We Have a 1-Year Old!

We have a new one-year old in the house! Our sixth child Edward turned one last Sunday. He’s grown into a cheeky, smiley little boy who is of course loved by all the family. He’s walking a lot now, and climbing too unfortunately! I suppose when you’re number 6 you have to keep up. It’s been a bit of an adventure having another boy added to our family after so many girls.

This time last year..

It’s funny how we sometimes almost relive what happened on each day the previous year with big life events – or maybe it’s just me who does this! This past week I’ve been thinking a lot about Edward’s birth a year ago. His entry into the world was a bit more traumatic than our other kids’. While all of them were natural births, mostly at home, Edward ended up being an emergency c-section.

What happened

The day before my due date I noticed very little movement for the whole day. I kept monitoring and prodding him all day to see if I was just being overly cautious, but by the end of the day I was becoming quite concerned at the change. I finally messaged my midwife and she rang straight away to say we should go and do a CTG. This monitors the baby’s heartrate for signs of distress.

After arranging for my husband’s parents to come over and hastily grabbing a few bits and pieces – I was totally unprepared for a hospital birth – my husband and I drove to BirthCare Parnell to meet my midwife there for the scan. I wasn’t yet in labour, but I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for several days. After around 10 minutes on the CTG – during which I was relieved to see a heartbeat – it became apparent that the baby was indeed in distress. Every time I had a Braxton-Hicks contraction, the baby’s heartrate would drop.

C-Section!

Things happened pretty quickly after that! We drove to Middlemore, where Scott dropped me off at the maternity entrance and my midwife rushed me through to a room. Several staff came in and started prepping me for a caesarean – just in case at this point – and hooked me up to another CTG machine. Scott appeared and was told to put on a gown, only to be told to take it off again soon afterwards, because after only a couple of minutes they decided they needed to act fast and do an emergency rather than a standard caesarean. Suddenly I was being rushed (run!) down hallways on a hospital bed to an operating theatre. I didn’t have much time to take in what was happening, but was definitely experiencing and mixture of shock and anxiety!

I was put under, and the next thing I knew I was slowly resurfacing several hours later, to the news that I had a baby boy! When I had awakened sufficiently I got to go and see him in the NICU ward, where Scott had been sitting for some time. It was a bit strange seeing him covered in wires etc but I was too groggy to be upset about it, plus I was just so relieved he had made it! After the operation he had needed resuscitation, but I think this was mostly due to the anaesthetic. He recovered very quickly, and thankfully only needed 4 hours on the CPAP machine, despite there being some meconium in his lungs. The next day he was brought to me in the maternity ward, much to my relief. It felt so odd to not have him with me from the beginning!

My hospital stay was about five days, because Edward needed antibiotics to prevent infection following the meconium inhalation. Those five days felt like the longest of my life! They had been extremely stressful for Scott too, trying to work and look after the kids and household. Returning home was so amazing – it made me realise (even more than I already did) how much I love home and a stable, routine life, with my husband and kids nearby.

Lessons

It’s not an experience I want to repeat, but Edward’s birth probably taught me a lot. For one thing, I can certainly sympathise a lot more with those who have had operations or hospital stays! But my overall feeling when I look back on the whole experience is gratitude. For Edward’s life, for medicine and doctors, for the blessings of family and good health, for the support of church, extended family and friends. I’m so thankful that God was watching over the whole situation and for the way he uses difficult situations to grow us! And now, a year later, it makes the birthday celebration all the more special!