Shepard's Birth Story

I wanted to write our birth story because I loved reading them during my pregnancy, many of them bringing tears and excitement as I awaited my son's arrival. While ours wasn't necessarily the "picture perfect" experience I had imagined, it was even better because I know it's brought our sweet family of three close together from the beginning.

It was a pretty relaxing Sunday, and it had gotten to the point all I was doing each day was going for my very long walks through our neighborhood, cleaning the house and watching TV. Clint and I had gone on one of our longest walks ever that morning (could be why Shepard decided to make his appearance the next day!)

My friend Nicole and I had just gotten back from Yogurtology - my second trip that weekend because they had this amazing Capt. Crunch flavor - and I said goodbye and we excitedly said they next time I saw her I'd hopefully be a mom! Clint and I were hanging out, watching House Hunters, like any Sunday evening. I stood up and noticed trickling down my leg and thought, wow I've really let myself go at this point and could no longer even hold my pee. I had also been having contractions all day, but nothing painful and nothing more frequent than normal so I thought nothing of it. I'd read online about women who had these symptoms for weeks before their babies arrived.

However, erring on the safe side, we called our OB's weekend line and described my symptoms. At that moment, I experienced a huge gush of water. I was sitting on our couch, so I jumped up so it didn't get on the couch, and ended up tripping on a computer cord. Thankfully I landed on my hands and knees, but we looked at each other and knew this was not pee! The water continued to gush for the next 10 minutes and since we were already on the phone with the doctor, we knew it was time to head to the hospital! 

Reason #1,000 I love my husband, he quickly and nervously got us ready for the hospital. I've never seen him so excited/anxious as he was then. I was at that point dealing with some pretty bad contractions that had started, so I was focused on showering and getting ready for the hospital.  Once we got there at 8 pm, they let us know it was Go time, but also that I wasn't very far dilated.

The contractions were getting stronger over the night, and by midnight, I knew an epidural was in my future, but it was one of the parts of the childbirth experience I was most terrified of. Clint held my hand the whole time, but I was undeniably terrified. Once it kicked it, the pain subsided and we continued to wait for me to dilate. Fast forward to around 6 am, I was only dilated to 3 cm and the doctor recommended we start Pitocin to increase the contractions. They had hesitations though because they noticed the baby's heart rate was dropping every time I had a strong contraction. I had hesitations about Pitocin in general, so Clint and I discussed the benefits/risks with Pitocin before we gave the go ahead. We really trusted our doctor though and knew they would be monitoring closely, so we moved forward with Pitocin (I really wanted a vaginal birth!)

Unfortunately, as soon as my contractions came on stronger, the baby's heart rate would drop considerably, and a whole team of nurses rushed into my room. The moved me from side to side to get his heart rate back up, and it took longer and longer to do that. Finally, the doctor came in and said he wanted to stop the Pitocin and deliver the baby via c-section because it was just too risky and we were coming closer to the 24-hour mark after my water had broken. After a few more tears, Clint and I knew it was the best thing for our son and prepared for surgery. My mom had just arrived in Tampa and I was comforted knowing I'd see her on the other side. I also knew my bible study group was praying for us and knew that we would be watched over :)

I should also mention at this time we still had not chosen a name! We were going back and forth between Bowman and my favorite, Shepard. Both had family ties, and I liked how unique they were. But Shepard also had a connection to our faith, in that, Jesus as a Shepard was the ultimate in modeling a leader, protecting, guiding and loving his flock. What more could we hope for our son? We want to raise him to be successful, loving, smart and have good moral character, but above all else, a strong faith in our savior. Once we were in the operating room, Clint looked at me and said, "It's Shepard, I love it. He's Shepard." And I nodded, so excited and feeling completely at peace with his name. It felt right.

Clint held my hand throughout the entire surgery, talking about upcoming vacations, jokes, movies, anything to keep my mind off the surgery. I felt pokes and pressure, but no pain. Before I knew it, our incredible nurse Rachel held Shepard up, and Clint and I were overcome with joy and couldn't believe this precious baby was ours! He was beautiful and wailing! They also brought him to me and allowed me to hold him before they took his measurements and weight. At 6 lbs 10 ounces and 20 and 3/4 inches, he was absolutely perfect.

They also told us that the umbilical cord had been wrapped around his neck three times, likely contributing to why his heart rate was dropping during my contractions in labor. I was so thankful that he was delivered healthy knowing he had been that constricted in the womb!

The next three days at the hospital had its ups and downs. Breastfeeding was something I had looked forward to and wanted to ensure we did immediately following his birth, and it had its challenges. I'll post another blog entry about my thoughts and our successes and obstacles so far (I'm writing this at 1 week after his birth date). I was on heavy pain medication for the next 48 hours and relied heavily on Clint and my Mom taking care of Shepard as I recovered. They were both so caring and supportive and I don't know what I would have done without them.

Finally on Thursday we were discharged and ready to go home! I know Clint and my mom were going stir crazy in the small room and I was so thankful to be able to bring him home at that point. I was still in a lot of pain and exhausted, but had finally been able to get up and walk on my own so felt confident I would continue to recover at home and make baby steps to regain my strength.

What I know is that there's no perfect birth story - it's perfect because that's how God planned it for you. We have been so blessed to have family here with us along each step of parenthood so far. I'm so thankful that this is our birth story, and we get to be Shepard's parents!