Let’s see where was I? Oh yeah, about to give birth! So three a.m. and no progression. My nurse then asks if I would like to have my water artificially ruptured. Doesn’t that sound scary? Well I agreed. The hospital obgyn came in, and rechecked me. He then said that I was actually progressing and I was a “stretchy six”, whatever the heck that means. He then proceeded to rupture my water. I felt a warm gush, but that was it. I got Colby to come look and report to me what was going on after the doctor left. He said that there was a steady trickle of water coming out. Then he went back to sleep.
I was so amped at this point. I knew it wouldn’t be long, so there was no way I was going to be sleeping. So I chatted online with my good friend Claire, who lives in Ukraine. She was so encouraging! Later the nurse returned and gave me this giant foam peanut shaped pillow to put between my knees. I did that for a while and she came back and said that I was continuing to dilate and that a baby should be here soon. By about 5:00 am something felt weird. There was so much pressure. So I woke up my mom and she said to call the nurse. They came in to check me, and I was at a ten. Hallelujah! She then began to walk me through some practice pushes. I was shaking and so nervous. All I could think was I was about to have this little person in my arms. Then she made me stop pushing and gave me the peanut again. She told me I needed to labor down some that he was still pretty high up. I was DEVASTATED.
Before I knew it the clock read 7:00 a.m. And my nurse was leaving. I couldn’t believe that after all that I was going to deliver Cypress with a different person who didn’t know anything about my wishes or how I wanted to deliver. The anesthesiologist came back in and asked if I wanted more medicine. I declined. My epidural was wearing off and I was starting to feel my legs. That made me feel more equipped to begin the pushing process. I wanted to be able to feel what I needed to do, and at that point I was at the perfect amount of numbness.
My new nurse came in, who just happened to be pregnant as well. And let me tell you, God knew exactly what he was doing. She came in and coached me on my positioning. We went through what worked as far as pushing. Finally we settled on me pulling my legs back. My sweet husband stood on my side and pulled with me. I started pushing. You think you would know how to do this. You think it would just come naturally, but it doesn’t. That’s why I was so thankful for my nurse. Two good pushes in and she could feel his head. I was absolutely exhausted at this point. She asked if I would like to feel his head. I reached down and felt that precious little tuft of hair and got a boost of energy. Next push she made me stop and wait for the doctor. He came flying around the corner gloving up and we started the next push. This time Cypress’ head came out half way and my contraction ended. The doctor made me stop and pant through it. It was CRAZY hard to not push. Then another one started and one last push at 7:55 my precious little babe was plopped onto my lap. It was pure bliss.
Colby later told me that he had the cord around his neck, but that the doctor just gently slipped it off. He was so perfect. He was wide eyed and just as curious about me as I was about him. Colby and I just sobbed and sobbed looking at this tiny little human with a head full of black hair and long, tiny fingernails.
They later weighed him and measured him. He was 8lbs and 1 oz. and twenty inches long. Later we got moved into another room. The next morning the nurse that was with me in the beginning came by just to see our little man. It was so sweet and all throughout our visit there that’s all we encountered were such sweet people who took such good care of us.
Cypress was jaundiced so he had to go under uv lights for a couple of nights. It was so hard to see him sick. Colby and I just cried. He was stuck so many times in his little heels. It was like having your heart outside of you body and watching it be crushed right before your eyes. He did get better though and we got sent home. Only to encounter another terror.
Cypress was four days old when to my horror, he stopped breathing. That morning we were all getting up and ready to go to his first doctor’s appointment. I fed him and laid him on the bed to get him dressed. I looked at his sweet face only to notice his lips were turning purple. I stuck my face down to his and tried to feel for breath, but there was nothing. Then I watched as all the color fade from him and his whole body turned blue. I snatched him up and ran to the living room screaming for my mom. Colby was in the shower. My mom jumped off the bed and grabbed him and screamed for me to call 911. I was in such a panic I couldn’t even move. She began to pinch and stimulate him and he finally let out a cry. Only to turn completely blue again. By the time the ambulance arrived he had made a full recovery. I was an absolute wreck, and the ambulance drivers tried to convince me that he was probably just pooping.
Finally I mustered up my mama voice and demanded they take us to the emergency room. Once we arrived all the sticking began again. Thankfully the sweet ladies from the Ped’s floor called down and told them to stop sticking my baby that they would do one I.V. once he got upstairs. So we got admitted upstairs and they had to do one scary I.V. in the top of his head. I’ve never been so terrified, and so unequipped in my whole life. A smorgasbord of testing began, but amongst all the madness and emotions something incredible happened.
Our church family began flooding in and praying over us. I got many calls and encouraging texts over the next few days. People brought food, and one sweet friend just came and sat with us while we had a GI test run. Peace beyond comprehension flooded over me and Colby. We even experienced joy in that circumstance and laughed again for the first time since Cypress was born. I knew that was only our Heavenly Father and the prayers of many getting answered. We later discovered that Cypress had reflux. The nurse equipped us with a treatment plan, and we went home on a monitor.
Looking back I can see how God was orchestrating our circumstances for His glory. We learned early on a lessons that I know I will be learning from here on out. Cypress belongs to God and has only been entrusted to us for a little while. God is so much bigger than our circumstances and can still give His peace and His joy in our scariest moments. God also uses our moments of desperation to strengthen His church! So I am so thankful for Cypress’ story and how the Lord is already using him and creating a testimony with his life.
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