James' Birth Story

December 21-23, 2012

As you know, my due date weekend (Saturday, 12/15) came and went with no sign of baby. Although it was December, there was also still no sign of snow. Phil and I would joke that maybe the baby was waiting for snow...

Although everyone says it's typical to be late with your first child, each night past that date I would go to bed anxiously awaiting to be awoken in the middle of the night, ready to go to the hospital. At my last doctor's appointment (12/14), since I had not yet started to progress and labor did not seem imminent, my doctor suggested we schedule an induction the week of Christmas, "just in case" I didn't go into labor on my own. The tentative date was 12/27. After dodging the C-section talk from the previous week, I was hopeful I would just go into labor on my own and wouldn't need to be induced. Plus, I was really hoping Baby Gibbs would be here before Christmas. :)

The following week, I took off from work each day, optimistically thinking I was going to go into labor any minute. The hospital bag had been packed, house had been cleaned. While I was off from work, I was determined to "get things moving" by walking around the block daily, pacing around the house, cooking up a storm (mini meatloaves, pastas, Oreo truffles, and cookies, just to name a few) and spending lots of time sitting on the exercise ball. Since I had already completed my nursery/house "nesting" by my due date, the bonus week nesting came in the form of cooking, baking and freezing meals. We were ready. At least, we thought we were!

What I wasn't ready for was 48 hours of contractions! 

Around midnight on Friday, December 21 mild contractions began = no sleep for me. I was up every hour or so, partially because I was uncomfortable, but mostly happily wondering, "Could today be the day?! Should I wake Phil up or let him keep sleeping?" Since this was our first baby, I really had no idea what to expect, but I anticipated labor would take awhile. Phil went to work in the morning to finish a few things, just in case we would be heading to the hospital later. Contractions continued throughout the day. And, just as we had joked, it started to snow flurry outside! Baby Gibbs really was waiting for snow! "I'm going to have this baby either tonight or tomorrow!" I thought. Phil and I began letting family and close friends know that contractions have started. We thought it would be only a few hours until the contractions got shorter in duration and stronger in magnitude to warrant a visit to Fairview General Hospital in Cleveland. 

That night, given that contractions had carried on for nearly 24 hours, and were now about 6-8 minutes apart, we went to the hospital just to see if I was progressing. After being checked, we were disappointed to find out that I was only 1 cm dilated. How?! I thought. The contractions seemed pretty strong, why weren't they doing their job?! We were sent home, instructed to continue laboring at home until contractions get stronger and closer together; essentially wait until "things get worse." Awesome.

Well, contractions continued and they were definitely getting worse, preventing me from sleeping Friday night. I would wake up every few minutes clutching my pillow and breathing through the minute of pain, all while Phil was sound asleep next to me, with no clue what I was going through. Contractions continued through the early morning of Saturday, December 22, and well into the day. As time passed, they clearly were stronger as I was stopped in my tracks in many cases, clutching anything I could get two hands on (Phil's shoulders (bear hug/middle school dance style), the couch, the kitchen counter top, the banister on the stairs, the towel rack in the shower, and the list goes on).  Feeling like we were on house arrest, we took a few visitors on Saturday during the day, including Papa Yale, Mama Wisch, and Matt Carson, all of which largely providing food while I am laboring in the family room, trying to carry on conversations through increasingly painful contractions. After seeing me that day, our parents predicted the little man would be here very soon.

While the contractions during Saturday were increasingly strong, they were very erratic in timing; some 2-3 mins apart and some closer to 15 mins apart.  After already being sent home from the hospital once, we were waiting for consistency before going back, which we did not seem to get.  However, around 8:45 pm, while watching the last part of the Wizard of Oz, my water broke during one of my contractions! When your water breaks, there is no turning back; we finally had our ticket through the hospital doors! We immediately called the doctor around 9 pm, and she suggested that, given it was our first child, we had between 2-4 hours to get to the hospital.   

Knowing we could be in labor at the hospital for awhile (and I would only be able to eat popsicles), we took our time collecting our things, ate a few bites of food for strength and headed to the hospital around 10 pm.  Good thing we only live 15 minutes away, I had two very painful contractions in the car ride there! Upon arrival, Phil dropped me off at the emergency room, and I waited in a wheel chair for him to park and come get me. I had several contractions there and felt people looking at me like who is this lady in labor alone?! Shouldn't you be heading to the delivery room?! When Phil arrived, we headed upstairs and were quickly admitted into the triage room to be checked. To our collective dismay, the nurse told us that I was 7-8cm dilated. Really?! Being only 1 cm the night before, I expected her to say 3 or 4 cm. That was a nice surprise! The nurse was impressed I did all of the hard labor at home without any pain medication. After telling me many women beg for pain medication around 3-5 cm, I was clearly in active labor during much of Saturday afternoon and had no idea. I was shocked and proud of myself for laboring at home as well. This excited us because we knew the "finish line" was close at hand.  We had a discussion about whether I wanted an epidural for pain, and thinking things would of course have to be getting worse, I quickly said yes. 

We were brought into Birthing Room #8 at Fairview a little before 11pm on the 22nd (Phil likes to note #8 because this was his soccer number growing up, he thought it was a good "sign").  About 30 minutes later, when I was checked again, I was fully dilated and contractions became even closer together, about 1-2 minutes apart.  At that point, it was about waiting for the doctor to arrive and getting ready to push.  Needless to say, everything happened so quickly that the epidural option was virtually in the rear view. When the nurse told me the worst of the pain (contractions) was over, I decided to not get the epidural and geared myself up for a natural childbirth. Plus, hearing the list of possible side effects and complications as I was coming in and out of reality through contractions didn't seem worth it at that point for just a few hours! I was ready to meet this little guy - no time to think about it, it was go time!

Last picture of us as a family of 2!

Began pushing around 12 am on December 23. It was now clear that our son would be born on the 23rd!  Phil was a great coach, playing many Phillip Phillips and James Taylor songs for me in the background, supplying water and chap stick as I rallied during quick contraction breaks. After playing a 2-hour game of "tug-of-war" with the nurses to help me through the pushing (a technique I loved and highly recommend!), our little snow bear, James Theodore, emerged at 2:19am!

Daddy cut the cord, but there was no cry, only a faint gasp. Something was not right in the air. James was thoroughly suctioned as Dad held his little hand; the pediatric doctor on the floor and nurses pulled out all the fluid and meconium from his airways that they could, but James was white and not responding, and not crying. In what should have been a typical joyous moment, our uneasiness began to grow... 

Not knowing the extent of his condition, the nurse brings James over to me so I could finally meet him - he was so handsome! Instantly in love. However, I knew things were not right when I was not allowed to hold him; he was placed on my chest for only a very quick snapshot and then whisked away to the NICU for further examination. After the dust settled and we were finally left alone in the delivery room to rest and recover, we just starred at each other. On one hand, we were amazed at what a beautiful baby we just welcomed into the world, and on the other we were terrified, wondering what was going to happen to him and how long they were going to make us wait before we could see our sweet baby. During this time Phil sent out a simple message to family and friends letting them know JTG was born. 

Around 5 am, 3 hours after birth, we were finally taken to the NICU to get a glimpse of our little man.

Handsome little man. Look at all that hair!

Quick 20 second snuggle before being whisked away to the NICU. 

At this time, we had no idea how critical his condition was. This image of his sweet face got us through those tough days and nights that were to come.