Jericho's Birth Story

I've always envisioned what it would be like to birth a baby. Or at least, how it would start. Maybe I'd be one who would feel contractions, rush to the hospital only to be told to go home and wait it out. Or maybe I'd be one where the labor would progress so quickly I wouldn't have time for the much desired epidural. I always envisioned the "regular" way of birth, and I always thought it would be unexpected and a mystery of when it would happen.

But sweet little Jericho had a plan of his own (or rather, our God who orchestrated the whole process had the plan!). Fully breech and measuring too large to flip/me to birth, my doctor wanted to take the mystery out of the equation and have a planned C-section. When we first heard this, I was a little disappointed. Not because I didn't think that was equally as hard or counted as giving birth (it is and it does!), but more so because already my expectations weren't being met. The disappointed only lasted a few minutes, until the doctor had suggested something may be wrong with baby's umbilical cord (wrapped up around the baby or being compressed when he/she tried to flip and him/her not getting the nutrients and oxygen he/she needed). I went from a "me focused" birth to a "baby focused" birth and my heart was instantly changed. It was the first time in the pregnancy I felt like a mother. And ALL this mother wanted was to get her baby out in the safest way possible. I am so grateful for my doctor's wisdom and advice!

So November 21 was the scheduled date. There was a chance my water would break early, and we'd still have the element of mystery. We found ourselves praying this would NOT happen as our doctor was "off the clock" the weekend leading up to that. We sat the entire weekend and, while we had last get togethers with both our families, we were as easy as possible to reduce any risk of my water breaking.

Then came the day before the surgery. We used that day to spend as just us, doing what we enjoyed together and cherishing our last moments as a family of 2. We shared our fears and excitement for the next day and prayed a lot together to help both our anxieties. We ate dinner at Daniel's but I only ate a soup and salad, after reading tips on what to do the day before a C-section. No eating or drinking after midnight, although I stopped eating around 7:30, about 12 hours before my surgery - just in case. We tried to keep our evening as normal as possible, and kept our routine of watching The Walking Dead (we are behind the times) and getting to bed at a reasonable time (we had a wake up call at 3:30 the next morning!). I got some sleep because I can literally sleep despite whatever I'm feeling or anticipating, whereas Cal experienced his first sleepless night (of many to come!).

When my alarm went off, I turned it off and was already shaking. The anxiety was real. I wrote a post about what I was feeling to try to get my emotions voiced and somewhat calm myself down. I took a shower and tried to relax, but I felt like I was going to throw up. I kept forgetting I was going to meet my baby that day, all I could think about was "major abdominal surgery."

We were so anxious we left around 4:30, even though we live minutes from our hospital and didn't have to check in until 5. Cal dropped me off by the doors of the mother/baby entrance (hallelujah for Wake Med Cary being so convenient and easy!) and went to park while I stood with all our stuff. It looked like we were moving in! Cal joked he would have to keep an eye on me so I wouldn't take off while I was alone.

We went to check in and were walked back to the room, room 7. The end room on the hall, making it the closest to the OR. We started to get unpacked and our nurse came in and introduced herself. I got into my wonderful gown and then she and another nurse hooked me and baby up to the monitors and started my IV. Looking back, the IV ended up being the worst part for me physically! They had to do it twice because my hands, which normally have easy to see veins, were so swollen. The "helper" nurse failed on the first try. My anxiety heightened because while I wasn't looking, the mention of needing to "clean up the blood" off of my hands threw my mind into a tizzy. I kept cool though and breathed through the other nurse getting the IV in correctly on my other hand (which still ended up bloody). For every procedure in the hospital from this to breastfeeding was "is this going to hurt? Will I be okay?!" Thankfully each step of the way we had the perfect nurses for every scenario. They calmed my fears and assured me it all was possible, normal, and I could do it. According to the monitoring, I was having contractions here and there even though I didn't feel it!

After I was all prepped our parents were able to come back. I could only have 3 extra people in the room (not including Cal) so our moms stayed with us and our dads rotated in and out. Everyone but my dad had worn blue, giving their final prediction. Dad said he thought boy, but flipped to girl. We all gave our weight guesses, too. By this point I felt good. I was confident and ready for the next step. In my mind, I had 2 things to conquer. The IV and the numbing shot before the spinal. The rest that would happen I wouldn't feel a thing of. I kept chanting this in my head to make my heart believe it.

Before we knew it, my doctor came in, rechecked baby's position just to be sure he/she was still breech, and re-explained the process to us. Then came the anesthesiologist to ask some questions and explain his job. We said goodbye to our parents and asked for 5 more minutes to be together alone. Cal and I each have a journal for each other where we write letters in place of giving birthday or anniversary, or just because. That way as the years go by we can look back at what we wrote each other. I had sneakily packed my journal for Cal and had written him a special letter for him to read minutes before he became a father. We cried and hugged (as best you can hooked up and in bed) as the nurse came in to wheel me away! He was able to walk with me to the entrance of the OR but then we had to say goodbye. This was the part I feared the most, going in alone while my biggest support stood on the other side of the door.

Inside was way different than I expected. It was smaller and had more equipment, as opposed to Grey's Anatomy style, huge and empty. It's all a bit of a blur but I met the staff in there, sat on the edge of the bed, and right as I was about to get my shot they realized they forgot to give me a nasty drink. "Shoot it like it's alcohol!" they told me. I told them my husband makes fun of me for being literally incapable of taking a shot and I didn't think I could do it. But I summoned the strength and I did it without spilling any thanks goodness! My stomach became super nauseous and it took me a minute before I felt strong again. "It has an after taste of grape!" I announced which made everyone chuckle because they had never heard that before. Then I resumed the shot/spinal scrunch over a nurse and it really wasn't too bad. A small shock went through my leg and pretty soon they laid me back on the table. For the rest of the time (and a few hours after) I felt like I had my legs spread as wide as they could go but they assured me my legs were flat and straight. What a strange feeling! When they were satisfied I was numb Cal came in and I was so relieved. It was so strange to be strapped to the table, yet not as scary as I envisioned. I chatted away with the anesthesiologist telling him every feeling I had. He asked if I babbled when I am nervous, ha! I said I wanted to make sure everything I felt was normal.

Earlier that morning my mom had told my doctor about me receiving teacher of the year at my school, so the staff chatted about that with me to keep me distracted. I gave the anesthesiologist advice on elementary schools in Raleigh for his young kids.

The doctor began calling out times, and each time Cal asked "is it the baby?!" "Not yet!" everyone would respond. When they called out 8:12 I asked "Is it here?!" Cal told me no, but then the staff was like "Yes!! Come on over dad!" So he went over and shouted that it's a BOY! They lifted him up so I could see him, and all I could see was his little hiney.

They took him over to be cleaned up and clear out his lungs and Cal went with him. They announced his weight, 8 pounds 9 oz and Cal exclaimed that he had called it just an hour before (he told  me his guess was 8lb 9oz because I was 8'8 and he wanted our baby to one up me). I sat there in disbelief and just saying "it's a boy! I have a boy! He's Jericho!" In no time at all Cal or the nurse brought him to me and laid him on my chest for skin to skin. I was in such disbelief still! And I couldn't see his face because I was flat on the table. "Show me pictures so I know what he looks like!" I begged Cal. We got our picture taken with him and it was just blissful. Before I knew it, they whisked Cal away to outside of the OR again and took Jericho for a minute while I was moved to a new bed. They had to tip me to the side and it was an odd feeling - the nurse said I would feel like I'm falling but she promised she wouldn't let me. Bizarre. It wasn't too bad and I was lifted to my recovery bed. During this they commented how Jericho was lifting his head and moving his neck. I told them it must be because for the last 2 months we'd see his head lift out of my stomach (so cool, always a little creepy) so he must have built up his muscles. They gave him back to me and we were wheeled back to the Labor and Delivery room for a few hours of recovery. The whole experience was so neat because when I thought of a C-section, I assumed I wouldn't get much time with the baby or Cal. Instead he stayed in the room the whole time and with me for most of it!

We attempted to breastfeed and Jericho did great. Around this time (we think, we both are having a hard time remembering that fuzzy, wonderful morning!) Cal went out to the waiting room where we had 11 people eagerly awaiting the news. Family and one of Cal's best friends and his wife were even there! We felt so loved and supported. The next 2 hours we're a blur of sweet baby goodness. Cal did skin to skin while things went on with me that I don't even remember! As he sat on the chair with Jericho on  his chest, he looked up at me and said with tears in his eyes "I'm so happy I have a son!" Precious. We spent those 2 hours as a family of 3 before we were wheeled to our Mother and Baby room. Our families were so eager to meet our perfect little boy.

The hospital stay was as great as it could be (the first night and second day was the hardest by far). My recovery was smooth and while it was odd to be numb that first day, getting up and walking around was easier than I thought it would be. Of course I went through times of pain and uncomfortableness, however it was all worth it! Our nurses were amazing. Our doctor spectacular. I cried on our last day as I thanked her for all she had done. We got some beautiful pictures of her with Jericho, and we will treasure them as she really guided us with ease through the unknowns of pregnancy and birth.

I can't speak for Cal but I wasn't too scared of going home as I knew our families and friends  would give us as much support as we needed, and that we wouldn't be alone as we embarked through beginning our parenthood journey. We have survived 2 weeks and look forward to the days, weeks, and years ahead with our sweet Jericho David Foshee.