On July 17, 2009, I visited Beaumont Hospital in Troy, MI for a simple Non-Stress Test at about 11am. I had been going once a week for about a month and a half. I was excited that day, though, because the next day I would be returning to be induced. I was ready to get the test done and then head home to get things ready at the house for the arrival of our new baby boy. What I didn't know...I wasn't going home.
Right after starting the test, Linus' heartbeat dropped dramatically. The nurse became concerned right away and had me turning and contorting to see if we could get a better measure of the heartbeat. My OB was called immediately. Two more nurses came in and Steve was called back to be by my side. Then I remember the nurse turning to me and saying, "Honey, I don't think you are going home...".
A few hours later I was taken back to my Labor/Delivery room. They set me up with an IV of pitocin and the induction began. That was at about 3pm on July 17, 2009. The next morning, around 6am, they started stepping up how much pitocin I was getting. My parents and Steve's parents came and sat with us in the room. I was continuously checked and contractions were happening. I felt confident I was moving right along. My son's birthday was going to be July 18, 2009! NOPE. By the end of the day, they had knocked my pitocin up to a rate of 24 and I wasn't even close. (The nurse informed me that they usually only have to go up to a rate of 10-15 to get the labor going.) That night they took me off the pitocin drip for a little while and had me take meso pills.
At 6am on July 19, 2009, I remember my OB coming in and checking on me. Steve was asleep and everything was so quiet. I remember turning to my OB, with tears in my eyes and saying, "Please, don't send me home. I can't go through this anymore and I want him out." He smiled at me almost laughing, "Don't worry, if you haven't had him by 6pm, we're going to put a zipper in ya and take him out". I had never heard it phrased that way, but it made me so much happier.They started the pitocin drip again. Things moved along much as they had the day before. By 2pm, I had only dilated to 2cm and I was at a rate of 22 on my pitocin drip. The nurse half smiled at me. Things didn't look too good. I looked back up at the nurse and said, "Let's just do the C-section." And then it was a rush of time that I can't even explain. The flurry that occurred around me at that moment was nuts. The OB came in and made sure we were fine with the decision. Several nurses came in and prepped me. Steve was thrown into scrubs. I was signing papers. I was meeting the nurse anesthesiologist. I quickly said bye to Steve's parents and my own. They whipped me back into the operating room and I met the second OB that would be helping out. There were sooo many people in the operating room. I had never wanted an epidural, let alone a spinal block. That is the one thing I had said to my OB. But it is pretty much required for a C-section. I was so stressed by it my BP went up to 200/110. It was crazy. But then Steve was brought in and it began. Just a few minutes later, at 3:01pm, Linus Henry was born. It was beautiful. It was surreal. I cried. I couldn't even believe he was there. I just stared and stared at him as they checked over every centimeter of his body. Then they handed him to Steve and I was able to give him a kiss for the very first time. It was so wonderful. I sometimes long to have that one moment back to live over and over again. But, I have the memory and that is beautiful enough.
Even though his birth did not happen the way I had expected or hoped, it was beautiful nonetheless. And no matter what, the process gave me my most precious son. And now a year later, that moment seems so long ago. But, the memory is still there. I love you, Linus!!!
