don't like them?  Do I change doctors again when I'm 34 or 35 weeks along?  I finally found a practice and had my intake appt with the medical assistant (who did not impress Justin or I in the least bit).  I was wanting to turn and run then but decided to wait and see what the doctor was like.  They scheduled me with Dr. Wright for my first appt.  Turns out my first appt with Dr. Wright was her first day back from Maternity Leave.  Looking back now... I can see what a God thing this is... because scheduling appts with her the last few weeks of the pregnancy was near impossible and yet, God always opened a slot for me.

My due date was Sunday, October 17th and by the time I hit the 38 week mark I was so done being pregnant.  I was swelling more by the day and having nerve pain down my legs.  By the time I had my 38 week appointment, I knew that Baby Boy wasn't coming before his due date.  I never thought I would consider being induced... but I was done being pregnant so at my appointment I asked how long past my due date before she would induce me.  Turns out the weekend following my due date, Dr. Wright had call for the entire weekend (Friday morning until Monday morning)!  For the next 2 weeks I was praying that Baby Boy would wait until the weekend following his due date because I really wanted Dr. Wright to deliver him.  Her practice has 6 OB's that rotate call... but I was praying Dr. Wright would be there in the delivery room.


October 18th I went in for my 40 week appt... and it was apparent that this Baby wasn't in any hurry... so the eviction notice was served and the induction scheduled for Thursday night.  I was giddy!  Thursday night came and the nursing staff called me off because they were slammed with L&D patients. I wanted to cry but instead, Justin and I went out for a high calorie, fiscally irresponsible dessert.  All day Friday I was just praying they wouldn't call me off again... and at 8pm I got the word to come in!

The drive to the hospital was surreal.  We got there and they got Baby Boy on the monitor, gave me a med to "prep" my body for the pitocin (they would be starting on Saturday morning), and gave me a sleeping pill.  At 4am the nurse gave me the second dose of the med and at 4:30 I woke up contracting.  Justin was passed out so I did my best to work through them... but these were drug induced contractions and coming every 2-2:30 minutes, lasting 1 minute each.  No sooner did I start to relax from one contraction and the next one was hitting.  By 7am I could tell that the decorum with which I had been conducting myself was about to end.  The nurse offered me pain meds.  Let me just say, there isn't a drug they offered me that I didn't take!  The IV pain meds gave me some relief but didn't last long and by 9am I wanted my epidural.  I was only at 2.5 cm dilated so the nurse said I had to wait until I reached 3.  "My doctor said when I was uncomfortable I could have it.  I'm uncomfortable!  Call her!"... 10 minutes later she and the anesthesiologist were in my room.  Praise God for epidurals.

I slept the next several hours (read 5-6 hours).  My labor stalled at 3cm so Pitocin was started at 11am.  As my labor progressed, Baby Boy started having more and more heart decels.  Praise God that I was the only labor patient on the floor at the time and my nurse's only patient... because those last 3-4 hours of labor, she didn't leave my room.  I was so nervous watching the monitor that I had to stop... and I don't remember my nurse (Nicki) saying that if this continued, we were going to have to do "something".  Praise God that Dr. Wright is such a wonderful doctor... who doesn't leave the hospital when she's inducing a patient.  She was sitting at the nurse's station those last few hours watching Baby Boy in case intervention was necessary.  He recovered well after each contraction so I was allowed to continue laboring.  At 6:10pm I started pushing.  I remember listening to his heartbeat drop so low while I was pushing (down to 50-60 bpm)... but God allowed me to stay focused and not panic.  At 7:03pm, Baby Boy entered the world.  His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice (a double nuchal cord) which is why he didn't enjoy labor... but he was healthy and blood tests showed he didn't experience any oxygen deprivation.  Praise God!

I'm so thankful that the Lord provided such a wonderful doctor to care for Baby Boy and I.  A doctor who I had complete and total confidence in... who stayed at the hospital all day (when she could have been home with her baby) to make sure my baby was okay.  I'm thankful that the L&D floor was quiet that day so that my nurse could stay in the room and monitor Baby Boy.  Most of all I'm thankful that our Baby Boy was born healthy.