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Liam's Birth Story



Just over twenty-four hours ago, on November 20th at 7:50 p.m. William "Liam" Lucas Hall made his grand entrance into this world weighing 9lbs 6oz and at 22 inches long. I have never been more relieved in my entire life.

Around 5:30 p.m., I begun having contractions on a regular basis. They were two minutes apart, but they weren't strong. This happened a few weeks ago and they stopped so I wasn't making too big a deal of it. Close to 6:00 p.m. I felt a pop. I stood up expecting to be standing in a puddle of clear fluid like you see in the movies. There was a puddle, but it wasn't clear. It was red. Bright red. Chris and I ran out of the house in less than two minutes and headed to the hospital. We called the doctor on our way. He said not to worry and that he would be there shortly.

We got to the hospital a few minutes after 6:00 p.m. They asked me if I could walk and I said, "yes" but told them what had happened. They put me in a wheelchair and took me upstairs. I filled out a few consent forms and was still talking through my contractions. They weren't really bad at that point. They got me in a room and said I was still 3cm dilated, which was no change from my appointment on Wednesday. They hooked me up to the monitors and the first thing I heard was the baby's heartbeat. I can't begin to describe the wave of relief that hit me when I heard that familiar galloping sound. By 6:45 p.m. the contractions were starting to pick up. I couldn't talk through them anymore and it was really hard to relax. I wasn't able to sit up because of the bleeding so finding a comfortable position was almost impossible. I knew that without the freedom to move there was no way I was going to be able to go through labor without an epidural. I asked for the anesthesiologist.

My doctor arrived just as the anesthesiologist came in. I was dilated to 6cm. The contractions were back-to-back and I felt so out of control. My doctor stepped out while the anesthesiologist administered the epidural and administered a test does of the medication. The test dose had not fully taken effect when I announced, "I'm pushing." One of the nurses reminded me that I was only 6cm dilated that that I needed to breathe through my contractions. I told her that I couldn't and my body was pushing without my consent. Another nurse told me that a team was on standby in case the baby needed special care due to the blood. My doctor came in and checked me again. He asked if I was ready to have this baby. I said no. I was so worried about Liam. My body disagreed and pushed anyway. I gave in and pushed four times.

After the fourth push I felt instant relief from the pain and heard crying. They placed Liam on my tummy and tried to wipe him off as best they could. At that moment, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders. I knew that God had been watching out for Liam.

After the delivery my doctor told me that it appeared that my placenta had partially separated from my uterine wall in early labor (also known as a placental abruption).

They gave me a dose of pitocin after the delivery to help stop the bleeding. Originally, we had planned to go home immediately after Liam's birth but, due to the amount of blood loss, we had to stay overnight to have my hemoglobin monitored. Everything seemed in check this morning and we left the hospital right at noon.

It definitely wasn't the birth that Chris and I had imagined, but it is wonderful to have Liam in our lives. Chris and I were both terrified yesterday and have been running on adrenaline ever since. We've only managed to sleep for a few hours since yesterday. Hopefully we can calm down and get some sleep tonight. Liam is doing well. He has some bruising on his head from his speedy occiput posterior (aka sunny side up) delivery, but is overall doing great!

2 comments:

nbjenni said...

Adorable!

Carrington said...

Karen, Im so happy to hear you and Liam are okay! I'd love to see you guys after you get settled in and get some rest! All my love to you and your family

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