Julian's Story
For those interested in hearing more details about Julian's entry into this world, this post is for you. It is full of the details of Julian's birth and the day he joined our family.
Julian Reese Brothers
June 23, 2011 at 6:36pm
7lbs 14oz 20.5inches long
He's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.
On Wednesday, June 22, I was busying myself and trying to distract myself from the fact that I was nearly a week past my due date and extremely uncomfortable. I spent the day cleaning, vacuuming couch cushions, pacing the house, and tidying. Dustin came home early from work, so we decided to take a nap late in the afternoon. We woke up around 6pm and within half an hour, I realized that my water was breaking/leaking. I was having mild contractions but I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks, so while I knew labor was coming, they were completely manageable. We decided to go for a walk to try to get them really going, but we realized that there was meconium in the water and did not have the option to labor at home.
We checked in to the hospital at about midnight and I was having contractions every 7 minutes. I was about 2cm dilated (which I'd been for weeks). My doctor decided to let me labor on my own for the night, so while we tried to rest, we lost most of the night's sleep. At 6am, there had been no change, so we decided to start a pitocin drip. I had really wanted a drug-free birth, but with the presence of meconium, we were on the clock and had no choice but to try to get things moving. So, from 6am to about 2pm, I labored with a pitocin drip but without any pain medication. My contractions went to about 2 minutes apart and stayed there. It did not take long for them to become hard to breathe through and I had to focus very hard to get through each one. At around 2pm, I had dilated to only about 3cm.
I pushed my doctor to be left alone to continue laboring while they increased my pitocin all afternoon. From 2pm to about 4pm I made it to about 3.5cm dilated and was having contractions about every minute and a half. They were incredibly hard to get through and I was having to work extremely hard to stay on top of them. At around 4:00, my doctor came in and gave me a final call. I had exactly one more hour and if I hadn't made substantial progress in that hour, we were looking at a c-section. So I found a second wind, and off we went - still no pain medication. I worked so hard to make each contraction count and knew I was progressing with each one. By 5:30 pm, I was sure that only a few more contractions and I'd be ready to push. The doctor checked me again, and we had barely (generously) made it to 5cm dilated. It had been nearly 24 hours and we were only half way to being there. I knew it was time to let go and go get my baby. I'd literally done all I could and it was time to get him here.
We decided to go for the c-section at about 5:45pm, was wheeled in just after 6, and Julian was born at 6:36pm. I had an incredible team of surgeons and nurses during my surgery. Dustin was able to come in and sit with me, and he even peeked over the drape to watch Julian be born. Dustin was the first one to smile and lean over and say "It's a boy!" I've never heard such lovely words in my life. And a moment later, I heard Julian scream. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I listened to Dustin cut his cord, heard them weigh him, and heard them talking about how he looked great. They wrapped him up and handed him to Dustin. I was able to see his face before they took him out of the operating room. I've never seen such a beautiful face.
After my c-section, I was really shaky during recovery. I was so glad that I had help and was able to nurse him immediately and he was able to have a bath after he ate. The doctor told us that during delivery, Julian was turned kind of funny in my belly, that he had maybe even been transverse for a while, and had his hands up by his face. It's likely that these are the reasons that Julian could not drop down properly and we could not progress. I've never been so grateful for doctors and their ability to get my baby out when I wasn't able to.
While a c-section was not what I had hoped for or envisioned, it brought my beautiful son to me safely. He is so perfect and in the end I know I did all I could on my own. I am so deeply in love with my little family. Dustin was the most unbelievable coach for 24 straight hours. He was so amazing and encouraging and loves Julian so much. I never knew it would be this amazing. I am in awe each and every time I see my husband with my son. I am so in love. His birth is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my whole life - both physically and emotionally. I know myself now as a stronger woman and feel incredibly privileged to be his mom.
Julian is a little rock star. He's sleeping really well, eating great, and is so mild and happy. My recovery is going well. Dustin took the week off from work so we've been enjoying our time as a family. I'll be sad to have Dustin back at work. I kind of like our bubble of having us all home together. While my recovery will be slow, I'm finding that I'm in very little pain and seem to be healing well. Fingers crossed that continues!
Love to all, Meg
Julian Reese Brothers
June 23, 2011 at 6:36pm
7lbs 14oz 20.5inches long
He's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.
On Wednesday, June 22, I was busying myself and trying to distract myself from the fact that I was nearly a week past my due date and extremely uncomfortable. I spent the day cleaning, vacuuming couch cushions, pacing the house, and tidying. Dustin came home early from work, so we decided to take a nap late in the afternoon. We woke up around 6pm and within half an hour, I realized that my water was breaking/leaking. I was having mild contractions but I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks, so while I knew labor was coming, they were completely manageable. We decided to go for a walk to try to get them really going, but we realized that there was meconium in the water and did not have the option to labor at home.
We checked in to the hospital at about midnight and I was having contractions every 7 minutes. I was about 2cm dilated (which I'd been for weeks). My doctor decided to let me labor on my own for the night, so while we tried to rest, we lost most of the night's sleep. At 6am, there had been no change, so we decided to start a pitocin drip. I had really wanted a drug-free birth, but with the presence of meconium, we were on the clock and had no choice but to try to get things moving. So, from 6am to about 2pm, I labored with a pitocin drip but without any pain medication. My contractions went to about 2 minutes apart and stayed there. It did not take long for them to become hard to breathe through and I had to focus very hard to get through each one. At around 2pm, I had dilated to only about 3cm.
I pushed my doctor to be left alone to continue laboring while they increased my pitocin all afternoon. From 2pm to about 4pm I made it to about 3.5cm dilated and was having contractions about every minute and a half. They were incredibly hard to get through and I was having to work extremely hard to stay on top of them. At around 4:00, my doctor came in and gave me a final call. I had exactly one more hour and if I hadn't made substantial progress in that hour, we were looking at a c-section. So I found a second wind, and off we went - still no pain medication. I worked so hard to make each contraction count and knew I was progressing with each one. By 5:30 pm, I was sure that only a few more contractions and I'd be ready to push. The doctor checked me again, and we had barely (generously) made it to 5cm dilated. It had been nearly 24 hours and we were only half way to being there. I knew it was time to let go and go get my baby. I'd literally done all I could and it was time to get him here.
We decided to go for the c-section at about 5:45pm, was wheeled in just after 6, and Julian was born at 6:36pm. I had an incredible team of surgeons and nurses during my surgery. Dustin was able to come in and sit with me, and he even peeked over the drape to watch Julian be born. Dustin was the first one to smile and lean over and say "It's a boy!" I've never heard such lovely words in my life. And a moment later, I heard Julian scream. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I listened to Dustin cut his cord, heard them weigh him, and heard them talking about how he looked great. They wrapped him up and handed him to Dustin. I was able to see his face before they took him out of the operating room. I've never seen such a beautiful face.
After my c-section, I was really shaky during recovery. I was so glad that I had help and was able to nurse him immediately and he was able to have a bath after he ate. The doctor told us that during delivery, Julian was turned kind of funny in my belly, that he had maybe even been transverse for a while, and had his hands up by his face. It's likely that these are the reasons that Julian could not drop down properly and we could not progress. I've never been so grateful for doctors and their ability to get my baby out when I wasn't able to.
While a c-section was not what I had hoped for or envisioned, it brought my beautiful son to me safely. He is so perfect and in the end I know I did all I could on my own. I am so deeply in love with my little family. Dustin was the most unbelievable coach for 24 straight hours. He was so amazing and encouraging and loves Julian so much. I never knew it would be this amazing. I am in awe each and every time I see my husband with my son. I am so in love. His birth is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my whole life - both physically and emotionally. I know myself now as a stronger woman and feel incredibly privileged to be his mom.
Julian is a little rock star. He's sleeping really well, eating great, and is so mild and happy. My recovery is going well. Dustin took the week off from work so we've been enjoying our time as a family. I'll be sad to have Dustin back at work. I kind of like our bubble of having us all home together. While my recovery will be slow, I'm finding that I'm in very little pain and seem to be healing well. Fingers crossed that continues!
Love to all, Meg
Great story Meg! Thank you for sharing! How scary to have the meconium the whole time, but good for you and your doctor laboring on for as long as you could and then making a choice to do what was best in the situation, even though it was not what you had hoped. It sounds like it was a beautfil birth! Congratulations to your little family! Love to you three!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anisa. The meconium was a little scary, but they were able to do a procedure where fresh fluid was replenishing and being pumped in so he would have a safer environment which allowed us some extra time to labor. His heart rate never was a concern and he was perfectly happy in there, so that helped us labor all day as well. I really do feel like we did our best and was glad that there were excellent doctors when we needed them. I am just so glad he's here!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! Thanks for sharing. You are a strong woman and mom. I am glad your doctors listened to your wishes and didn't panic with the meconium and slower progress and gave you some time to do it on your own!! Julian is beautiful. Enjoy your time with Dustin home and being a new mommy. There is nothing like it.
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