Marek Leigh is here!

3/14, 12:18pm.  7pounds 15 ounces, 20 inches long. Perfect in every way.

I went in for my 40 week OB appointment on my EDD this past Friday 3/13 at 5:15pm. Had my first cervical check and was 1cm dilated, 70% effaced. Had some bleeding and cramping afterward, which doc said was normal. The cramping got worse and worse, increasingly intense and long. I started to wonder if I might be having contractions. I went home and by 9pm we were timing them and they were about 2-3 minutes apart. We paged our OB at 10pm but didn't get a call back until around 11pm, doc said to go into L&D to get checked.

We got to L&D around 11:30 and I was 5cm dilated. Was immediately moved from a triage room to delivery. Our doula arrived and I labored until around 5am without medication and made it to 8cm. I was planning to have an unmedicated birth but by this time I was not tolerating the pain well, I was exhausted, and asked about an epi. I was happy to have gone that far but I didn't feel I could handle 2-3 more hours of those contractions and then pushing. The baby was still -4 station. She was concerned that he hadn't dropped at all. She broke my water, hoping that would help him drop. I got the epi and several hours later he still hadn't dropped at all. They tried pitocen to see if that would get him moving but he didn't budge. His heart rate was dipping periodically and I was beyond exhausted. By 11am the doc (new doc, changed shifts) recommended a c-section. He basically said "we don't know why he isn't dropping, it's very unusual so we think something's stopping him". I was so exhausted by this time I wasn't going to debate it. We went in for surgery and he arrived screaming at 12:18pm.

When doc saw baby he said, "oh yeah, this guy was never going to move down". He was sunny side up and that's the only reason doc could see why he wasn't dropping. Cord was around his neck so that was causing the dip in heart rate during contractions when he was being pushed down but not moving. Doc diagnosed "failure to engage" as reason for needing c-section.

I was blown away at hearing him scream. Miguel got up and watched them take care of him and they brought him over and laid him on me. I stared in awe. Miguel left with him while they stitched me up. Miguel and baby came back to recovery and we nursed him right away, he's an amazing nurser!

I didn't have the labor and delivery I hoped for. My mother had all c-sections and Miguel and siblings were all c-sections so we joked that we were doomed. I'll never know if I had avoided the epi if he would have dropped but I can't complain at this point. Seeing him sleep next to me is all that matters. I have the baby of my dreams and couldn't be happier.