The Story of Cole

Many have asked for me to post this, so here goes... The Story of Cole

November 18 I woke up ready, very ready to meet my baby boy Cole Daniel. Our appointment with Dr. Hewitt was early that morning and Clint came along with me for 1 final check before my scheduled c-section the following morning. Our heart was set on a natural delivery, but I had not dilated or efaced, even the least bit. The final check was to determine if the c-section was still necessary, and after a discouraging appointment with Dr. H, it was settled and we were off to The Medical Center for my pre-op. This was about 10:00am.

Pre-op was very straight forward. The nurses asked me if I was there for delivery or prep. We signed paperwork and I had blood drawn, and I was sent home. All day I had been feeling achy and sore. I attributed this to my 41+ weeks of pregnancy and being anxious. Lord knows I was anxious. After a long morning it was time to rest, so I called my Mom to come sit with me while I caught some shut eye (CLint was worried about me being home alone). The next day was going to be a big one, for sure, and I needed my strength.

By 1:00 the achiness had gradually increased and came in waves. I described what was happening to my Mom and she suggested we time the waves. Sure enough they were lasting 45 seconds and coming every 5 minutes. I called Dr. H's office to see what they advised. After all, I had been checked only a few hours prior and nothing had progressed at that point. Pam, Dr. H's nurse, that Godsend of a woman, suggested I go ahead and get checked in at the hospital.

Reluctantly, and almost in disbelief I called Clint. I knew he would be a nervous wreck and most likely would be driving 100 mph down Three Springs Road to get to me. Sure enough, he made it home in no time and was wisking me away. Thankfully my bags were packed and full of all the items my friends had suggested I include for my stay. (Thanks ladies, these suggestions saved me!)

The ride to the hospital was... eventful to say the least. If I thought Clint drove like a maniac to get to me, then this ride was that multiplied! We drove at least 80 down Three Springs passing several cars and terrified motorists. I apologize if you were one of them. At some point I remember he put on his caution flashers and he sped passed someone. At the dreaded traffic light at Scottsville Road he laid on his horn until people pulled over in the shoulder to let him past. The interstate seemed a better choice for us than battling mid-day traffic on the main roads. Clint took the shoulder and ran a red light to pass cars lined up again. Once finally on the interstate, the speed limit was completely ignored. I saw a cop and suggested we slow down. Clint's response..."Good, I need him anyway!"

At the traffic light on the off ramp, Clint flagged down the police officer for an escort. As he pat me on the belly, he screamed out the window, "Can you get us to the hospital? We're going to have a baby!!" Annoyed and mortified, I sunk into the seat and prayed for the ride to be over already. Our police escort got us there, quickly.

I'm so glad we took the classes at the Medical Center. We knew exactly where to go; however so did every other expectant mother in the surrounding area. There wasn't a single labor and delivery room available on hte floor. They suggested I wait in the waiting room until one opened up... "okay?" I sat my pregnant butt down in the hall until someone caught the hint. The pre-op nurse from earlier in the day saw me, and confused asked why I was back so soon. She rushed me into a room, asap, and got me a gown.

A nurse came in and checked me to be sure I was actually going into labor. I was still in disbelief. After 5 checks at Dr. H's office I was sure this was a false alarm. Amazingly, I had dilated 1 cm and was 80% efaced. We decided to try for a natural birth, I was so excited! I was admitted at 3:30. The epidural came at 7:30 after 4 hours of contractions. I must admit it was worth it to experience that part of labor, but I am SOOO glad I went with the epidural. I am no superwoman, and the small taste of active labor I had was enough to satisfy my strange curiosity. Dr. Maglinger gave me the epidural and did a gret job. He explained every part of what he was doing, and my nurse kept me calm through the procedure. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the staff at the Medical Center. They took very good care of me start to finish! After that, I rested alot. Clint snuck me a jolly rancher or two to help me get through the dry mouth. I ate ice from Sonic as well. Clint and Debi smuggled them in for me! Things settled down for me, and amped up for Clint. He drank, no joking here, 6 red bulls while sitting in the room with me. His eyes were glued to the feta heart monitor the entire time I rested. I woke up from a nap around 12:30 and Clint's eyes were still afixed to the glowing screen in our roon. Cole's heart rate was around 138 and steady, but Clint noticed the monitor acting funny. When the nurse came back in to check me, he said the heart rate looked like it was dropping to 30-ish and then jumping up to 230-ish. Very strange.

My nurse suggested she call Dr. H just to let him know what was going on after she checked the machine for problems. She also called Clint into the hallway. A few moments later, they both came back into the room. "Lets just go ahead and have a baby hun" she suggested very calmly. "Dr. H is on his way and lets just go ahead and have this baby, what do ya say?" In other words, time ofr a c-section, and an emergency one at that. COle wasn't tolerating labor well. Later I would be told my placenta was"too old" and was not delivering oxygen to Cole through the contractions as well as he needed. This was causing his heart rate to drop during the contractions and speed up afterward.

Immediately, my room filled with nurses. Clint was thrown a blue paper gown, hat, and booties to put on. Someone added an additional sedative to my iv to prep me for the c-section, and literally within five minutes (no joke) Dr. H was standig at my bedside. From the time he was called at home in bed, to the time he was in his gown ready to bring my son into this world, no more than five minutes time had passed. He didn't wait a second longer for someone else to roll me to the OR, he, himself pulled me down the hallway towards surgery. In all the comotion, I lost track of Clint.

Once in the OR, I began to feel very nervous. It was a totally different experience than the labor and delivery room. The room was cold, bright, and full of scary looking equipment. All my preconceived notions of a romantic hospital in Grey's Anatomy were out the window. They strapped my arms down to the table, so they didn't flop about, and they put a curtain up over blocking me from seeing my belly. I cried out for Clint and at that moment he took my hand. "I can do this, I can do this now that he is here." I thought to myself. Thank God he was there.

I will spare you the details of what happened from here to the point that I saw my angel, but let me just say it was the most surreal feeling I have ever experienced. I could not feel pain, but I felt what was going on as they "worked" on me. I felt my son leave my body, and then I heard the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Cole's voice, loud and strong, and mad!! I heard Clint talking to the doctor and then I saw my angel! His head was full of black hair and his mouth was wide open. They had to clean him up for a moment and then I got to semi-hold him.

Clint and Cole ran off to the nursery so they could have skin-to-skin time, and they finsihed me up in the OR.

The entire procedure took less than 15 minutes! Then came the hard past of waiting in recovery for an hour. It wasn't too bad, there were two nurses in recovery and I was the only patient in the entire wing. I guess all the other mothers had already delivered or were getting ready to. The ladies in recovery gave me warm blankets and talked to me for the entire hour. They talked about what it would be like to see little Cole in the nursery window when we rolled by. Time went by extremely fast, and the next thing I knew I was on my way to see Cole!

As we rolled down the long hallway to the nursery window, the nurses told me we were going to play a little joke on my family. They told me they wouldn't even notice we were in the hallway until we were right up on them. They were staring into the nursery as they bathed Cole. Sure enough no one knew I existed until I was a few steps away. My Dad looked up and said, "Oh, there's Brenna."

Everyone moved out of the way so I could see my little man in the window. My heart stood still. This was the first good look I had gotten of Cole. Still groggy while in the OR I hadn't been able to see much. I just stared at his toes and fingers. Every bit of him was so perfect. I couldn't believe our little boy was finally out for everyone to see!

I didn't want to leave but htey had to take me to my post partum room and get ready for Cole to come in. I would have to wait another hour for him, but my Dad came with me to wait. It was a sweet moment, talking ot my Dad about being a parent and how my life was about to change. He prayed with me for Cole and the journey that we were all getting ready to set out on.

When Cole finally made it into my arms, I was the happiest girl in the world! Nothing was going to pry that baby from my arms. He was very hungry so that was the first order of business. I believe my son was born with an appetite and the know how to take care of that need! He never had a problem figuring out the delivery process!

Cole was born on Friday November 11, 2010 at 1:51 in the morning. He weighed 9 lbs. 0.1 oz, and was 21.5 inches long. Friday was one of the longest, best days of my life. I didn't go to sleep until nearly midnight that day, and am so glad we were awake for the whole first day of his life.

Some major things I remember from that day... Cole picked up his head and looked left to right at 4 hours old. He smiled (whether it was gas or not) that morning. Cole smelled amazing, the original baby lotion scent. His head was completely full of straight black hair. His eyes were blue (and still are), unlike Clint and myself. I guess we both carried the recessive gene and he had a 25% chance of keeping them.

I'm so glad I remember Cole's Story so well. I hope this story never fades from my memory because it was one of the best experiences of my life. Each day goes by, and I find some little detail to add to "his story" whether it be about the stay at the hospital or the adventures since we've been home. Each one as precious as the previous.