Brantley's Birth Story

Can't think of a better way to get back into blogging than writing this down! Poor second child didn't get nearly as many posts about him. :( But I love him all the same!!

I was due on November 18th. My appointments leading up to my due date were pretty uneventful - 1 cm dilated, not effaced at all. So I didn't have a great feeling about having him on my own. I did not want to be induced again!!!

I went to my 39 week appointment on Wednesday, the 13th, and my doctor had some doubts that Brantley was head down. This was news to us, at my three previous appointments I had been checked and the doctors said they felt his head. So we went over to the hospital to have an ultrasound and see if he was breech. Sure enough, he was! So our nurse called my doctor back to see what the next step would be. I went to work and waited to hear from the doctor.

My doctor called me that afternoon and said that she talked to another doctor in her office who was very good at turning babies around and he advised not to try to turn Brantley, but to go ahead and schedule a C-section. He wasn't comfortable with how far along I was, they usually try to flip babies around 37 weeks. So my doctor scheduled my C-section for Saturday the 16th, at 9:30 am.

We had to be at the hospital that Saturday at 7:30 so we spent Thursday and Friday getting everything ready and making arrangements for Bella. I took Friday off work and spent some extra time with Bella. I loved it! So Saturday morning rolled around and we got up and got to the hospital.

It is normal procedure with breech baby C-sections to do another ultrasound before the C-section and make sure that the baby did not flip on his own. This happens sometimes but the nurses told me it was very unlikely this far along. Well LO AND BEHOLD, Brantley did flip! He was head down again. Joe and I were shocked! I was hoping and praying they would keep me and induce me. After all, I was 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant! My doctor came in and checked me, and I was still just 1 cm and not effaced. She told me it would be best for me to go home and hopefully go into labor on my own. She said it wouldn't be best to induce me because I was not more dilated, and it would be a very long process and possibly end in a C-section anyways. In hindsight this makes perfect sense, my induction with Bella was so long and almost ended in a C-section and it was the same case - just 1 cm. So she told us to go home and come to our regular 40 week appointment that Wednesday.

Everyone kept telling me (and they were right!) that it was a blessing that he flipped on his own and that I didn't have to have surgery. But I can't help it - I was so upset! We already had everything planned out. Bella was with my parents, I had already worked out my maternity leave at work, Joe had already taken the whole next week off, and several other things! I know God has a perfect plan better than any I could have for myself, but I couldn't help thinking "Why God? Why did we come up here ready to meet our baby just to be sent home?" It  was very upsetting and I was so sad. As the day went on I felt better and better about it. I mean I couldn't change it at that point anyways! Joe took me to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and I went home and took a nap.

On Monday we both went back to work, ready to go to our appointment on Wednesday and possibly be induced the next Monday, the 25th. That is as long as my doctor would let me go over. About halfway through the day on Monday, I started having mild contractions. They got slightly stronger as the day went on, but actually they weren't that painful, just pretty consistent. I started timing them when I got home from work and once they were about 4-5 minutes apart, we decided to drop Bella off at my parents house and go in to the hospital to get checked. I knew there was a strong possibility we would get sent home, but I didn't go into labor on my own with Bella, so I just wanted to be safe.

When we got to the hospital, they took us to a room and after what seemed like a long time, the nurse came in to hook me up to the heart monitor and to monitor my contractions. They had lessened at this point but I still wasn't sure what they would say. She tried to find Brantley's heart beat and was having a really hard time. She checked all over my stomach and finally found his heartbeat really high. She said she thought he may have flipped again so she got the ultrasound machine and the on call doctor to come in and check. When the doctor did the ultrasound, she found that Brantley had indeed flipped again, and now he was transverse in my stomach. (Sideways, with his spine down by my cervix.) She said that was dangerous if my water were to break because his cord could fall out. She said she wanted to do a C-section at 6 am unless he flips again, and then she would induce me right away.

This was all so much information at once! I couldn't believe he had flipped again but I was so glad we decided to come in and they discovered this!! They put us in a room around 11:30 that night and said they would be in at five to start prepping me for surgery. I was so nervous about having surgery but so happy that we were finally going to meet our boy!! I think I slept 2-3 hours that night. Too much adrenaline!

The next morning the nurses came in to start getting me ready for surgery. They hooked me up to so many things! The doctor came in while they were doing this and did another ultrasound just to see if he had flipped again. I wouldn't put it past him, he was all over the place! She did the ultrasound and he was no longer transverse, but totally breech again. His head was by my ribs! So the C-section was definitely a go. They hooked me up to an antibiotic to go ahead and start fighting any infection I could possibly get because of the surgery. Almost immediately I started getting hives on my hand and wrist because of it. They took me off of that since I was having an allergic reaction  and went to figure out what else to put me on. Unfortunately, the only other antibiotic I could be on had to be in my system for an hour and half before surgery. And there was another surgery scheduled for 7:30 so I had to push mine back to 8:30. But what's two more hours right??

We just sat around and watched TV and waited. My parents and sisters and Bella came back to see us. I was so happy to see my girl before we went into surgery. I felt guilty because she was asleep when we dropped her off the night before so I didn't get to give her a kiss or say goodbye! We got some cute pictures of her holding my hand before we went back.

They took us back right around 8:30 and I went into the room to get totally prepped before Joe could come in. They gave me the spinal block, which I thought really hurt, but right after they got it in my legs were numb in a matter of seconds. My blood pressure started dropping and I started feeling a little panic-y because I couldn't feel my legs and I was feeling lightheaded and nauseous. The nurse who was next to me the whole time kept giving me updates and she said my blood pressure would even out and I would be okay. It did finally come back up and Joe came in so I felt better. I couldn't feel anything from my ribs down. It was surreal. After a few minutes the doctor got him out and Joe went over to see him and take pictures. It took them a little bit longer to sew me back up. The doctor told me that my uterus is heart shaped, which is the reason Brantley kept going breech. I had no idea and never had that problem with Bella!

He was born at 9:07 am, 8 lbs 2 oz, 20 inches long.

I finally got to see him (upside down) and then they took us to recovery for an hour and it was just me, him, and Joe. It was so nice and quiet and we just got to know our son.

Update soon - but this is his birth story!!