Now I Know My ABCD's: Carter Douglas Has Arrived

Sorry it's taken me so long to post on my delivery, but as you can probably imagine, things have been rather hectic around here. Carter Douglas arrived at 12:07pm on Tuesday, October 14 via an impromptu c-section. He weighed 6lbs. 7oz. and measured 19.75 inches long. So far it looks like he's going to have blond hair and blue eyes just like his big sister. He's so tiny and perfect. I can't get over how beautiful he is. So I'm sure you're wondering how someone who had such a perfect vaginal delivery her first time around could end up with a c-section, well here are the details...

We planned an induction for Tuesday, October 14 because my doctor was going to be out of town on his due date. I was already dilated to 5cm and 80% effaced when I arrived at the hospital that morning. He was still not fully engaged in the birth canal though. My doctor predicted we would have a vaginal delivery by lunch time. She broke my water and everything was going fine on the Petocin. My contractions were coming 2 minutes apart and his heart rate was staying steady...until the epidural. Once we kicked my mother-in-law and friend out of the room for the epidural, they were never allowed back in because my L&D nurse said that Carter wasn't staying stable with the epidural. His heart rate was dropping every time I would have a contraction - sometimes as low as 50. When my doctor came in, they turned off the Petocin and decided to see how he did with me contracting naturally a couple times. She said if there was only one thing going wrong, she wouldn't do a c-section but there were several things not going well at once. She thought he would have come by this time as it was already lunch time. I was dilated to 8cm and fully effaced, but he refused to engage in the birth canal. His heart rate continued to drop and stay low through the contractions even though they had turned off the Petocin. She thought he could have the cord around his neck. Basically, the nurse told me that my doctor likes to play it safe and would rather have a c-section than risk any other complications. My doctor called it "not an emergency c-section" but an "asap c-section." It was certainly scary as I was expecting to have an easy labor like I did with Claire. I had prepared myself for anything, but you never expect it to happen. Derek was amazing and calmed me down pretty quickly in the OR. Having a c-section is just the strangest feeling, and the recovery has been drastically different. In the end, Carter's cord was wrapped all around his body, and he was "sunny side up." Guess he was smart enough to know that wasn't the right way to come out.

Things are crazy at home adjusting to a newborn and a two year old, but I'm loving every minute of it. Claire is so sweet with her brother - giving him tons of kisses and telling him she loves him all the time. So far, both kids seem to be adjusting well - now if mommy and daddy could just catch up!

Just Arrived