wyatt's birth story

After waiting an extra two weeks past my supposed due date (July 23rd), I woke up Thursday morning (August 4th) around 3:30am to a semi-strong contraction.  I had a feeling that this could be it, but was going to wait until I felt a few more to get out of bed.  Those precious zzz's were needed, after all.  I woke up again around 4am to a few more of the same strength contractions and decided to get up and go to the bathroom.  I waddled over to the computer and browsed around on Pinterest, just waiting to see if the contractions were going to get stronger or closer together.  At 4am the contractions were semi-strong and about 9 minutes apart.  Over the next 30 minutes they progressively got closer together- about 4 minutes apart.  They lasted at least a minute, sometimes longer.  

After realizing that this was probably it I finally woke Stephen up around 4:30am and told him to prepare himself....this was it!  I had him call my mom to tell her to come over after another ten minutes.  It took Mom and Mike about 30-40 minutes to get to our apartment and by that time I was having to breathe through contractions and sway my hips back and forth in an 8 pattern.  As soon as they arrived we pretty much said hello and goodbye and hopped in the car to drive to Pomerado Hospital in Poway. 

Unfortunately my contractions were strong enough at that point that I could not sit down properly in the car.  SO uncomfortable!!  So I put myself in the back seat, where there was a tad more space.  I knelt on the floor of the car, facing the back of it.  I rested my arms and head on the seat and swayed back and forth when a contraction came.  Stephen was probably going 80-85mph the whole way there, thank goodness.  Though not safe, I just wanted to get there.  I was in pain.  

Upon arriving at the hospital we parked and walked on up to the fifth floor to labor and delivery.  I was admitted and sent to triage where the nurse informed me that I was a 9!  YIPEE!!  I was almost there!  She said how impressed she was...made me feel good.  

I was sent to room 5/8 (?) where the room was being uber prepared for the very soon arrival of Mr. Wyatt.  I continued laboring in the room, where at this point I needed Stephen a lot more in coaching me.  The only position that eased my pain at all was standing and swaying while hanging on Stephen's arms and resting my face on his chest.  I literally put all of my weight on his arms and swayed my hips back and forth while doing stomach breathing.  My out breaths were very long and steady....that breathing saved me!  Occasionally Dr. Cobb or the nurse (Anne) would gently massage my lower back which significantly helped with the back labor I was experiencing as well.  (Needless to say Stephen's upper back and shoulders were very sore after 6+ hours of supporting my weight every 30 seconds)

We had arrived at the hospital around 6am.  Every hour or longer Dr. Cobb would check me and we would all be a tad disappointed that I was still just a 9 and -1 station.  Wyatt was not dropping like he was supposed to.  After six hours of having transition contractions every 30-60 seconds I was exhausted.  At one point I started pushing while standing to try and put more pressure on the cervix, but still no progress...still a 9 and -1 station.  Something just wasn't right.  After each contraction his heart rate would dip down a little bit too, which concerned Dr. Cobb a little bit.  

So around 12pm I caved and asked for an epidural.  I was just so tired.  It took the anesthesiologist about twenty minutes to get in my room and another fifteen or so to administer the epidural.  Apparently the first time he did it he entered a vein instead of the cavity where he was supposed to, resulting in only my left side being numb.  My right side was still feeling everything.  So he took it out and started again.  The second time worked great and I was finally numb.  I rested for about an hour and then Dr. Cobb checked me again.  Still no change.  He also let me know that my left lip of the cervix was still thicker than it should be.  We opted to start pushing, hoping that pushing the baby's head into my cervix would help it thin out more and get this moving more.  No such luck.  After two hours of pushing (standing up, squatting, on my side, etc....at this point I had stopped the epidural to push better so I could move around completely) there was no change to the baby's position nor my cervix.  We talked ideas and options.  

It was like deja-vu...just like with Chloe.  Couldn't get that baby out!  Stephen gave me a priesthood blessing and we both prayed to know what our next step should be.  After doing so and after thinking for a while, we decided that I would rest for another hour or so and then push again for another hour and if nothing had progressed by then that we would opt for the c-section.  So that's what we did.  After following our plan of action and after absolutely no change, we gave the okay for the c-section.  To be honest, although it was clearly not what I wanted, I just had a feeling that this was the best route for us at this point.  I wasn't disappointed in my efforts at all, I felt like I had done all that I could.  I really do feel that way still.  I was not wanting to have to have a baby via surgery...again.  The recovery is hardly satisfactory, especially after laboring for ten hours in transition and pushing.  Despite all of that I really just wanted to be safe for the baby's sake and mine.  Stephen and I both felt that it was the correct decision.  

So around 6:10pm I was wheeled into the sterile OR (operating room) and at 6:26pm Wyatt Thomas Baker entered our lives!!  As soon as I heard him out and crying I started crying.  I was just so happy to hear his voice and to know that he was finally here and that he was okay.  After checking his vitals, cleaning him up a bit and weighing him they brought Wyatt over for me to hold.  I held him right at my face for at least ten minutes while Dr. Cobb started to finish up the surgery.  He was mad and crying when the nurse brought him over, and I remember thinking how much he looked like Chloe.  His lips were poofing out while crying, which also reminded me of Chloe.  Mr. Wyatt weighed in at 8lbs 15oz, was 22 inches long and had a 14 inch head (phew!).  He was and is a big boy!  

It took Dr. Cobb a while to finish up the surgery because he (or the other doctor who assisted) nicked my bladder at some point.  They were making sure that they had fixed it up properly.  A day or two later I was wheeled down to Radiology for about 30 minutes for them to scan my bladder and make sure there was no blood there.  Luckily there wasn't!  

Wyatt is a dream of a baby and immediately started nursing like a champ!  He's my best nurser yet!  He has brown hair with tints of red in it.  He seems to have Sienna's nose, my hair line, and Stephen's lips, feet, ears and hands.  We love, love, love our little guy and are so happy that he and I are healthy and that all has gone so well.  

(more pictures to come)