The Amateur Mom

James Henry Oakman

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

6:17 am

10 lbs 13 oz.

You would think that it wouldn’t be quite as amazing the fifth time around, but it is. It is the same feelings of wonder and awe as the first time, when you hold a little person in your arms for the very first time. It’s the moment you realize that they are half you and half someone else, and completely new and unique. Someone you’ve never met, and yet someone you’ve lived with for nine months. And the most amazing part: I grew him in my belly!

Our newest little guy was born last Tuesday. We went in for an induction at 11:00 am on Monday. Once we got settled they started the Pitocin and settled in to wait. It took about 17 hours of waiting. In the meantime I had an epidural (which went considerably better than last time!). I also had an issue with my oxygen levels, so I ended up needing to wear an oxygen mask for the last few hours.

When it was almost time to deliver the midwife came in to do an exam and realized that the baby was OP (occiput posterior – it means that the baby’s head was down, but he was facing the wrong way) They called in an extra nurse for the delivery since there are sometimes a few complications associated with this position.

A few minutes later it was time to deliver. By this time the baby had rotated again and was now facing the side. Unfortunately, when he rotated the umbilical cord got wrapped around his chest and shoulder. When we tried to deliver him he had what is called shoulder dystocia. His head came out fine, but his shoulder was stuck. (Shoulder Dystocia) At this point we went from a room of three people attending us (a midwife and two nurses) to a room of about eleven people in less than 60 seconds. Everyone, was extremely busy and there were two nurses trying to reposition the baby so that we could get him out quickly! We were definitely on the clock, but we were able to deliver our little guy (in one minute and 27 seconds after they called the dystocia – we know because they were definitely timing it – we only had 2 minutes at that point). It was a bit chaotic since the midwife kept telling everyone to push, but I couldn’t figure out if she wanted me to push, or if she wanted me not to push and one of the nurses on either side of me to push to re-position the baby. But we figured it out!

After he delivered, they wisked him over to the baby warmer to make sure that he was okay. It took a while but they got him breathing on his own and he was okay after a couple of minutes. It's hard to write, as a mother, about what those moments are like. When things go from fine, to not fine in a matter of seconds, and everything stops, and everything starts spinning at the same time. But, through those moments I felt a sweet spirit of peace and assurance. It's hard to explain, but I knew that things would be okay. I didn't know what the outcome would be, but I knew that it was in God's hands. And that feeling of peace, that feeling that God was real, and knew about what was happening, never left until the doctors were sure that everything was okay.

He had a lot of facial bruising and looked a bit like a blueberry for the first day. (In fact when we went to the regular recovery floor, I dozed off with him in my arms and the first nurse who came to check on him tried to resuscitate him, because the bruising made him look so blue!) They were worried that the bruising would cause significant jaundice as it broke down. But, two days later, his color was fine. He did have a bit of jaundice, but not enough to need any additional treatment.

So our newest little man made it into the world just fine! He is healthy and happy, and I am back up and around. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to blogging this week!

Thank you so much to everyone, who has been helping us out! We’ve had wonderful support from family, friends, and wonderful people at church. We’re so grateful for the baby sitting and the meals and everything else!!