Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Nathan's Birth Story

Well now that our baby, Nathan Alder Leade has arrived (and is a month old), I guess it is time to write his birth story!

He was due on August 28th 2014 but as most of you know, due dates are just estimates and babies come when they are ready. During the August 15th appointment, one doctor recommended inducing early, on or about the 21st, which would be 39 weeks. His reasoning for inducing was that the birth mother was "advanced in age" and babies born on or after their due dates to mothers with advanced maternal age are more likely to be born stillborn. This of course freaked everyone out and we had to make a decision, either let him come when he is ready and pray that nothing goes wrong or induce on the 21st. The doctor also recommended fetal monitoring twice a week, fluid checks and office visits once a week.

We decided to wait another week and see what the monitoring, fluid checks and office visits showed. Electra had never been induced before and the previous monitoring visits had shown him to be very healthy. We went to monitoring the next two times and all was well, baby's heart rate, fluid levels and movement were all great but the nurse that evening wanted to discuss inducing as well since by this time, there were no signs of labor and her reasoning was the same as before.

However, since there were no signs of labor, no cervical dilation, no contractions and the baby wasn't even in the correct position, we waited. We continued to go to monitoring appointments and everything continued to be well. Then, we started noticing that it appeared that the baby had dropped and we were hopeful for our next appointment to see some dilation. No Dice! The due date came and went. They once again pushed for inducing since now we were past the due date and made us schedule a day to do it, so we set that date for September 4th.

On September 3rd, contractions began early in the morning but they were sporadic and far apart from what I understood. We had an appointment to see the doctor that afternoon so we waited and timed contractions and went to see him for our scheduled appointment time. He checked for the head down position and dilation. Still, there was no dilation and we were all getting pretty frustrated by then and maybe a little worried as to what will happen if we did have to induce. He also checked Electra's blood pressure and noted that it was a bit elevated so he sent us directly to the hospital for another check and possibly to stay for delivery.

Once we go there, we were told that we were not going to leave, that we would be admitted right then and that they would begin the inducing earlier than planned. We still weren't ready to induce and continued to pray that the baby would just come out without having to do that. They came in and explained the induction process and stated that they would start after shift change. The process was to first use a get to start dilation, then break the water and finally give pitocen. However, contractions started getting closer together and when they did another cervical check, it was at a 3. So, they decided to forgo the gel and wait a bit to see what happened.

At this point in time, it was myself, Electra and Mr. Electra in the hospital. We were waiting for Dan and the "grandparents to be" to get there. I let them know that we were now dilated and that they should be moving faster getting there and they did and arrived around 9:15pm. Contractions were pretty close together at that point but we were all expecting to be there for a while waiting. Well, Dan and I stepped out to get coffee and not 5 minutes later, Electra's water broke! We were told it would go pretty fast from there and it sure did! Electra was amazing! She labored on a labor ball and once she felt "lots of pressure" they asked her to get into bed so they could check. Everything went so fast but I think I remember that once they checked, baby's head was crowning and by 10:45pm, he was out. It was truly an amazing experience. I was there for moral support, temperature regulation, physical support and to see our wonderful miracle be brought into this world and I am so very happy I was able to experience everything.

He came out with meconium and he needed some suctioning and oxygen for about 20 minutes. While watching everything, I was frozen in awe of what just happened but not scared for him. I knew that God had brought him to us and that nothing was going to go wrong from here on out. I grabbed Mr. Electra and hugged him and fell apart, crying huge happy tears. After they regulated his breathing, got him screaming really well and warmed him up, they were able to hand him to me...... and I cried more happy tears and then I was able to latch him on an breast feed him and that is when I fell instantly in LOVE!

Nathan Alder Leade is the best, cutest, sweetest baby a couple could ask for and he completes our family! He has also restored our faith in God. Without the power of prayer, he would not be here. Thanks to all of your prayers, we have our family and we couldn't be happier!