It has been almost a year since Quincy was born and I finally got around to sharing the most dramatic and terrifying night our our lives. I’ve listed as many details as I can remember. Looking back I’m still in awe of how amazing all women are for becoming mothers, whether it’s by delivery, surgery, or adoption. Women are badass. I hope you enjoy reading about the wildest night of my life!
Quincy’s due date was November 29, 2019. Since he was an IUI baby, we knew exactly the day he was conceived so exactly 40 weeks was the day after Thanksgiving. I woke up that Friday around 4am to go to the restroom and felt very minor, minor cramping. It didn’t feel any different than the normal uncomfortableness of being merely 40 weeks pregnant. Throughout the morning I noticed I was “leaking” which I simply attributed to being very pregnant and not being able to hold my pee! However, around 9:00 am I was up drinking tea with my mom and had to rush to the restroom. It was then that I clearly noticed I lost my mucus plug, which I totally freaked out about.
Women can lose their mucus plug weeks before actually going into labor, so I just thought this was a sign that it would be soon. I went around normally for the rest of the morning. Aaron and I even watched an episode of The Mandalorian! I was having to go to the restroom a bit more than normal and at one point when I was getting dressed I leaked completely through some underwear. Aaron told me immediately to call our friend Natalie (my dear friend and badass nurse anesthetist). When I told her the story she was quiet for a moment and said, “Call your doula.”
My doula answered immediately and after I told her the events of the morning she asked if my hospital bag was packed (of course it was) and then said, “Go to the hospital, you’re going to have your baby today.” I was in a bit of shock and a lot of denial. There’s no way he’s coming on his due date, right? Am I for sure ready for this? There’s no way this is happening now… Aaron suggested I take a shower, which I denied because I thought I’d be back home by that afternoon. I was completely convinced it was false labor. He and my mother went to take showers and I slowly changed clothes and made sure things were arranged at home. I even casually put makeup on and curled my hair. My mother and Aaron were extremely excited, but I was just trying not to get my hopes up. I was clearly in denial, even as we left the house, because halfway to the hospital we had to turn back because I forgot my phone!
Upon arrival at the hospital, we were admitted to the triage area to confirm that my waters have actually broken. I still didn’t believe it was actually happening. When the monitors were hooked up, we heard Q’s strong heartbeat and we saw tiny little contractions that I didn’t even feel. When the doctor checked me, she confirmed that I was actually in labor. She could even feel his head when she examined me, which totally surprised me. We moved from the triage room to the lovely Labor and Delivery room on the first floor. Aaron immediately started setting up all the technology and things we might need for a long delivery. Both Aaron’s parents and my parents joined us in the L&D room. I didn’t mind having everyone there, I’m not a very private person so I for sure wanted to share this process with our parents. By 2:00, I was hooked up to a bunch of monitors and had my IV port placed. Labor went very slowly at first and I was only at 5cm starting out. I had to have some pitocin added to help speed up the process a bit, and by 5:30pm I was really starting to feel the pain of the contractions. My sweet doula was amazing and helped me breathe through the pain and by that time my best friend and nurse anesthetist, Natalie, showed up. Natalie was 20 weeks pregnant herself, but she still showed up for my delivery!
I carried on with consistent contractions until Aaron suggested it might be time for an epidural. I looked over at Natalie who was calmly nodding her head, so I conceded to get the epidural. Lucky for me, Natalie scrubbed up and got all the materials ready for the epidural. What a blessing it was to have her as my nurse anesthetist! She calmly got me situated and while I was distracted by a contraction, she inserted the epidural. I remember praying that it worked and trying to get situated lying down with a port in my spine. I had to ask my doula if it was working and she said I was having a contraction right then and I didn’t feel a thing so what a relief. I settled down with a popsicle and waited for my body to do the magic it was created to do. But things aren’t always that simple.
About 10 minutes after my epidural was placed and while I was calmly eating a popsicle, about 5 doctors rushed into my room and cleared it of everyone non essential. They told me the baby was showing some signs of distress and they wanted to get some monitors on his crown. Once they got the monitors placed, it showed that during my contractions his heart rate was deccelerating, likely due to the umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck. They put me on oxygen and had me lay on my side to try and get baby to unwrap himself. Things calmed down just a bit and the doctors left the room. However, not 10 minutes later they were back clearing the room and asking me to get on my hands and knees to relieve pressure from the baby. When you can still move your entire body and flip over completely while being hooked up to an IV and an epidural port, you know your anesthetist did a great job.
I vividly remember in the chaos of what was happening around me, I had tuned out everything and was calmly talking to Quincy telling him it was all going to be okay.. Everyone was rushing around the hospital bed checking monitors and wires and I was on my hands and knees, nearly naked, with wires coming out of everywhere and all I could do was breathe and talk to Quincy to try and calm both our heart rates. This was not the delivery I had imagined and we were definitely terrified but somehow through that chaos I was able to keep calm and focused. I knew we would be fine, but in the moment it was very scary.
I found out that my OB was actually out of town, so the on-call doctor would be delivering Quincy. She came to my bedside and informed me that under the circumstances and the distress Quincy was in, we needed to go forward with a C-Section. That was the moment it all came crashing down on me and I began to cry. Just as they were getting my bed ready to move, my older sister Krista walked in the room and was at my beside telling me it was all going to be fine. My mother had 4 c-sections, she had 3, and I was just joining the ranks with the rest of my family. At 9:20pm they wheeled me to the operating room while my doula helped Aaron dress in his scrubs. I found out later that they had a c-section scheduled before me, but because the circumstances were so bad I became an emergent case so I had to go first. I’m so glad we didn’t know that then!
When I got into the operating room, they had me crawl on to the table myself (again a sign of a good epidural that I was able to move that much but still not feel a thing!) Once I got on the table things went incredibly fast. The curtain went up and the doctors and nurses started yelling back and forth to each other getting everything ready for the surgery. It was shockingly bright and freezing and terrifying; a far cry from the dim labor and delivery room where I had planned to listen to Enya while laboring in peace surrounded by my husband and family. I remember looking up and felt relief seeing that Natalie was monitoring the anesthesia for my surgery as well. She helped speak up for me when I realized Aaron wasn’t in the room yet and they were about to start cutting. “Can we get dad in here!?”
Aaron came rushing in while they were cutting me open. Just 10 minutes after they wheeled me down the hallway to the OR, I heard Quincy’s little cry for the first time. It was such a relief to hear him because if he is screaming then he’s breathing! He was breathing and shrieking and screaming and completely ours. Our boy was finally here! The doctor confirmed that the umbilical cord was indeed wrapped around his neck, but also his torso and his ankle. It’s scary to think what would have happened had we gone forward with a vaginal delivery. The doctors absolutely made a great choice in conducting a c-section. Quincy was born at 9:30pm, on his due date and was 7lb 8oz, 19.5 inches long. Aaron, teary eyed, got to hold him for the first time and then let me touch my face to that squirmy, squeaky bundle in his arms. There we were, a family of three!
When I finally got stitched up, they unwrapped Quincy and put him on my chest. I was wheeled back to our L&D room where the rest of my family was waiting to meet him. Luckily, Quincy latched immediately on my breast which made me ecstatic. Breastfeeding was one of the things that was very important to me as a new mom, so I was determined to make it successful. Of course, it has little to do with me and all to do with my amazing baby Q!
Aaron and Quincy and I stayed in the hospital 3 nights and were released at 7:00 am on December 2nd, Aaron’s birthday. I learned so many fundamental things about life in the hours I was in the hospital. Chiefly among them, I was wholly unprepared for having a baby. Are we ever? Our world changed forever and I had a reckoning with myself on what that meant. Thanks to the amazing team of doctors at UMC in Lubbock, Texas, we have our beautiful, perfect, baby boy to share our life with and it’s been a wild ride ever since!
Thanks Elizabeth for sharing your story. Precious memories 💗