Amazing Delivery of a Baby with Down syndrome

It's been 3 weeks since my little man was born, and every time I think about the whole birth experience, I just get so happy all over again!  At the time, it was a frustrating experience, but the actual delivery was amazing. 

 I'll preface by saying that I had a very stressful pregnancy.  At our 20 week ultrasound, we were told we were having a boy, and we needed to go for a follow up ultrasound at a specialist because they couldn't see all of his heart the way he was positioned.  That one appointment turned into 18 weeks of weekly ultrasounds, bedrest, twice weekly nonstress tests, and lots of tears.  At every ultrasound they found something else "wrong" with our boy.  It started with a VSD (hole in his heart), enlarged right ventricle in the heart, followed by measuring in the 3rd percentile, chylothorax (fluid in his chest), dilated ventricles in his brain, and possible premature fusing of the bones in his skull.  We met with numerous specialists in preparation for all of this, and toured the NICU at the local children's hospital.  They also told us that with all of the health issues there was a chance he had a chromosomal abnormality, though none of his symptoms fit into any one "box".  Googling his symptoms resulted in very scary syndromes & disabilities that our child could have...it was terrifying.  We eventually came to peace with the fact that no matter what, we were getting a baby boy, and he was going to be loved to pieces.  It was hard to come to terms with, but a process that we got through together.

 At 38weeks, 4 days, I had some light spotting and felt my first "real" contraction.  Seeing that blood on the toilet paper I broke into a HUGE smile and was beyond excited!  I stayed up all night feeling & timing my contractions, which got stronger & closer together.  Around 4am they were 5 mins apart, had been regular for an hour, and the bleeding was increasing.  The doctor told us to go to L&D...that was it! 

 In L&D we were in triage for 3 hours being monitored.  My contractions were 2-3 mins apart, painful, and I was 2 cm dilated.  2 hours later though, I had not dilated any further.  Because I was not yet 39 weeks, they wouldn't do anything to help my labor along, and my contractions were not dilating me fast enough, so we were sent home.  I was in tears because I was in pain, and I KNEW I was having a baby that day, I just knew it.  They said "don't come back unless your water breaks or you are gushing large amounts of blood".  I knew that a lot of women's water doesn't break on its own, and I was already bleeding, so I was confused & frustrated.  When I asked how close together/strong my contractions should be, I was told that contractions didn't matter all that much!  WHAT?!?

At home I tried everything, laying down, taking a bath (3 to be exact), walking, birthing ball...everything to ease the pain.  The contractions were still 3 mins apart & increasingly stronger.  I was MISERABLE!  My husband and I decided to walk....I was determined to get that little guy out!  We walked several miles for over an hour, stopping every few minutes to fight through a contraction.  When we got home, my water still hadn't broken, so I would not go to the hospital...I didn't want to be sent home again.  So I sent my DH to a volleyball game he was supposed to play in...I needed some time to fight through it on my own by then.  After he left, I took yet another bath & couldn't take the pain anymore.  Just as he got home, I started throwing up a lot with every contraction.  My stubborn self was still skeptical about the hospital though, because my water hadn't broken, but DH put me right into the car.  He said we'd go & be turned away every hour if we needed to!

At the hospital they checked me right away because I was literally writhing in pain on the bed at this point, and I was 5cm dilated!  I BEGGED for that epidural!!! They wheeled me to my birthing room & the anesthesiologist was waiting for me.  I got my epi 30 mins after getting to the hospital & it was AWESOME!  For the first time I had a minute to breathe & get really excited to meet my little boy!  After getting my epi, she checked me again & I was 9 cm dilated!  I had gone from 5-9 in 45 minutes!  Needless to say, I had gone most of my labor without any drugs, something I had NEVER planned to do!  We definitely got there right in time!

The relaxation after the epi didn't last long, because my little man started dropping down very quickly.  I was at 10cm in no time.  Because everything was moving so quickly, my son's heart rate was dropping, and my blood pressure was incredibly low.  They were talking emergency c-section at this point.  They gave me a shot to stop my contractions though, and medicine to raise my blood pressure, and little man's heart rate returned to normal.  We were on our way!

 We did a few practice pushing sessions, and I was told to wait a bit for him to drop down even further (he was 0 station for a while).  When I couldn't take the pressure any longer, we started pushing.  I could feel my legs, the pressure, everything basically, except for the actual pain of pushing.  I just remember my husband holding my leg coaching me on & I kept looking up at him & smiling.  I had always imagined this would be the hardest part of the labor, but it was by far my favorite!  I was just so excited and kept thinking, "OMG I'm having a baby!!!"  I did have to be cut b/c I was ripping upward, but I didn't feel much.  After about 20 mins, my beautiful son emerged!  I just remember looking down & seeing his little arms & legs flailing everywhere, hearing his cry, and seeing that FULL head of hair! 

On his Apgars he received a 7 & 9...I couldn't believe that my baby who was so full of potential problems prenatally was doing so well.  The neonatologist stood next to my bed & kept telling me, wow, he looks great!  It was SUCH a relief. I briefly got to hold my little man...it was an amazing moment to look into the eyes of the person who I had carried for the last 9 months. They did take him to the special care nursery for monitoring & some tests immediately, which I was prepared for.  After he left, my husband and I were alone.  "Did you notice anything about his eyes?" My husband asked me.  I had noticed that they were swollen, but that was it.

A short while later, the neonatologist came back.  He said our guy was doing great, but he did have a few features that signaled Down syndrome.  The doctor said he didn't have many of the features, however, but they wanted to do a FISH test of his chromosomes.  My husband and I just sat there and said "ok", but for some reason I wasn't surprised or shocked.  Maybe subconsciously I had known....at the very least, the possibilities during my pregnancy had prepared us emotionally for the worst.  After he left, we sat there for a few minutes quietly, but then said, "well, that boy is going to be loved no matter what, and we have a SON!"....and that was that. 

A couple of hours later, we went to see him in the nursery.  They had done ultrasounds of his chest, brain, and heart and everything that had showed up during pregnancy had corrected themselves.  Now THAT shocked me.  I had worried myself sick for 18 weeks, and had prepared to face multiple surgeries, and here I was with a perfectly healthy baby.  I felt like the luckiest person in the world.  When I finally got to truly hold my baby boy away from all of the bustle of the delivery room, it was an amazing moment.  He was just looking up at me with his big blue eyes, and he grabbed on to my finger...he knew his momma right away. 

It's been 3 weeks, and I feel like we have really embraced his diagnosis of having Down syndrome.  Our families have fully embraced it as well.  Being teachers it is something that we are somewhat familiar with.  Of course there is lots of uncharted territory and multiple challenges ahead, but we feel strong enough to take on whatever comes at us.  First and foremost we have an amazingly healthy little boy, who is so happy, snuggly, and lovable.  I wouldn't trade him or anything about him for anything in the world.