![\"Collage5\"](\"\/birthstory_images\/images\/collage5.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
Kyle was long-awaited. It wasn’t because we had a hard time getting pregnant;
\nbut because we waited for several years before we fully decided
\nthat we wanted to add another child to our family. So we decided
\nto have another baby, got pregnant, and lost that baby. Due to some
\nother circumstances in our lives, we didn’t try to get pregnant right
\naway. Once pregnant, I had a fairly easy pregnancy; although at 33, it wasn’t as easy
\nas it was at 27 with Amanda. Kyle kept us on our toes even before
\nhis birth. At 35 weeks, I was 3 centimeters dilated, making me uncertain
\nabout how or when he was going to come. By 37 weeks, I was 4
\ncentimeters dilated; and he was born at 38 weeks, just like his sister.<\/p>\n
I
\nwas at my friend Richele’s house. Our girls were having a playdate, and
\nwe were having lunch. We were sitting and chatting, when my water broke. I
\nstood up and told Richele what happened. She was excited to be a part
\nof the big day, but then she said, "Jen, there’s some blood." In fact,
\nthere was a good deal of fluid and blood. I went to the bathroom, and
\nchanged into some of her maternity panties that she still had on hand
\nfrom her recent pregnancy. She offered to call Terry, and told him to
\nmeet us at the hospital. I wrapped a towel around my waist and drove my
\ncar the half mile to my house so that I could grab my hospital bag and
\nchange into a new pair of shorts while Richele loaded up her infant and
\nour two girls into her car and came to get me.<\/p>\n
On
\nthe way to the hospital, she suggested that I call my doctor. Since the
\ndoctor’s office is right across the hall from maternity at
\nthe hospital, they don’t really require a call because the nurses will
\nalert them. Richele said that I should just call them and let them know
\nthat my water broke and that there was some blood, so I did. I also
\ncalled a friend and told her we were on our way and asked her to pray.
\nI was feeling okay at this point, but was having some contractions in my
\nback. As we neared the hospital, Richele asked if I wanted her to park
\nand help me in. I knew that getting her infant in, and keeping
\ntrack of our rambunctious 5-year-old daughters would be enough for her
\nto manage without trying to "help" me. So I told her to drop me at the
\nfront door, and I would go up while she parked and unloaded. I walked
\nthe short distance to the elevator and took it to the 2nd floor. The
\nnurse was a little incredulous at this whole scene. She had my file
\nready and took me to the examination\/labor room. She was a little
\nconcerned about the amount of blood there was. The doctor came
\nquickly from across the hall and was evaluating me and Kyle. I was 7 cm
\ndilated. He asked me if I was having contractions, and I said that my
\nback sort of hurt, but that was it. I was apparently in full labor.<\/p>\n
He
\nwas going over the options when Terry arrived. He said that the baby
\nseemed to be doing okay, but we had to keep an eye on things. If my
\nlabor continued to progress quickly, and the baby didn’t seem to be in
\ndistress, then I could probably deliver naturally. If he became
\ndistressed, then we’d have to do a C-section right away. I don’t think
\nthat the doctor ever left my side, and when Kyle’s heartbeat shot up,
\nhe gave the order to do a C-section "Now!" I was put under general
\nanesthesia because it was the fastest, and wheeled out of the room.
\nTerry had to wait until after the baby was born, because I was under
\ngeneral and they didn’t allow others in the room in this situation.<\/p>\n
Poor
\nTerry will never forget the site of me with my guts out, and his first
\nsight of his new son, blue from lack of oxygen. Kyle had to be
\nresuscitated, but did not suffer any damage due to the lack of oxygen. He
\nwas born just in time. While I was coming out from the anesthesia, the
\ndoctor filled Terry in on all that had happened. Apparently my
\nplacenta had torn away from the uterine wall, compromising oxygen flow
\nto the baby. The doctor said that a matter of minutes could have meant
\na tragic difference in results. I am thankful for so many things about
\nthat day: the doctor’s wisdom in how to proceed and skill in getting
\nKyle out quickly, the fact that the hospital was less than twenty
\nminutes from our home, the fact that I was already at a good friend’s
\nhome and didn’t have to think about who to call and what to do with
\nAmanda, the fact that it was during the daytime while the doctors were
\nall in their offices across the hall, and not in the middle of the
\nnight when one would have had to be paged to come in.<\/p>\n
I
\nwoke up with my sweet, slightly shaken husband leaning over me,
\nlooking lovingly into my eyes, and holding my hand. I was not able to
\nsee Kyle right away, because he was hooked up to fluids and they wanted to
\nmonitor him in the nursery for 24 hours. Because I had just had a
\nC-section, and was hooked up to some fluids of my own, I was confined to bed.
\nWhen there was a shift change in the infant nursery, a woman I will
\nalways remember came in and said, "I heard that you haven’t been able
\nto see your baby yet; is that true?" I said that it was, and she said,
\n"Let me go get him, but we have to be quick before the doctor checks
\nback in." So, six or eight hours after he was born, I got to hold my
\nnewest little miracle.<\/p>\n
![\"Kyle5\"](\"\/birthstory_images\/images\/kyle5.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
I don’t know if he’s so dear to me
\nbecause he’s my last child, or my first boy, or so sweet-tempered
\n(unless he’s just being ill-tempered, but he’s definitely one or the
\nother). It might have something to do with the fact that a matter of
\nminutes could have changed his fate, and ours. But we love him. . . a
\nlot.<\/p>\n