Lydia's birth story - Part 2

On July 12, 2011, at 5:15 AM, Ben and I headed to Parkridge East for the planned C-section -- Lydia's birthday!  On our way, the display in the van showed it was 82 F at that time in the morning -- and boy, was it humid!  Micah had gone to Honey and Grandad's house the day before and they would all come later in the morning once the C-section was done. 

We got to the hospital and checked in at the Emergency Room triage, after which they sent us down to Labor and Delivery.  We had taken a tour prior so we knew where we were going.  However, once we opened the heavy doors to the L&D wing of the hospital, it was like we had been hit in the face with a wet blanket!  As we made our way to the nurse's station, they cautioned us to be careful because there was condensation on the floor and it was extremely slippery.  Seems the air conditioner in that wing of the hospital had broken during the night and they were frantically trying to get it fixed.  This also meant that the L&D operating room was now unsafe to use because of the humidity and condensation and would have to be sterilized and cleaned.  Instead, I would be undergoing my C-section in the main operating room of the hospital in a completely different wing.  It didn't matter that much to me as this was my first rodeo and I figured all ORs were essentially the same. 

We were put in a small room for me to get prepped for the surgery and Michelle, who stayed on as my Doula, arrived just a few minutes later.  During this entire time, the only truly scary thing that happened was when the nurse who was about to insert my IV slipped on the wet floor with the needle in her hand...  Thankfully, she caught her balance and decided to sit on the floor to insert the IVs for safety!  An interesting note, the monitor showed that I was having contractions every 10 minutes fairly regularly -- and I didn't even feel them!

I brought copies of my birth plan along with printouts of the medical study that detailed the entire family centered cesarean in detail.  I had highlighted those things that were "against protocol" to help those staff members involved to see where things were going to be slightly different today.  First to read the plan was the L&D nurse who asked me if she could weigh, measure, footprint, etc. in the OR.  My question to her was, "Can't all that be done once the baby goes to the nursery?"  Her answer, "Um, I guess so."  A bit reluctant, but willing to work with me.

Next to come in was the anesthesiologist, BJ.  He was young and very willing to place the EKG leads on my back to keep my chest area free and to place the pulse oximeter on my toe.  He was very interested to see how this would all play out. 



Pulse oximeter on the toe



It seemed that everyone involved read my birth plan and the accompanying medical information... and while there were some who were still dubious about how this would work, there were quite a few who were disappointed they were not going to get to be "in" on the fun!

Dr. Seeber made it to the hospital at about 7:35 and it was finally time to go to the OR.  Ben and Michelle had to stay behind and put on some "scrub suits" while I took a ride down the halls to the main operating suite.  There, I had the EKG leads placed just as BJ promised, the pulse oximeter on my toe, and the spinal was administered.  It's a bizarre thing to see your legs being moved around, but not sense the motion at all...

Ready to begin -- iPhone playing some relaxing music

Just about the time the drape was set up and they were about to begin the operation, Ben and Michelle arrived all "suited up" and took their seats with me behind the drape.  BJ was keeping an eye on things and would tell me when I was going to feel pressure or pulling and such... but I never felt a thing -- he did a great spinal! 

Just when it was time for the baby to be born, BJ and Ben lowered the drape and BJ lifted my head so that I could see the baby being born.  The first thing I saw was the baby's face -- sweet chubby cheeks and curly black hair!  I held my breath as I waited for them to suction out the fluid to hear whether or not there would be a good, gutsy cry -- an indicator if baby would need to go to the NICU or if I would get to hold them.  Dr. Seeber had turned the baby so their back was to me and Ben, and we could not see if we had a boy or girl yet. 

Baby Girl!

Just about that time, I heard it... the strong, loud cry of a newborn!  Just as baby was being handed to the nurse to bring to me, Ben shouted, "It's Lydia!"  Being mostly paralyzed at this point, all I could do was wave my hands and say, "Yay!"  The NICU nurse was at first reluctant to place the baby girl on my chest as instructed by Dr. Seeber.  However, once she was placed in my arms, she stopped crying and began nuzzling at my neck.  At this point, once everyone in the OR saw what happened when this newborn baby was placed in mommy's arms and not whisked away screaming to a warmer, even the NICU nurse, I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the place. 

Wet, cheesy newborn baby girl!
(The bandana was sprayed with some Bath and Body Works Sweet Pea scent to mask the OR smells)

Getting her face cleaned up a bit...

At this point, all I saw or cared about was the perfect little angel in my arms and the dark blue eyes that were looking right at me as I got to be the first one to kiss those sweet chubby cheeks.  I lost all sense of time and most of what happened after that is a blur.  I have to rely on Ben and Michelle's accounts of what else happened. 

BJ offered to take a couple pictures...
Michelle, Ben, Lydia and me

Kissing chubby cheeks!



Being that we were in the main OR suite, the table was slightly different and was apparently tilted just enough that my hands and arms began to tingle and feel numb.  Since I needed a few minutes for them to tilt the table back up slightly and get the feeling back in my hands before continuing to hold the baby, I told Ben to go ahead and take Lydia over to the warmer so that he could cut the remaining cord (they left it long so he would get to cut the cord) and weigh/measure her if they wanted to. 

Daddy holds his baby girl for the first time





Cleaned and "tagged"



Once that was done, the NICU nurse said it was time to take Lydia to the nursery.  My response was, "Excuse me?"  She then said, "Um, or you could breast feed her."  Three guesses as to which I picked, and the first two don't count!  She latched on right there in the OR and began to eat right away! 

First meal!

I also was able to hold her all the way back to the L&D recovery room and continue to hold and cuddle her for about 30 minutes before some very nervous nurses asked if they could please take the baby to the nursery to do what they needed to do.  At this point, I was happy to let her go with her daddy to the nursery... provided she came right back to me as soon as they were done!   



In the recovery room



Happy momma and baby!!





Lydia's birth story - Part 1

Since a story really should begin at the beginning, here is a little background for those who don't know me so well... yet anyway.

Ben and I met at Highland Park Baptist Church and were married in 1995.  In July 1996, our son, Micah was born to two very young, very inexperienced, 20-somethings.  Hindsight always being 20/20, there are a lot of things I wished I had done different... like taking childbirth classes and being more prepared from the outset. 

Some years later, we chose to home school Micah and I met some mothers who <gasp> birthed their children at home! I was fascinated and asked tons of questions about their experience.  After hearing about the joy and PEACE experienced by these moms giving birth at home, I decided that, should God bless us with another pregnancy, I was definitely going to give birth at home!

Ben and I had always planned to have more children, but the years went by with miscarriages and disappointments.  However, we never gave up hope that God would surprise us one day.  We never did seek fertility treatments, having the personal conviction that we should not "tempt God" nor try to "force His hand", rather relying on His divine providence to know the best timing and size for our family.  Granted, as the years passed, we sort of just "gave up" -- or perhaps we just "completely surrendered".  We had peace that our one son was a miracle in of himself, and that perhaps that was all God was asking of us... ...that is, until November 2010. 

When we saw the positive result on the pregnancy test, we were thrilled!... and shocked!!  Miracle #1.  Here Micah was 14 years old, he would be 15 in the same month the baby was due! To tell Ben's family, we put the positive pregnancy test in a small box with a bow and took it to Thanksgiving dinner where we told them we had an early Christmas present for them.  As soon as Ben's mom opened the box, she immediately started shouting "No way! No way!!!" -- his dad was speechless, and the whole family was excited for us to have this miracle after so many years of waiting.  We sent the "gift" to my parents in Montgomery, Alabama, by way of my sister who was visiting them Thanksgiving weekend, and they too were ecstatic. 

Immediately, I set about finding a home birth midwife and hired Michelle Ray, who was also pregnant and due in May.  It was wonderful to have all my prenatal visits right here at home.  I was looking forward to having a peaceful, non-invasive, private birth for my baby in my own home, in my own bed.  I signed up for Bradley classes to have a natural childbirth.  I began making preparations to have the birthing tub liner sent and order the vitamin K and other prescriptions for the new baby.  I was going to be prepared this time around.... and it was going to be great!

That is, until the ultrasound at 22 weeks.

I had established a relationship with an OB - Dr. Michael Seeber - in the event of an emergency transport should something go wrong with the home birth (it's just a prudent thing to do).  I had also told Michelle that I would get a mid-pregnancy full-anatomy ultrasound to make sure that everything was okay with the baby and with me.  When I went to the appointment, the ultrasound tech made mention that the placenta was low.  Come to find out, I had complete placenta previa. 

Right then and there, my dreams of a home birth died. 

I was devastated.  Not only was I going to have to go to the hospital to give birth, I was going to have to undergo a Cesarean section -- major abdominal surgery.  Can't get any more invasive than that!

Dr. Seeber told me to become an expert on placenta previa -- he really had no idea who he was dealing with!  As a medical transcriptionist, I had learned how to do medical research.  I began researching the condition, how often it can resolve, when it needs to be reassessed, what other complications can arise from previas, how often hemorrhages really happen, whether or not hospitalization is necessary during the third trimester or whether bed rest could be managed at home.  I researched previa C-sections, and my Bradley teacher sent me a link to the "Family Centered Cesarean". 

Once I saw that video, I knew that is exactly how I wanted my C-section to be. 

Dr. Seeber was rather dubious at first, but once I sent him the video and the medical study information, he agreed that, as long as there were no serious complications, he would do everything in his power to make sure that I had the experience I was so desirous of, providing we were not dealing with an emergency situation.  I was so grateful, especially since I had already lost so many of my hopes and dreams.  If I was going to have to go through this, I was going to make sure that it would benefit not only me and my baby, but other women who had to undergo C-sections as well -- perhaps I could help to change the status quo...

During this entire pregnancy, I had so many wonderful people praying for me, and I know that those prayers were answered -- God is so good!  Not once during the entire pregnancy did I have a hemorrhage as a result of the previa-- Miracle #2.  I did not have placenta accreta, a more dangerous complication - Miracle #3.  Being without insurance, we qualified for help at the last minute - Miracle #4.  I was able to go to the hospital of my choice on the planned day of the C-section with no emergency issues - Miracle #5. 

And Miracle #6 -- The first family centered cesarean was performed at Parkridge Medical Center. 

See part #2 for the story of Lydia's birthday and pictures...