Oreslag
Member
Greets All,
Thought I'd post a brief birth story. As many of you might know, Laurie and I have been expecting our second child, due May 19th. We had planned a natural childbirth with a midwife at a home in Idaho for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most important reason was that we both feel that pregnancy, labor, and delivery as God designed it should be preferred unless circumstances suggest otherwise. In other words, we consider additional measures (i.e. induction, pain medication, etc.) to be best practiced out of necessity rather than convenience. Unfortunately and fortunately, it did not go according to plan. Perhaps a confusing contradiction that I hope will be clarified shortly...
In any case, on Friday, May 17th, Laurie went into labor at our home. Her contractions seemed very good (i.e. strong but not painful, consistent, and included a response on the part of the baby) and proceeded until they were about 5.5 minutes apart. We went to bed thinking that they would continue and we would be up in the middle of the night traveling to the home in which we had planned the birth; which is only eight miles away across the border in Moscow, Idaho. However, by morning the contractions had become sporadic, though fetal movement still seemed consistent with history to Laurie. We continued with plans to visit with family over the next few days, as Laurie's parents have kindly traveled from Texas for the birth and to help us out for the first two or three weeks after Cecile is born.
By Tuesday, fetal movement had changed character somewhat and Laurie became concerned. A similar situation had occurred with Liam late in the pregnancy, so we went to the hospital for a Non-Stress Test (NST). In Liam's case, the physician confirmed that there was no cause for concern and we returned home; after which Liam was born naturally in our home a short time thereafter. We expected the same result this time, but Cecile failed the NST. In particular, she was not tolerating the contractions well; which explained Laurie's perception in the change of character of fetal movement. The on-call OB/GYN ordered a biophysical profile be performed; which is an additional diagnostic using ultrasound to confirm or refute issues with the amniotic fluid level and placenta. The good news was that there were no issues with either. The bad news was that we knew nothing more regarding the mechanism associated with Cecile's intolerance of the labor contractions.
After careful consideration of the doctor's recommendation that Laurie stay and be induced "slowly" to see what would happen, we agreed and Laurie was admitted Tuesday morning. The doctor ordered oxytocin beginning at the lowest dose and increasing the dose slowly to determine whether or not increasing the intensity and consistency of contractions had an adverse consequence in terms of Cecile's heart rate. By the time Laurie neared the maximum dose and contractions were steady at 2.5 minutes (which was Wednesday morning - or about 20 hours of induction and labor), the situation had not improved and the doctor suspected umbilical cord entanglement was the cause. A Nurse checked Laurie's dilation and learned that she had not proceeded very far and that Cecile's head was not yet engaged; which explained why Laurie's labor, though long, was not particularly painful. Indeed, she and I were walking laps around the hospital birthing center at a brisk pace every hour or so all night.
Our doctor finally recommended a C-section Wednesday morning, and we agreed. He explained that since a near-maximum dose of oxytocin had not resulted in engagement of Cecile's head into Laurie's pelvis, we could conclude that Cecile was being prevented for some reason. He also told us that the situation was unlikely to improve on its own and that Cecile would become more and more tired from the continued constriction of blood flow. They prepared Laurie for surgery immediately and prepared me and her mother to accompany her in the OR (alternately, as they were going to let me stay with Cecile from the moment of her birth, and permit Laurie's mother to replace me at Laurie's side for the remainder of the surgery). With much prayer, we hoped our Lord had the same outcome in mind as did we.
I gotta say, anxiety about such situations is my big temptation. I fail miserably to fully trust in the Lord in such moments, not because I think He is incapable, but rather because I fear my will might not be aligned with His and that I will not be able to accept or tolerate such a divergence. Intellectually I know that everything belongs to Him and is for His purpose; each of us find our purpose in the good works He prepares in advance for us, and in the outcomes that obtain regardless of whether or not the world might consider such outcomes desirable. Getting my heart to agree is another story and is my greatest weakness, at least according to my perception.
Thankfully for our family, God's intended outcome was what we wanted indeed! The surgery went wonderfully; praise be to God, from whom all blessings flow! Cecile was born at 7:18am on Wednesday the 22nd, weighing 7lbs and 14 ozs, being 19.3in long, and screaming strongly from the very beginning. She is very healthy! Her cord was wrapped around her waist twice, through her legs, and around one leg once; this confirming the doctor's suspicion. In this state the cord was ultimately too short to permit a natural birth with continuing blood flow to Cecile throughout the delivery.
So, unfortunately it did not go as planned, and fortunately it did not go as planned. Once again, praise God from whom all blessings flow!!
Here are the happy girls home from the hospital, and a happy daddy added in the recovery room, and a happy brother meeting his new sister in the hospital too:
P.S. We're all looking eagerly forward to meeting any of you who will be at the Idaho retreat in June! And, one more photo of mommy and daughter out of recovery and back in their room to heal; both looking so beautiful
Thought I'd post a brief birth story. As many of you might know, Laurie and I have been expecting our second child, due May 19th. We had planned a natural childbirth with a midwife at a home in Idaho for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most important reason was that we both feel that pregnancy, labor, and delivery as God designed it should be preferred unless circumstances suggest otherwise. In other words, we consider additional measures (i.e. induction, pain medication, etc.) to be best practiced out of necessity rather than convenience. Unfortunately and fortunately, it did not go according to plan. Perhaps a confusing contradiction that I hope will be clarified shortly...
In any case, on Friday, May 17th, Laurie went into labor at our home. Her contractions seemed very good (i.e. strong but not painful, consistent, and included a response on the part of the baby) and proceeded until they were about 5.5 minutes apart. We went to bed thinking that they would continue and we would be up in the middle of the night traveling to the home in which we had planned the birth; which is only eight miles away across the border in Moscow, Idaho. However, by morning the contractions had become sporadic, though fetal movement still seemed consistent with history to Laurie. We continued with plans to visit with family over the next few days, as Laurie's parents have kindly traveled from Texas for the birth and to help us out for the first two or three weeks after Cecile is born.
By Tuesday, fetal movement had changed character somewhat and Laurie became concerned. A similar situation had occurred with Liam late in the pregnancy, so we went to the hospital for a Non-Stress Test (NST). In Liam's case, the physician confirmed that there was no cause for concern and we returned home; after which Liam was born naturally in our home a short time thereafter. We expected the same result this time, but Cecile failed the NST. In particular, she was not tolerating the contractions well; which explained Laurie's perception in the change of character of fetal movement. The on-call OB/GYN ordered a biophysical profile be performed; which is an additional diagnostic using ultrasound to confirm or refute issues with the amniotic fluid level and placenta. The good news was that there were no issues with either. The bad news was that we knew nothing more regarding the mechanism associated with Cecile's intolerance of the labor contractions.
After careful consideration of the doctor's recommendation that Laurie stay and be induced "slowly" to see what would happen, we agreed and Laurie was admitted Tuesday morning. The doctor ordered oxytocin beginning at the lowest dose and increasing the dose slowly to determine whether or not increasing the intensity and consistency of contractions had an adverse consequence in terms of Cecile's heart rate. By the time Laurie neared the maximum dose and contractions were steady at 2.5 minutes (which was Wednesday morning - or about 20 hours of induction and labor), the situation had not improved and the doctor suspected umbilical cord entanglement was the cause. A Nurse checked Laurie's dilation and learned that she had not proceeded very far and that Cecile's head was not yet engaged; which explained why Laurie's labor, though long, was not particularly painful. Indeed, she and I were walking laps around the hospital birthing center at a brisk pace every hour or so all night.
Our doctor finally recommended a C-section Wednesday morning, and we agreed. He explained that since a near-maximum dose of oxytocin had not resulted in engagement of Cecile's head into Laurie's pelvis, we could conclude that Cecile was being prevented for some reason. He also told us that the situation was unlikely to improve on its own and that Cecile would become more and more tired from the continued constriction of blood flow. They prepared Laurie for surgery immediately and prepared me and her mother to accompany her in the OR (alternately, as they were going to let me stay with Cecile from the moment of her birth, and permit Laurie's mother to replace me at Laurie's side for the remainder of the surgery). With much prayer, we hoped our Lord had the same outcome in mind as did we.
I gotta say, anxiety about such situations is my big temptation. I fail miserably to fully trust in the Lord in such moments, not because I think He is incapable, but rather because I fear my will might not be aligned with His and that I will not be able to accept or tolerate such a divergence. Intellectually I know that everything belongs to Him and is for His purpose; each of us find our purpose in the good works He prepares in advance for us, and in the outcomes that obtain regardless of whether or not the world might consider such outcomes desirable. Getting my heart to agree is another story and is my greatest weakness, at least according to my perception.
Thankfully for our family, God's intended outcome was what we wanted indeed! The surgery went wonderfully; praise be to God, from whom all blessings flow! Cecile was born at 7:18am on Wednesday the 22nd, weighing 7lbs and 14 ozs, being 19.3in long, and screaming strongly from the very beginning. She is very healthy! Her cord was wrapped around her waist twice, through her legs, and around one leg once; this confirming the doctor's suspicion. In this state the cord was ultimately too short to permit a natural birth with continuing blood flow to Cecile throughout the delivery.
So, unfortunately it did not go as planned, and fortunately it did not go as planned. Once again, praise God from whom all blessings flow!!
Here are the happy girls home from the hospital, and a happy daddy added in the recovery room, and a happy brother meeting his new sister in the hospital too:
P.S. We're all looking eagerly forward to meeting any of you who will be at the Idaho retreat in June! And, one more photo of mommy and daughter out of recovery and back in their room to heal; both looking so beautiful
