My sister in law shares her trying but amazing labor and delivery testimony:
Colt Josiah Walker was born on Tuesday, April 28th at 6:48 p.m.
He weighed in at 8 lbs 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. I had been in labor for
seventy-two hours and pushed for almost four hours.
When Colt came out, he wasn’t breathing and had a severe cone head.
My husband, Aaron, was able to catch Colt as he came out and, after suctioning him, our midwife
immediately placed him on my chest. I held him for only three seconds, at most, when they took him
from me and started doing chest compressions; also, we heard a nurse say that there was “no heart rate”
and that they were going to begin “resuscitation.” During this time, I was crying so hard I felt like
I couldn’t breathe. Everyone in the room was crying as the nurses worked on Colt. Every time I tried to
look at my baby, one of the nurses would step in so I couldn’t see him. Aaron came over at one point
and just held me close and prayed for what seemed like thirty minutes. He was praying about how God
holds the universe and He holds our son in His hands, that we can Trust in Him with all of our heart,
lean not on our own understanding, and He will make our paths straight, and how we consider
it joy when we face trials because it produces perseverance and
makes us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Finally, our labor and delivery nurse came over and let us know that Colt was breathing.
He was rushed to the hospital nursery and Aaron followed. They were sticking him
with needles for blood cultures. He wasn’t crying, just grunting. They said there was possible
posturing, which basically meant they thought he was having seizures. We were told he needed to
be taken to the NICU at another hospital about forty-five minutes away. I asked to be transferred
with him and was informed that it was not hospital policy and I would have to stay where
I was. I told Aaron to go with Colt. Before they transported him to the NICU,
they brought him to me so I could hold him for about five minutes.
At nearly midnight on April 28th, Aaron met with the neonatologist
who updated him on where things were. They were watching the trauma to his head
(bruising, swelling, some lacerations), watching for seizure activity and generally
monitoring him. When he arrived at the NICU, he was put on oxygen, had an IV in his hand that
was shortly moved to his feet, and the next time Aaron saw him, it was in his head. Everything
we had planned was slowly getting thrown out the window. Aaron prayed with the NICU doctor
when he arrived at the hospital after being given updates on what could possibly happen over the
next few days, not knowing if we were going to stay for 4-5 days or for 2-3 weeks. The doctor
believed that all the symptoms were related to birth trauma, and he believed “as a man of prayer,”
as he said, that all the issues would resolve over time. He reminded us he did not have a
crystal ball but had been doing this for a while. He had ordered a CT scan of Colt’s head to see if
there was a brain bleed. Because there were some lacerations to his scalp, he also ordered a
couple of broad-spectrum antibiotics to combat infection, if any.
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On Wednesday morning, Colt’s head was already appearing to take shape.
He seemed alert, eyes were open quite a bit, and he was moving both arms (one of the initial
concerns was about his right arm). On Wednesday afternoon, I was discharged from the
hospital, and headed to the NICU. The results of the CT scan came back, showing one
and possibly a second fracture of the skull. The neonatologist asked
for a consult from a neurosurgeon.
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Thursday, an x-ray showed that Colt was not tolerating food very well.
They did not feed him for a day to allow his stomach to calm down. He also did not seem
to be regulating his body temperature very well and needed to be kept under the warmer.
The results of the culture came back and showed negative for an infection and antibiotics
were discontinued. The shape of his head continued to improve. By Thursday afternoon,
Colt’s body temperature was regulating well. He was active, grasping others’ fingers, and
he was turning toward voices. Over the next couple of days, he continued to improve.
On Saturday, his IV and feeding tube were taken out and he was only hooked up to
electrodes. Then finally, after what felt like forever, we were told Colt would be
able to leave. On Sunday, May 4th, we were able to take our sweet baby home.
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I switched providers when I was six months pregnant because the two hospitals
the birthing center was affiliated with didn’t accept my insurance. In my mind, I was thinking
the worst case scenario was that I’d hate to be transferred somewhere that we’d have to foot
all the bills. I was still pretty bummed. I’d dreamt of having my baby anywhere other than a
hospital and I pouted for days. On August 25th, 2015 I found out that the hospitals had always
accepted my insurance. I immediately knew that it was God’s plan for me to find a new
provider and labor at the new hospital with a new midwife. I honestly believe He knew my
deepest desire was to have a healthy baby and to birth Colt naturally. I’m positive that he knew
the outcome of my seventy-two hours of labor long before Colt was ever conceived. He knew
that if I’d stayed at the birthing center they would have called my labor at thirty hours, or maybe
even sooner, and I would have been rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section. I ended
up with a midwife who saw my strength and stubbornness and allowed me to keep going
which resulted in a ‘natural’ birth. I also believe that, even if I had given birth at the birthing
center, He knew Colt would need prompt medical attention and wouldn’t be able to have it
immediately if we weren’t already at a hospital.
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In the days following Colt’s birth, while he was in the NICU, I was sure that God had left
our sides and that he’d ignored every last wish that I’d had for my labor. We had prayed for nine
long months and he said no to nearly everything I had asked for. He didn’t care what I wanted.
I was so angry, upset, hurt and confused. Every time I looked at my sweet baby and saw tubes coming
out of his nose, IV’s in his head, and bruises all over his feet from where the nursing staff had
taken blood repeatedly, I questioned my faith. It took me a few days to know that those things
weren’t true. Now I know without a doubt that God never left our sides. He never abandoned us.
He was with us the whole time, cheering us on. He laughed, smiled, cried and ached with us. He was
able to see the bigger picture and saved me from the heartache that my selfish, worldly wants most
likely would have left me with. He knew what we really needed and that is why He said no.
Now I get to watch my baby grow up and I thank God for saying no.
