In order to fully understand Isla’s crazy entrance into this world I first need to back up to mid pregnancy. We knew Isla was breech pretty early on. After attempting all the tips & tricks she remained head up and booty down. We decided to attempt an ECV procedure. If you aren’t familiar, it’s when the doctors manually push on your stomach in attempts to turn the baby. Theres only a 50% chance of it being successful, but we knew this was the only option to avoid a c section which wasn’t a good option for me with my health condition.
The procedure itself was brutal (honestly I would compare it to labor). A full spinal epidural was given because they wanted to be ready for my heart to react negatively and wanted to be prepared to put me under quickly to remove Isla if needed. I’ll never forget the sweet anesthesiologist who sat behind me calmly running his hand on my head to try to calm me down as I lied on the table in this awful room. Drake was on my right holding my hand, a nurse on my left holding my other arm as the doctor and midwife worked together to turn Isla. Drake said it looked like something out of a horror movie, specifically Drake compared it to the movie Alien. All I remember is the immense pain. They say pressure, but it felt like every bone in my body was being crushed and I couldn’t breathe. After what felt like way too long they told me she was head down. We were in disbelief, but sure enough she had turned! The doctor’s face looked concerned as they kept staring at the machines, watching, waiting… for her heart beat. They calmly prepped me for an emergency c section as they flipped me from side to side to try to get Isla’s heart rate to go above 70 bpm. Long story short… her heart rate became stable and the atmosphere in the room changed as they celebrated having her head down (on the first try I’ll add) and off to recovery I went to wait for our baby girl to make her arrival.
Fast forward to 39 weeks, I went in for a blood pressure check, and was sent to the hospital with high blood pressure. I had been having prodromal labor for weeks, but it never seemed to progress (which I would come to learn the reason later). They started me on Pitocin, let me labor for a bit, epidural, broke my water and I went from 3cm to 10cm in less then 2 hours. The nurse was SHOCKED when she came back in and discovered my quick progression. I was like yeah… I could feel her head and knew it was time to push. After 20 minutes of pushing Isla was born at 3:03 am – 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 20 inches long.
I will never forget the moment. The moment I knew something was wrong during delivery. My midwife was having me pause in the middle of pushing to pick up her heart rate, calling in other staff and then I knew… I knew I had to get her out and fast or this was going to be an emergency c section. My midwife, Heather, was amazing, truly the best. She was so calm through it all. I pushed with everything I had, but when they pulled her out, she was blue and lifeless. Silent. The nurses rushed her away and I felt my heart completely leave my body. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t talk. Just stared wide eyed at Drake and the nurses. After what felt like hours we heard a little tiny cry. Praise God she was okay!!! She gave us all a scare and it took a bit for them to get her stable and warm, but eventually they wrapped her up and brought her to me.
Apparently the cord was tight around her neck. Which is why I was having contractions, but never progressing until they broke my water and her head was able to drop. But thanks to an amazing medical team they were able to get her out on time, remove the cord quickly and intervene to give her what she needed to breathe on her own.
Our hospital stay was short and we were able to be home as a family. The weeks following were difficult; Isla had jaundice and is in physical therapy for torticollis in her neck, I had a spinal headache and Emery (our toddler) was fighting a nasty cold… but we survived. Isla will be two months on Saturday and I just can’t believe it. It’s hard to imagine life before her and we are so thankful to have her complete our little family. Emery loves being a big sister and is the best little mama’s helper. I am blessed to get to watch these girls grow up and for them to call me mom.
Scroll to view our lifestyle newborn session done by Cassandra:
