I have written bits and pieces as time went on about our LO's birth, but I wrote up the entire birth story for my pregnancy journal, so I thought I would share it here as well. I am also attaching a link to my c-section album on Flickr (just a warning: it does have surgery pictures in it).

Tuesday, we went into the hospital for possible induction at 7:30 am. I had an NST and Dr H reviewed my information, and opted not to induce me at that time. She did, however have me booked for an ultrasound that afternoon to be double sure all was well. We went out for breakfast, and then came home, unpack the car, and after a short nap, Troy went into work while I went back to the hospital to get the ultrasound done.

The ultrasound was at 1:30, it seemed to go well, and Ziggy got an 8 out of 8 on the BPP, but at the end the tech kept double checking things without telling me what she was looking at. When we were done I was asked to wait in the waiting area while the radiologist reviewd the scan. The radiologist came out and sent me back up to LDR because I had high cord flows.
When I retured to LDR at 2:30, I was informed that with high cord flows, I would not be allowed to return home, and that I would be induced that night. I called Troy at work, and he started to wrap up things at work while I got the induction started. Dr H examined me, and told me she was a bit concerned as I had a very narrow pelvic outlet, but she inserted the cervadil, and we hooked me up to the monitor to wait it out for the next 2 hours.

While I waited on the monitor, I texted my family that things were getting rolling. Ziggy was doing well on the monitor, and I killed time surfing the net on my phone. Troy arrived just after the monitors were removed and I got back into my clothes, and ate my dinner. We waited until after my next check and went for a walk.

We decided to wander outside, around the hospital grounds, because the weather looked good, and we knew I would be stuck inside for a while. It was nice to get out, and I wa shocked how much impact a month of rest had on my physical abilities. I was exhausted by the time we got back to LDR.

I got checked again once we got back, and then we decided to relax for a bit, and choose our maternity pictures, since soon we would be distracted with our own little baby. We both settled in with our computers, and Troy got himself some dinner, and we watched TV and stuff for a few hours.

At about 7:30 I started feeling really crampy, and was excited that things were getting going, though I was really uncomfortable when the cramping hit. I tried a bunch of different positions, but wasn’t getting a ton of relief. At 9:30 I started worrying that things would kick in soon, so I sent Troy home to tend to the pets, and maybe sneak in a little sleep, and I got in the shower. The shower actually felt pretty good, and I thought I could spend all night in there. I got out at 10:30, and got into my PJ’s to try to get some rest.

When I crawled back into bed, Deb (the nurse) came in and hooked up the monitor, which is when we found that Ziggy’s heart rate had dropped to 80. Deb tried repositioning the monitor, but the heart rate never changed, and changing my position also didn’t help. Deb pushed the emergency call button, and Kathy and Jen came in to help. I was stripped down and changed into a gown, an IV hooked up and Dr H called in. I called Troy to come back as soon as he could. It took about 10 minutes for Ziggy’s heart rate to come back to normal.

By the time Troy got back, Dr H was there, I had an IV in, the cervadil removed and the monitor attached. Every time I had a contraction, Ziggy’s heart rate plummeted. At that point it was clear our baby would be born by c-section, and not vaginally. The question was wether to do it ASAP or in the morning. After 2 more vaginal exams, and a lot of discussion, it was decided that the c-section would be done that night. We called our parents to let them know the news, and I cried a bit, because this wasn’t really what I had in mind, but in the end all that matters was that Ziggy was born as safely as possible.

Over the next half an hour I signed the OR consents, met the OR staff, and got prepped for surgery, meanwhile Troy got into his OR scrubs, and took some pictures. I walked myself into the OR at 11:45, on the way in getting some last hugs from the NICU girls. As I got set up for my spinal, I noticed that Shari was the NICU nurse at the section, and that she had orientees with her. I got my spinal, and got my final preps, then the drapes went up, Troy was brought in, and the surgery began.

My spinal was very effective, and I couldn’t feel anything at all below my breasts, other than the shakes kicking in. Soon though, Troy told me that the head was out, and then he said that I was right and that Ziggy was a boy! I heard a breif cry, then couldn’t hear anything, and in my head all I could think was ‘please cry, please cry, please cry’. Shari talked me through what she was doing, which was really helpful, and after a few minutes, I heard him cry, and it was the best sound I have ever heard in my life. Troy was called over to take pictures on the warmer, and I just laid there listening to my baby cry.

After a few more minutes, Troy came back to my side, and Shari wasn’t far behind with Ziggy, I got to see, kiss and snuggle with my little guy for a few minutes, and take some pictures as a family, but all the stress had gotten to me and I felt really sick and shaky. Shari took Ziggy to take him to maternity, and Troy went along, very shortly the drapes came down and I was transferred into a bed to go to recovery.

I waited in the recovery room for about an hour and a half, where I got medication for the shakiness, and tried to sleep a little. As soon as the level of the spinal came down, I was transferred to maternity where Troy and our baby were waiting for me. We snuggled for a bit, and Ziggy did a little breastfeeding, then we decided on his name (Sawyer Emerson) and went to sleep for the night.

My c-section pictures can be seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/welchminchuk/sets/72157629593996650/