It all started on Monday morning, June 29th. For some reason during Elle’s pregnancy I had woken up every morning wishing the baby to kick me/have the hiccups so I knew she was still alive and healthy/I hadn’t slept too long on my back or something. Monday morning I didn’t get any such reassurance. Sometimes it took until after eating breakfast to get baby jumpstarted so I didn’t worry too much and showered and got ready for the day, as we had our 38w OB appointment later that day at 12:50. Phil came home around 10am after going to the gym and work as he was planning on coming to the appointment with Jayne and I. I told him I was a little worried, part of me wanted to brush it off, but my mother's intuition was telling otherwise- Phil looked a few things up online, suggested drinking juice and lying on my side and was a reassuring voice that things were probably ok...(he’s since told me that he was a bit worried too but didn’t want me to worry any more than I already was).
Finally it was time to go to the OB. At my appointment I told Julie (OB) about the decreased fetal movement and she noted that my initial blood pressure reading was a little high. Then we went to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. It was steady but Julie did indicate that just because there is a heartbeat, that doesn’t tell us everything. Luckily because of my blood pressure AND the decreased fetal movement she decided that we should head to the hospital for a non-stress test at the hospital for the baby. It was scheduled for 2pm so we went straight there.
They measured the amniotic fluid levels which looked great and the heartbeat was steady so they set it up for the 30 minutes of monitoring. I apparently had a contraction just as the nurse was setting it up, but I couldn’t feel anything. After about 10 minutes the nurse came back. She said she’d just been on the phone with the doctor and there was a long slow dip and recovery in Elle’s heartbeat that had followed the contraction I’d had. Along with that, there were no accelerations at all in the heartbeat, although it was steady, you want accelerations with movement etc. It also took a long time to come back up, 4 minutes total. The nurse then told me I wouldn’t be leaving the hospital and I was headed upstairs to labor/delivery. Then the emotions hit me. It was overwhelming but I was grateful again to have Phil and also sweet Jayne there with me.
We headed up to the 5th floor and were eventually admitted to labor and delivery with the understanding that I was most likely going to be induced to get the baby on its way.
Phil called my mom to come get Jayne and then went to our house to get our bag and meet my mom with Jayne. When he came back they started me on a small dose of pitocin and continued to watch the baby's heart rate closely. Things stayed the same, meaning, lowered heart rate following most contractions, it would eventually recover but obviously these small/minor contractions were hard on the baby. Julie came in and did express some worry about the baby but we all agreed we’d continue to monitor the baby and see how things progressed. Throughout the evening/early night the baby’s heartbeat showed no signs of acceleration at all, only drops that coincided with the small contractions. I worried that the baby may not be getting oxygen, causing brain damage, but there was no way to know any of these things. Although we were worried and anxious and constantly watching the heart rate monitor, I was still able to feel calm and composed and felt comfort in consulting with the nurses/doctors as the night progressed.
We tried many different things, laying on different sides, positions, I was on oxygen to try to get more to the baby, but Elle’s heart rate didn’t ever accelerate and sometimes just leveled out in a flat line for periods of time, which is not good. We watched that monitor for hours it seems like. Worried, anxious and just wondering what would happen next. Julie came to the hospital once again but when she arrived, baby looked ok so we all decided to wait a bit more. She expressed some worry, but said things were at an "ok" point for now and assured me that she had access to the heart rate monitor at home and would be watching as well. We spent about another hour rolling/on oxygen and the nurses watched the heart rate strip 24/7. They spoke with Julie on the phone and she proposed they “prep” me for a c-section in case that’s where it ended up going and we needed to be ready.
Julie came to the hospital again as contractions were still not easy on Elle, these were still contractions where I felt pressure, but no pain so we were worried what full, active labor would do. Baby was not faring well on her own and I wasn't progressing much at all. Julie decided to check my dilation and tickle the baby’s head to see if she could stimulate movement or any heart rate acceleartion. When she did, Elle’s heart rate plummeted to the 60’s. Then there was a whirlwind as Julie said “ok, things are going to happen fast now”, I was rushed me out of the room, gave Phil a packet with a gown, booties, hat and mask and said let’s go. I was rushed into the OR and they worked quickly to numb me up and get a heart rate monitor back on the baby. They quickly got the monitor hooked back up and saw that Elle’s heart rate was back up. Everyone breathed an audible sigh of relief. I realized then how serious this situation had been, was even presently and still could continue to be. Julie decided to place a heart rate monitor internally on the baby by putting a probe into the outer layer of the baby’s skin on her head. This would show us exactly what was going on, how strong contractions were and exactly how baby was responding. Julie also broke my waters in the OR to make sure we were there in case it sent the baby into distress or her heart rate dipped again like it had. After 10 min in the OR, Elle looked somewhat stable again (still no accelerations or movement) so they decided to take me back to my room to wait/discuss/decide.
Phil and I both felt strongly at this point that we needed to let Julie know that a c-section was ok with us, that she didn’t have to push me/the baby/herself toward a vaginal birth if that wasn’t the best choice. I hadn't felt any movement aside from one kick all day and this just wasn't sitting well with me. When Julie came back in we let her know our thoughts. She said at this point we’d let baby show us if vaginal delivery was even an option by taking me off the oxygen to see if baby could sustain herself without that. (We also were off pitocin at the point as we wanted to see if I’d progress at all on my own/didn’t want to put stress on the baby.) Elle's stats didn’t fare well at all without the oxygen and we all decided that vaginal birth was not going to happen or could be very hard on baby, which could end in another emergency dash to the OR. I didn’t want the stress and anxiety of an emergency c-section or to put more stress on the baby, who was obviously already struggling - it had been 5-6 hours of constant monitoring by now, so we prepped for a c-section without stress or panic.
We went into the OR for the second time and the process began again, but not frantically this time. They did so great, but I did feel a bit worried. Phil was able to watch and photograph/video the birth. I remember feeling only when they put their hands below my ribs and pushed Elle out. The next thing I heard was “nuchal cord 1, 2, 3, 4! Wow! 4 times!” I just wanted to hear my baby make a noise, cry, anything. Just before she went into the next room with NICU doctors I heard her let out a small cry. I just started crying myself. I didn’t know her status exactly, but I knew she was at least alive.
Phil went to be with the baby while the doctors finished up on me. Phil was looking out for me and as soon as Elle was breathing on her own and doing well he brought her to me so I could see that she was okay. I couldn’t believe he was showing me my baby, after all we’d been through that day/night, there she was.
Our sweet Elle Marie was born one June 30, 2015 at 12:51am. She weighed 6lbs 5oz. She had the cord wrapped around her neck 4 times, was blue on arrival but was breathing fine and on her own within two minutes.
In the following days while talking with Julie, she mentioned that she’d talked to a number of doctors since asking if any had seen a cord wrapped around the neck 4 times and if they had (which was rare), it had been a still-born baby. We made the right decision as Elle wouldn't have made it through or even to the point of a vaginal delivery as she couldn't descend to make my body progress and dilate. It cut off her oxygen and nutrients and sent her into distress when she moved so it most likely would've been a rushed/emergency c-section in the end.
We were so SO blessed. Blessed to have the nurses we did. Blessed to have Julie. Blessed that I noticed and paid attention to my mother's intuition about the decreased fetal movement. Blessed that Julie ordered the non-stress test...we did have the best case scenario given the circumstances. A long night ended with our sweet little girl capturing our hearts.
We love Elle so much. She is our tiny little miracle.
