Dominic's Birth Story

Finally getting to write this!

First, the short version for those who dread gory details about birth stories. Of course, most people who bother to read birth stories revel in those, but just in case, here's the quick points!

Raymond Dominic was born about a week and a half past his due date on 11/12/13 at 11:07 p.m. at Sentera Norfolk General. He was 9 lbs 3.4 oz and 22.5 in long! I have no idea how he came out of me. All I can say after he was born is that I am super thankful that I live in the 21st century and modern medicine is available to me. Not only was Dominic just a big boy coming out of a pretty little lady, amniotic fluid was actually leaking so pressure was on for him to get out... and then he had meconium in his lungs, had tied his umbilical cord in a knot probably during the first trimester, and looped it around his neck... someone has to make sure those nurses and doctors are working, right?

But he is here, happy and healthy and doing great! I know God must have some big plans for this little guy, because even the fact that he made it through gestation having such an impressive knot in his cord is quite the miracle. For those who want the play-by-play... read on!

So I was expecting Dominic to show up right around November 1st.. if anything, I had this gut feeling that he'd be here earlier! My sister took a week off of work and came down to watch Clare while he was suppose to be born. Well, turns out Dominic knew we just weren't quite ready yet since our renters in our old house gave us 3-days notice that they did, in fact, have military orders for November 1st. So while my sister could watch Clare and we'd arranged our work schedules to have time off, we did a bunch of work on the old house.

By the grace of God, we were able to get in a renter by November 15th! It really is amazing... I really wanted to help someone out with our ability to rent out a house. I even messaged a few of the sob story "please we need a place to live" ads on craigslist - not a single one e-mailed me back! The woman who is in our house now is a military widow living there with her son. Turns out she is a diabetic and her sister, a nurse, lives across the street. She needed to move, but really wanted to stay in the neighborhood to keep her son in the school district and be close to her sister. She just saw the old renters moving out and came over when we were working on the house to inquire. Look at how God works things out!

I was hoping that all the work on the old house would trigger some labor progress, but no such luck. Another grace of God thing - even though my mom wasn't able to come down and help out at all, Raymond's mom had some frequent flier miles saved up and some vacation time. This time, we weren't pulling the plug prematurely, however! So my very gracious MIL was on standby... everyone waiting on Dominic.

Doctors appointments came and went... always the same "could be any day now" message. That and Dominic was pushing his head so hard on my cervix, it was likely my water could break and he'd create a seal and I might not know. Which could lead to infection...so add a little paranoia to the list of waiting! Of course, waiting while doing everything we could to naturally encourage labor.

Finally, on the morning on November 12th, after having gotten the first decent night's sleep in weeks, I woke up and got ready to go to our scheduled doctor's appointment. And something felt... different. I had a feeling that my water may have broken. So we made sure to bring Clare's day bag and our hospital stuff to the doctor's appointment. Sure enough, when our doc did the "q-tip test" - it's kind of creepy, they can test if fluid is amniotic with a special q-tip that will change colors - it was a darker blue than she had ever seen! So Raymond was charged with dropping me off next door at the hospital immediately and then taking Clare to a friend's house. We called his mom and headed right over.

I still didn't feel any contractions, so I was the calmest check-in ever. I think the staff appreciated me and the scheduled C-section lady joking around with them instead of screaming and freaking out for admittance.

Once they got me back to a labor and delivery room, after I had a few snacks and something to drink (no one was going to deprive me of nutrition this labor! I almost died of hunger and thirst and didn't have much strength during Clare's birth to push - I mean, really, you're going to take food away from the skinny pregnant lady with a crazy metabolism who is suppose to push a baby out of her???), and prayed morning prayer, they got me hooked up for monitoring. Much to my surprise, I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes! They did an ultrasound to check fluid levels, and confirmed that it was leaking...slowly, but fast enough to need to induce some stronger contractions. The doctor also estimated a 9-lb baby.

Now, at this point, a more intelligent person would have said bring on the epidural! Pitocin AND a big baby on the way? Let's be smart about this. But I was determined to not have an epidural this time. The wise and very experienced nurse had me sign release forms for medication just in case, so she could quickly get them if I changed my mind. In my opinion, the epidural last time was scarier than actual delivery, and I was handling these early contractions in stride!

Fast-forward a few hours, and, after Raymond had gotten there with some fresh food to supplement the snacks I've had packed for weeks, labor was really moving. And that pain thing..that was starting to kick in. I used my one IV-dose of pain killer, and pretty soon it was time to push - maybe early evening?

Anyway, pushing didn't go so great. Other than the pain and me screaming and swearing more than I probably have in the entire 2-years since since Clare's birth, something was wrong. Every time I had a contraction, and especially every time I pushed, Dominic's heart-rate was dropping - a lot. Just as I had done with Clare, I started screaming for them to cut him out of me. I get the feeling they hear this a lot, so there was a calm insistence that a C-section wasn't necessary. I bartered for an epi, but was told it was too late.

But... I couldn't calm my breathing. They kept telling me to take slow deep breaths during contractions, but I was hyperventilating and not able to control it. I knew that Dominic needed the oxygen, but I just couldn't do it. They put an O2 mask on me, which helped, but I still couldn't get in control. They wanted me to take a break, because pushing was putting too much strain on Dominic. But the only thing that made the contractions bearable WAS pushing. Apparently there were several people in and out to check on me... a specialist..the specialist's supervisor... all I knew was that I was in pain, his heart-rate was dropping dangerously low, and they thought something was going on with his umbilical cord. Raymond was more aware of the conversations, but I was just trying to breathe.

A doctor came in and gave me my options. All I know was that the first one was an epidural, and I cut her off there! This anesthesiologist was amazing! My own personal angel, come not just to take pain away, but to make it possible for my son to get oxygen. They had her in within moments (here's to the nurse making me sign paperwork early!) and, as scary as that needle is, we made it through. She actually was able to get it done between contractions, and I was able to keep my body steady enough to not have problems.

Then we had maybe two hours of rest and careful monitoring.The whole time the nurse never left my side and made sure that I was in a position to keep pressure off the umbilical cord. I could finally focus on breathing slowly and deeply and Dominic and I were able to rest.

When it was time to push again, it was a completely different story. I could still feel everything, but I was actually able to focus on pushing him out since there was very minimal pain. Half an hour in, the final pushing "set" came and they were getting everything ready super quickly. In the first push, he completely came out!

But we weren't out of the woods - Dominic came out looking like a limp, gray noodle. The team immediately got him to the baby warmer and got him breathing and the merconium out of his lungs. As soon as I heard his cry, I could relax.

You know your baby is lucky when the hospital staff is passing around the bucket of afterbirth admiring the knot your kid tied in the umbilical cord! And Raymond declined taking a picture of it. We were just happy he was out and alive!

I've got to say, I really don't know how I would have made it before modern medicine. I mean, I know that in a way complications are less likely and delivery is easier with some non-hospital methods... but we make big babies. I'm very happy for hospitals and nurses and doctors and epidurals and heart rate monitors and all those things!

Alright, a few last pictures and this birth story is complete!

Yea - he's a big boy!

Clare and Dominic meeting for the first time.