Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Owen Matthew Francis


This little boy did NOT want to come out, so on September 28th--one week after his due date--we headed to the hospital to induce labor.


The gowns are fabulous.


Last picture of us as a family of two!


The evening started out happy.  Then labor happened.

The original plan was to come to the hospital in the evening, use the medicine Cytotec that night to ripen the cervix, and then start Pitocin the next morning to induce labor.  Instead, the Cytotec triggered active labor right away.  Caitlin spent the next 13 hours suffering through contractions spacing only 1 to 2 minutes apart.


  On multiple occasions, baby's heart rate would fall during particularly intense contractions.  At one point we had 5 nurses rush in at once to hook Caitlin up to oxygen, add medications to the IV, and inject Caitlin with another medication to help restore his heart rate.  Around 8am, Caitlin could not bear the pain anymore and requested an epidural.  Unfortunately, that was the exact moment the anesthesiologist went into a C-section procedure.  What followed was the longest 75 minutes of Caitlin's life.  Finally, she was able to receive the epidural, and life got significantly better from then on.

The pain was dampened, the Pitocin was started, but the dilation was still unbearably slow.  After the 13 hours of labor described above, Caitlin was still only dilated 1 cm when she received the epidural.  Baby continued to scare us periodically by having his heart rate drop.  Finally, in the early afternoon when Caitlin was still only dilated 3 cm, our doctor broke her water in an attempt to stimulate the process.  That was when we discovered the placenta was deteriorating and tearing away from the uterus.  So much blood came out with the amniotic fluid--combined with the slow progression of labor--that the possibility of a C-section became significantly more likely.

Ultimately, a lot of not enjoyable things happened between Monday night and Tuesday night, but thankfully they held off on the surgery and Caitlin's body jumped into hyper-speed around late afternoon.  After no progress for so long, they checked Caitlin again and saw she was at 7 cm.  Then, only an hour or so later, she was fully dilated and doctor came to help her start pushing.  Caitlin did such a good job pushing, and only 30-40 minutes later Owen Matthew Francis was born!


Owen Matthew Francis.  September 29, 2015.  6:34pm MDT.


8 lbs, 8 oz.  21.25 inches.


Three unbelievable things happened: Caitlin endured that much pain, this baby contorted his body in a way to squeeze through the birth canal, and I managed to watch the entire delivery without fainting.  The phrase, "childbirth is a miracle," is just an overused cliche until you actually witness it.


First family picture that night, after they moved us into a postpartum room.  Caitlin was a little sleepy, going on 40 hours without sleep, and--you know--pushing a human being out of her body.


After a little sleep (emphasis still on the word 'little'), Caitlin was the happiest Mommy there ever was.


And I held a newborn for the first time in my life.


Such a cutie with his scaly little foot!


Like father, like son.


So soon, the hospital tells you it's time to go!  Who decided we were qualified to care for a human by ourselves?!

Nonetheless, off we were!  Updates to follow on if we all survive!

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