Inspiration

Birth Stories

Zachary Canyon

Labor began on Friday night (January 4th) around 6:00 pm. Not knowing for sure if this was finally the real thing or just some more Braxton Hicks, I tried not to get too excited. So, my husband and I continued on with the evening as planned. We went to dinner at Chipotles and the contractions continued on. So, we decided to start timing them. My husband was so excited to have something to contribute at this point! The contractions never really got closer than 6 minutes apart but they were getting a little stronger as the evening went on. I was excited to try different laboring positions I had learned at yoga class and Lamaze. Around 11:30 pm, I decided to try laying on my side in the bed through a contraction. Suddenly, I felt a pop in my belly – it was the strangest feeling. As I jumped out of bed startled, I immediately felt the water begin to gush as my feet hit the floor. I made a mad dash to the bathroom yelling to my husband that my water just broke and to call the doctor.

Upon talking to the doctor, she said I had good timing because as of 7 pm that night there were no beds available at St. Mary’s but 2 rooms had just opened up! We arrived around 12:30 am and my contractions were amazingly stronger since my water had broke! I was really using those breathing techniques as my husband was hurriedly pumping up the birth ball we had brought to the hospital. I tried my best and many different positions to work through the contractions. But they finally got the best of me around 5:30 am and I desperately begged for the epidural. My husband was so supportive and was an excellent coach and support for me. When they checked me before the epidural, I had reached 6 cm. I reserved myself to be proud of how far I made it and to accept the choice I had made for the medication.

I continued to make great progress and by 11:00 am, I was 10 cm! I was so excited to begin pushing and meeting this new baby. However, the baby was not making progress in his descent into the pelvis. I was still at 0 station. So the doctor wanted to give him time to make his way on his own. He checked me 2 hours later at 1:00 pm and still no change. So, he thought we could begin pushing and hopefully that would get him on his way. Well, I pushed for about 3.5 hours and he didn’t move an inch! It was so frustrating to come so far and work so hard to not make any progress at all. About 4:45 pm, the doctor said this baby should have been born a couple of hours ago. I was so exhausted from all the pushing and I dreaded what I knew was coming next. The C- word! He said that the baby’s vitals were all great and that I could continue to push for a couple of more hours if I wanted to. But he really didn’t think it was going to change. At the first mention of a c-section, I immediately saw the tears streaming down my husbands face. They left the two of us alone to discuss it and we just cried together. We were so disappointed and couldn’t believe that this was happening. I had the most normal, healthy pregnancy and labor had gone so well. How did we get here?

By 5:15 pm, I was prepped and ready for surgery. The surgery went well, however I felt much more pain than I expected. I actually continued to use breathing techniques during surgery as they continued to increase the medication due to my screaming and sensations I was feeling. Finally, Zachary Canyon arrived at 5:34 pm on Saturday, January 5th!!! He was 7 lbs, 14 oz and 21 inches long. I have never been so relieved that this ordeal was finally over! He had a great set of lungs that was just music to my ears! They apparently showed him to me briefly before whisking him away but I don’t remember. My husband followed the baby to the nursery and only stayed briefly before crying and returning to the room with me. He felt it was so unfair that we couldn’t have the time after birth together to bond with the baby. He knew how much I was looking forward to that time together. He wanted to come back to the room and be with me until Zachary was brought to us. I finally got to hold him 4 hours later, around 9:30 that evening.

I was very disappointed in how things turned out and truly felt that I had to go through a grieving process. I have slowly begun to accept my birth story and not blame myself for how the events unfolded. My paperwork deemed the reason for the c-section as “failure to descend”. I still don’t truly understand what happened to my body that he was unable to be delivered vaginally but feel this was the way it was meant to be. It definitely helps to have this beautiful baby boy who is perfect in every way to move on and heal from the experience.

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