Baby Kathryn's Birth

Kathryn Rose Taylor

Monday, July 23, 2007

7 pounds, 2 ounces

20 inches

4:00 pm

The birth was very different than we had anicipated it being and much more dramatic! We arrived at the hospital around 2:15 and settled in to our room. The nurse came in to get things set up, give me my IV and start monitoring the baby and the contractions. After about 5 minutes, I started to get a little nervous because I could tell that the baby's heartbeat was going down pretty low with each contraction. The nurse seemed to be concerned too, and a couple other nurses came in to check on things. They started me on oxygen and wanted me to change positions to see if the baby would move. This was not helping, so I was really concerned at this point. The nurses were very calm though and very encouraging and of course Russ was as calm as can be (he is the opposite of me!). The heartbeat became very low and they had to quickly give me a shot to stop the contractions. This helped for a few minutes, but they were coming about every 2 minutes and were very strong. Thing were moving very fast. They called the doctor in and he broke my water and put something on top of the baby's head so they could get a more accurate heartbeat. My midwife arrived a few minutes later and I was so terrified at all that had gone on up to this point. I told her I didn't care what they did, just get the baby out fast to make sure she was ok. They immediately wheeled me into the OR and called in the team. All this happened within 30 seconds of me giving the ok. I was just praying frantically at this point that God would please protect my sweet baby. He was right there with us and giving me the strength that I needed. The baby's heartbeat came up during this point, so they were very encouraged by this. They prepped me very quickly for the c-section (no time for even an epidural) and administered general anesthia. I took 2 breaths of this and was out for the next 2 hours. They immedietaly preformed the c-section and Kathryn came out screaming. She was born at 4:00 pm and was very healthy. She weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long. The specialty pediatrics team was there to check her out. She scored an 8 out of 10 on her first APGAR test and then a 9 out of 10 on her second one. These are great scores considering all the trauma and stress that she had been through up until this point. They brought her in to see Russ right after this and said that she was perfect. They left her with him which was great encouragement to Russ because he knew they would not leave her with him if they were the least bit concerned. My parents arrived soon after that and they got to spend some good time with Kathryn and Russ. The doctors and nurses finished up my surgery and then I woke up around 6:00. I got to meet Kathryn then and see that she was absolutely perfect. Everything was fine after that and we were so very thankful. Our families were there to meet her and be with Russ and I. It took me a few hours to come out of it, but then I felt pretty good.

The Lord was so faithful to us that afternoon and definitely revealed to us how much He cares. Of course we always know and believe this, but sometimes it takes Him bringing us through some hard situations for us to really feel it. I am so thankful that I have the Lord to help me through these times. I honestly don't know what I would do without Him. He was walking with us every step of the way. I know He has a wonderful plan for Kathryn! I am also so thankful for Russ. He is the best husband in the entire world and is exactly what I need ~ support through anything, the calm when I am freaking out, the encouragement I need and my very best friend. The hospital staff was wonderful and worked so quickly to get Kathryn out of distress. I am still amazed when I think back on how everything seemed to happen at once and they were all so prepared. CMC Main is a great place to deliver a baby!


The doctor said that they couldn't find any reason why the labor was so stressful on Kathryn. We think she just didn't want to mess up her hair! The only explanation that they gave to us was that the location of the cord must have been pressed up against my uterus. With every contraction that I had, she would press up against the umbilical cord which would block off the oxygen to her. She didn't like labor any more than I did! Thankfully she didn't have to go through it for very long.

She came out screaming!

Kathryn Rose Taylor

Meeting Kathryn for the first time