Birth Story

from Laura

From my perspective it seems kind of silly that as a nurse I wouldn’t know I was in labor, but that’s honestly what happened.  I suppose in order for this story to make much sense it needs some context.  Towards the beginning of the 7th month of pregnancy I started getting incredibly uncomfortable.  I was having trouble with pelvic bone pain, it started slow and mild, but over a few weeks it got steadily worse.  My doctors said that it was basically a really bad presentation of a normal pregnancy symptom.  They blamed it on the increased levels of relaxin hormone and told me to I needed to start laying down for at least 2 hours every day after lunch and suggested a maternity band and physical therapy.  We tried the maternity band for a few days while we were in Spokane but it caused SEVERE back pain, so I gave up on it.  The back pain began to resolve but still was tight and kind of a constant thing.  After getting back to Denver the back pain was a little better and I felt a little more comfortable.  The pelvic pain continued to the point where I could barely roll over or move in bed without severe pain and often I needed Matthew to help me move.  We had a physical therapy appointment set up, but unfortunately we had to wait over a week to get in.
The morning of Saturday December 6 we started our first L&D class.  It was a four hour class and I was pretty uncomfortable, but not really anything more than what I had been experiencing lately.  We got home from class and I laid down for my mandatory rest period.  My back was fairly tight and kind of crampy, but I blamed it on the class and sitting for so long.  I notice a few Braxton-Hicks contractions but didn’t think anything of it, they were less than the four an hour, I had been told to watch for.  We had planned on going with Matthew’s parents to Alamosa, where Matthew was suppose to preach and we were supposed to present about our work in Nigeria.  (This was supposed to be the last trip out of Denver before Baby was born.  As it turns out, it was)
During the drive I got more and more uncomfortable and was having more and more back pain.  It still wasn’t as bad as the back pain I had in Spokane, but it was starting to get pretty bad.  I notice a few Braxton-hicks, but they didn’t really hurt.
We were suppose to meet a couple from the church for dinner once we got into town, but I told Matthew I didn’t think I’d be able to handle sitting in a restaurant and needed to go straight to the hotel and lay down.  I was starting to get worried that if I didn’t lay down soon, this could potentially progress into labor. We got to the hotel and I immediately ran for the shower to see if the heat would help my back relax.  It did a little, but not much.  I decided to try laying down since I felt a Braxton-hick or two (if you have more then 4 an hour you’re suppose to drink 3 or more glasses of water and lay down for an hour, then if it isn’t better you’re suppose to call you doctor).  I had been drinking lots but hadn’t been able to lay down until we got to the hotel.  Matthew left for dinner and I attempted to lay down.  But my back hurt too bad.  I was so fidgety.  I couldn’t stay in one spot and was getting close to panicky.  I thought about calling my OB, but Matthew had the phone number and I hadn’t tried laying down yet, plus it was just a spasming back and I wasn’t really having very many Braxton-hicks.  Probably 10-15 minutes after Matthew left I was almost beside myself, I couldn’t figure out how to get myself calmed down and I need to calm down in order to rest.  I knew that being upset and tight wouldn’t help my back at all.  I decided that instead of calling Matthew and making him worry or want to come back I would call my parents and see if they would pray with me and if that would help me calm down.  I called Dad and asked him to pray with me and he suggested a few different things to see if they would help relax my back more.  It helped me relax for a few minutes and then I was right back where I started.  I decided to try another shower, during which I suddenly had a really large gush of blood.  (I’m still not sure what exactly it was or what caused it, but I knew it wasn’t good)  I ran for the cell phone and tried to call Matthew’s dad’s phone, since ours didn’t have any service; however, all I got was voice mail.  So I called the front desk at the hotel and said that I knew my husband had gone to a Mexican restaurant not far from the hotel and did she know the name and phone number.  She was able to give me both (it helped that she had just given Matthew directions to the restaurant) and I called the restaurant and explained that I urgently needed to talk to my husband.  They quickly found him and I told him something was wrong and he needed to come back immediately.  Within a few minutes he was back at the hotel and we were on our way to the local hospital.  Once we got there the nurse explained to me that it sounded like I was going into labor and if they could they would stop it, if they weren’t able to stop it, they would medvac me out to Denver and if I was progressed far enough along, I’d deliver there and they would medvac the baby out to Denver.  She checked me and informed me that I was already dilated 7cm and I was going to have this baby right there, and soon.
After fairly quickly dilating almost the rest of the way, I was begging to push, but they said there was a little bit of the cervix left I couldn’t push yet.  I was still having mostly back pain and often was unable to tell when I was having contractions.  Usually the only way I could tell I was having a contraction was more severe back pain, usually increased general discomfort, occasionally abdominal pain and often an overwhelming desire to get Baby out of me.  After a bit longer, they thought it was ok to start pushing.
After pushing on and off for about 2 hours the doctor recommended some pain medicine to see if it would I would help things relax a little more.  I couldn’t figure out how to push (something that’s pretty common with back labor, so I’ve been told) or even when to push (also common with back labor).  There were times when they’d have to tell me when I was having contractions.  Basically all I was able to figure out about pushing was I was suppose to come as close as physically possible to passing out and then take a quick breath and do it at least once, usually twice more during a contraction.  (After talking with Matthew later he mentioned that we were at 8,000 ft elevation and while I was probably somewhat used to Denver’s elevation, my body was probably not used to Alamosa’s elevation, which made me feel a lot better and helped me understand things a bit better.)  We tried different positions, more pushing, and suction three times with no success.  Shortly before the doctor tried suction, he told me we needed to get Baby out soon so he was going to call the OR team in just in case and try suction.  Since we weren’t getting anywhere and Baby was starting to have some problems, I was taken in for a C-section as soon as the OR team arrived and had things set up.  I was given a spinal so I was able to be awake while he was born at 1:05 am on Sunday December 7.
Matthew was able to be in the OR room and even looked over at the right moment (the anesthesiologist helped with the timing) to be able to see him born.  Matthew said that the moment he saw his face and that he was a boy he knew immediately that he was David Jonathan.  I guess there was moment of hesitation about whether the middle name should be John or Jonathan (which means gift or God.  It was far too evident that he was a gift from God and thus we went with Jonathan and our little boy is perfectly named, David Jonathan meaning beloved gift of God.
After he was born the doctor confirmed that he was facing forward, thus causing the back pain and difficulty pushing.
The flight for life team from The Childrens’ Hospital in Denver was waiting in the OR and immediately set to work on him.  After working for a couple hours to stabilize him and make sure everything was ready for the trip, they flew to Childrens, where he’s been ever since.  Matthew accompanied him and I stayed back in Alamosa until Monday afternoon when Matthew’s mom and I flew back to Denver.  Matthew’s dad somehow talked the rental car company into adding him to the account and he and Rachel drove home Sunday afternoon.
Even though it wasn’t exactly the delivery that we had planned, there were many things that we still had planned to do during the last month of pregnancy, the recovery hasn’t been the best, and we’re struggling with typical preterm baby stuff, I feel so blessed and honored to be able to have my little boy over a month early.  Even though there has been and will hard things with him being born 5 ½ weeks early, I’m honored, thankful and humbled that God would see fit to bless our lives with him earlier then expected.