Birth story

At 5:50 am on April 17 I woke up with painful contractions and a weird burning sensation in my back. Knowing my placenta was posterior made me nervous something was going on (ie abruption). After an hour of contracting every 4-5 minutes I got up to go to the washroom and found I was bleeding a lot. So I rushed out the door after waking jason and called my physician friends who kindly met me at the hospital. As I walked in to the hospital two amazing nurses helped me and got me hooked up the the monitor and I breathed a sigh of relief once I heard his steady heart beat. I was checked and was 1cm dilated and effaced about 25 percent at that time. I had steroids given and was air lifted out to the city. Jason went home to pack the kids and drive the terribly long 3 hour drive to the city. We are so thankful to everyone who dropped everything to help us that morning with the kids and since we have been in the city to everyone who is still helping us and praying for Mattias. We couldn't do this without you all.

When I arrived in the city my lovely friend Alana, who is a fourth year on resident was here waiting for me and thankfully stayed with me through the whole labour. I was 1-2 cm by then and the decision was made not to try and stop labour as they felt I had a partial placental abruption which caused labour. By 4 pm I was 3 cm and having very painful and regular contractions. I had an epidural at 5pm. Thankfully the abruption did not continue and I was able to avoid an emergency c section. Mattias was born vaginally after a very smooth labour that he tolerated excellently! His apgars were 7 at 1 minute and 7 at 5 minutes. He had the cord around his neck and a true knot in the cord. Crazy. What could have happened. Shudder.

Initially he cried and then his lungs collapsed and they had to intubate him in the room and give him surfactant to help keep the lungs open. They took him to the nicu on the ventilator and there we were alone in the room.

Within a couple of hours we were able to go and see him and touch him. He was stable on the vent and had an ng tube in as well and an Iv line with tpn. And now the learning curve begins...