Happy Birthday Graham!

Graham David Henderson

March 28, 2012

10:24am

7lbs 11oz

20" long

It's still hard for me to believe but our baby - Graham David Henderson - has finally arrived! Graham couldn't be more perfect and Nate and I couldn't be more smitten! Here's the story of how Graham came into the world:

Tuesday (3/27) morning I got up and ready for work like any other day, only knowing that this would be my last day in the office until I return from maternity leave. At our last OB appointment, the doctor scheduled us to be induced on Wednesday, 3/28 but wanted us to check in to the hospital on Tuesday evening for some prep before the actual induction. I decided that since we didn't need to be to the hospital until 6:30pm, I might as well work until noon on Tuesday instead of sitting around the house and using up PTO. So I spent the morning finishing up some final things at work, setting up my out-of-office and preparing for being away for 12 weeks. When I got home at noon, we ate lunch, loaded the car and I relaxed/napped for the last few hours before we headed downtown. Little did I know, I'd be very thankful for that nap in a few hours.

When we arrived at the hospital, they escorted us to our room and handed over my hospital gown. I didn't really know what to expect with the "prep" but I was thinking that we'd be able to walk around and pass some time before we went to bed that night. Nope! I got changed so the nurse could give me Cervidil which is used to "ripen" the cervix, preparing my body for labor. After we got situated and my IV was started, the nurse checked me - still 1.5cm and 70% effaced - and inserted the Cervidil around 9pm. So the medicine could start taking effect, I had to lay on my back for two hours...not comfortable with a huge baby belly. The nurse let me know that the Cervidil could make my stomach feel crampy but the plan was to leave it in until 6am the next morning and start the Pitocin at 7am.

Around 10pm I started feeling uncomfortable...by 11pm I was definitely ready to change positions. When the two hours were up, I got up and went to the bathroom and ended up losing the Cervidil. By this time the "crampy" feeling had turned to full on contractions - I was officially in labor. My water broke on it's own between 1 and 2am and the contractions kept becoming more and more intense. I always thought that there would be a few minutes of downtime between contractions - not the case. Each contraction's peak was the strongest pain but I didn't realize that there really isn't any relief...I was dealing with constant pain that continued to get worse until I finally requested my epidural around 4am. The epidural was amazing - not as painful as I thought it would be and took effect within minutes. By the time we got re-situated and the nurse checked me again - now dilated to 5cm - it was 5am and Nate and I were finally able to get some sleep. We were woken up by the nurse at 6am and I was checked again - 10cm! I was shocked - I dilated 5cm in one hour while I slept...awesome! 

Since I was now at 10cm it was time to push. I really wasn't feeling anything so the nurses decided to have me labor down for awhile until I could feel the pressure to know when to push. Between 7 and 8am I started pushing. The baby's heart rate kept dropping so I was having to change from side to side to get it to go back up. The nurses only had me push every other or every third contraction b/c of the babies heart rate. When we couldn't get it to go back up, the doctor came in to observe and then made the call that it would be best to do an assisted delivery to get the baby out. After all of the nurses and doctors for the baby and for me got in the room (between 15 and 20 of them), the doctor gave me instruction to push as hard as I possibly could. If there are three "pop-offs" - meaning the vacuum pops off of the babies head three separate times - I will immediately be transferred to the operating room for an emergency cesarian. 

Once everyone was in place, the doctor secured the vacuum and instructed me to push. The events that followed are a little foggy but I remember giving it everything I had; my typically very calm doctor encouraging me and then suddenly dropping profanities and becoming very intense. One of the nurses jumped up on my hospital bed and started pushing on my stomach. After about a minute of this, my baby was plopped on my stomach for a few brief seconds while the doctor quickly cut the cord and then was taken away to the team of baby doctors and nurses waiting for his arrival.

I would find out shortly after that Graham's shoulder got stuck on my pubic bone with his head outside and his body inside. When this happens the baby is unable to breathe - Graham went without oxygen for about 45 seconds and wasn't breathing when he was born. After the birth, they also discovered that he was unable to move his left arm because as the head exited my body the nerves were separating from his shoulder that was stuck inside. Graham's shoulder getting stuck is called shoulder dystocia. Several of these cases lead to brain damage since the baby is without oxygen for a period of time. Graham passed all of his tests to rule out any brain damage - thank you Lord - but his left arm was still completely limp; an injury called brachial plexus. At the time, the doctors were unable to tell us what type of recovery, if any, we could expect - only time would tell. As our time in the hospital went on, Graham started to move his fingers some. And, although the movement was less than his fingers, he also moved his arm a little from the elbow down. There still has been little movement from the shoulder but the grip on his left hand continues to get stronger which the doctors say is very encouraging. Our next step is to meet with a pediatric physical therapist to determine a rehabilitation plan and undergo daily therapy at home and weekly therapy at the clinic.

Although it is extremely upsetting that our baby's arm was injured during delivery, we are SO thankful that he is healthy and happy! Graham is absolutely perfect and we are optimistic that his shoulder will recovery completely!

With the complications that we experienced during delivery my OB let me know that future children are possible however, I will never have another vaginal delivery again. Because we now know that my bone structure won't safely support having children naturally, all future deliveries will be via cesarian. And, in case he didn't get his point across after the delivery, when he came back to check on us the next day, he made sure to reiterate to Nate and I that all babies moving forward will come out of my tummy.

Here are pics of our perfect baby's first hours of life:

39 weeks - Right before leaving for the hospital
Baby H - size of a watermelon

Getting fluids in his IV...poor baby.

Nate trimming the cord since he didn't get the opportunity to cut it.

My perfect baby!

I'm in love!

Grandpa Mike

Grandma Vicki

Nana Cooper

Nana & Papa

Proud Daddy