Knox Elon: A Birth Story

On Wednesday, June 17th, we walked into the hospital for an appointment to see how our little guy was doing a full ten days past his due date. I was having fairly regular contractions, but they were nothing more than mildly uncomfortable and with a Bishop score of only 3-4 and hopes for a natural birth, we decided we would go home and give Knox a few more days to make his way into the world on his own before we would try an induction.

Just as we were preparing to leave, our doctor came back. She told us there was one quick thing from our non-stress test that she wanted to give a second look. It seemed that after a few of my contractions, Knox's heart rate was dropping very slightly. She left the room to confer with another doctor and when she returned she told us that because of the heart rate decelerations, she would recommend inducing that day. So, with Knox's health in mind, our plans changed - all of the sudden, it seemed his birth would be under way after all.

There wasn't a labor and delivery room available immediately, so we walked the maternity wing for a bit trying to get things moving on our own. My parents had arrived the day before (fully intending to be greeted by an already-born baby and instead greeted by a super pregnant lady and a still-empty carseat) and at noon they came to bring us food. We scarfed down a delicious lunch in the waiting room and then returned to our pacing. Finally, that afternoon they were ready for us and we checked into L&D room number 9.

During our pregnancy I'd spent so much time carefully creating a birth plan and preparing myself for my goal of a natural birth. I'd listened to my Hypnobabies tracks, I'd read all the natural birth books I could find and for weeks I'd been doing pelvic exercises, going to the chiropractor and bouncing on my birth ball until my butt was numb trying to get Knox into the best position to initiate labor. The first item on our plan was, "We would like to allow labor to begin and progress naturally". Goal number one - out the window immediately. Of course we knew that ultimately the particulars of his birth were totally out of our control, but we were still optimistic about reducing the number of interventions needed, so we opted for a foley bulb induction to help coax my body into labor.

Our doctor placed the bulb at 5:30PM on Wednesday afternoon and my contractions got stronger almost immediately. Things were happening! We were pumped and settled in for what we hoped would be a long but exciting night. 

We walked the wing and breathed through the contractions until it was time to go to bed.

With the foley bulb in place, Knox's heart rate had to be monitored for 20 minutes every hour all throughout the night. Between the monitors coming on and off, the steady contraction pains and my constant need to go to the bathroom, we slept very little.

At 8:30AM on Thursday morning, the foley bulb came out and I was dilated to 4cm. But the contractions weren't coming any closer together. The doctor on call recommended we start Pitocin to get things moving along. We asked to wait a few hours to try and encourage my body to pick up the pace on its own - so, we ate breakfast (my last meal) and back to walking we went. 

Because I had tested GBS positive during my third trimester, a nurse hooked me up for my first dose of pre-delivery antibiotics at noon.

The penicillin burned like CRAZY but at least with my battery powered IV stand, I could still roam the halls like a crazy woman.

At 2:00PM, still at 4cm and with Knox hanging out very high in my belly, we agreed to begin Pitocin. Boom - another big blow to our natural birth plan. But after a day and a half at the hospital, we were more than ready to meet our baby.

On Pitocin Knox required constant monitoring, so we were restricted to moving within only a few feet of my bed...

Thank God for a new season of Orange is the New Black.

And for rousing games of hangman to serve as a distraction.

Just before 6:00pm the contractions grew very strong, very quick. 

Ryan was my rock and got us through the contractions one at a time. At 9:30PM we called our doula, Lysa. I can't even remember her arrival, I was so outside of my body and in the zone. She checked for signs and listened to me labor and she thought we must be getting close to transition. We thought for sure we'd have a baby in our arms soon. 

At 10:30PM the doctor on call came and I gripped Ryan's arm as the doctor checked my progress. When he told us nothing had changed and I was still at 4cm, I was devastated. When he left, our doula helped us refocus on our goal, but my confidence was completely shaken. 

At midnight on Friday, after a full day without food and 10 hours of Pitocin, I was exhausted. No matter how hard Ryan and Lysa worked to relax my body through the contractions, I couldn't keep my muscles from shaking uncontrollably. We requested another exam and when we learned I had still made no progress at all, I begged for an epidural - I knew my body and my mind couldn't handle more pain without progress and I hoped I could at least preserve enough energy to push when it came time.

I was disappointed in myself and my body, but after the epidural my muscles finally calmed and we were all able to sleep on and off for a couple of hours. At 5:00AM I had still made no progress and now Knox's heart rate was decelerating with each contraction. They turned off the Pitocin to give him rest. Shortly after, I grew extremely nauseous. I asked Ryan for a trash bag and as I threw up I felt a huge gush - my water had broken simultaneously. We were pumped, hoping that maybe this would bring the baby down and things would move forward. But after another hour and another exam, I was still in the same position I'd been at 24 hours earlier.  

At 7:30AM they restarted the Pitocin and Knox's heart rate became erratic. The doctor on call told us that with Knox up so high, no progress in dilation and Knox not tolerating the Pitocin, a C-section might be our only remaining option. After a quick talk (and some exhausted and disbelieving laughs at how far we had deviated from our birth plan), we agreed. By 8:30AM, I was in the operating room.

At 8:48AM on Friday morning, our third day in the hospital and twelve days past his due date, our little Knox the fox was born.

I heard him cry right away and from behind the sheet I remember thinking how he sounded like a baby bird while they weighed and cleaned him on the other side of the room before Ryan brought him over to meet me. 

The surgeons told us that the way Knox was positioned, he was stuck on my pelvis and couldn't have made it through the birth canal on his own. 

It certainly wasn't anything like the birth experience we'd anticipated, but our Knoxy is finally here and as perfect and healthy as can be. We couldn't really ask for anything more amazing than that.