Here is Part III of Jacob's Birth Story. To view Part I & Part II, click HERE and HERE.
Around 2:30am, Dr. Montgomery came in to do another internal exam. I remember hoping and praying that I had miraculously gotten to 7 or 8 cm. Unfortunately, I was not even close! I was 5 cm and Dr. Montgomery told me that I really should be progressing faster than that by now. He said that pitocin does make a woman’s body dilate slower, but not usually this slow!! He was also concerned because Jacob wasn’t really moving down into the birth canal like he should be. At this point, he was still pretty high up (I think he was at -1 station for a long time!).
Dr. Montgomery said that he would come back in one hour and see if I was progressing. Well, at 3:30am, I was still at 5cm! I remember feeling a bit frustrated that I wasn't dilating more and wondering what was going to happen. Dr. Montgomery told me that he could feel Jacob’s head and that he was worried about him becoming too “coneish”. This would happen if the contractions continued to push him down into the birth canal but my cervix wasn’t open wide enough for him to come out. We talked about our options and Dr. Montgomery said that a c-section was an option that we could pursue. We talked about the pros and cons and even though he had an opinion, he never once pushed me to do anything that I wasn’t comfortable doing. We agreed that we would give my body one more hour and then we would make a decision.
At 4:30 am, Dr. Montgomery came back in and checked me again – still 5 cm!! It seems as though my body just stalled!! At this point, I didn’t care what happened to me, I was just concerned about Jacob and I wanted to be sure that he was going to be OK. Dr. Montgomery said that since my water had been broken for somewhere around 36 hours and the fact that Jacob was being pushed into a space that wasn’t really “ready” for him, he felt that a c-section would be the best option at that point. I must admit I was a bit scared and I didn’t really want a c-section, but I was excited to finally get to meet our baby and at that point, I was so tired, I was glad that it was almost over!
Before they took me down to the operating room, I had to sign some paperwork and I got a nice little shave from Liz (let me tell you, once you have a baby all modesty is out the window!!). Keith was given scrubs, shoe booties, a hair net and a mask to put on. They told him to wait in the room and they would come get him once they had me all set in the OR.
Here I am...all ready to go!
I remember thinking that the OR was a lot smaller than I had pictured it. Thankfully, though, I had paid attention in my childbirth class when our wonderful instructor talked about c-sections. I remember her saying “No one goes into labor thinking they are going to have a c-section. But, you never know. So, there are a few things you should be prepared for.” (I actually thanked her in the hospital – she was working there the day after Jake was born. I told her that having a c-section wasn’t super scary because of all of the information she had given me. I felt like I was really prepared!)
When they wheeled me into the operating room, Dr. Montgomery was standing there waiting. He said to me, “So, are you ready?” And I said, “I think so. Are you?” He laughed and I said, “You have done this before, haven’t you?” He laughed again and said, “No, but I've read a lot of books about it and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night!” I laughed so hard and was glad that he was being comical because I knew that we were all really tired (he was on call all weekend and I think Jacob was like the third or fourth baby he had delivered in 24 hours!) The nurses were really nice too and they were chatting with me to whole time I was being prepped.
Once I was on the table and completely naked (again….no modesty!!), they put the blue sheet up that separates my head from the rest of my body. Dr. Weaver (the anesthesiologist) was above my head giving me a play-by-play of what they were going to do. He told me to look up and there was a big shiny metal circle surrounding one of the lights on the ceiling. I remember him saying, “If you want to be able to see what they are doing during the procedure, you can just look at the shiny metal because it kind of works like a mirror.” I quickly said, “No thanks” and he moved the blue sheet up a little bit so I couldn’t see the light anymore. Keith was brought it and Dr. Montgomery said that they were going to begin.
I remember being really scared at that point and worried that I was going to be able to feel them cutting me. I think I even said, “Ouch, I can feel that” when really all I could feel was a little tugging. Dr. Weaver was awesome throughout the entire procedure and he, Dr. Montgomery and the nurses talked me through everything they were doing. They kept me calm and not anxious and in no time, Jacob Michael Weimer was born! He was born at exactly 5:30am. Keith stood up just in time to see him being moved from my belly to the bassinet where they were going to clean him up. I wanted him to go over and make sure he was OK and he took some great pictures of his first few minutes of life.
After they checked him out and cleaned him up a bit Keith got to cut the cord (they left a good amount hanging on so Keith could get an opportunity to cut it).
Then they wrapped him up and brought him to me. I remember being so happy at that very moment. Keith and I were both crying and we were so overjoyed to finally get to meet our little boy!They moved me out of the OR and into the recovery room. It was a small room that really only had room for one or two beds. I remember feeling shaky and cold but I wasn't in any pain because the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet. And, I was very itchy on my face and neck, which Liz told me is a side effect of the epidural. Thankfully, she was still with me and she said that we would be in recovery for about an hour. After about 30 minutes, while she was doing all the post-surgical stuff (like making me cough…which REALLY hurt!) the phone in the recovery room rang. Apparently, there was another woman who was having a c-section right after me and they were wondering if I was going to be out of the recovery room soon! Liz said I was doing so well that she felt like I was OK enough to be “let out”. Unfortunately, there was “no room at the inn” and I had to go back to my labor and delivery room for a little while until a room on the post-partum unit opened up.
Originally, they were going to bring Jacob to the recovery room so that I could try to nurse him, but since I didn’t spend very much time in there, I was able to see him in the L&D room. I remember the moment they wheeled his bassinet up next to my bed. I was in love!! I wanted to try to nurse him soon since I had read a lot about the bonding that happens between a baby and a mother in those first few hours. I really had no idea what I was doing, but the nurses were great and they tried to help me. I am not sure there was much success with latching on the first try, but over time it got better!
I had quite a lot of visitors that day, both in the L&D room and once I was taken down to the post-partum room. Unfortunately, I was not able to get up and walk around and was still catheterized. I also had to have these awful compression leg massager things on both of my legs. They were similar to blood pressure cuffs (except much larger) and they would blow up and then deflate every minute or so. I understood that I needed to keep them on so I didn’t develop blood clots in my legs, but boy were they hot and uncomfortable! It was very frustrating not being able to get up and move around and the next morning, I was VERY thankful to be able to get up and take a shower!!
My recovery from the c-section was a lot better than I had expected it to be. I was able to get up and move around pretty well in the days after Jacob’s birth. It was really nice to have Keith there pretty much the entire time! We were very fortunate because the post-partum rooms at the hospital have two beds in them (in case they have to double up when they are really busy). When they aren’t busy, they allow the husband (or whoever you want to stay with you) to use the other bed. Therefore, Keith was able to spend the night with me and pretty much be at the hospital the entire time I was there. We really took advantage of the bonding time with Jacob and we tried to learn as much as we could from the nurses. This whole parenting thing was new to us and we needed all the help we could get!!
Here is Jacob - only two days old - sleeping on my hospital bed
(from day one, he liked sleeping on his side or his tummy!)
On Wednesday, three days after he was born, we brought Jacob home with us. It was so awesome to have our little family all together in our house and since then we have been thanking God every day for bringing such a wonderful blessing into our lives!
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