Harrison's Birth Story

JessicaLyne · December 2009

Harrison Kevin was born on 12/3 at 8:54am. He weighed 6 lbs 6 oz and was 20 inches long. I had a planned induction on Wednesday 2 December at 5pm because at my appointment on my due date (30 Nov) I was still barely dilated and not very effaced. At about 7pm, I'm all hooked up to the machines and had the cervidel put in and am just waiting. I wasn't allowed to move for 2 hours while the medicine was getting in place. I was having contractions the whole time but couldn't feel anything. Just about every time I had a contraction, the baby's heart rate would drop a bit and then come back up after the contraction was over. The nurse told me that they were keeping a close eye on it but be aware that if they weren't able to get it to stop, they may have to do a c-section. A little after 11, they put me on oxygen to see if that would help...it didn't. And then at 1am they put in an IV to see if the extra fluids would make it stop...that didn't work either. At 3am, they took out the cervidel and told me that if this didn't work, that meant the baby wasn't tolerating labor and they would want to do the c-section before proceeding with any of the other induction stuff like pitocin because it could lead to an emergency situation and it would be better just to get him out before that happened. At 5:15, the nurse came back in and told me I was going to have a c-section at 8:30. So, I let all our parents know and tried to get some sleep. I was so scared. I really didn't want to have a c-section, but I knew it was what was best for the baby. Having a healthy baby was the real goal anyways. Not only had I never had a baby before, I'd never had surgery...actually I hadn't even been admitted to the hospital since I was born! At 8:15, they came and took me into the OR. They had gotten the CNP I had seen for all of my prenatal care to come in and assist. I was glad to see her! The spinal block they gave me was funny. I was told I would be basically paralized from the waist down and I might feel some pressure when the doctor cut into me, but that should be about it. It felt like my legs and feet were asleep, you know the pins and needles sensation. I was so sure, if I could just wiggle my toes, it would go away. I felt a little pressure on my chest, as if someone had set some towels or something on top of it. But that was it. After laying there for a little while I heard the baby cry and Harrison was born! He had the cord wrapped around his neck two times and low amniotic fluid. The cord was the reason for his heart rate problem. They brought him to me to hold when I got to recovery. He was just perfect!