I had an appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning to see one of my midwives and to hopefully make some sort of a decision about delivery, however, my doctor's office called to reschedule my appointment for Tuesday morning due to the weather and the fact that I was so close to delivery. The bad news was that neither one of my midwives would be in town. Sooo, I went in Tuesday morning hoping the nurse practitioner I saw would agree with my midwife that Layton was close to 7 pounds and that she'd advise me to keep waiting, or that I would've made lots of progress. Except that didn't exactly happen. At all.
I was only between a 1 and 2. Bummer. And, she believed he was a good size... at least 7 and a half pounds but probably closer to 8 pounds. She right away offered me a c-section for first thing the next morning or to be induced later that day.
(Whoa. Somehow, yet again, I was caught completely off guard. Not quite to the extent of shock and panic as with Austin, but definitely not expecting what she said/offererd.)
She also offered that I could keep waiting, however it would be risky due to weather conditions AND due to him getting bigger and bigger. Sooo, after talking with Terrell we decided it was best to go ahead with an induction. If we waited out the Winter Storm we'd probably be waiting a whole week longer (unless he came on his own) because they won't schedule anything on the weekends, and by that point we'd feel most comfortable doing a c-section. No way I wanted to naturally deliver an 8 and a half or 9 pound baby. And since a c-section was my last resort we wanted to go ahead.
The tough thing about going in that very day was the fact that my mom was in Augusta with my sister who'd just had surgery AND our plans for the kiddos sort of went away. As in we had to start over from scratch. Boo! I was sooo stressed. We reeally wanted my parents or Terrell's parents to stay at our house with the boys while we had the baby. We wanted them in their own home with their own beds, toys, routine, etc. I wanted everything to remain as normal as possible for them since they'd be away from us and they'd be welcoming home a new brother in a couple of days. But, due to the weather and the potential for power outages and such, they had to make the trip to B'ville. It was extremely stressful for me but we all survived. The boys left with Terrell's parents around 5:00 or so on Tuesday afternoon shortly after my mom arrived at our house so she could go with us to the hospital. We went in at 8:00 Tuesday night.
They started cervidil around 10:30 that night and then we just waited. I didn't sleep so well... and neither did my poor husband and mom. Being crammed into a delivery room all night wasn't exactly comfortable and cozy.
Wednesday morning (the 12th) I was between a 3 and a 4 and it was time to wait again. The cevidil had to be in 12 hours before they could remove it, break my water, and start me on pitocin. I was having very mild contractions and cramping at that point but nothing major.
They removed the cervidil about 11:00 or so on Wednesday morning and then broke my water around lunch time. This time wasn't quite as bad as with Austin so I was very thankful for that! After they broke my water they started me on a low dose of pitocin and my blood pressure dropped... just like it did with Austin. I changed positions and they gave me more fluids or more of something to get it back up. And slowly (or maybe not so slowly) the intensity and frequency of my contractions increased. So I immediately asked for the epidural. And for the first time ever, I received one quickly! I was soo thankful!
Once I had the epidural I was immediately numb. I couldn't feel my legs or feet or contractions or anything. Again, for the first time, my epidural worked really, really good. Possibly too good because it caused some concern for Layton. The nurse didn't tell me too much only that his heart rate had dropped but that he was okay and there was no need for me to worry. Shortly after, around 2:00ish I think, they checked me and I was between a 6 and 7. Yay! At that point I was thrilled because I assumed he would arrive in the next few hours... little did I know he was coming much faster.
All of a sudden, without warning, my doctor came in and checked me and stretched my cervix and broke down the bed and got the room ready for delivery. Wow. Wasn't expecting all that. It was crazy. They never made me panic or feel concerned, they just quietly and quickly prepared for delivery. Before I knew it, it was time to push! I had to push for 10 seconds every time I had a contraction (which I couldn't feel at all) for 30 or 40 minutes (I think) and then he was here! 3:00 on the dot. I'm so thankful my mom was in the delivery room with us again this time because Terrell almost fainted! Bless his heart. He didn't miss the delivery though so I was proud of him. =)
Introducing Layton Thomas Selph
Afterwards I found out that Layton did have everyone worried and concerned because of his heart rate, but praise God he was perfectly fine after he was born. And I'm so thankful I wasn't fully aware of their concern. I may never know the exact details... I knew they were moving fast but never felt that he or I were in danger. Such a blessing while giving birth! AND, it was snowing when he was born. How cool and crazy is that?
My doctor immediately told me that I did tear but that it was a normal, common tear. Nothing bad. I was SO relieved. Then once they weighed him and we found out he was 7-15 I was even more thankful (and shocked) that my body responded so well. God really blessed our decision for a natural delivery and I am so grateful. This recovery has been my easiest by far. I could cry I'm so thankful.
Our precious, priceless gift from God
And here's what the weather and roads looked like during our stay in the hospital...
We never were even moved into a recovery room. We stayed in the delivery room the entire time because they weren't letting anyone leave the hospital with the weather so bad so they didn't have any recovery rooms available. Thankfully my mom was able to make it safely to our house Wednesday night to get some sleep.
My mom (Granna) and my sister and Frankie were our only visitors at the hospital this go round. Anna and Frankie stopped by on their way home from Augusta following my sister's surgery. What a crazy week for our littlest man to make his debut.
We were all ready to head home Thursday afternoon. My first time being discharged after 24 hours! Yay!
Layton wasn't a big fan of his carseat at first. Thankfully he's come around since that very first experience. =)
And there you have the story of Layton's birth.
1 comment:
When I started reading I thought this sounded SO similar to James' story...except for the snow! HA! We were induced the night before, they used the same methods, etc., AND he was born at 3:00 on the dot. Hilarious! He is precious!!! Enjoy every little second.
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