Everett Solomon Hakooz Cary
The Cary FamilyAt some point during the pregnancy we looked into the Bradley Method classes. The Bradley Method was developed by Dr.Bradley and is a method of natural childbirth. Teachers of the method believe with the support of a coach (husband/spouse), education and adequate preparation, women can give birth naturally and without drugs.
We signed up for the 12 week class and felt we made the right decision for our family. Our instructor was very informative and always gave us the pros and cons of anything and everything that could happen. It was great to obtain the knowledge of all of our options. We live in a culture that is more accepting of the drug method that most people could not believe I was planning on giving birth without drugs. We knew that a medical/drug intervention may be necessary, we just didn't want to automatically make that choice.
My labor started on Monday evening with mild pre-labor contractions. They continued to the next day and started to be consistent. We were very hopeful that active labor would start that evening. That Tuesday, Everett was 5 days overdue and we had an appointment with our midwife. I was still 1cm dilated, same as the week before. We had an ultrasound that day as well, and the water level was good and our baby was healthy. We left the office hoping things would continue to progress.
Since our goal was to have him naturally we also tried natural methods of induction. One of them was acupuncture which may have been what helped get things moving along. The contractions started to taper off Tuesday afternoon, but we knew that might happen from the acupuncture. The contractions started again Wednesday morning around 3am. I started tracking them when they were getting more intense and consistent around 5:30am. The contractions quickly progressed from 8-10 minutes apart to 3-4 minutes apart for about a 20 minute duration, around 9:30am. We called Annette, our doula, and she said to see what happens in the next 30 minutes. We started to get ready as if we were leaving for the hospital just in case. About five minutes after getting off the phone with Annette, my water broke. We immediately called our midwife and headed out the door for the hospital.
Once we arrived at the hospital I was checked and sure enough my water had broken. I was placed on the fetal monitor and my labor room was being prepared. Annette arrived shortly after I was placed in my room. At this time the contractions were steadily in the range of 3-4 minutes apart. Once I reached 5 cm I was allowed to go into the tub. I had wanted to labor in the water and hoped for a water birth. I labored all day and around 8:00 pm I was 8 cm dilated. When I was checked, he had still not moved down into my pelvis. Based on how far along I was in dilation his head should have been facing my back, instead of my hip. We worked with Annette to labor in positions that would help move his head in order to get him in the proper position. About an hour later, I was at 9 cm but his head had not moved and his heart rate was decreasing too low with each contraction. We made the decision to do a C-Section for Everett's safety. I was quickly moved into the OR room for an epidural and surgery.
We are so delighted to have this beautiful baby boy, and he has already filled our lives with such joy and amazement. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband, who stood by my side through 12 hours of hard labor and surgery to get our baby into the world safely.
Here is a link to photos of Everett's birthday and first couple of days at home.
Love,
Natasha, Josh and Everett
