January 12, 2010

Well, Preston's due date was January 1, 2010. We were hoping to have him for Christmas, but Christmas came and went. Then, we were just hoping to have him before January so we could have a tax deduction this year. Didn't happen.....Then, we thought it would be neat to have the first baby of the new year. Didn't happen either....I never would have thought that I would be 11 days past my due date before my beautiful son arrived!

Once my due date passed, I was having appointments just about every other day for a non stress test. I was making no progress as far as dialation or effacement and the baby's head had not dropped at all! After 3 weeks or no progress, I approached the midwife about scheduling an induction. On Friday, January 8, we schedule an induction. Jonathan and I went in the following Sunday evening at 5:30p.m. They were going to treat me with Cervidil (sp?) to help soften my cervix and get me dilated so they could start pitocin the next morning. When they checked me Monday morning, i had only dialated to a fingertip, but that was enough to start the Pitocin. After 9 hours of Pitocin, I had still not kicked into labor. I was having strong contractions on paper...but I was feeling none of them! At the end of the day, I had not dialted any further. The midwife decided to try a drug called Cervadex (sp?). This was also supposed to soften the cervix and help the dialtion. After 4 hours, there was still no change. At this point the midwife was suggesting that we do another round of the Cervadex and then run another day of Pitocin to see what happened. Jonathan and I were extremely frustrated and were trying to decide if that would be the best route, or if we should opt for a C-section.

One of the doctors came by our room to check on me and we asked him for a blunt answer as to what he thought the best approach was. He told us that his main concern was the fact that the baby's head was not dropping at all. He said it was highly unusual for pitocin not to kick somebody into active labor. After talking to him, I was at complete peace about having a c section. We had way too many strikes against us at this point. A c section was scheduled for the next morning at 7:30a.m.

Thank goodness we decided on a c section. Preston was a huge baby and his head was off the charts. He never would have been able to be delivered vaginally. The doctors even had to use the vacuum and forcepts to help deliver him during the c section. It was very emotional in the operating room! Obviously, neither Jonathan or I were expecting a c section, nor were we anticipating a 5 day stay in the hospital, but the outcome was a BEAUTIFUL and healthy baby boy!

Preston Luke Wetherington made his entrance into the world on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. He weighed 10lbs 3 oz. and was 22 inches long.....off the charts! His foot prints were barely fit on his birth certificate. When they held him up for me to see, I thought I was staring at a 1 month old baby. It was unreal! I don't think anybody expected him to be as big as he was! He was the talk of the hospital nursery!!