I finally am having a little bit of time to write out Cooper's birth story, and it's a loooong story! It's such a great story, even though it is NOT what I pictured or wanted in the very beginning. I love how God knows what's best for us, even when we don't see it at the time. I don't want to forget anything, and am writing it more for me to remember his story and not forget God's continued blessings from day 1 of his birth.
It all started last Wednesday, Oct 10th when I went in for my 40 week Doctor appointment. I was 40 weeks 1 day at this point and I was praying hard that my body had made progress since my last appointment. I just had an ultrasound done 2 days before and everything looked great and I felt good about continuing to carry him until he was ready to come on his own. I get to my appointment that morning and the nurse comes in and checks the heart rate as always. His heart rate was in the upper 160's when it's normally in the 140's. She checked it for awhile and I asked if everything was okay. She said that the Doctor will talk to me about it. hmm okay.
The Doctor comes in with the heart monitor again and says she wants to check again as he could have been moving and that's why it was high. She checked again and it was still in the 160's but was going down a little. She then asks me the question I always dread, "how are his movements?" I hate that question because he will have days where I barely feel him move and days where I feel him all day. He has been a more chilled baby in the womb and the times I have brought it up, everything ended up being fine. But, it was true that I hadn't felt him move as much the past day or so and so I told her that. I explained once again that that is pretty normal for him but I could tell she was still concerned.
She then sat down and basically told me that she thinks I should get ANOTHER ultrasound and have ANOTHER stress test at the hospital. I couldn't believe it....I just had an ultrasound and everything was great. But she said things could change in a day. She also mentioned the possibility of inducing me before I hit 41 weeks. Before I could really respond she says, "lets check you and see what's going on first." So I take a deep breath just praying that my body has made some process..just something.
After she checks me she tells me once again that I have made no progress. I'm still barely 1 cm dilated, 0% effaced and the baby is still high up. I had worked so hard that week. walking everyday, up and down hills and doing anything else to make some progress. I really wanted to cry at this point but just tried to hold it together. She then tells me that I'm already 40 weeks, his movements have slowed down and that there is no reason to continue this pregnancy. She mentioned that I may need to get admitted into the hospital that evening and be induced first thing in the morning.
You would think a woman who was past her due date would be jumping for joy at this news, but I was being stubborn and just did NOT want to be induced. I told her that my body just doesn't seem to be ready and I felt that he would come when he's ready. I also said I really do not want to have a C-section. Then, she flat out told me that she thinks I will most likely end up with a C-section no matter what at this point. The tears then start flowing. I asked her if I do have to get induced in the morning if I could go home first and then come back in the evening...which she told me she no, I had to stay in the hospital. Justin is of course at work, I don't have any of my stuff, and I was just not wanting to get induced being barely 1cm dilated. I then said after doing the stress test and the ultrasound, we can make the decision after seeing those results. Of course if there was something obviously wrong, I would no doubt be induced!
So, I walk across to the hospital once again and get admitted into the room to get the stress test done, and it was all too familiar. I'm texting and calling Justin and talking to my mom on the phone explaining that I may get induced the next morning. I was very upset at this point and just didn't know what I should do. I was praying for wisdom and that the Lord would make it very clear to me if I should go ahead with the induction. As I was laying there just waiting for Cooper to move, I realized that he has in fact slowed down on his movements. I started to get a little worried and then knew that I just needed to get him out. Why in the world would I risk waiting if something really was wrong. I knew I needed to put my hopes and my "birth plan" aside and do what was best for Cooper. Justin also texted me around that same time and said that he wants to get Cooper out and thinks we should definitely get induced. I felt such peace come over me.
I then go get another ultrasound and then come back to my room where the Doctor comes in. She tells me that the ultrasound looks perfect, and that even the stress test looks good. Then she says very sweetly, "I know that you want to go into labor naturally, and I know that you don't want to get induced, but I really think it's best that you go ahead and get induced tomorrow morning." I immediately say, "yes, I agree, lets do it" I think she was in shock that I was swayed that easily since I was not really crazy about the idea earlier. She told me that if I went home, I would be worried all weekend about his movements and it just wasn't worth it being 40 plus weeks pregnant. I totally agreed. She also told me that I have about a 50/50 chance of having a C-section with where I was at.
After being admitted into the hospital for the night, things started to get a little stressful. Justin is doing what he can to get off work early (he usually gets off around 8:00pm) and I'm calling my parents to get all the details worked out. My sweet dad met Justin at our house to get our dog, bring him dinner and then take him to the hospital so we wouldn't have 2 cars. On top of that my phone had died and I couldn't get on the internet or text or call anyone. Oh, and have I mentioned that I only ate a small bowl of cereal that morning around 8am and wasn't allowed to eat anything until after he was born? I may or may not have been a tiny bit cranky :/
Anyway, thankfully I had Justin's number memorized and was able to call him from my hospital room. I'm going into detail about everything that I need for the next 3 nights in the hospital. I did have a running list going and some things set aside to pack, but there were still a ton of stuff that I needed. Finally, after Justin packs all our stuff, he loads everything including the dog in my dad's car and they are on their way to drop Justin off. He arrives around 8:30pm or so with all our stuff and we were finally able to relax and face the reality that we will be meeting our son the next day!
To be continued....
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