The Story

Hi. My name is Nolan Robert and this is my birth story.

Three weeks before I was born my mom had a doctor's appointment and they learned that I have a mind of my own. Instead of being in the traditional "head down" position, I chose to have my rear end down. Much more comfortable for me. I'm not a big fan of being upside down - it gives me motion-sickness.

But apparently, the doctor and my mom and dad weren't too fond of my position because the next day they tortured me by flipping me around! There wasn't a lot of space in there but the doctor used her muscles and pushed and pushed. My mom almost fainted so as she rolled to her side to keep from fainting and getting sick, I decided to comply and flipped. I love my mom and wanted to help her out. But I decided right then that I would not come into the world easily.

My due date passed. What I funny phrase "Due Date". It really should be called the "Estimated Date of Arrival" because we babies have minds of our own and just because we're "due" on a certain day doesn't mean that we're going to come that day. Anyways, I was due on the 3rd. But I made no attempt to come out. On the 4th we had another doctor's appointment and my parents decided that my mom would try some gel treatments to get some of her insides ripened. Ewww. So on the 5th we went to the hospital for one treatment. She was supposed to dilate on Saturday and get checked on Sunday. Back to the hospital we went on Sunday and no progress had been made so they gave her another shot of gel and told her to come back in the evening. At around 7:30 PM we all headed back to the hospital to actually check in. They gave my mom a different treatment at 9 PM- a medication was inserted that would stay on the cervix for 12 hours. It would be removed at 9 AM and at 9:30 AM they would start the pitocen.

Well, I was no match for that final treatment because at midnight on June 7th my mom started to have contractions and then at 4:15 AM her water broke. Man! What an experience that was. She was sure glad that it happened at the hospital and not at home, work or somewhere else! Because her water broke, the inserted treatment was removed. And then the contractions started coming hard every 5 minutes.

I'm kind of a stinker. Remember how I didn't want to be in the traditional head-down position, well, I didn't want to be in the traditional face-down position. I wanted to be face-up! I realized later that this caused my mom a lot of back pain. She got an epidural at 10 AM because the pain was horrible. I do feel bad about that. Cause my mom rocks. :)

Every hour the nurses would flip my mom side to side. She couldn't lie on her back because it put to much pressure on an artery in her back and would cause her to become nauseous and almost faint. After a few hours the nurses and doctors realized that I didn't favor well when she was lying on her left side. My heart rate and oxygen levels would drop - probably because there wasn't as much fluid inside anymore so I would lie on the cord when she was on her left. So, from 3PM on it was right side only.

At some point, we don't remember when, my mom got another dose of the epidural because she was getting back pain again on her left side. At around 9 PM we (well, my parents and the nurses and doc) started talking C-section. Not that we needed to go that route, but that we should talk about it because of how she was progressing (dilating) and how I was reacting to labor. The papers were signed in the event this was the route we would choose.

At about 10 PM the nurse told my mom that she was dilated to a 10 and that she could start pushing! Mom and dad were pretty excited because after being in labor ALL DAY they wanted to see this thing come to an end this way. Well, it wasn't so easy.

Because of how I would react when my mom was on her back or left side, she had to push while lying on her right side. Awkward. My dad had to hold her right leg while the nurse held her left. Awkward. She pushed for 3 sets of 4 pushes or 4 sets of 3 pushes...we don't remember. But I didn't like that. The thought of being birthed this way was not my intention. So, after consulting the doctor and others, it was decided that I would be delivered via C-section.

Now my mom needed to talk about pain management. Because she had been on an epidural all day - about 12 hours - they decided to give my mom a spinal block. The anesthesiologist told my mom that she would feel like she couldn't breathe, but that she would be able to. But when the spinal was given, too much was given or because she was still feeling the effects of the epidural, the spinal hit her hard. She was in and out of consciousness and literally could not breathe. They kept telling her to breathe, but she couldn't. She heard the doctors say that they were going to need to put her under and that the husband could not come in. She kept saying to herself in her head "don't panic", "Lord, don't let me die this way" and "breathe, just breathe". The anesthesiologist and nurses kept telling her she was OK, that she was doing good and to keep breathing. Then she heard someone say that her husband (my dad) was really upset and wanted to be here and then someone said "too bad" and then she heard someone say, "Get the husband" and she started to breathe again. My grandma knows one of the residents that was in the OR and he told her that they gave my mom a shot of epinephrine and that brought her back - somewhat.

I remember seeing my dad for the first time as I was getting cleaned off. He took pictures of me on the scale - a whopping 9 lbs and 9.2 oz! See why I didn't want to be pushed through a canal!? My dad took me to meet my mom for the first time. She was pretty out of it, but I was happy to see her. My dad and I got to spend some quality guy-time together before my mom got to hold me. He took video of my first bath, getting my footprints, and me crying. None of which will be posted because I'm pretty naked in all of them and I'm a modest guy. :) But then I got to see my mom and she got to hold me. Awww...love. That's when they named me Nolan.

If they didn't flip me three weeks ago, we could have had a scheduled C-section. That was my intention the whole time. My mom is going to have to learn to listen to me. :)

That's my story. I'm sure my mom will post more stories soon!