Isaac John Dunford

He is finally here!! Isaac John Dunford was born (September 13, 2008) at 1:50am after 43 long hours of labor! He was named after Jonathan's great-great-great grandfather who was the first Dunford to immigrate to America. He's healthy and doing great, and we're excited for this new addition to our family.

We wanted to share the full story with those who haven't heard it yet. We arrived at the hospital Wednesday evening to start the induction process AGAIN. The cervidil actually worked this time and when I woke up the next morning, I was 80% effaced rather than 50%. Even before they removed the cervidil, I started contracting. After discussing the matter with my midwife, we decided to continue naturally without Pitocin to see how I would be able to handle contractions on my own. Gratefully, I seemed to be doing well. I was up to 2 cm by 12pm, 4 cm by 4pm (active labor), and 6 cm by 6pm - I was so excited to be doing it by myself! (which proved to be in vain - read on).

My contractions started to become more irregular and by 8 pm I was still 6 cm dilated. It was frustrating for me, especially because I was feeling every contraction and not getting credit for it. At this point, I was faced with a tough choice - do I start pitocin, break my water, or continue on by myself?

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I decided to hold off on the epidural and continue to endure the contractions. By midnight, though, nothing had changed at all. I was exhausted! I had been going on my own for 17 hours and had had maybe 2 hours of rest the night before. My midwife wanted to break my water and I was scared to do it without meds. We debated whether to use morphine or get an epidural. The morphine was not going to be as productive at this point in my labor and I wouldn't be able to get the rest I needed because it would only take the edge of the contractions. On the other hand, I was very scared of the epidural and had of course researched all the pros and cons. In the end however, I really needed my sleep and decided to get the epidural so that I could have rest and energy for pushing the next day. It was so difficult to have everything changing all at once. I had certain expectations of what I wanted my labor to be like. In the end I decided that I was so happy that I was able to get this far on my own and had experienced laboring on my own that I was okay to get the extra help I needed. It was also so good to make this decision with Jonathan. He was so supportive and concerned for my well being.

I was immediately prepped for the inevitable epidural. I was scared out of my mind!! I knew exactly what they were going to do and knew mentally that it wasn't a big deal. However, I wasn't prepared for it mentally and it didn't help when they rushed in saying they had to hurry because a lady was getting a c-section. My nurse had to fiddle with my IV, and in the process of being in a rush and moving me to prepare for the application of the epidural, it was pulled out! I had to get another IV. (It isn't the most comfortable procedure and this would have been the 3rd time) So between them rushing to place my IV and getting me "in position" my heart rate and blood pressure sky rocketed. I was so tense. Jonathan was right in front of me and trying to calm me down with all the nurses. It seemed like the procedure to took for ever but it ended up going well and I was prepared or the next leg of my labor process.

The next morning when I woke up, they checked me and I measured 8 cm, which was very encouraging. I was certain that the baby would come soon and he and Jackson, my nephew, would have the same birthday. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out the way I expected since I stayed dilated at an 8 from 8am until 6pm. The midwives said that it was a really good thing I decided to get an epidural with the way things went all day. They gave me pain meds throughout the day but I could tell when they were wearing off because I would feel the baby between my legs and having to start breathing through the pain of contractions. At 3:00 in the afternoon, Joanne, my midwife, said that due to the irregularity of the contractions even with the attempt to regulate with pitocin and the lack of progress I was a candidate for a c-section. I listened to her reasoning and the discussions she had with the OB/Gyn but I didn't want to do it. I asked her what the rate of VBAC's were and after she explained it to me, I mentioned that I was concerned about uterine scar tissue since I wanted to have at least 5-7 kids. If by chance I wasn't able to have a VBAC I wanted to know how that would impact my desire to have a large family.

The minute I mentioned this concern she stopped, looked at me, and her whole demeanor changed. Have I mentioned how much I love Joanne? (She has been the midwife I have seen through all my appointments and is absolutely wonderful. I was so grateful she was on call at this point of decision making in my labor.) From that moment on she became my advocate with the doctors and other midwives to make sure that everyone did everything they could to deliver vaginally. At this point, despite the amount of time it had taken me to progress from an 8, as far as I was concerned the epidural was keeping me comfortable and I could wait a little longer to see what would happen. I waited this long for my boy to come, I could keep waiting. (The baby was also a happy camper and was not showing any signs of distress) My body was working so hard I was exhausted. I kept falling asleep on people as they were talking to me and taking 1 1/2 naps throughout the day.

I finally reached a 9 at 6pm and got to a 9+ at 7:45pm!! I did it, I finally progressed! However, when Joanne checked me for the last time (her shift was ending) she said the baby's head wasn't placed right but she couldn't really tell what it was doing. He wasn't sunny-side up but he was coked to the side a bit. This may have an impact on my desire to push and the chances of a c-section increased because of it.

I rested in bed until I was asked to start pushing at 10pm. What a process. I knew that the midwives and doctor's were letting me practice pushing to see what would happen. I could tell that they were concerned and secretly thought that I would probably end up having a c-section anyway. This mentality had a huge impact on me. I was getting frustrated because I couldn't tell when I was having a contraction or feel the baby's head between my legs like i had earlier that day. I was also struggling to figure out where I was supposed to be pushing. The midwife manually mimicked the pressure of where I was supposed to push an I think I finally figured it out after an hour or so. Slowly but surely, the baby continued to creep forward, although the doctors were concerned that my uterus was running out of gas since this whole process had taken so long. When midnight started rolling around we talked about the possibility of a c-section, something I was not looking forward to at all. Fortunately, my doctors and midwives were amazing and continued to support me having this baby without a c-section. After 2 hours however, I started feeling the contractions coming on my own and I took charge of the pushing situation instead of depending on others. Also, finally the OB determined that his head was in the right position and I could keep going if I wanted to. This is all I needed to hear. From that moment on I didn't have doubts in the back of my head. I was gonna keep pushing and get him out!

At 1:20am, despite all my efforts, the doctors decided that enough was enough and that the baby needed to come out for my and the baby's safety. Since I was so close to having the baby, the doctors recommended that we pursue a vacuum delivery to get the baby out. Ten minutes later, I was in the operating room.

In the room, I had three contractions. Prior to the first contraction, they placed a suction cup on the baby's head. When the first contraction started, I pushed with everything I had and not much happened. On the second contraction the baby was so close to being out, but at the last second the suction cup came off the baby's head and made a huge POP sound. I was scared out of my mind. I didn't know what made the sound and thought something had happened to his head. Fortunately, Jonathan and my doula, Lindsay, were there to calm me down so I could get this baby out on the next contraction. When it finally came, I gave it everything I had and the baby's head came out. RELIEF!!

They took Isaac away to make sure he was okay since he had swallowed meconium and I had had an infection. Jonathan went over to be with him to take pictures while my doula, Lindsay, stayed with me while they gave me more epidural medication to numb my lungs and stitch up a third degree tear. I can't believe I still tore so badly after I had received an episiotomy. It took like a half an hour. After Isaac was checked out they weighed him. There was a gasp in the room when the scale said 11 lbs. 5 oz. My doc said he had never delivered a baby that large vaginally before. When I heard this I was secretly grateful that no one knew how big he was or else I never would have had this experience. They would have made me have a c-section.

After his weight check they dressed him up and took him to the NICU for tests. On their way out they brought him out to see me. I was getting frustrated because up to this point I had just seen his profile. This was still the case as they brought him over to me since I was flat on my back being worked on. He was so sweet!

I could go on...but I will just post pictures and add more info here and there! We love you all and are so grateful for all your love and support. It is so surreal to reflect on everything that happened. It was very long but we just took it one step at a time and are thankful that are sweet Isaac is so healthy. He is adorable and has a very sweet disposition.