Birth Stories: Emergency C-Section Vs. Planned C-Section

Written By: Naomi Legault

Jax: 4 years old

When I found out I was going to have my first baby, Jax, I started on a planning frenzy. I had to find out the gender as soon as I could to plan out the nursery, choose my stroller colour, buy clothes and more! For all the research I did, the one plan I didn’t think about as much was the birth plan. I had no idea what to expect, so my plan was to just go to the hospital and have a baby when it was time. I did have a lot of unanswered questions: What does a contraction feel like? Will my water break? Where will I be when it happens?

I’ll never forget being wheeled over to see Jax, my heart was exploding.

I was about 10 days late. It was torture for me because I hate the unknown; obviously problematic when having a baby. Turned out that I had to have a membrane sweep to move things along, a couple of days later I started having contractions. I never knew what they would feel like but once they came, oh boy! It was super early in the morning, I started timing them, showered, and did some minimal make up (in extreme pain). I don’t even know how I did it because when I was trying to get dressed it felt impossible. My mother-in-law was visiting at the time, and said “you need to go NOW”.

When we got to the hospital, I finally had some relief. I can’t say enough good things about the hospital that I was at but I had unfortunate luck with my first nurse. I was in so much pain and she basically told me that I wasn’t going to get any sympathy from her since she had four kids. Luckily I got an epidural and much better nurses. Makes all the difference!

Finally Jax in my arms.

Once the epidural kicked in, I just waited for things to progress. After 8 hours of labour we needed to have an emergency C-section. For starters, dilation wasn’t progressing and then actually began to reverse. I also had a very high maternal fever and the baby had pooped inside. So at this point, the doctor said we need to get this baby out now or it’s dangerous for mom and baby.

It all went so fast and before I knew it Jax was born! It was a bit scary for me because, again, I didn’t know what to expect. He came out looking blue which is apparently very normal but we were a bit worried. They needed to work on him a bit with his breathing and monitored him closely. When I finally got wheeled over in the bed to see him he turned his little head as soon as he heard my voice. My husband and I couldn’t believe it.

And just like that, I was a mom.

Leaving the hospital with Jax.

Hudson: 2 years old

When I found out I was pregnant with Hudson, I immediately knew that I was NOT up for a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). There was no way I was going to spend 8 hours in labour only to find out that I needed another emergency C-section. Having it planned was an odd feeling but I did enjoy knowing when he was coming and likely no surprises. The other great part was… no contractions! How could I turn that down? Other than my miscarriage, I had never experienced such horrific pain!

Welcome to the world, Hudson.

About a week before I was scheduled to deliver, I started having extreme high blood pressure and was in and out of the hospital that whole week on bed rest. I really wished at that point that they had done the C-section early but no such luck. That said, it may have been any doctor on call and I wanted to wait for mine. I felt like I knew what to expect with the second C-section, but it was a little bit longer since it wasn’t a rushed emergency. Certainly not a pleasant experience overall but nor is pushing (I bet).

We women are tough cookies, aren’t we?

Time to go home, Hudson

Recovery wasn’t exactly a walk in the park either, especially the second time around, when I also had a toddler in tow. Luckily both times my husband had two weeks off and I had lots of family to help me.

There you have it, blessed with two beautiful, healthy boys, Jax and Hudson, 4 and 2 years old. I can’t imagine my life without them!

Two best buds settling in at home.

Birth Stories: Baby Minion and a Comedy of Errors

On April 10, 2014, I went to work and then I went to babysit after work. I wasn’t thinking about my baby since I still had 11 days before my due date. I had gone to the doctors a few days before and was only dilated to a 2.

I was with the little girl I was babysitting (taking her to gymnastics class), and that’s when it happened…a flat tire in Novi. I had to call my husband to come from Howell to come and fix it for me. He went home after that and I continued to babysit until 9pm. I got home at 9:45pm and my husband was nesting like crazy. I told him we still had 11 days and why the rush.

I went to bed at 11 pm.

Midnight – contractions started! I started to time them; every 5 minutes lasting for almost a minute long. OK I’m doing something wrong that can’t be right, I’ve read too much to know that labor can’t be “that” easy. I timed for an hour.

1:00 am – I wake up my husband to let him know contractions started. He asked what the doctor said so I told him that they have to be consistent for 2 hours before they want to see me. “Ok, wake me up in an hour.” He said. “Oh, sweetie you already slept the first hour!” So, I start to get up and that’s when I thought I peed myself, or was it my water? I didn’t know so I asked the doctor what to do. She asked me to come in to get checked out.

2:00 am – My husband had to go from our house in Brighton to Howell to get his truck that had ALL the hospital bags, then he came back to Brighton to pick me up to take me to Novi to the hospital.

4:00 am – We FINALLY get to the hospital! I’m still talking and laughing and joking. I have to register in the ER, because they didn’t think I was in labor. I get up to the Labor and Delivery floor, and I’m given a room. They get me all hooked up to the monitors and the resident gets ready to check me.

Dilated to 6! Great!! This resident that checked me was not super friendly (I think I woke her up from a nap) and she said “This will be your only time to get an epidural, so you better get it now.” “No thank you, I’m good this doesn’t hurt at all.” She leaves the room.

5:00 am – Why is my room raining? We have a leak in our room so we have to change rooms. My husband was happy as we now have a corner suite. He then starts to mess with the TV and finds a “Modern Marvels Marathon”.

7:45 am – Things feel different….I asked to be checked again since I felt like I need to push. The doctor comes in and checks me. “You are at a 10, I’m going to get ready, just don’t push until I get back” OH MY I NEED TO PUSH!

As soon as she left the room! She came back with the HOTTEST resident I’ve ever seen. My husband loved that he was tattooed from wrist to wrist and on his chest. Great this is going to be fun!

8:02 am – 5 pushes and we have a baby! It wasn’t until my mom looked at the baby and shouted, “OH MY GOD IT’S A GIRL!” That was the most exciting moment. I have to now name my daughter. After holding her in my arms I knew her name, Adriana Marie, she was 6lbs, 13 oz and 21” long. She was born 10 days early on the hottest day of the year so far that year. Three days later we had that record breaking 92’ of snow fall!

Only in Michigan.

2 fast 2 furious- Baby #2

We knew we were having a boy!

I was so excited to have one of each. His due date was February 12, 2018.

January 30th – The day I told him NOT to come! We already have my Aunt, Niece, and friend’s daughter born on this day.

6:00 am – I feel some pain really low, ok that’s weird but it didn’t feel anything like labor.

8:00 am – Routine doctor’s appointment, everything is good dilated to 2, 70% effaced. Doctor told me to go to work and that I was fine, he was just “getting” into position. She said if I was dilated to a 4, she would have sent me to the hospital. She did tell me that I should NOT wait for consistent contractions, that I was going to go fast based on my first birth.

10:00 am – I go from Novi at the doctor’s office to the West side of Lansing (an hour and half away from each other). My co-worker, a former L&D nurse, looked at me and said, “are you in labor?!” I told her no I am good, it’s just pressure, but the doctor said I was fine.

2:00 pm – I lasted until 2pm before I needed to go home and rest. I promised my coworkers I would call the doctor when I got home since I wasn’t feeling great. My boss was so worried I would go into labor in Fowlerville. I told him if I did, I would keep driving. I called my mom and told her to stay close to her phone. I told my husband I was on my way home and to just be ready.

3:00 pm – I lay on the couch for just a moment before I got ready to call the doctor’s office. All of a sudden I felt a ton of pressure and I felt a big POP, and then water. OMFG my water just broke and that’s when I felt a contraction. I called my husband and told him to get home ASAP and take me to the hospital…this baby is coming!

He had to help me get into the truck, and he said we have to pick up Adriana. I told him we didn’t have time we need to get to the hospital now. I called my dad to have him pick her up. I called the office to have them let the on-call doctor know we were coming. The receptionist said she wanted to see me in the office so they could check to make sure it was in fact my water.

That’s when I had another contraction and I screamed to her the baby is coming and I was going to the hospital and to have them be ready. She said she would let them know. I called my mom and mother in law and told them “Hospital NOW” At this point my husband was driving 110mph on the freeway to get us from Howell to Novi. I told him to not stop at any lights if it was safe unless he wanted this baby born in the truck.

We pull into the ER and my husband gets me a wheelchair. The security guard came out and told us “You can’t park there.” My husband being as calm as he could said we will be right back she is having a baby! I get into the ER and they asked me to register down there. I very nicely said “I was told to go right to L&D, THIS BABY IS COMING” (as I have another contraction and I now feel something).

I get into the elevator with the help of an ER tech. The elevator doors open and 4 nurses see my face and they all yell “Get her to a room now!” I was then asked to take off my pants and get on the table; the hardest thing I could do since I was holding my legs shut!

I get onto the table and pants come off, the resident said “We need to do an ultrasound to make sure baby is head down” My husband without missing a beat said, “I see the head!” The resident then screams for the doctor to come now she’s having a baby. My doctor walks in saying “Yeah right, what’s
going on?’ He takes one look at me and dropped the F bomb and he put his gloves on in record time.

Now my mom has finally arrived in the mix of all this and had to sign my consent forms as we were just a bit busy. The nurses were still trying to get me hooked up to everything and in two pushes he was already on my chest and I could hear one of the nurses say “Oh Hell” and she put down all the straps.

My baby boy was laying on my chest at 3:52pm! He came in 52 minutes!!! Enzo Marcello was 8lbs 1oz and 21’ long; born on the day I told him NOT to come 2 weeks early. So, he now shares a birthday with his Great Aunt, and his cousin. He is one special boy.

A Birth Story: Why My Husband wasn’t in the Delivery Room

As I sit here in the middle of the night unable to sleep, although I desperately need to with a newborn and toddler, I instead think of the craziness the last week and a half brought.

I always enjoyed reading birth stories when I was first pregnant and I thought that maybe sharing mine would do some good. I have heard it all. From horror stories to blissful ness and everything in between – no birth story is the same. My sons birth story was pretty average. I labored at home until I couldn’t walk and went to the hospital. We were there for about four hours and he came into the world. It was a beautiful moment with my husband.

This time around was a bit different. It happened on the day my 37 week appointment was. It was my first ‘check’ and I was so excited to see if little Cece was moving along at all. My obgyn (who is amazing) checked me and I was only about 1 cm along (nothing). She told me it was a good start and sent me on my way.

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I went to work and thought nothing of it until a couple hours later. I was cramping and I remember telling my boss that it had to be because of the check. This is totally normal, right?!

I picked Ben up from daycare and couldn’t walk the full way down the stairs. I again figured it was just cramping from the check that morning.

When I got home I texted my husband to find out if he was going to be late or not and that I was ‘feeling weird’. He came home and I went straight to bed. I just couldn’t sleep. I had to keep moving. It was a weird feeling that just NEVER stopped. I was pacing the floors until around midnight when I told Adam that I think I needed to go to the hospital. I didn’t think I was really in labor so we packed up our son and headed to labor and delivery.

They checked me when I got there and I was about 3 cm dilated. They wanted to keep me for a little while before either giving me a room or sending me home. The reason for keeping me? It was a nonstop contraction and they were worried about the baby. Literally – non stop. The most of a break I received (the nurses said) was about 20 seconds. They told me they wanted to watch the baby for awhile and would be back in an hour.

Well, about 30 minutes later they came in and said they didn’t think the baby was liking this nonstop contraction and wanted to check me again. Well, this time I was a five. I got sent to a room ASAP!! The time I got to my room was around 1:30 am (Cece was born at 2:09).

At this point Ben was not allowed in the labor/delivery room so Adam had to wait in the waiting room with him until my parents arrived. I got to my room and promptly asked for some drugs. They came. They missed. They did it again. This was the worst. Not having a break from a contraction to get an epidural is very hard. Thank goodness for my labor and delivery nurse. The unsung hero’s I tell you! She was my nurse, my doctor and my ‘Adam’ throughout the whole process.

I never got checked again. My doctor said she would be back in a couple of hours and to try and get some rest. My nurse told me she was going to step out to tell my husband how things were going. Before leaving she asked if I needed anything.

I told her I had to poop.

She looked at me and said she wanted to check me really quick. That’s when all hell broke loose. She said the head was coming out and to not push. She called the front desk for someone to tell Adam and after that she called my doctor.

While on the phone with the doctor (phone in one hand) I told her the baby was coming. My nurse literally caught my baby while she was on the phone trying to get someone in. Seconds later six people run into the room and couldn’t believe that the baby was out.

Cecelia was born at 2:09 am. About forty minutes after I got to my room.

In the meantime Adam is rushing to my room (which he was never in before) and stops short because he hears a baby crying. He thought ‘no way I’m going in that room – it can’t be the right room’. He went back to the front and they assured him to go go go.

He walked into the room with his daughter on my chest. My parents had just gotten to the hospital and he had no idea what was happening to me. What a scary thing for him.

I am lucky that things happened fast, but it also wasn’t awesome. The drugs didn’t work (since they were given about ten minutes prior to her coming out) and I didn’t get the antibiotics needed for group B (which I tested positive for). We had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours before we could be released so that they could watch for any signs that group B made it to her.

I really shutter to think what would have happened if I decided to ignore what I was feeling and stay home a little longer. I truly believe that we would have been on the news for having a car baby on the way to the hospital. Ladies! This is a lesson. Always. I mean ALWAYS listen to your body.

One thing that was kinda nice was that Ben was there and he was literally the first person (other than Adam and I) to see his sister. Yes, it was around 3:00 in the morning, but it couldn’t have been more special. Luckily we have it all recorded to show them when they’re older!

We are very lucky that things went well and the baby was in the right position.

Now is the time for healing. Now is the time for loving. Now is the time to *try and get some rest*.