Tuesday, April 15, 2014

A Birth Story Filled With All The Unexpected Including An Angel

As I type, Grady Cole Austin, is snuggled up on my chest fighting his afternoon nap. I never thought on March 8th as I was typing my last post about being 37 weeks pregnant and sharing nursery pictures that I would be holding this sweet guy 4 days later. It has been the most unpredictable and challenging 5 weeks of my life, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the wiggling worm that rests on me now.

For about 4 weeks leading up to the birth of Grady  I spent my evenings reading birth stories, talking to friends about their experiences during labor, and trying to mentally prepare myself for what would become my own story. Little did I know that no amount of stories from others would prepare me for what was to come.

I woke up early Wednesday morning with contractions. This was strange for a few reasons:
1. I had been to the doctor the day before. He checked my cervix and flat out told me I would be pregnant still next week because my cervix was nowhere near ready to deliver.
2. I had not had any sort of braxton hicks or contractions my entire pregnancy.
3. It was way to soon for me to really be going into labor.

However, I laid there for about 30 minutes grunting through each one thinking what if this is really it. I didn't want to wake Zeb and I surely didn't want to go to the hospital with a false alarm so I was just gonna play it cool. Like they told me drink lots of water, take a warm bath, walk around, they should go away. That would be my plan. Suddenly I felt some pressure in my lower area and jumped up to go to the bathroom. It was that moment that I had my first gush. And then another. And then another. I sat there for a good 15 minutes trying to convince myself this wasn't what I thought it was. I was not going into labor. No need to freak out. Finally, I came to terms with reality that it was what I thought it was and proceeded to protect myself long enough to wake Zeb up and inform him of what the day would hold. It would not be the chiropractor appt and work like he originally thought.

I woke Zeb and told him that I thought we were having a baby today. Half asleep, you could hear the sarcasm in his voice, oh really? Yes. My water broke. Well that woke him up! We discussed what should happen next. I told him I wanted to make myself presentable and then we could head to the hospital. I had been timing my contractions and they weren't to close together nor were they very strong so I felt OK about delaying the trip. Within about 30 minutes we were on our way to the hospital.

Once we arrived and got settled in our room it was time for the nurse to check my cervix and confirm that my water broke. I told her I knew I hadn't just been peeing myself for the last little bit, but she said they still needed to confirm in order to officially admit us. Well she had a very hard time reaching my cervix and therefore, was unable to confirm my water had broken. After about an hour and a lab test the confirmation was received. My water had broken and labor would take place that day. My doctor arrived within about 15 minutes and told me that I needed to figure out when I wanted my epidural. He also explained that if I got the epidural soon I needed to be committed to getting the kid out of me which meant if my body was not progressing quick enough I would need to consider taking some pitocin. As he walked out I immediately looked over at Zeb and tears started to well up in my eyes. I was so incredibly scared of everything that was going to be required of me in order to get this little guy out. Zeb reassured me that everything would be fine and not to get so worked up.

Since I had no idea what the ideal time was, I decided to go ahead and get the epidural put in. I also wanted the nurse to check me again and she wouldn't do that until I was numbed up since it was so painful for her to check me before. The epidural was by far the scariest part. I think it was more the unknown, but I was terrified. With the exception of my blood pressure plummeting as they were doing the procedure, it turned out to be just fine. I can't say I would ever want to do it again, but I would be OK if I had to. Fast forward to epidural in and body numb. Nurse starts to check me. Find out I am a good 4, almost 5 dilated, but she was concerned. In fact, "what is that?", were the words she uttered with her still inside me. Oh no. What was it? She said she was going to need to call my Dr. to do an ultrasound. She wasn't feeling a head anywhere near my cervix. All she felt was maybe a hand or foot. My Dr. showed up minutes later and it was confirmed. Grady was breach. Now all my fears of labor were gone because I would be going in for a C-section immediately. They were concerned about waiting too long since my body was progressing pretty fast on its own. Within about 45 minutes I was prepped for surgery and Grady was born!

Welcome Grady!! Born 11:26 AM. 6 pounds 14 ounces and 20.5 inches long.




Still strapped to the operating table and getting to see him up close for the first time. I was crying mess!

First family picture!



I wish I could say that was the end, but in reality it felt like just the beginning. Grady was grunting quite a bit after being born. This was not at all alarming to me, but apparently this is a sign that things may not be going well internally. I got about 45 minutes of skin to skin time with my sweet little boy before they told me they needed to take him to the nursery to be watched. Grady was only 3 weeks early, but little boys have slow developing lungs. This means that sometimes when they come early they might need help breathing. This is where Grady was. After about 2 hours my nurse came into my postpartum room and told me Grady was getting a bath. He should be in soon! Hooray. After an hour and half passed I started to wonder what they considered soon. I finally received an update. During the bath Grady had begun to show signs of bad respiratory. They had made an executive decision to take him to NICU. 

I was far from prepared for all that had happened that day and this was the final straw. I was an emotional wreck. They reassured me it was just for precautionary measures, but it didn't make any of it easier. I had only gotten 45 minutes with him since he was born 5 hours before and now I wasn't sure when I would get to hold him again. 

They brought him to my room right before taking him to NICU. 


I had figured out that the sooner I got feeling back in my legs and forced myself out of bed, the sooner I could get down to NICU to see my baby. While I was very determined mentally to do so, physically it was going to take a little bit. I finally made my way around 10 pm. 

Getting to see him and hold him again for the first time since birth! Talk about an emotional moment. 



It was a long 6 days to say the least. The first 48 hours were the hardest because Grady didn't get better right away. He kinda got worse and then better. Can I tell you what made it the absolute best though? There was an angel I swear, sent straight from heaven, to take care of Grady. You see, I believe God's hand is in everything and I also believe that sometimes when he throws a lot at you, he also sends an angel to relieve some of it. Nurse Beth was our angel. She took care of Grady I think 4 out of the 6 days he was in NICU. She taught Zeb and I how to bathe Grady, how to not freak out when he pees all over you and reminded us to laugh. She was the absolute best person to have around during this time. She was our nurse the day we discharged too and when she walked us down to hand Grady off. I gave her the biggest hug and held back tears. Thank you Beth.

So that was our story. It was completely unlike anything I dreamed of going into that day. I'm drawn to tears a lot when I look back on the pictures. The last 5 weeks have been both challenging and fun. We have laughed a lot because of the new adventure we are on. I've cried, only a little, ;) thanks to hormones re-balancing and breastfeeding. Oh breastfeeding...it deserves a post of it's own! But mostly I have just stared and been so incredibly thankful for the sweet gift that Grady is. I can hardly believe he is mine and yet I thank God for him every day. 

We were extremely blessed to have our families here to help in those early weeks and then friends after they left to continue providing gifts and meals. Our hearts are full. 



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Love Grady's story! Sounds like a movie!

Unknown said...

Love Grady's story! Sounds like a movie!