Emmitt's Birth Story

Now that almost 2 weeks have past, I am ready to share our story with you all. We were planning on vlogging the whole journey and did video a lot at the beginning, but when Shiznet hit the fan, the cameras were thrown to the side and all that mattered was being present as a family.So, now that I've hinted about things going aray, I guess I should probably start from the beginning. As you know if you had been following our journey, I had been diagnosed around 32 weeks with Cholestasis, a liver disease that shows up during pregnancy that can end up being very dangerous for baby if born past 38 weeks. Because of that, I had had weekly Ultrasounds to check in and make sure Baby D was growing well and that everything else was staying the way it should. With all that in mind, they decided that it was best to induce me at 37 weeks and 6 days, just shy of 38 weeks. That day I went in and everything went as planned. I hadn't dialated past 1 cm and was not effaced so they decided that Cervadil to help ripen my cervix was the best course of action. I had Cervadil with Poppy (also had Cholestasis) so I knew it worked pretty fast for me and was expecting it. After waiting an hour and nothing happening, the hospital released Rob and I, telling us to return either when my contractions started, or at 1pm the next day, watever happened first. We decided to leave and meet my mom and sister for lunch to kill time instead of risking the hour long drive home just to turn around and come back.While all of this was going on, my mom was on her way to the city to run some errands while she also waited for labor to begin. But, her car broke down on the side of the highway. Not wanting to miss the birth (shes always in the room with me) she joined us for lunch and then asked us to take her just outside the city to a car rental place so that she could get her errands done and home later. That was fine with us as nothing was happening besides back pain for me, and we needed a few things at Walmart. We dropped her off, headed to Walmart, and as soon as Rob left me in the car to go in my contractions began. At first, I didnt want to believe they were real. I had suffered from braxton hicks for weeks previously that were eratic so I just tried to push these aside as though they must be that because they were hitting one after another. Finally after about 10 mins, I started to get scared because the pain was extreme and texted Rob to come back to the car. We got to the Hospital in about 10 mins and Rob took me straight up front to register and go into the Early labor Clinic. While I waited for him to park and return, the pain was excruciating and just felt like one long contraction. The monitors were hooked up right away to my belly and showed I was getting 8 contractions in 10 mins and the Baby's heart beat wasnt handling it well. So, the fantastic nurse made the call to get the Cervadil out ASAP and get me in a shower to help with pain until the contractions calmed down a bit. It worked and I finally felt the normal contractions I had expected. But, even though I was dialating, she didnt know if it would be enough. Still worried about the baby's heart rate, she sent us on an hour walk to see if we could get thengs moving along but wanted us back to keep checking on Baby D. We walked all over the spring garden area, and soon enough, I knew I needed to get back.Within 10 mins of returning, my contractions began to speed up again and the pain was getting pretty bad, they checked and I had dilated 3-4 cm and it was go time to move upstairs to the birthing unit and get an epidural to help the pain. This is when everything went a little sideways. from the walk from early labor to birthing, my contractions became unbarable and the tears began to fall. they hooked me up to laughing gas and rushed the team in to do the epidural immediatly or I wouldn't be able to get one. As soon as it was done, a sense of calm came over my body. Finally a feeling of labor that I remember. My doctor arrived and checked to find I was 9 cm dialated but my water wasnt breaking. We decided due to the heart rate of baby D being a little all over the place she would break it. That was when they realized something was wrong. Along with my water breaking, came blood, more blood than usual. I couldnt see it and everyone was a little mum on it, so I didnt think anything of it. But, then shortly after, with each contraction, Baby D's heart rate would disapear. Something was wrong. My family doctor called in obstetrics  and NICU as she knew there was something wrong. the heart rate kept disappearing and they kept mentioning my bleeding. I just laid there not being able to see anything but Rob and my mom looking scared to death and the doctors huddled around me trying to get a heart rate with an internal fetal monitor attached to his head. Finally, they gave me direction. I was only 9 cm dilated, wasnt 100% effaced, but they needed me to push, hard, and constant and get the baby out RIGHT AWAY! It felt like an hour but with only 5 mins of pushing I got the baby out without any help. The room was quiet and they put him on my chest, not even announcing the gender, just working away at getting him to scream. AND HE DID, And it was beautiful. The tears began to fall and next thing I know, Rob, baby and I were holding eachother crying, waiting for the doctors to tell us what comes next. It went from the scariest moments of our life, to everyone being so happy and me holding a healthy 8 lb baby boy.You see, within the last 24 hours before being induced, my placenta began to detach itself from my uterus, causing me to be at risk to bleed to death. If I had been anywhere but the hospital for the birth, I may not have made it. On top of that, Emmitt had his cord wrapped numerous times around his entire body and neck so as my stomach contracted, the cord would essentially strangle him. If I wasnt able to push him out as fast as I did, who knows what would have happened.But, as fast as that had become a nightmare, it was just as fast to switch to sunshine and rainbows. I know we are so very lucky that it was a happy ending and that so many of you have had worse stories happen to you. We as parents go through so much to bring these beautiful creatures into the world. and this is just the beginning of a lifetime of risks. But, it all is 100% worth it, and although, that birth solidified that we are done, I would never let this story stop you from having babies beacause even at 13 days post partum, I already forget the pain and fear.