A traumatic entrance....

Tomorrow my baby turns 7!! Wow....dare I say "time flies by"? I thought it might be fun to type out Reece's "birth story". I'm sure only interesting to me, but I love to look back and see how - despite things not going as I had wished - IF things had gone as I wished, Reece would not be here with us. So I write out Reece's birth story so thankful that the Lord had His hand upon that day 7 years ago.

"Dear Janet,
What a surprise today brought! As we arrived at Akron City Hospital at 10am little did we know about what was in store. We had a few minutes to visit while they waited for a room in L&D. By 11 am we were settled in room 222. Your nurse, Debra Horning, was gentle and informative. While awaiting admission questions and procedures you, Brian, Debra Kinzel and I prayed for God's protection on you and your baby, for your strength and wisdom of all involved. By 11:30 you had the monitor on and we heard Reece's heartbeat. Debra K. massaged your hand and talked to you about relaxing while your IV was started. Your pitocin was started about 11:40 while you relaxed in the rocker. Dr. Hutzler came in and said he'd come in again in awhile and check you after your contractions had started. He was pleased to see some contractions after only a small amount of pitocin had been given to you. Anesthesia came in and asked you a few questions so they would be ready when you wanted your epidural.

At 12:20p.m. you were still really comfortable. Dr. Hutzler was busy delivering another baby and nurse Debra said he'd be in later to check on you. I suggested that Brian go down and get a bite to eat now while labor was just getting started and the Dr. would not be in for awhile.

At 12:45 pm you tried standing and leaning forward on the birthing ball. We talked about walking with tele as you did with previous births. I thought it would be good to get the baby down farther before too long. After this the Dr. was in and examined you and said the baby was lower and that the membranes were bulging so he wanted to put on an internal monitor. You questioned if he was going to rupture your membranes and he said he was just going to put an internal monitor on the baby's head and that might cause the membranes to leak a little. The internal monitor did rupture the membranes and he said he could feel the baby's hand by the head and suggested you stay in bed now.

He said when the membranes ruptured the baby moved up higher off of the cervix and he was very concerned the cord might come down. He said after the baby moved down again you could be up and walking. He and Nurse Debra commented about how good the baby's heartbeat looked. Brian came back as all of this was going on. Needless to say he was shocked and disappointed that he wasn't there during the procedure. I felt bad about that, too.

Dr. Hutzler left the room and Nurse Debra and I straightened up the bed while Brian and Doula Debra comforted you. You were definitely having some harder contractions and your back was beginning to hurt more. I got out a warm pack for your back as well.

About 1:30 Dr. Hutzler came back into the room and examined you again. He said this time he could still feel the baby's hand but also could feel the cord. He felt there was no time to waste but that an immediate cesarean was necessary. He assured you that the baby's heartbeat was great now but he had concerns that the baby was at risk if you continued to labor. Needless to say we were all in a state of shock. I leaned over and asked you if you understood that they were going to do a cesarean. As tears welled up in your eyes I tried to explain why the surgery was needed as soon as possible. You commented that you shouldn't have let him rupture the membranes. I assured you that this was not a result of that.

Very suddenly we had 2 nurses, anesthesia and Dr. Hutzler all in the room at one time preparing to move your bed to surgery. Dr. Hutzler said I could go into surgery with Brian. Brain was so sympathetic and didn't even get a chance to spend time with you before surgery since they moved you so quickly.

While you were in surgery getting your spinal, Brian and I suited up and then sat outside the room. We prayed as we sat and waited. When they allowed us in the room Brian immediately went to sit by you and comfort you. The nurses asked me to sit over by the baby warmer. As I sat there waiting I prayed for you and Brian. I knew how nervous he was about being in surgery and I knew the Lord would give him what he needed to comfort you.

At 1:57 Reece Edward was born. As they brought him out they were VERY surprised to see that his cord was wrapped around his wrist and had a TRUE knot in it. All I could do was say, "Praise you Lord for your protection!" By having the cesarean early in the labor it prevented any chance that the knot would have tightened as he descended during pushing and birth. We prayed for God's protection and He definitely was holding Reece in His hands today.

After holding him up for you to see they took Reece to an adjoining room to check him. They motioned for me to follow them. The two nurses caring for him were pleased at how great he looked. They commented about how pink he was and how big he was. His apgars were 8 and 9. While Dr. Hutzler was finishing your surgery the nurses weighed, measured and foot printed Reece. I asked them to do footprints for the kids too and they put footprints on a diaper for them. By 2:15 he was wrapped and they asked me if I would like to take him to you and Brian. Of course I said, "yes". Finally you got a look at your healthy big boy.

He weighed 8 - 7 1/2 lbs and was 21" long. He made it quite obvious that he knew your voices. He stared right at Brian. At 2:40 we headed to recovery with Reece in your arms. By 3p.m. he was snuggled up with you and nursing. After that he had a bath and then was ready for your arms again. When Debra and I left at 4:30 Reece was asleep in Brian's arms and you were resting comfortably."