First Friday Birth Story: Kashmir Wheeler and baby boy, Everett!
Mama: Kashmir Wheeler
Baby: Everett
Due Date: February 10, 2016
Birthday: January 14, 2016 3:41 am
7lbs 2oz and 19.5 inches long at 36 weeks.
When expecting Everett we decided early on that we wanted to have as natural a birth as possible – partially laboring at home, no pain medications, no IV and immediate skin to skin.
Then at 30 weeks the doctor mentioned to us that he had been breech in the anatomy ultrasound and he seemed small for his gestational age. We planned another ultrasound for 34 weeks so that we could check his position and growth. In the mean time I tried every stretching position and trick in the book to get him to flip (legs in the air with ice where his head was) and nothing was working!
At the 34 week ultrasound we discovered that he was still breech, his growth was absolutely fine, but he had almost no amniotic fluid- something we never would have discovered if not for his position. I had one pocket that was 2cm; for reference there are supposed to be four pockets of fluid totaling at a minimum 7cm. I was immediately admitted to the hospital for extensive monitoring of his heart rate over night (the concern was he would clamp the cord and go into distress).
That night he did perfectly in all tests of his well being, and my fluid had increased by 1 overnight so I was discharged with the plan to closely monitor. The next morning I went back to check his heart rate and he had a deacceleration to 90 while I was contracting so I was readmitted on the spot. Come to find out I was contracting regularly (every 2-4 minutes) but was unable to feel them so after being monitored for almost 5 hours without any further issue they decided to keep me in the hospital until we could determine if he would be safe to stay in the womb longer. We found a physician willing to flip him in utero so I could deliver vaginally even if we needed to be induced, but she was due the day after me and went into labor hours after we met her.
I was admitted for a total of two weeks with fluctuations in the fluid levels but with Everett staying active and healthy defying all odds. We ruled out placental problems and a slow amniotic leak. Every day as tests were run we were told he may have to come that day, and every day as he did well we were told they would wait as long as possible. Finally we hit the goal of 36 weeks without any further incidents, we even found another physician willing to attempt to flip him via an ECV so I could have a vaginal delivery. That morning they gave us the option of being discharged or staying the weekend until the ECV took place. We chose to stay to be safe.
That night at 11pm Everett broke my water, we were only 36 weeks that day. He was still breech and the option to flip him was now gone. The night staff was overwhelmed by the number of women going into labor at the same time so we were told that our c-section would take place after 6am when the day staff came on unless we progressed unusually fast. Everett had his own plan, I was dilating faster than expected so they ended up calling in the on call staff and we were rushed to the OR at 3:30am. He was born butt first at 3:41am.
The staff was amazing and let me have him on my chest in the OR while they finished the procedure, which is not the norm. For being a preemie he was incredibly healthy and had no issues other than jaundice so he was able to stay with me rather than being sent to the NICU. We were even able to initiate nursing within the hour and he took to it like a pro!
The very first time I met him Everett had his eyes wide open and immediately reached for me, I was still on the operating table so while I couldn’t move my arms I was able to kiss his hand while we just stared at each other. It was the most beautiful moment of my life.
Today: Everett is now almost 10 weeks old
Everett has remained wide eyed as he has grown. He is incredibly curious about everything that goes on around him and loves to study people’s faces. We have been told many times he is more interactive than people would expect for an infant his age. Currently his favorite activities are practicing standing, he gets the biggest grin and coos the whole time, and having someone walk him around and describe rooms and places to him. His favorite book is chika chika boom boom – he actually follows along the pages already and gets excited for the rhymes. Our two dogs adore Everett and he likes to kick them and feel their fur but has a great distaste for when they lick him. He is already able to roll onto his side and is very close to making it all the way over. We also had the joy of hearing his giggle for the first time, and only so far, when he was dreaming in momma’s arms. I know in my heart it is a good thing that he is achieving so many milestones so early but it is scary to see how fast the time is going!
We love birth stories! Each one is unique and amazing. If you’d like to share yours, you can use the button below to submit it. We will read (and probably cry) over each one, and then post one on the first Friday of every month!
