Henry's Birth Story

Henry Alexander Zank was born on July 22, 2015 just before 4 pm, weighing in at 9 lbs. 2 ounces and 20 inches long.  

I had planned all throughout this pregnancy on having another unmedicated hospital delivery, but Henry had other plans.  Monday the 20th I went in for my 39 week check up and the doctor did an ultrasound for placement and discovered baby boy was breech.  During the ultrasound he was also measured to be over 10 pounds.  Both of these left the doctor very worried, and we started to discuss my options.  I didn't realize this but breech vaginal deliveries are very difficult, and my doctor said that I could try to find a doctor who would attempt a breech vaginal delivery but with the large ultrasound scan it would be difficult to find a doctor willing to let me try. In fact if I were to go into labor on my own most hospitals would have me do an immediate c-section.  Yikes.  So, her suggestions were to try an ECV (or version) which is where two doctors try to manually flip the baby, then if successful I would be induced immediately.  But if things went south and baby boy didn't tolerate the stress of being flipped I would need an emergency c-section and if the flip was unsuccessful then I would have a scheduled c-section that day.  Oh and all of this needed to happen soon, which would be Wednesday because that is when my hospital schedules c-sections.  

All my plans went out the window and I was scared.  I did NOT want a c-section, not because I am against them but because I was terrified at the thought of recovering from the procedure.  I left the doctor's office in tears (and probably scared a bunch of pregnant women in the waiting room) and needed to decide if I wanted to try to flip him or if I just wanted to schedule the c-section.  I knew that ultrasound weight scans can be notoriously off and so I wasn't worried about his guessed size but it really was a concern for my doctor.  

Ultimately we decided on trying the ECV and then going from there.  We went to the hospital at 5:30 Wednesday morning to begin the process and were told we arrived an hour early.  Awesome, but thankfully we were both able to sleep in my room a bit before everything started.  

Because I was going to have that baby for sure on Wednesday no matter what, my doctor suggested that I get an epidural before the ECV as they can be very painful. Most women will attempt an ECV between 35-37 weeks and so the epidural isn't an option but I was full term and let me say that if my doctor, who previously had been fully supportive of my desire to have an unmedicated birth, suggested I get an epidural...I would get the epidural.  

We ended up starting the procedure in the OR room and so my husband got to wear this fun hospital "costume".  

It was so weird to be in the OR room, and to be getting an epidural without having any painful contractions.  Weird and awesome.  The epidural at first was placed funny and sent shooting pains down one side.  That was awful but I was thankful I wasn't battling any painful contractions too.  The second placement worked much better but had hit a blood vessel and I could initially feel blood dripping down my back.  Not so fun, but thankfully it worked and I stopped bleeding.  

In the OR room with us was a whole bunch of medical personnel waiting to see if I would need the c-section.  They had me lay on my back with my arms outstretched and we began the ECV.  Holy cow was I thankful for the epidural!  I could still feel pressure in my abdomen and was only numb from about two inches below my ribs and down and it was quite uncomfortable. My ribs hurt so badly and the pressure from them pushing on my abdomen hurt.  But thankfully baby boy flipped!  Then in order to get him to stay and not flip back they broke my water.  Apparently I had tons of amniotic fluid and the nurses kept laughing at how big of a mess my doctor was making.  Thankfully I couldn't see any of this.  

We were wheeled back into my room to wait for baby boy to be born.  I was already dilated to about a four and so I was put on a very low dose of pitocin.  My labor progressed slowly and baby boy didn't like when I would change positions.  He did the best with me lying on my back which is the most uncomfortable position for me and I was thankful to have the epidural so we could keep his heart rate steady.  I have trouble normally laying on my back due to some back issues I have and when I delivered Adelaide I did so on my side because it was unbearable to be on my back.  Without the epidural with baby boy things would have been much worse.  

Anyway the delivery went well and I was just so thrilled that the ECV was successful and that we avoided a c-section.  Many of the nurses told me about other women who have tried the ECV and they would be screaming from the pain.  In fact one nurse told me she would never have it done because of how painful it is.  I can't imagine and am so grateful I was given the epidural beforehand.  I am just so pleased and feel so blessed with how my labor and delivery went.  It was scary going into it with so many unknowns and I ended up having the best possible outcomes and of course the world's cutest baby.  We have been so lucky.