Preston's Birthday

Here is the story of how Preston came into the world.

Sunday, January 30, 2011. 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

Brian and I decided we were going to 10:30 a.m. Mass. I got out of bed to get in the shower first. I'm always super careful about getting into the shower. I took one step in and my foot slipped out from under me. I couldn't catch myself, so I fell... HARD. I hit the bath tub with my right elbow and the right side of my head. I blacked out, and the next thing I remember is sitting Indian-style on the floor of the bath tub with blood all around me and the shower running. I screamed Brian's name, but by that point, he was already next to me because he heard me fall. He asked me where the blood was coming from and I said I think my head. He pulled my hair back and saw that a huge section of my right ear was missing. He grabbed a towel and told me to hold it on my ear and don't move it and that I would definitely need stitches. I told him to call my OB's office. Within seconds Brian was on the phone with my OB, Dr. Chauhan with Ruch Clinic. She said she would meet us at Labor & Delivery. We took about 5 minutes to collect our things and tried to grab stuff in case they decided to induce early.

The car ride to the hospital was one of the scariest moments of my life. I was praying that Preston was okay and would have a heartbeat and wasn't hurt. I thought I was for sure having contractions and that the trauma of this was setting me into labor. I was hyperventilating by the time we pulled up at Methodist Germantown. When we walked in the door, they were waiting for us. We got rushed back and immediately hooked up to a fetal monitor and an ultrasound machine. I heard his heartbeat and burst into tears. BEST. SOUND. EVER. After a very thorough ultrasound, we determined that Preston had no idea I fell and was perfectly fine.

Next was addressing my ear. My OB took one look at it and said a plastic surgeon needed to be called in. We waited hours and hours on the plastic surgeon. Finally she arrived and said she could fix it, but that the pain was going to be intense. Because of my pregnancy, they essentially had to perform a full plastic surgery without putting me to sleep. The labor and delivery nurses assured me that both a vaginal and cesarean delivery would be nothing compared to fixing my ear. The plastic surgeon told me that my ear had essentially shattered - she used terms like "blunt force trauma" and "reconstruction" and that was SCARY. My ear decided to shatter where four different nerves come together. The nurses and Brian held me down as the plastic surgeon shot my ear with 5 shots of lidocaine - to numb each nerve and the back of the ear. I screamed at the top of my lungs. To this day, I have NEVER felt pain that intense.

After she sewed up 15 stitches, my ear looked so much better. In fact, I don't think people will ever be able to tell how damaged it was. They decided to keep me overnight for observation and send me home first thing Monday morning. Since Preston was doing great, we decided to keep our scheduled induction date for Feb. 4.

Monday, January 31, 2011. Preston's Birthday.

I woke up in the hospital Monday morning and Brian and I started getting ready to go home. The nurse came in and Brian asked when we would be discharged. She looked at us funny and said that one of the OB's from Ruch Clinic was coming to talk to us. Dr. Pickens came to our room. I hadn't ever met him in the office, but he seemed really nice. He told us that I had a few alarming contractions overnight in my sleep when I was on the fetal monitor. One of them lasted almost 8 minutes and Preston's heart rate dropped. Dr. Pickens asked us how we would feel if Preston came today. I looked at Brian and he was grinning ear-to-ear.

Prior to induction, I was fully effaced and 2 and half cm, so I had already gotten a good start. He told me it might be harder to push with the head injury. I thought about it and we were already in L&D, my IV was already in, and it just seemed like the practical thing to do. I thought about our house, which was 85% ready for baby... then I thought about the baby to-do list that was sitting on our kitchen table. I also thought about how we hadn't brought the car with the car seat in it (we took Brian's car to the hospital), we didn't bring Preston's hospital bag and there were still other items missing. My mother-in-law helped by running to our house and grabbing some of the last minute stuff, and my parents stocked our house with groceries, since we had nothing at home. But I could not get over the look on Brian's face thinking of how today could be the day. I asked if I could shower first, since I never got to on Sunday. They let me take a long shower, blow dry my hair (which was super difficult with the ear) and then they started the Pitocin. They broke my water, which was totally painless, just a little uncomfortable. They asked me if I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural then, even though I hadn't really felt any contractions yet. I told them yes... I just wanted to get it over with.

The anesthesiologist came in and started preparing for the epidural. Internally, I was freaking out. You always hear about how awful they are. Let me tell you, the epidural was NOTHING. To me, it was like getting my blood drawn. I started to feel the effects quickly and before it my lower back, bottom, and legs were tingling and numb. They were heavy to lift, but I could still lift them and I could still feel when a contraction was coming on. To me, perfect balance.

After a little while, I got checked. 4 cm, then 5 cm, then 6 cm. At around 5 cm, I felt my epidural wearing off and could feel the contractions. They were a lot more intense and wrapped around my body, starting in my lower back and rolling around the front all the way down my thighs. The anesthesiologist came in and tried several different types of anesthesia. I finally felt a little numbness and got some relief from the contractions. Dr. Pickens rolled of his shift and Dr. Sullivant rolled on. Another doctor I hadn't met, but I instantly liked him. I instantly felt comfortable with him and trusted him. Brian knew his son in high school. He spent time with us, checked me again, and I was still 6 cm. At this point, I had been at 6 cm for almost 5 hours. He reviewed all of my contractions and came in the room to talk to Brian and me.

He did a VERY invasive internal exam to see what could be holding Preston up. He told us that my contractions were PERFECT, his head was low, and my pelvis was a good size. He said that the very top of my pelvis, the inlet, could be the problem. We talked it over and decided that a cesarean section was the best for me and for baby Preston. I was really bummed. This was not what I had hoped for, but we knew that it would be the only way he was going to be able to meet us. Brian and I talked it over for a while and we knew that

Before we knew it, we were being prepped for the c-section. Dr. Sullivant warned me - "Now Cami, all of the modesty goes out the window from here on out!" Boy was he right. WHOA. They moved me onto a stretcher and had Brian go and put scrubs on. He waited outside the OR while they got me set up for the surgery. They started the numbing medicine through the epidural but I could still feel everything. They decided they had to redo the epidural. I was okay with that, since the epidural was easy the first time. As they pulled the tape away to take out the first epidural, they realized that my first epidural WASN'T IN. The only numbing I felt was residual... not a true epidural. Dr. Sullivant applauded me in the OR for going through natural labor so easily for 10 solid hours... haha!

After the epidural went in, I felt nothing. They called Brian into the room and he came and sat next to me. He told me later that sitting outside the OR by himself was one of the scariest moments of his life. He said he prayed every Hail Mary and Our Father he could possibly say. For him, he said he was putting his whole life into the hands of the doctors and nurses inside the OR. Once he came in the room and saw me ready to go, I think it calmed him some. His face was right next to mine during the surgery.

The surgery was so strange. Dr. Sullivant and the nurses were talking to me and asking me questions. At one point, Dr. Sullivant said, "Cami, you have absolutely no body fat in your abdomen at all. You are going to have an awesome recovery!" I had to laugh, because I mean, how weird is that? He was sitting there looking at my insides and we were chatting! I could feel tugging, pulling and pressure. I kept asking, "How much longer?" The reality of my son being here in a matter of minutes was crazy. Dr. Sullivant then said, "You are in the right place. He wasn't coming out Cami. The inlet of your pelvis is TINY! And his heard is turned slightly, so there was no way. We made the right choice." That was reassuring. Then, Dr. Sullivant yelled over the curtain, "Brian, stand up and look if you want to see your son come out!" Brian, who is usually pretty queasy in situations like this said, "Wait, let me get the camera!" We got some very personal pictures, but it was truly amazing to see just how Preston came into the world. Then, I heard Dr. Sullivant say, "You've got a good looking boy. Great size!" It was a moment I will never forget.

A couple seconds went by and we heard a WAIL of a cry. I burst into tears. Brian was beaming from ear-to-ear. Then they said, "Hey Mom, check out your little boy!" I looked to my left, and there he was! So perfect! With so much blonde hair. This picture is the very first time we laid eyes on our little boy.

They checked him out. Said he was born at 7:59 p.m. Told me he was 6 lb, 15 oz. Meanwhile, they were finishing my surgery up and I was asking questions like crazy. How long is he? The nursery would have to tell me (he ended up being 20 in). What's the apgar? Apgar was 8, and I had a big sigh of relief. Brian was with Preston on the other side of the OR taking pictures like crazy while he screamed. They swaddled him up, and he was one happy baby after that.

After the c-section, a lot was a blur. They wheeled me out of surgery and Brian went to tell our families that Preston was here. From what I hear, there was a lot of cheering and crying in the waiting room.

While Brian was with them, Preston and I were wheeled back to recovery. Brian met us there after he had spread the news. We had to stay in recovery an hour together. I tried to breastfeed Preston, but the medicine from the surgery made me sooooooo SHAKY and Preston was screaming his head off, because let's face it, being born is hard work. After our time in recovery, they moved us to a different room and they put Preston in the nursery for our families to see him through the glass window. They went in shifts - the Fields first, then my family.

The next few days after his birth were primarily spent on breastfeeding and getting to know our little guy. Feeding was tough in the beginning... my body had been through a lot of trauma with the plastic surgery, labor for 10 hours, then a c-section. It took a while for my body to catch up with Preston. At one point, Brian was syringe feeding Preston whatever I could pump out to make sure he got every mL of colostrum my body produced. We called Preston our baby bird :) Thank goodness I married Brian - he never made me feel alone in the feeding stuff. He was and remains so supportive and such a part of all of it. We soaked up every moment with Preston in the hospital. I went through some crazy hormonal surges, and am thankful that those are mellowing out. At night, I would cry when they would take Preston to the nursery, even though I knew he needed to go so I could rest. It was CRAZY! The separation anxiety I felt in the very beginning was intense. Thanks hormones!

All in all, we will forever be thankful for our nurses and our doctors who not only took care of Preston, but took care of me after major surgery. We are recovering well and are actually getting some sleep here and there. We are totally in awe of our baby, and LOVE being parents. We feel like Preston was perfectly picked for us. It has brought our marriage to a level we both never expected, and we are loving all this family time together.

Preston was SO meant to be, and I love being his mom. I have this new feeling... this tiny little tinge of anxiety that is constantly with me. I think most new moms have that. God has given us this awesome gift and responsibility. I love Preston more than I ever knew I could love someone. He and Brian are my heart!

So, on today, Preston's one week birthday, I am feeling sentimental because my sweet baby is growing up. We took him to the pediatrician today and got a great report from Dr. Bubba. Then he pulled suckers out from behind our ears :)

Our lives have changed dramatically over the past week, and I can't wait to see what the future will be like for our little family.