Shane's Birth Story

My sweet little Shane got his name, which means "God is gracious" because Brian and I truly felt the Lord's hand of grace and protection over us during the birth of our first son. It is a very personal story to me. I love the miraculous beauty in Shane's birth story because you can see the hand of God on my son's life. Today I am sharing about how my eldest, spirited, charismatic son came into the world because it is a testament to God's grace in our lives. Shane's entire birth was nothing like I planned but I always saw God in control and His perfect plan taking place. We had the right doctors, the right nurses, the right time to bring Shane into the world. 

Throughout my pregnancy with Shane I measured small. I struggled with morning sickness and lost weight at the beginning even with medication. I was measuring 5 weeks behind at my 37 week appointment which urged my midwife to talk to me about some possible concerns. She did an ultrasound in the room that day and saw that Shane was still sitting breach on top of her concerns of him measuring small. She suggested the following week, if Shane had not made significant growth, that we do a more in depth ultrasound to see what was going on and possibly try and turn Shane. 

The following week we had a snow storm. Brian and I lived in a conversion zone so the local weather is a bit more exaggerated where we were. Brian was home that day but even with snow tires and a SUV he did not think it was safe to drive. We called our midwife and talked to her on the phone to see if we should try and come in. In the end, as Shane was still kicking and moving, we decided to hold off on our appointment and stay at home.

At my 38 week appointment I was told that Shane had flipped head down but he was continuing to measure small. Shane was measuring 32 weeks and I was asked to stay for an open ultrasound appointment that day. I waited for 3 hours  and I was never able to be fit in so I was asked to come back first thing on Monday. That weekend I felt at peace because my midwife had not given me much cause for concern and we prayed and prayed for Shane's health. I believe in the power of prayer.

I went in on Monday by myself because Brian had started work up again at a desk job after 6 weeks off from an injury. We wanted him to get as many days of work in as he could because he had take so much time off. The moment the nurse asked me if anyone would be joining me for my ultrasound I felt my heart drop a bit with worry. I had never really been concerned up until that question and that moment. Once the ultrasound started I saw my sweet baby up on the screen and then nurse began to check his measurements. She measure his head which she said was fine, his legs and arms which she said was fine, then she measured his belly and paused. I read on the screen that his little belly was 30 weeks which I knew was not where I should be at. Then the nurse moved onto my placenta and I saw a scale of colors. My placenta should have been vivid with color but all I saw was a lot of black, and the lower functioning colors on parts. The nurse immediately excused herself from the room, was gone for a couple of minutes, then came back in and asked me if I had an appointment that day. I knew something was wrong.

After my ultrasound I checked in with the front desk who said to head on home and come back tomorrow for a follow up at my 39 week appointment as opposed to waiting two hours for an ultrasound consult. I hesitantly drove home feeling a bit uneasy but was reminding myself that I would get a call if anything was wrong. On my drive home I had a call but I missed it. The call had been from my midwife. Her message said "Heather, I am calling with the results of your ultrasound and need you to give me a call back so we can...talk about the plan." I called her back and she was on lunch. 

When my midwife called me back she told me simply that "it was time for baby to be born" and I needed to get myself back to the hospital now. I asked if I could wait for Brian and was told I needed to be there within the hour. Shane was ok but I needed to be monitored and have him today. I immediately called Brian, burst into tears, and told him to meet me at the hospital. I thought I could drive myself but decided to call a good friend because I was feeling emotional. Brian beat us there and I met my midwife at the door with two sweet nurses who walked me right past triage and exam rooms and into a birthing suite. I was told that I was going to be induced, everything was OK, and I would be monitored the entire time to make sure Shane was ok. At this point I never even bothered to ask what was actually wrong I was just focused on having this baby. I was given an IV with Pitocin and waited for labor to start. I was oddly at peace with everything which is not in my nature when I don't have the why behind the what. 

After 17 hours I was still at the same stage as I was when I came in. I was having a lot of strong contractions back to back and by 7 am I was exhausted from being up all night, my body was tired from 9 hours of strong contractions, and I had taken no pain reducers at this point only two rounds of Pitocin. The nurse finally urged me to take a narcotic just so I could sleep a short while. I weighed the pros and cons and decided it was what my body needed so I took one round of a narcotic despite my plan for a natural birth. It was a weird feeling of being out of my body for about an hour and just took the edge of for a short nap. At 8:30 am I was starting to feel contractions again. My midwife was back from the night off and in the room with me. I LOVED my midwife. She talked a bit with me about how my body was resisting labor and said that we can up the Pitocin, have a c section, or try for a couple more hours with a 2 pm deadline. I was still right where I had been when I came in and feeling frustrated.

At 10 am I asked for another round of narcotics and to be given an epidural because at 2 pm, like it or not, I was going to be having an epidural for my c section. I had an intern anesthesiologist and after two tries that were not the most comfortable she got my epidural started. By 11:20 I was feeling pain free and though I was concerned about the medicine hurting Shane, I was really loving the fact that I could talk and breath again. Apparently and epidural was exactly what my body needed. I responded so well that after one hour and a half hours my body progressed all it needed to be ready to deliver. Brian had gone out in the hallway and after checking me the nurse went running after him to come on back in. 

I pushed with Shane for about 19 minutes and it was painless, easy, and a super amazing experience. I was so excited to be a mom and when he was born I thought I could be at ease. The moment Shane was born my midwife held him up and it was silent. My midwife said to call the NICU and worked on Shane with some suction, back patting, and the news she got him breathing. I got to take a quick peek at him and kiss his forehead and he was taken upstairs in Brian's arms. I sat downstairs in recovery for about 2 hours wondering what Shane looked like and how he was. Brian sent me a few pictures and told me Shane was in an open incubator but needing respiratory support and his body temperature was being monitored.   

After about 2 hours I was wheeled upstairs to see Shane. Brian was holding his hand and he said that he wanted to name him Shane because it was what he looked like to him. At that point Brian could have named our son anything he wanted but I loved the name meaning "God is gracious" because it fit our son's story.  You can read more about his name here. We spent some time as a family of three and after 4 hours in the NICU Shane was discharged and I brought him downstairs. We introduced him to his grandparents and great grandparents and I got to spend about two hours with Shane downstairs. I was tired and wanted to be able to rest but after everyone had gone my sister wanted to stop by and Brian needed some food so we welcomed one last visitor for the day. While Rachel and I were talking, I was holding Shane and nurse came in to do a quick check. I was told Shane needed to head back upstairs to the NICU.

Shane spent a total of six full days in the NICU and it was a roller coaster! Adapting to a new baby with an extended hospital stay was challenging and a blessing all in one. The nurses were so helpful and kind. I learned so much about how to care for Shane, much more than if he had been in the maternity wing. However, it is challenging not being able to hold your baby or holding them with tubes and wires on their tiny little bodies. Additionally, sleeping and trying to get yourself fed in the NICU is a challenge so it makes an already sleep deprived season all the more challenging.

Shane as born at 5 lbs 10 oz and 19 and 1/4 inches long at 1:32 pm. He had Asymmetrical Intrauterine Growth Restriction due to low placental dopplers which caused his little body to be hypoglycemic because his pancreas had not fully formed. If we had waited to deliver Shane I was told he would have been a still born. Shane struggled to eat, regulate his body temperature, breath, and had several blood sugar crashes because of the hypoglycemia. It was amazing that a little IV of sugar water (simply put) was keeping our son from having was looked like seizures and allowing his body temperate and breathing to regulate. We had the most wonderful doctor who worked with us on keeping Shane's weight (which dropped to 5lbs) where it should be and we worked on supplementing his feedings with fortified breast milk from a bottle. Shane came home on Superbowl Sunday and when the rest of our state was glued to a TV cheering my little family was celebrating the day we got to take our son home! God is truly gracious!