I am so excited about this week and have been since we added it to our lineup! Basically, we're going to share some wild birth stories with you this week! We're not talking ones with the longest list of complications...but the ones with strange things occurring during pregnancy or delivery.
Our first one this week comes from a friend of mine, Laura. I've known Laura since we were little girls and she has two sons, Jackson and Matthew. The story below happened during her pregnancy with her second son, Matthew. Her doctors decided to induce her and here is what happened next.....
After being assigned a room and getting all hooked up, the doctor decided to try to further jumpstart my labor by breaking my water. This is when things started to interesting. As soon as the doctor broke my water, I noticed a panicked look in his face. My first thought was something along the lines of a prolapsed cord. But after a minute or so, he told the nurse that he needed her help to reposition the baby due to my son's hand coming out when my water broke. The nurse and doctor spent the next few minutes trying to manually maneuver the baby's body to get his hand back past his head and up near his chest.
The doctor was able to reposition my son, pitocin was started, and everyone thought that things would now progress smoothly. Unfortunately we were wrong. I labored for about two more hours till I decided to have an epidural. About an hour later I was checked for progress and it was at this time that we discovered that my multi-talented unborn son had performed an even better escape tactic. Instead of his having just his hand being over his head, he had now gone into full "I have a question" mode and raised his WHOLE arm be before his head. Knowing him now like I do, I can only assume he wanted to ask when dinner was.
It was at this point that the doctor informed me that I would likely be forced to have a C-section due to my son's presentation and his inquisitive nature. However the doctor checked his medical books and saw that, according to them, we could continue to try to labor on. The nurse to cranked up the pitocin and the doctor went to reserve an Operating Room just in case things went south from here. Not wanting a C-Section I was praying as hard as I could that everything would work out in the end.
Needing something to lighten the mood, it was actually my still unborn son Matthew that provided me with a smile. In all the commotion, the doctor had forgotten to tell the nurse was my dilation was up to. She had to recheck upon doing so, Matthew actually grabbed her finger and held it while she was doing the exam. Needless to say she was a little freaked and her facial expression was priceless, and it gave me a little chuckle.
Later that evening after a nursing shift change a progress check showed that I had not made significant headway in two hours. The belief was that due to Matthew's arm being before his head I might not be able to progress anymore, however I was given one more hour to try for natural childbirth.
The pitocin was turned up as high as possible and a lot of prayers were said during that timeframe. When I was checked that hour later, somehow by the Grace of God I had dilated from 5 to 9 1/2 cm! After many thank you's and smiles I was given permission to begin pushing.
It only took one push for Matthew's arm to come out and two more before the rest of him followed. Matthew was born showing a compound presentation (having his arm being born before his head was) and was also sunny-side up. After delivery the doctor told us that this was only the second case like this he had seen in his 31 years of practice. Thank goodness God provided us with an experienced doctor who was willing to listen to my desires and not jump to a C-section.
My favorite part is when Matthew grabbed the nurse's finger. How hilarious! Now that you've read this story...we want to know if YOU have one to share!! Please email us if you do and we'll get it posted.
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