After some concern was raised by one of my doctors for the health of the Guppy, we went in to be induced on Thanksgiving night. It turned out to be a bit of a start-stop situation. They tried to start my labor (chemically), but I was overly sensitive to the meds used, and we had to stop. After that, they said we could try another way (different meds), but that we'd be in for a looooooong labor. After laboring all night, I was DONE, so we opted to go home.
At my regular appointment just one day shy of my due date, the doctor again advised that we should induce, so we raced home to grab our bags and then on to the hospital. Again, things were very slow to progress. They kept increasing the meds, but I just couldn't progress and got stuck only dilated to 4 (of 10) centimeters. The labor was increasingly AWFUL but the Guppy was a total champ thru all of it with a perfect heart rate, so we kept going for over 24 hours. Still nothing. I knew, in my heart of hearts, that he hadn't dropped, and I didn't think he would, so we consulted with my doctor and decided on a c-section. I had always known that a c-section could be in the cards since I'm tiny, so it didn't feel like a defeat. And I'm actually glad we made the call when we did because the hospital was crazy busy, and we got slotted in pretty quickly. Even still, it was about an hour and a half before we got in, and during that time, the Guppy's heart rate went up into the danger zone, so it was a relief to get wheeled in to the operating room.
It turned out that the Guppy was "sunny side up" (facing forward/the wrong direction) which makes delivery extremely painful (oooooohhhh, so that's what back labor is. Check that off the bucket list) and much more challenging, especially consider my small frame. Also, the doctor confirmed that the Guppy had, indeed, not dropped, and in his words, "was never coming out on his own".
In my mind, a healthy baby and a healthy mom is the goal of every delivery, so I'm grateful that I can say we achieved that. I don't have the time or energy to begrudge myself, my body, or my doctors for not being able to deliver "naturally". I'm just so happy to have a perfect baby boy to love and hold (and change about 1 million of his diapers)...
Without further ado, I introduce Henry Rush...
