Our Birth Story (by Kari)

 

Our due date, 03/04, came and went without any sign of labor. Our doctor scheduled us for a 03/11 induction, meaning I was starting the process at my 41 week marker. We started the process slowly, and the medical staff reminded us often that the labor journey could take up to 4 or 5 days.

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After 40 hours of little sleep, lots of waiting, and increasing pain, I had made very minor progress. We were using a variety of methods, hoping to enter active labor, but we knew there was a long way to go. Max was especially involved, providing music, massage, carrying me emotionally and physically as much as he could. Our team decided an epidural might allow my body time to rest and relax, and naturally encourage progress.

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Finally, things were starting to pick up. A few hours after the epidural, my water broke, and a few hours after that, I was dilating quickly. My temperature had started to rise, so my team watched me closely and provided cold compresses.

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We were finally ready to try pushing at midnight, about 52 hours into the process. Baby was trying his best to come down, but between my narrow hips squeezing his big brain and his tiny toes jamming my inner ribs, we were not having a good time! We tried for a few hours, but started to notice troubling reads on the monitor. When I heard Baby was in trouble, there was no hesitation, and we all moved quickly to the operating room.

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Rio was born via emergency c-section on 03/14, at 4:02 AM. Max stayed with Rio through processing, and we were all reunited in the Recovery unit. We are all resting and recovering nicely, moving gracefully into this next phase of our lives together.