The Story of Charlie's Birthday

Last Sunday (March 18) started out like any other day, but ended like no other day. We spent the morning cleaning the house and hanging out and watching tv. After a quick lunch we decided to take Drake to the zoo to enjoy the beautiful weather and see the new sea lion exhibit.

[caption id="attachment_1001" align="aligncenter" width="491"] Daddy and Drake enjoying the zoo[/caption]

After the zoo we hit up DQ for some cold treats. When we returned home Drake and I both took a much-needed nap. After Drake woke up we went across the street to play at the neighbors. While we were there I noticed that I had started having a few contractions. I decided to head home and time them. I timed the contractions for about a half-hour and decided that we better head to the hospital to get check out as they were coming about every 3 minutes. We quickly packed the rest of our stuff, dropped Drake off at the neighbors and called my parents to come pick up Drake.

We got to the hospital around 6:30. At this point my contractions were not painful but still timeable. The nurse got me all checked in and hooked me up to monitor the baby's heartbeat and my contractions.  She said that my contractions were not very strong and were actually probably the result of being dehydrated. Coupled with the fact that I was only a fingertip - 1cm dilated it did not seem likely that we would have a baby that night. They wanted to monitor me for an hour to make sure I did not have any changes in my cervix, but it was looking like I was going to be heading home with false labor soon.

I had almost finished my hour of monitoring and Ben I and were just discussing where we were going to pick up supper on our way home from the hospital when the nurse came rushing in. Charlie had a big decel and they were not picking up his heartbeat on the monitor. After trying for a couple of minutes to find it with no success things started to get crazy. My room was flooded with people as they had me up on all fours with an oxygen mask on to try to stimulate the baby to move all while they were trying to insert an IV and having me sign consent forms for an emergency C-Section. They were trying to track down any OB in the hospital to do an emergency section as my OB was on his way to the hospital. Just as things were getting really scary they picked up Charlie's heartbeat on the monitor after not being able to find it for over 5 minutes.

I was pretty upset from what just happened when my OB, Dr. F, arrived and told us that we would be having a baby one way or another that night. He wanted to do an ultrasound to see if there was anything (cord, placenta, etc) that was caused the decel. He told me that depending on the results of the US we would discuss how to proceed. He also warned me that if Charlie had another decel we would do an emergency C-Section right away.  It was looking like a vaginal birth was becoming less and less likely as I was hardly dilated and was not "favorable" for an induction. At this point I was still having contractions and despite all the water I was drinking they actually seemed to be increasing in intensity.

Around 9:00 the ultrasound tech arrived and performed the ultrasound. About 45 minutes later Dr. F came in and said that the ultrasound looked good and they did not see anything concerning on it. He wanted to check my cervix just see if I had made any progress and then go over my options with me.  I did not have my hopes up that I would be dilated too much further, so you can imagine my surprise when Dr. F. told me that I was about 8 cm dilated!

At this point things really started to get hectic. I asked for an epidural, even though my contractions were still only ranking as "uncomfortable" on the pain scale. I wanted to be as comfortable as possible for the delivery. I was signing consent forms left and right as they rushed to finish my paperwork. Not five minutes after I requested the epidural the anesthesiologist was there administrating it. Within 10 minutes I was not feeling any of the  contractions at all. Dr. F. came in and broke my water and shortly after I was feeling pressure and was ready to push.

[caption id="attachment_1011" align="aligncenter" width="491"] Almost time to meet Charlie![/caption]

The NICU team was called down for the delivery as I had a lot of meconium in my water. I pushed through 2 contraction and was making good progress when I could tell the nurses seemed a bit panicked. Dr. F. told me that I needed to push like I never had pushed before and that he was going to give me a little help with the vacuum. During the next contraction Charlie made his big entrance into the world! He was rushed over to the NICU team immediately as they wanted to suction the meconium out before he cried and inhaled it into his lungs. While he was getting taken care of my nurses told me that Charlie gave the quite the scare during delivery as his shoulder was stuck and the cord was wrapped around his neck making his heart rate drop with every contraction and push. I was so relieved that Dr. F and the rest of the team kept their cool and delivered my baby boy safely.

[caption id="attachment_1012" align="aligncenter" width="491"] Charles (Charlie) Morris C. Born March 18, 2012 at 10:50 p.m. weighing 7lbs 12 oz and measuring 20 inches long. APGARS were 7 & 8[/caption]

They worked on Charlie for about 1o minutes before I was finally able to hold my sweet boy for the first time. He was having a bit of trouble breathing on his own so he needed to be on oxygen to help him out.

[caption id="attachment_1013" align="aligncenter" width="491"] So excited to meet our newest boy[/caption]

I was able to hold Charlie for about 10 minutes before they needed to take him to the nursery to monitor him more closely. Ben was able to go up with him and call down to me with updates. They had to suction out his stomach because he swallowed so much meconium and also wanted to monitor his body temp as it was a little high. Ben stayed with Charlie for about an hour before he came down to pack up our stuff and help us get moved to the mother/baby room. I was moved around 12:30 a.m. to our new room and the nurses were kind enough to take me by the nursery to see little Charlie. They wanted to monitor him a bit longer so Ben and I got settled into our room and they brought him in around 2:00 a.m.

[caption id="attachment_1014" align="aligncenter" width="491"] Daddy holding Charlie for the first time![/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1015" align="aligncenter" width="491"] Enjoying some snuggle time with little Charlie[/caption]

We were able to keep him with us for about 30 minutes before he had to go back to the nursery to be monitored for the night.  We were up bright and early at 6:00 am as we were so anxious to have our little guy with us. Ben went to get him from the nursery and he was doing fantastic! We spent the rest of the day getting to know Charlie and introducing him to his big brother, (a whole post will be coming dedicated to that) family,  and friends. We did find out the next day that it appeared that Charlie had a minor fracture in his shoulder from being stuck during delivery but that his range of motion was perfect and it did not appear to be causing him pain. So we just have to wait for it heal on its own.

Our sweet Charlie made a fast, scary and dramatic entrance into the world and we are so thankful that everything turned out the way that it did. He has fit right into our family and truly made my heart double in size!

[caption id="attachment_1016" align="aligncenter" width="491"] All ready to come home[/caption]

We love you CMC!

Much more to come on Big Brother, life as a family of 4 and little Charlie.