Silas' Birth Story is anything but "normal". Whatever normal is for Birth. Each one is so different. We were given a "mis"diagnosis of Polyhydramnois when I was 27 weeks pregnant. An Ultrasound showed he was in the 97th percentile and there was too much amniotic fluid in the womb. We were told a long list of conditions that could be ailing our sweet baby boy at my next appointment. It probably wouldn't have concerned us too much, but my OB Doc moved my care from hers to a high risk doctors office (One who I only saw twice all pregnancy), it was always the nurse practitioner. She was great though. They requested I do weekly Ultrasounds and twice weekly stress tests on the baby. It was a lot. Thank you to ALL of our Prayer Warriors. There were MANY and we appreciate you all so so much, always. As the pregnancy progressed and all the testing came back good, it was made known that he was in fact....just.a.BIG.baby. He was:
He was the only baby who I was given an induction date for. At 4 days overdue my Doc decided to stretch my cervix. 3 times in a row. Ouch is an understatement. It did the trick though. By the time I reached the back door at home I had my first real contraction. I cleaned up the house a bit, had some nervous energy....kept going until Memaw said "You better go rest while you can." She was right. I labored upstairs in bed for several hours. As Chris was putting the boys down for nap I text him saying "we should go to the hospital soon", "REALLY"?, he replied. "YES." He was nervous driving to the hospital. I have to admit it was cute because he rarely ever gets nervous. He said "you were so calm." I had to keep my mind that way to prepare for delivery and I was so excited that we were FINALLY going to meet our baby boy.
We arrived at the hospital, checked in and the midwife said the typical "well, we'll check her and see if we'll keep her or send her home." Don't you love that? My contractions were STRONG at this point and had been 1 minute apart for over an hour. I was dilated to a 5. At this point she saw on the Ultrasound that he was a very BIG baby AND turned backwards (sunny side up). She was not specifically fond of epidurals, but she told me at check in. You may want to get an epidural because this may be a rough labor/delivery.
We arrived at the hospital, checked in and the midwife said the typical "well, we'll check her and see if we'll keep her or send her home." Don't you love that? My contractions were STRONG at this point and had been 1 minute apart for over an hour. I was dilated to a 5. At this point she saw on the Ultrasound that he was a very BIG baby AND turned backwards (sunny side up). She was not specifically fond of epidurals, but she told me at check in. You may want to get an epidural because this may be a rough labor/delivery.
It wasn't long before I screamed for an epidural. The anesthesiologist arrived and gave it to me in between those 1 minute contractions. It didn't work. I've never had one not work. I wasn't getting a break in between these 1 minute contractions to even regroup. I've had back labor with each baby, but this was entirely different. The pain was unbearable because he was turned backwards. I was screaming for another epidural. Each strong contraction made me vomit. (sorry if TMI). I vomited so many times that I had nothing left to get out. It was awful. They sent a different anesthesiologist in for a second epidural. This one didn't work entirely either! There was a large spot on my left abdomen that never had any relief. Then it wore off. Every 2 hours they had to give me more. After 12 hours of labor, baby boy was still in the wrong position. Chris sent out a prayer request to all our family and prayer warriors asking for prayer that the baby turn.
They gave me one more dose of epidural in my back. Chris hadn't eaten or even left my side ONCE since we'd arrived at the hospital. I sent him downstairs to eat, the nurses rolled me on my side and placed a big peanut ball in between my knees. Our hope was that Silas would turn in the womb as he still had some water to swim in. I laid there for an hour and prayed prayed prayed. The next check. Silas had turned...on his OWN! Miracle? I say YES. The nursed and Docs said that just doesn't happen. My midwife said the next morning that I was going in for a C-Section had he not turned. Thank you Jesus!
They gave me one more dose of epidural in my back. Chris hadn't eaten or even left my side ONCE since we'd arrived at the hospital. I sent him downstairs to eat, the nurses rolled me on my side and placed a big peanut ball in between my knees. Our hope was that Silas would turn in the womb as he still had some water to swim in. I laid there for an hour and prayed prayed prayed. The next check. Silas had turned...on his OWN! Miracle? I say YES. The nursed and Docs said that just doesn't happen. My midwife said the next morning that I was going in for a C-Section had he not turned. Thank you Jesus!
When he was born, all we saw was pure beauty (and a BIG baby). Much to our surprise he was 9.5 pounds! The Docs and nurses were amazing during labor. Its as so intense that one nurse did not leave my side for 12 hours (like Chris). They were shocked that he was THAT big and said "you made it look easy." Haha, ya right. We didn't realize until awhile after, that his face was 3 times the size it would normally be, so swollen, black and blue and red. His forehead was purple from being so black and blue. It was trauma from being turned backwards during each contraction. Poor baby! He was HEALTHY though and that's what mattered. He's still healthy. We had an upper GI 2 weeks ago to rule out any GI issues. Everything looked great. He has mild silent reflux but thats it. We are extremely grateful he is healthy and here. Silas Josey Bruce. Born on 11.18.15 at 3:15 am. He's sweeter than honey.
Thank you all again for covering baby and I in prayer while he was in the womb.
Love,
The Bruce's
