At a week late I was induced. I have so many friends and family members who are induced and so while I was hoping he would come into the world on his own we made the decision to go in for an induction. When you are 7-10 days late they induce you regardless because at that point it is safer for the baby to be outside of you instead of inside. We talked and prayed about going in before we had hit 10 days but felt peaceful about our appointment. So on Monday morning at 7:00am we headed to the hospital, bags in tow, excited that we would finally get to meet our baby. My parents had come into town for Christmas and his birth so they snapped a few pictures for us and sent us off. I was thrilled to know I wouldn't be pregnant much longer. Even with an easy pregnancy those last couple weeks drag by so slowly & patience is harder to have.
Well, my body dilated to a 9 and then stopped. It would not budge. After a while of waiting they gave me the smallest amount of pitocin possible to try and help my body reach a 10. But sweet William's heart rate dropped when they gave it to me. By the time it had all been given I still wasn't a 10 and we didn't want to risk his heart rate by giving me more. To add another obstacle, my sweet boy who had been in the perfect birthing position for the past three weeks had turned. He was facing my side now. So we had a difficult position, a body who wouldn't reach 10 centimeters & a momma who was exhausted. But I wanted to fight for a vaginal birth. Preston helped me move and I tried different positions to help my body move him down. Normally when you get an epidural you aren't able to get up because they don't want you to fall as your lower half has been numbed. But we powered through and tried.
I started feeling the urge to push. So with a midwife on one leg, a doctor on the other, Preston coaching me at my head & another doctor manually trying to open me as I pushed we tried, pushed and fought for two hours. William would not budge. The combination of everything just wasn't allowing it. My water had been broken a long time & once it's been broken the baby needs to come out within 24 hours otherwise there's a risk of infection for the baby. Plus his heart rate was still in a safe range but wavering enough that I was told I needed to have a c-section.
Now I am not against any kind of birth. Any way a baby is brought into the world is beautiful. I sincerely have no judgement for any of the many options when it comes to birthing a baby. But for me my one fear was a c-section. I thought since I had kept my body strong I wouldn't need one and was hoping to do this vaginally. I was so tired from pushing for two hours that I just burst into tears. I felt so defeated. The doctors & nurses cleared the room so that Preston and I could have minute and he was a champ calming me down and making me feel like I had done so well and done everything I could. He said a prayer for us and then called everyone back in so I could be brought into surgery. 23 hours of labor ending and c-section later we had our sweet William, born at 6:40am. The surgery itself only takes half an hour from beginning to end. Unfortunately the anesthesia made me nauseous and so I got sick during part of it. But Preston was able to take photos and hold the baby for the first time. He held his sweet face up to mine so I could kiss his cheeks. It was so hard to wait to finish surgery to be able to hold him and do skin to skin. The emotions are not easily described. I was so happy he was healthy & here. 7 lbs 9 oz & 21 inches long he was born with perfect skin and a perfectly shaped head. Beautiful as can be. He was so alert right from birth when he opened his eyes I felt like he was really seeing us when he looked at us. We fell in love!
Xoxo
