Wesley's Birth Story

(Again, if details bother you, this is really not the story for you.)

Once again, I found myself overdue in December 2006. This time I was 4 days overdue at my midwife appointment in Ohio. We had moved, so we were with a new midwife, Kathy. We grew to love her very much just like our midwives in Texas. The only "problem" was Kathy lived about 45 minutes away. This was a bit of concern knowing how quickly my labors can be. At this appointment I had Kathy check me. I don't remember anything remarkable. Maybe I was at 2 cm but nothing major. I had not been having lots of contractions like I'd had with Derek, so I was wondering how much longer I would be pregnant.

Before I continue, I should say that we'd had a bit of a scare with Wesley's pregnancy. I had an ultrasound that showed I *might* have placenta previa. For those of you who don't know, this means that the placenta could be covering the cervix... the "exit" from the womb. The placenta is a big "pancake" that gives the baby his/her nutrition from the mom. The umbilical cord is attached to the placenta and the baby. If you have placenta previa, it pretty much guarantees a c-section because the chance of rupture is too great. Losing the mom & baby are real risks. A homebirth is obviously out of the question. BUT since the ultrasound was early, it could just "look like placenta previa" and not actually be a problem. So, I would have to wait for a later date to have another ultrasound to see what was actually going on. So in the meantime, we prayed. A later ultrasound showed that I did NOT have placenta previa, and I would be able to have a homebirth after all. It did show that my placenta was close to the cervix, but the sonographer (at the hospital) and my midwife both felt there was a large enough margin that all should be fine.

Now back to the day of my appt with Kathy. Dano & I had gone to bed around 10 p.m. I believe. Around midnight, I got up to go to the bathroom. As I stood up, I felt a gush! I told Dano that I thought our prayers had been answered & my water had broken. He got up and turned on the light. Immediately, I saw blood... a lot of it. So, I was pretty sure our homebirth plans were about to change. He went to get the phone while I went to the bathroom. There was a large clot of blood. As I talked to Kathy, she agreed we would need to head to the hospital. She would call ahead for us and meet us there. (My water had not broken after all.)

Now not only was this a change of plans from a homebirth, but we lived in a small town. If I had chosen a hospital birth, I would not have chosen this hospital, but we didn't know if we had time to drive anywhere else. So, we went to the local hospital just 5 minutes away. I called a dear friend to come stay with the kids. She happened to also be very good friends with one of the three OBs in town. She called him to find out where we should go. He also happened to be an active member in our church.

Well, when we got to the hospital by 12:30 a.m., he (the doctor from church) was already there! He had also called in the c-section team just in case. All this was due to our midwife calling ahead and explaining our situation (and them listening to her), and I think due to the fact that we went to church with the doctor. God was watching out for us... as always! Kathy joined us shortly after we arrived.

Well, labor had not started yet. Of course, they wanted to determine where the bleeding was coming from and if Wesley was okay and if my vitals were okay. So, after an ultrasound and a couple of hours of monitoring, it was determined that Wesley & I were doing great. The source of the blood was unknown, and I was no longer bleeding.

Now, God gave me a peace that passed all understanding. I was never fearful during this time. Those of you who know me, know I read EVERYTHING and do a lot of research on things. I SHOULD have realized that a placental abruption (the placenta pulling away from the uterus before its time) would be a likely cause for all this bleeding, but I didn't. A placental abruption could cause a loss of the baby in a few minutes if it was a complete abruption.

Well, after a couple of hours, they let me get up and walk around and rock and do other things to try to get labor going. I did not want to be induced with pitocin or anything else for numerous reasons. There just isn't enough research in my opinion proving the safety of these drugs. There is research questioning the safety of these drugs. Also, these drugs make a labor harder and faster than normal, natural labor... and my labors are fast & hard without help... so I didn't want anything to make them faster or harder! So thankfully, they worked with us and didn't force us to do anything we didn't want to do. Of course, Wesley's vitals & mine were great... so we felt like we could wait.

Well, it was around 7 or 8 a.m. and I was not in labor yet. I was no longer bleeding, and I was starving! Of course, they don't let you eat in the hospital. We (Dano, Kathy, & I) decided that I would just go home & wait for labor to start back up. If I started bleeding again, we could just come back. There could have been other causes for the blood that were not life threatening to Wesley, so leaving wasn't as horrible as it may sound. So, the doctor wrote up some stuff for us. He was very kind even though he wanted us to stay. As I was signing the paperwork to leave (after they had taken the IV port out of my hand), I felt another gush. I was hoping it was my water breaking & we could just go home and have the baby. Well, as soon as they left the room, I checked & it was another gush of blood. I guess that was God's way of saying He wanted us to stay!

So, I pushed the nurse's button, and told them we'd changed our minds. After that gush, things got crazy. Suddenly, I was required to have an IV, not just a port. I was required to be on fetal monitoring constantly unless going to the bathroom. I couldn't have on any of my clothes... not even a sports bra. But other than that, they were still working with us and our birth plan. We still refused the induction. Wesley continued to do great.

Thankfully, shortly after that my regular contractions started. I think it was around 9 a.m. It was strange. I was very concerned about getting blood on the hospital gown. I was annoyed by all the cords... the monitor, the IV, the strings on the gown. The longer labor went on, the more I bled. Eventually, I just lost the gown. It was driving me crazy. Other than these things bothering me, I had a nice labor. It wasn't too hard or too fast. Dano & Kathy were a great support. The nurses there were wonderful, too. Around noon I was ready to push. I could never get comfortable, and I remember being very irritated about that. Finally after about 30 minutes of pushing, Wesley was born! Yea! They even let me pull him out and place him on my chest. If you've never done this, I highly recommend it! He was perfectly healthy... completely covered in blood, but perfectly healthy! He nursed right away and all was wonderful.

After my placenta was delivered, I asked to see it. (This is something midwives always show you & discuss with you.) I think it shocked the doctor and the nurse that we asked to see it. Anyway, as they looked at it, they realized this had been the cause of my bleeding. I had a partial placental abruption. They said 10 -20%. Thankfully that is all. Wesley maintained a strong heartbeat during the entire labor. So, my low lying placenta had been knocked down by Wesley as he was descending into the birth canal. Thankfully the Lord had his hand on him all along and delivered him safely!

I would NEVER choose a hospital birth over a homebirth. However, I do believe a hospital birth was the best choice in this case. I am so thankful for how the doctor worked with us and our birth plan. I was thankful for how the nurses respected our wishes. I was thankful that we had the c-section team there "just in case." In some ways I am still disappointed that Wesley's birth did not take place as I had hoped; however, I am so thankful to have my Wesley!! So regardless of where he was born, I'm just glad he was born healthy & alive!

In the end, the hospital we never would have chosen, ended up being a blessing to us. They even let us go home after 7 hours since we were under the care of a midwife & since I hadn't had any other procedures, etc. Wesley's birth was still completely natural... just VERY messy! I'm glad we didn't have to clean up after it!

He was my biggest baby up to that point!

5 days overdue
Wesley
8#14oz