As the day of our son's birthday approached, I kept thinking back to that Monday morning six years ago when my husband and I headed to the hospital in Sanford, NC at 6 am so that I could be induced. It was a beautiful summer day and I was so nervous as this was my first child.
At the hospital they started the pitocin and after a couple of hours broke my water. The contractions were non-stop and very intense, so I was given an epidural to help deal with the pain. It wasn't long after the epidural was administered that I fell asleep, and I slept most of the day.
A little before 6 pm I stopped dilating and was stuck just shy of the needed 10 cm to begin pushing. My wonderful midwife came in and helped me to force my body to dilate that final half a centimeter. It was around this time that things took a bad turn.
I pushed for the next two hours and our little boy just would not cooperate. The midwife said that she saw his head many times, but that he kept retreating back down the birth canal. My husband and I had created a birth plan and we did not want to use the vacuum or the forceps for fear of complications. However after two hours of pushing I was physically exhausted and the midwife began to gently suggest the possibility of needing to use something to help get Eli out.
My husband and I drug our heels for a little while, but eventually we realized that if we wanted our son to be born soon, we would have to let our midwife use the vacuum to get him out of the birth canal. I looked into the face of the woman that I trusted with my son's life and gave permission for her to use the vacuum. It was only a couple pushes later and our beautiful baby boy emerged into the world.
It was at this time that we realized exactly what had been going on as the room of medical professionals became very serious. The umbilical cord had a knot in it and it had been wrapped around our son's neck, plus there was meconium present, so there was a worry that some may have entered into his lungs. I saw the top of my son's head as they quickly whisked him out of the labor and delivery room and down the hall to the NICU.
While my midwife stitched me up, she talked with us about all that was happening. She explained that the reason our son kept retreating down the birth canal was because he was choking. Had we waited much longer to use the vacuum, our story may not have ended so well. The midwife called him our miracle baby many times over the next few hours as she cared for me and even prayed with my family.
It was another two hours before I would actually see and touch my son as he lay under an oxygen helmet, which my father-in-law nicknamed the Storm Trooper Helmet, in the NICU.
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| Daddy Keeping Watch |
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| Daddy and Eli together for the first time |
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| Momma's first time seeing Eli |
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| Sweet Eli |
It would be twelve hours before my husband and I would actually be allowed to hold our son in our arms. I found it very difficult over the next few days to put my son down.
Every year as I watch my healthy boy grow bigger and stronger and I can't help but think back to the day of his birth when his fragile existence almost ended. I am thankful every day for my son and that he has had no repercussions from his birth experience.
Our God is great and good and that has never been more evident to me than on July 21st, 2008 when my son Elias Brendan Tant was born!
