Dayton Thomas Bishop ~ Birth Story

Tuesday, April 8th, started out a normal day for me. I had planned to work a half day, so that I could get to my 2:45 pm 37 week appointment. My long-term sub was subbing for me in the afternoon so that she could start to get to know my kiddos. I left work at lunch, went home, ate lunch, worked on a few things, and then headed to the hospital for my appointment. I remember thinking, "I wonder why they don't do more ultra sounds. I wish I could see what my baby looks like at this point. What if something was wrong? We would never know."

My appointment started out the way they always do - get weighed, pee in a cup, head back to the exam room, and get my blood pressure taken. Everything was looking good so far. The nurse asked me about baby's movement and I said that it was less than normal, but I still had felt him that day. Then the nurse asked me if I wanted the Dr. to check my cervix today. I told her, "Sure. Why not!" The practice that I go to has 5 doctors and I had met 4 of them. I was meeting Dr. Hines today. I had heard that she was very blunt and to the point, but everyone liked her. Dr. Hines came in and asked how I was doing. She asked me about baby's movements and I told her the same thing that I told the nurse. She asked me how many times I had felt baby that day. I told her 2 or 3 times. She did not like the sound of that. Instead of measuring my tummy, she went straight to checking my cervix. The first thing that came out of her mouth was, "Oh this isn't a head, this is a butt." Wait...what?! Baby had been head down since week 28, so this was news. She then told me that because she thought baby was breech and I hadn't felt him move as much, she was concerned and wanted to send me to get an ultrasound to double check that he was in fact breech and to make sure little man okay in there. I was slightly nervous about her concern, but was excited I was going to get an ultrasound!

Everything looked fine to me during the ultrasound. I got to see little man's chubby cheeks, a full head of hair, and we found that baby was in fact breech. His feet were next to his head and he was definitely butt down. His head was right in the center of my tummy, right under my ribs. The tech did not seem concerned at all and kept pointing out all of little man's arms, legs, and parts. After we finished with the ultrasound, the tech handed me a bunch of sonogram photos and brought me back to the exam room to speak with the Doctor.

Dr. Hines came in and spoke up immediately. "Well, your baby is definitely breech. Also, your fluid is dangerously low. We're going to have to do a c-section and get him out of there." Blank stare...so she kept going. "I mean we need to get him out tomorrow or maybe we could get you a few more days." At this point I was thinking, "Okay...a few more days would be good. I can finish out the work week and get everything ready. If it's tomorrow, at least I have tonight to get a few last minute things packed." Dr. Hines continued, "I'm going to send you down (one floor) to Labor and Delivery so that we can monitor the baby for a while to make sure he is okay. Dr. Gerardi is down there and I will speak with her so that we can come up with a plan." At this point, it really started to sink in that baby was coming early. I took a lot of comfort in knowing Dr. Gerardi was downstairs though. She is my favorite Doctor, the one who I've gone to consistently and who helped diagnose our infertility issues, and the one doctor I had a great relationship with.

As soon as I left the exam room to get downstairs to Labor and Delivery, I started calling the hubs. Normally if I call and he doesn't answer and I call immediately again, he knows to answer right away. This time I called 8-10 times and he didn't answer or call back. Ah! I checked in with the nurses, who knew I was coming and one nurse, Hannah, started getting me hooked up. One nice thing, I recognized the name Hannah because Beth and Gene had told me one of their friends from high school worked at the hospital I went to. I asked her if she knew Beth and Gene and it was the correct Hannah! She got me hooked up and told me Dr. Gerardi would come to see me in a bit because she was delivering a baby at that moment.

After a few calls to a co-worker who I was supposed to be joining for a meeting, Brad finally called me back. I told him what was going on and told him to start heading to the hospital because I didn't know how long I would need to be monitored. Turns out, he had been presenting in a meeting to a bunch of "big names" at Deere. As soon as he got back to his seat and saw 8 missed calls from me, he picked up his stuff and walked out without any explanation! After I spoke with him, Dr. Gerardi walked in. First thing out of her mouth?

"So we're going to have a baby tonight!"

Wait...what?! Again...blank stare. She then went on to explain that my fluid was too low and if we didn't deliver the baby that night, we would run the risk of having a stillborn. That's when everything stopped. She explained to me that she knew that I wanted a natural birth and she could try to flip the baby manually, but because my fluid was so low she didn't think she would be successful. I must of looked like I was in shock because after she finished talking I just sat there and looked at her...and then looked at the nurse...and then looked back at her... My speech finally kicked in and I told her that if she didn't think she would be successful, then there was no point in trying. She said, "Okay! How about 6 pm?" Again...blank stare. She started talking to the nurse, Hannah, about getting anesthesiology down here for a 6 pm c-section. Yes, I still had a blank stare on my face. I was really trying to process this all in my head and stay calm. Dr. G even looked at me and said, "You're taking this really well." Ummm, yea...because I still haven't figured out what was going on. 

Dr. G told me to call the hubs and tell him to go home and get our hospital bags, so I did as they wheeled me back to the room we would be staying in and started the checking in process. This is also when they started my IV and told me that they would need to "pump me full" of IV fluid. Great. 

Brad arrived at 6:15ish, the anesthesiologist walked in our room at 6:30 pm, talked to us about what was going to happen, asked me a few questions, and cracked a few jokes. He was great! Dr. G came in and talked to us for a little while, Brad got dressed up in his scrubs, and they started wheeling me back to the operating room at 7:00 pm. I was all numb and ready to go so the nurses brought Brad in at 7:15 pm and the surgery started. It was such a weird feeling. There was country music playing, Dr. G and the nurses were laughing and cracking jokes, talking to me behind the bug blue shield, and Brad was sitting next to my head with big bright, excited eyes. I felt everything that was happening, but it didn't hurt. I knew when Dr. G started cutting, I could feel them pulling everything back and clamping my skin, I mean everything!

The anesthesiologist told Brad to stand up and watch and I also felt everything as Dr. G reached in and pulled our baby out. I knew when he was out but I didn't hear anything and panic started setting in. Why wasn't he crying? Why wasn't anyone telling me what was going on?? Finally, I heard the pat and his cry. Whew. In hind sight, the hubs acknowledged that he should have been explaining to me what was going on - after Dr. G pulled our baby out, the nurses were suctioning out baby's nose and mouth. Dr. G showed me my baby and then I watched (from a ways away) while the nurse cleaned our baby, weighed him, measured him, and started his tests. My baby was about 10 feet to my right and all I could do was watch and try to see him while they sewed me up. Brad was able to move around the O.R. and take pictures during all of this. It was such a helpless feeling to just lay there and watch. I wanted my baby! 

The nurse finally handed Brad our baby and he brought him over to me. I teared up. My baby. He was safe and he was finally here. All I could think was...he was safe. Our baby was safe and healthy. It seemed like forever, but I was all stitched up and Brad handed me our baby as they wheeled us back to our room. 

Baby Dayton Thomas Bishop was born at 7:25 pm, April 8, 2014, weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long. Our sweet little boy was born 19 days early!

God is so good and we are so thankful that everything happened the way it did. I cringe and tear up every time I think about what could have happened if we hadn't had an ultrasound that day. I know this was a long post, but I want to remember every detail of that day because I know that God had His hand of protection over me, the Doctors, the nurses, and most of all our sweet baby boy. I can do nothing but praise my Savior for protecting our son. God is God and God is always good. 

I have posted pictures of the surgery that Brad took. They are a little blurry, but if you're squeamish, you might want to scroll down quickly and skip the first 3 pictures!

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