April 29: Game Time

My lame-o computer will not allow me to drag pictures for placement in a post. Annoying. So here they are at the beginning!

Just after delivery with Dr. Chappell.

First moments with my boy, just as the nurses are taking him away for weighing.

Pre-delivery...one last belly shot!

Even though I knew it was a possibility that my doctor would not be able to deliver my baby, my heart still sank a bit when she told me that she had to leave. She had waited as long as she could, and she had helped me push the tiny bit it took to get to a full 10 cm before the real pushing could begin. I have loved my experience with Dr. Williams over the past 9 months and was sad to see her go. Before she left, she told me what a great patient I had been and how blessed I was to be having such a fast delivery for my first time around. After a bit of a pep talk, she was on her way, and I was left wondering who was going to show up to deliver this baby of mine!

About twenty minutes later, in walked Dr. Todd Chappell. I felt instant relief at the sight of this familiar face. I had seen Dr. Chappell a couple of times during my pregnancy, but my real connection with him comes from the fact that he is a U of M Greek alum and serves on the Board for the Leadership Department where I had worked for the past two years. I feel completely comfortable with him, and Jonathan just loves him too. If anyone else was going to deliver my baby, I wanted it to be him. And of course, he was representing the Tigers with his scrub cap!

It was time to push, and as soon as the process began it became apparent that something wasn't quite right. As it turned out, Riggs was face-up, stuck under my pubic bone, and had some of the umilical cord wrapped around his neck. To spare you the gory details, let's just say that the manipulating they had to do as I pushed made me extremely thankful that I had followed my gut and gotten that epidural!

I pushed for a good hour and a half, and it was truly a one step forward, two steps back kind of experience. What surprised me most was how chill and relaxed the whole thing was; so unlike the dramatic deliveries you see on television! Since I could still feel my contractions, I was able to tell the nurses when I was ready to push and if I could keep going past their counts. Even so, I could see a twinge of disappointment on everyone's faces every time I finished a pushing stretch. Jonathan told me later that I would come so close to having his head out and then the contraction would end and it would just slip away.

In the end, Dr. Chappell strongly advised the assistance of a vacuum, something to which I had been opposed before delivery. But I trusted Dr. Chappell, and even I could see that Riggs' heart rate was decreasing after all that time. As soon as he used that tiny bit of suction I could see the relief and excitement on the face of everyone in the room. It was obviously the right decision for the situation.

One more good push, and there he was! Dr. Chappell set him on my chest immediately, and words cannot express what a beautiful moment that was. I remember exclaiming, "Oh my goodness! Hello, buddy!" And then just wrapping my arms around his slimy, squirmy little body, kissing his wet little head full of hair, and soaking up that moment. Jonathan says that the expression on my face upon seeing him was the best moment of his entire life, so apparently it was pretty special for all of us.

Jonathan cut the umbical cord and the nurses took Riggs over to get cleaned and weighed. He came in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and 19 1/2 inches long. Beautiful and perfect.

All in all, my labor and delivery lasted from 1 a.m. to 9:47 a.m. Just under nine hours. I am so very thankful for a quick delivery and have no regrets about the decisions we made along the way. My biggest piece of advice from the other side is to follow your gut! Birth plans are great, but you never know what is going to come your way, and no plan should override your woman's intuition.

More stories from these first weeks (almost month!) of motherhood to come. I so appreciate your patience as I've taken my time to enjoy this new little man in my life!