It's a Boy!

January 15th-22nd, 2006

Our son, Charles Jackson Wright, finally arrived on January 15th under pretty dramatic circumstances. Jackson weighed 8lbs 12oz at birth and was 21" long. Getting him into this world was one of the most intense experiences I've ever had.

Kim and I had decided we wanted an all-natural, at-home delivery using a midwife. Since midwifery is not allowed in Alabama, we had to go to a place in Tennessee for the delivery. Kim's water broke and she began her labor at about 9:15am on Friday the 13th!

After a quick stop to the OB in Birmingham for an ultrasound (that revealed the baby was in a posterior position), we hit the road for Tennessee.

Kim endured an all-natural labor for a total of about 18 hours. By 3am, she had been through hours of agony with very little dilation to show for it.

At 3am on Saturday the 14th, we take her to Athens-Limestone Hospital in Athens, Alabama. She's admitted right away to the maternity ward where's she's quickly given painkillers.

By 6am she had an epidural and was on pitossin to help push her progression along. She progressed right on schedule at 1cm per hour for the next six hours. But then she stalled out at around 8cm. It took her from about noon to well into the night, but she finally did dilate all the way. But then... they still couldn't get the baby through because she had a cervical lip that wouldn't budge.

At 1am on Sunday, the doctor let her rest for one hour. Then at two o'clock, they started their last hour of hard pushing. But no success. At around 3, the decision was made to take the baby via C-section.

I was with Kim in the OR for the surgery. They had to work hard to get the baby out because he was so far down into the birth canal. Jackson finally arrived at 3:48. We didn't know if we were having a boy or girl until the surgeon announced it and when she said "It's a Boy!" Kim and I hooped and hollared. We were both wanting a boy so bad. The first time we saw him was moments later after they had taken him across the room to wash him.

I immediately went to him and was soon holding my son for the first time. After a brief family hug with his mother, I had to take Jackson out while the closed Kim up. Jackson wasn't out of the woods yet.

Since he had been in the womb for 44 hours, all with the water broken, he was classified as High Risk at birth. They put him under observation in the Special Care unit and, sure enough, his oxygen levels soon began dropping.

He was placed under an oxyhood to help him breath and a precautionary antibiotic IV was attached to his temple. They took blood samples to run a bunch of tests, looking to rule out any and all infections.

Finally, at about 6am on Sunday, with my son on oxygen and under close observation, I finally went to sleep, after being up for 48 straight hours. When I woke up a few hours later in the room with Kim, she still hadn't seen him and he was still on oxygen.

By about 3pm, though, he had breathed well enough on his own for a whole hour so he was finally taken to see his mother. We all got to hold him at last. We stayed at the hospital until Tuesday the 17th. Jackson checked out completely healthy, the long labor had not resulted in any infections! The IV was removed Tuesday and by that evening we were all headed back home to Birmingham.

The drama was not quite over for Kim. Her bladder had been distressed during labor and it ended up swollen. After being home for about five days, she started showing signs of infection. On Sunday the 22nd, she was taken by ambulance to the ER in Birmingham where she was shortly admitted.

She ended up staying there until the following Friday as they fought multiple infections. At long last, all of us were healthy and at home. We certainly have our hands full being new parents. Everything's a learning experience. But we have a beautiful, healthy boy and could not be more thrilled. Be sure to visit www.defdave.com for plenty of pictures of him.