The Birth of Titus Walker

This is a novel, not gonna lie.



July 2, 2010
Contractions started at about 9pm. The first three contractions were ten minutes apart. After that I had a *delightful* contraction every five minutes. I called my midwife at 11pm. She said to keep going and to call back when my contractions were consistently 4 minutes apart and 60 seconds. I spent the evening out at a bonfire (while pacing) then watching Bill Engvall while sitting on my balance ball. (I was also getting a back massage from my MIL.)

July 3,2010
I was able to call my midwife back at 2am. Contractions were 4 minutes apart and usually 60 seconds apart, with the occasional contraction that lasted *only* 45 seconds. I live an hour away from the hospital so my midwife said to come on in and we would see where I was at. We left the house around 2:30am after we packed the last minute things and I called my mom to tell her it was time to go. Once we left my contractions went from 4 minutes to 2-3 minutes apart. It was such a fun ride! We arrived at the hospital event free at 3:30am.
Check in went very quickly as my amazing midwives had given me the necessary paperwork ahead of time and I had registered via the mail and filled out as much of the first bunch of paperwork as possible. I went into the exam room, got hooked up to the monitors and continued to contract every 2 minutes. My midwife came in, checked me and told me I was 2-3 cm. I had to stay on the monitors until about 4:30am because we were waiting for Titus to show some reaction to the contractions. Usually a baby's heart rate will increase and stay up for the duration of the contraction. However, Titus was a super chill baby and could care less. We finally saw some reaction so I could get off of the monitors.
Since I wasn't 4 cm I wasn't going to be admitted, but neither was I going to go all the way back home. My midwife suggested that I walk around the halls for an hour then we could see where I was at. That hour was I think the worst hour of labor, well maybe not the worst but very, very, very close. As soon as I started walking around my contractions got much, much stronger and migrated to my back. Bryan had gotten a Mountain Dew and used that bottle to rub my back. I also used the railing in the hallways. I was determined going in to labor that I wanted to go all natural- no drugs for me! My contractions were getting so strong and uncomfortable that I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to make drug free the way I wanted. That was a very long hour but finally 5:30am came!
I headed back to the exam room where I was given the wonderful amazing news that I was now 7 cm. I decided that since I dilated somewhat quickly that I would go the rest of my labor and delivery drug free. I was given a room and my mom, sister, and mom and sister-in-law joined Bryan and I. I had the best nurse (Colby) ever! She was able to put in my saline lock quickly with minimum pain. Colby noticed that since my labor was all in my back that my baby was probably facing the wrong direction (facing the ceiling instead of the floor). She brought out cold and heat packs- cold for my back and warm for the front. Apparently the baby should move towards the warmer area. Not. So. Much.
My body started pushing at 7am. I didn't try to push since I wasn't sure I was at 10 cm and I didn't want to waste energy, but my body had other ideas. I was checked at 7:30am and I was fully dilated and fully effaced. My body kept pushing and it increased in length and strength with each contraction. My midwife suggested breaking my water at 8am so all the pushing I was doing would actually start to push Titus down the birth canal. I originally was against any sort of meddling with my labor but at that point I wanted to see progress and honestly, wanted to be done pushing- it really wasn't fun. With my water broken my pushing slowly, and I really mean slowly, started moving Titus down.
**Side note- I didn't realize for the LONGEST time, that comments like "Oh that push was really good!" "You're doing great!" etc DO NOT mean "He is almost here!"**
Titus was still in the wrong position so I pushed in any position you could think of to try and get him to turn around. He never budged. I was getting tired and frustrated. Then my nurse went and found a mirror as I had requested one so I could see Titus as he was born. I started thinking he was almost here and that I would be done soon! They showed me as much of his head as they could see- it wasn't a lot but it was beautiful! I had new found energy! I started pushing harder and longer hoping to see more and more of his head, but it never happened. Around 11-11:30am my midwife suggested trying a vacuum to help Titus as he was stuck and pushing wasn't doing anything other than ram his head repeatedly into my tail bone. I was really really against that option but I didn't see any other choice at that moment.
Two doctors came in and examined me through a few contractions. The second doctor caused me more pain than my entire labor up until that point- I think he was manually trying to turn Titus, but he never said what he was doing so I had no clue. After he did whatever he did my heart rate and Ti's heart rate both dropped. I was put on oxygen, rolled onto my side, and put on IV fluids. I looked over at Bry and I'm sure broke his heart when I asked him if I could have a C-section. I knew this wasn't happening for me and I was so tired and discouraged. My midwife came back from consulting with the doctor and they both decided a C-section would probably be best if I wanted one. I was so relieved!!! That decision was made at 12pm. I laid in bed contracting/pushing knowing that it was doing nothing as nurses prepped me for surgery. I went into the OR at about 1pm. The spinal made me super nervous but it really wasn't that bad. I was too busy focusing on not moving during my contractions. I was in the middle of a contraction when the spinal took effect so the pain was suddenly gone- coolest thing ever! After that point it was all surgery stuff that they didn't really tell me about. I found out later that Titus had to be pushed back up into my uterus and he was all sorts of wrapped up in the umbilical cord. Hearing his cry for the first time was the best sound in the world!!! Bryan brought him over to me probably about 10 minutes after he was born- longest ten minutes of. my. life!

My delivery definitely didn't go as I had planned or as I had hoped but I don't think I would change anything, knowing what I know now. Titus was born safely and healthy and that's all I cared about. I'm so grateful for God's sovereignty and how He gave me the grace and strength I needed to get through that experience and to heal quickly with no complications. I'm also grateful for the best Mom and MIL that anyone could ask for! They were wonderful and a blessing to have there! Bryan- there aren't enough words to express my gratitude. He was an amazing support. I love him- there isn't a better way to put it!

Titus will be 4 months on Saturday...time has flown by.