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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Josiah's Birth Story


Josiah Neal Rogers was born Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 12:58 a.m. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 8 oz and 20 3/4 inches long.

I'll start from the beginning. All Monday long, I felt like my body was preparing for something very big! I woke up early and immediately started getting last minute things accomplished. The fact that I was scheduled for Cervidil at 5 pm the next day on that Tuesday (the 25th) and the actual induction on Wednesday morning really got me in the "gotta get things done" mode. I was contracting heavily all day Monday and by the time I got in the bed that night, I was so worn out. At 11 pm, I told Jordan that I thought I was in labor. An hour and a half later, at 12:30 a.m. (early Tuesday morning), I still had not fallen asleep because I was so miserable. I wasn't counting my contractions because I had been doing that for weeks and always ended up disappointed when they would follow a very intense, close pattern only to subside an hour later. So imagine my surprise when I got up to go to the bathroom and my water broke! I was so excited that Josiah was coming on his own and that I wouldn't have to be induced.

So, I immediately told Jordan that my water had broke and I will never forget his reaction. My normally calm, collected husband was bouncing all over our apartment in excitement. He wanted to head to the hospital right away but I decided to take a shower first. I was done and the car was packed by 1 am and we headed out. The ride there was pretty funny because there was hardly anyone on the road and Jordan wanted to blow through each red light. He didn't, of course, but I could see it in his eyes and I felt him tapping the gas as if by doing so would make the light turn green! He also had the emergency flashers on and I told him to turn them off. His reply was, "But I've always wanted to do this!"...So I let him feel like the hero and have his fun.

After getting checked in and everything, they checked me and I was 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced. 17 hours and a few checks later, I had only progressed to 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. I was so discouraged by this point. I had gone 17 hours without any pain meds and had worn myself out from breathing through the contractions and I had totally expected to be at least 7 cm dilated. The contractions had gotten so rough that my body was tensing up despite my best efforts to relax and breathe through them. So pretty much, the tension stalled the labor and my body wasn't progressing. At that point, my doctor highly insisted that I receive an epidural so that I could relax and rest and let my labor pick back up. Reluctantly, I gave in. Shortly after, I quickly realized that I should have asked for that darn thing a lot sooner! I was immediately able to relax, get some much needed sleep, and 7 hours later (around 12 a.m.), my body was 100% ready to deliver. And I was so happy that Josiah's blood pressure and heart rate stayed steady and stable the whole time. I had heard so many stories of how epidurals sometimes made the baby's heart rate drop so low that an emergency c-section had to be performed. But this was not the case, and he was doing wonderful. I had no idea at that time that the next two hours were going to be so much harder than the previous 24 hours of labor...painfully, mentally and emotionally...

I pushed for about 45 minutes before Josiah's head finally came into view. Things quickly took a turn for the worse after that. Josiah's shoulders were so broad and he was stuck despite already receiving an episiotomy. There's nothing that could have prepared me for what the doctor had to do next. For the next several minutes, he had both his hands and arms inside of me trying to turn Josiah's body every which way to get him out. When he told us that he would have to break Josiah's clavicle, Jordan and I both just started crying. Praise God that Josiah had some strong arms and shoulders and it didn't break when the doctor put all that force on it. He finally came out and I thought everything was great until they placed him on my stomach and removed him before I could even touch him. Josiah was blue and not breathing at all. They immediately started CPR. After 45 seconds of trying to revive him, during which Jordan and I were crying out to God to save him, Josiah finally took a breath and we heard the nurse say that he had a heartbeat! For the next several minutes, they used a pump to get him to breath. After he started breathing a little better on his own, they cleared his airways and we heard our beautiful baby crying! It was the most beautiful sound that I had every heard. They immediately took him to the neo natal care unit and I was crying so hard because all I wanted was to see him and touch him so badly.

My doctor then started stitching me up and it hurt so bad because my pain meds had worn off by that point. He could tell that I was in a lot of pain so by about the 15th stitch, he gave me a shot and I didn't feel much of the other 20 stitiches.

So here I am, 35 stitches later, with a beautiful, striving baby boy. He is so perfect in every way. They took his oxygen tube out Wednesday evening so we got to hold him for the first time last night! I can't even begin to describe how happy that made Jordan and I. And this morning, which is Thursday (my days have been so blended together) they brought Josiah to me to nurse for the first time and he took to it right away. His pediatrician told me today that depending on how well he fed, he will probably get to have his IV removed today...that means we can have him stay in the room with us! Every time I see him, he looks better and better...his coloring is beautiful now and the swelling in his face has gone down so much. His little arm/shoulder is currently wrapped up because it was slightly dislocated during the delivery. It breaks my heart but I'm so glad he's here and safe now. I can't get over how beautiful he is.

I've had several conversations with my doctor since the delivery and he told me that this was the hardest delivery that he has ever had to do. He said that most of the big babies that he has delivered were fat and squishy and had some give to them. But Josiah is strong and solid with a broad frame and that is what made it so difficult.

Looking back now, I am so amazed at what God accomplished through me. Josiah is truly a miracle and we are so in love with him! It was by far the most difficult thing that I have ever experienced, but it was so worth it.











































Saturday, August 22, 2009

Josiah Neal {40 Weeks and 6 Days}

Well, Josiah is almost one week past due.  But that's okay...we are trying to be patient!  The important thing is that he held off through last night which turned out to be a very important night for us.  Last night we drove to Brenham, which is about an hour and a half from our apartment in Clear Lake, for Jordan to interview with Champion Fellowship for their youth pastor position.  And guess what?

He got the job!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks like we will be moving to Brenham shortly after Josiah gets here!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Josiah Neal {40 Weeks and 3 Days}

Today I am 3 days past my due date. We have made some more progress! I have finally dilated to 1 cm.  Last week I was 25% thinned out and today I am at 50%.

To a little bit of my disappointment, my doctor went ahead and scheduled my induction for next week.  I will be going in Tuesday evening at 5:00 pm to get started on Cervadil to soften my cervix and the actual induction will start on Wednesday morning.  My doctor really thinks that Josiah will be here before then though.  However, the hospital requires one week notice for inductions so we went ahead and scheduled it just in case he hasn't arrived by then. 

As much as I wanted to have a completely natural birth, God has given me a peace about having to be induced if it comes down to it.  But I'm praying really hard that Josiah comes before our scheduled induction!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Josiah Neal {39 Weeks and 3 Days}

Well, only four more days until Josiah's due date gets here.  We have made a little progress.  As of today, I am 25% effaced and at at -3 station...no dilation yet.  Josiah has definitely dropped some but he's still not engaged yet.  This was very surprising to me with as bad as the pressure has gotten.

My doctor also discussed inducing today.  He said that if I wanted, we could do ahead and schedule and induction for next week but he really feels like Josiah will be here before then.  As tempting as it was to go ahead and schedule it, we decided to just wait it out.  If I haven't made anymore progress by my next appointment on the 19th, we will schedule an induction for the 26th.  By that point I will be a week and a half past my due date.  I definitely have mixed feelings about all of this.  On one hand, if I wait until the 26th, Josiah will probably be close to 10 pounds which puts me at great risk for a c-section with this being my first pregnancy.  But if I go ahead and get induced, that also puts me at risk for a c-section because my body and Josiah would be thrown into labor unnaturally when it's not ready. 

I think that I would be upset if I had to have a c-section.  Jordan and I are both just praying that Josiah will coom soon and on his own timing instead of by induction or a c-section. 

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Josiah Neal {38 Weeks and 3 Days}

So we got the results back from the Group B swab that my doctor took last week and it came back negative.  This means that Josiah is not at risk of picking up an infection through the birth canal when he is born. 

My doctor was also able to estimate Josiah's size at almost 8 pounds already. The thought of delivering a big baby is a little bit scary since I plan on having him without an epidural but I know that God has everything in control. 

We are also praying that the Lord would open up a job oppurtunity in ministry for Jordan.  Right now I am on maternity leave but that won't last forever. Again, we know that God will provide.

We are so ready for Josiah to get here! We have everything ready for him.  His bassinet, stroller, pack-n-play, swing and car seat are all set up and ready to be used!