Jacob Kyle Wiltshire

7 lb 13 oz
21 inches
7:35 pm 7/28/10

Well, Wednesday was interesting to say the least. Tuesday night they started trying to ripen the cervix to prepare for induction. They gave her three dose through the night...and NOTHING happened. That should have been the first sign that we were in for a wild ride.

They started the induction on Wednesday morning anyway. As soon as they started the Pitocin drip, Jacob's heart rate started dropping with each contraction. So they had to stop it for a while, then start it back slowly. The nurse finally figured out that the changes in the heart rate were not as drastic if Nancy was laying on her left side. Of course that meant that she had to lay on her left side, in the same position, without moving, for 12 hours. She did get an epidural as the contractions started hurting, but she was still pretty uncomfortable.

After 12 hours, when it became increasingly obvious that Jacob was fine as long as Nancy did not move or have strong contractions, but had problems any time she did, the doctor decided to do a c-section. The rest was a whirlwind. From the time they decided to do the c-section until they handed me Jacob in the OR was only about 45 minutes.

It turns out his umbilical cord was wrapped around both legs and his waist, and that he had twisted in the birth can and was facing upwards toward the front instead of toward the back. So there was no way he was coming out the old-fashioned way.

He has done well from the beginning, and is getting better with his feeding and napping. Him and mom will be home tomorrow.

Speaking of mom...

I have always known that I married an amazing woman, and that I am a very lucky guy...but the last few days she has absolutely amazed me. First of all, she was absolutely miserable all day on Wednesday, but she was so much tougher than I expected. We all had our moments during the stressful times when Jacob's heart rate would drop, but she did amazingly well, and was so much tougher than I would have been in her situation.

And she is an amazing mother. We both have been blessed enough to have wonderful parents, so it is only natural for her to be such a good mom. But she amazes me every minute.

That moment... when the doctor told me to stand up and look over the drape, and she held up that beautiful, coneheaded (from 12 hours being pressed against a defiant cervix) wrinkly, bloody, angry mess of a child up for us to see... is hard to describe. It definitely goes to the top of the list of the coolest things ever.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and well-wishes. They really helped us get through it. It was stressful and a hell of a long day, but in the end, my amazing, strong, tough, beautiful wife and I have a beautiful healthy baby boy.

So in the end, everything was perfect.

I'll post some more pictures when I get home.