My Birth Story

It had been a long time. Thirty-seven weeks.

During a routine checkup at Mommy's ob/gyn, Mommy mentioned that I was not moving as much as I used to. She had shrugged it off as me getting bigger and not having enough room in her belly anymore, but mentioned it anyway. The Doctor was a bit more concerned and asked her to get a biophysical exam that day. Mommy called Daddy who was busy in meetings all day and told him. He offered to come along, but Mommy was sure it was nothing. She said she was fine and went on to the appointment.

During the exam everything looked fine until they checked my heart rate. It would go down each time Mommy would have a contraction. Mommy wasn't good at knowing when she had contractions, but thankfully the machine was. My dropping heart rate worried the doctors and they recommended that we go straight to the Labor and Delivery floor to be induced that day. I think Mommy was a little scared.

By that evening with Daddy and Grandma Isbell in the room and Grandma Dallas on her way from far away, they induced labor. I was pretty comfortable in Mommy's tummy, so in the morning they found out that not much had changed and I had not moved much. The doctors gave Mommy more medicine and hard squeezing began every 2 to 3 minutes. This went on for another 2 days. Mommy and Daddy were exhausted.

So was I.

To tell you the truth, it was just too much for me, so I decided it was time to get here one way or the other. Around 6am on September 11^th, my heart rate dropped to an alarmingly low rate and a lot of nurses rushed into the room. They said everything but the words "c-section" to Mommy, afraid to scare her. But they were flipping her around and sticking needles in her and getting her ready, anyway.

As Daddy got changed into his scrubs, they prepared Mommy with an epidural so she couldn't feel anything from her chest down. There was a really nice nurse there, Debbie, who kept the whole air light. After a little while, they let Daddy into the operating room. He arrived and held Mommy's hand. He calmed her while he peeked over a blue screen to watch the doctors pull me into the world. Daddy said I came out covered in white stuff that looked like lotion and wailing with my hands to the heavens. All the doctors said I was singing, the room stopped and listened. Happy birthday!

I was born on September 11^th at 7:58am weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces. I was 18 inches long. Daddy held me as the doctors fixed Mommy. I didn't get to see her but for a second, as she kissed me on my cheek and I was led away. When I was born I had my umbilical cord wrapped around my body, the doctor was glad that I came when I did because that was not good for me. While Daddy watched me take my first bath and get cleaned up, the nurse couldn't get me to cry. Because I was born a few weeks early, I was suffering from something called respiratory distress. I had fluid in my lungs that I had a hard time getting out and I had to work extra hard to breathe. So the doctors put me on a CPAP to help push air into my lungs and moved me to a special care nursery called NICU so I could be taken special care of.

Meanwhile, Mommy was trying to get herself better so she could see me. She had to be able to wiggle her toes and move her legs first. She said they felt like they were in cement so it took a while. Once Mommy could move her feet a little she called the doctors so she could be wheeled in to see me. But the they said she had to wait 12 hours. This made Mommy very sad, but Daddy had a great idea and videotaped me so she could still see me even if she couldn't see me in person. She told me she watched the tape over and over again.

Finally, 12 hours passed and Daddy and a nurse wheeled mommy down to NICU to see me. They asked my nurse what was needed to get me off the of CPAP and all the wires. The nurse told Mommy and Daddy that I will have to stay in the hospital for a week at best but that they would know more within the next 24 hours. The idea of going home without me made my parents very sad so they asked me to get better. The next day the nurses said that I listened so well to my parents wishes that I could be taken off the CPAP! Mommy even got to feed me.

Because I was doing so well, they worked on weaning me off of the IV. Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandma visited me as often as they could and on Monday night got their wish to have me go to their room. Two days later, one week after being admitted in the hospital, Mommy and Daddy left for home with me in tow.

So that's how my story begins....