The long awaited arrival

My due date, June 5, came and went. Peter arrived for R&R later that week. My doctor reluctantly agreed to let me wait another week. Dietrich measured on the larger side – at 40 weeks, they estimated about 10 pounds. He also recommended scheduling a c-section, since I’d shown no signs of labor or contractions of any kind. I still wanted to try for a natural birth.

In the week between the appointment and induction, I received many wary glances, unwanted comments, odd looks after this conversation “When are you due” “Last week” “…..” and some helpful advice from people who had been through both natural births and c-sections or tried a natural birth and had a c-section. Still, nothing really prepares you for those moments when the decision is yours.

On June 11, at my final check-up, Dietrich was in the proper position. He had dropped, was face down, and I had started to dilate and efface a little. The next day, when we went to the hospital, he had rolled over and was face up, causing some severe back labor pains once the Pitocin started (I had no labor or contractions on my own). The doctor broke my water then we started the pushing process. At some point during the pushing, Dietrich moved back up, instead of down. The doctor said we could use the forceps, but because of Dietrich’s projected size, there could be injuries to both of us or create a need for an emergent c-section. After being induced at 5 AM and enduring increasing labor for about 12 hours then pushing for about an hour, I finally had a c-section.

At last, the long-awaited joy of being a mother is mine. The story didn’t go as I planned, but my darling boy, my sunshine, is here and healthy. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces, and measured 21 inches in length. So much for the science of estimates…