Our Baby Story

For those of you who haven't heard, or are interested in the birth details, here's our story... On Thursday David and I went for our weekly ObGyn appointment and our doctor told us that I was 1.5 cm dilated, much to our surprise! Our doctor jokingly said, "Maybe I'll see you this weekend", to which I said, "Hopefully not!" We still had 2 weeks before our due date and were not completely ready to have our baby... our bags for the hospital were not fully packed and I still had a few things to bring to work the next day (my last day). We were told that the exam could cause cramps, which could lead to labor if I was physically active and that if we did not want to go into labor, I should take it easy. I returned to work and felt fine, showing no signs of labor. That evening I moved around some of my work boxes to get some books ready for my substitute (which David claims started my labor) and then David and I left to go to Bible study. Around 7:30 PM at Bible study I thought my water broke, so David and I left for home to get our stuff together and wait and see if my water had really broken. We finished packing our bags and got to the hospital around 9:00 PM and was admitted right away. At this point I was 4 cm dilated. We finally got up to our labor and delivery room at 9:30 PM and I tried my best to use the breathing techniques we had learned during our childbirth preparation classes. At midnight my contractions were really strong and I did not think I could handle the pain, thinking I still had 5-6 hours of labor to go after a long day at work. So, I asked to get an epidural. Within a few minutes of receiving the epidural the nurses had a hard time finding our baby's heartbeat. The nurse checked to see how far along I was and I was 8 cm dilated. Since the nurses still had a hard time finding our baby's heartbeat, it was very weak, they decided to prep me for an emergency C-section. David was given a gown, cap, and mask to wear and we were whisked away to the OR. While I was being prepped, there was another patient who also needed an emergency C-section. At this point our baby's heart rate had gone up, so they decided to perform the C-section on the other patient first and David was allowed to come into the OR and wait with me. Once they were done they decided to go ahead with my C-section because our baby's heart rate had become weak again. The doctors were ready to shoo David out of the room, but luckily our anesthesiologist said that David could stay. Ethan was born at 12:27 AM on Friday, January 16th. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz., and was 19 inches long. When they took Ethan out, he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice, which is why his heart rate was weak. We are doing great and Ethan is absolutely perfect!