Baby Uriah's Birth Story - June 04, 2015

I wish that I had been keeping up a pregnancy blog while I was pregnant, but oh well! Maybe next go around!

June 04, 2015 will forever remain one of the most special days of my life. Even with years (hopefully!) ahead of me, I can say with assurance that the day my son was born will always be a cherished day I hold close to my heart. 

Being that Rob and I were a bit older when we got married, we decided that we wanted to try to have kids right away. It's one of those things in the back of my head that I was always worried about - the fact that you never really know if you'll have a hard time getting pregnant until you're actually trying to get pregnant. Luckily, by September, we discovered that we were expecting our first baby - a BOY! Since the time that we found out, Rob and I had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our precious son.

Uriah, on the other hand, was having SUCH a good time in heaven that he took his sweet ol' time (and I'm pretty sure they had to nudge him out!) getting here. Uriah's original due date was May 28, 2015. Well, that day was absolutely and frustratingly normal, and came and went as any other day. Keep in mind, at 39 weeks, I started trying to facilitate the process by any possible suggestion my midwives, sisters, friends, or random internet posts provided! Despite my efforts, Uriah was in no hurry. As a result, my OB/GYN decided to schedule an induction date of June 03. Funnily enough, at about 10 am on June 03, I started having regular contractions about every 10 mins apart. At about 1pm, it got closer to 5 mins apart and we got ready to head to the hospital, but they started spreading out again. Since we were to be induced later that afternoon (5pm), we decided to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Bird. We were there for a few hours (our visits, even if intended to be short, always end up longer at that house - and we love that!), then left in time to get to the hospital at 5. 

When we got to the hospital, the nurse wanted to hold off on the induction since my contractions were regular and my cervix was softening. Within the first few hours of my hospital stay, I was making progress, but at about 130am, my progression halted. My midwife suggested I walk around for an hour to try to break my water and softening of the cervix. I was absolutely not thrilled at that prospect since I was still having regular contractions, and they were getting painful. Lucky for me, I have an ultra assertive husband who, upon hearing that suggestion, said, "Absolutely not. We want to use the pitocin." MY HERO! 

Before pitocin came the epidural. The epidural was not only painful while being administered, BUT the anesthesiologist literally couldn't find the right "space" for the needle and, as a result, took about 20 minutes to finally stick me properly. Keep in mind, while getting an epidural, it is imperative that you stay as still as possible because they are dealing with your spine and could cause serious injury if it hits a wrong spot. Every time the epidural needle went in, I could feel the needle go in deep until it "zinged" my spine. The lady was asking "do I need to move it to the left, right, or does it feel centered?" Um.....you are relying on me to determine that? SCARY. I wish that I wasn't so concentrated on not moving during contractions because I probably would've taken her name down for reference. She chalked it up to my bones being really closely fused together, and said she needed to try another area. FINALLY, she got it and within a matter of minutes, I was feeling much better! (and by feeling much better, i mean I was feeling NOTHING. lol.) My entire lower left side was like a tree stump...a 2,000 pound, water logged, dead tree stump. Just how I wanted it! As the nurses came by to check my dilation and move positions in hopes of helping Uriah move down to the birth canal, they were left to their own devices to get my left leg bent. My right side was not much better, but at least I could help a little with the movement there.  

The nurses and doctors tried everything to get stubborn Uriah down into the right position/the birth canal, but Uriah was not having it. Despite moving me from side to side every half hour and bending my legs with pillows propping me up, despite the pitocin, despite my water breaking (nurse checking my cervix "accidentally"? popped it while checking my dilation), and despite my contractions being strong and close together, Uriah was still too high up in my stomach and as a result, my doctor determined my progress was at a stand-still at about 6:30pm on June 04, 2015. She suspected that Uriah's head was too large for the birth canal, and she was right - he has consistently been in the 98% for head measurements at his checkups since birth. With our options limited, Rob and I agreed to a c-section to get Uriah out.

The C-section was a blur and seemed to go really fast. Although I was heavily drugged up, I do distinctly remember that the c-section surprised me with how much it still hurt even with anesthesia and my epidural in full force. I think because Uriah was still so high, it was particularly painful because they had to "push" Uriah down to the incision site to get him out. I vividly recall the doctors applying forceful pressure on my stomach, then tugging to get the baby out (Rob seems to recall at one point the doctor appeared propped up on the table to apply downward pressure) to the point where I had tears rolling down my face. Once I felt the "pop" of the baby being out, and heard that first cry, though, I had an immediate relief and distraction from the tugging and pulling to reorganize my insides and seal my incision up. At 8:15 p.m., Uriah La`ahia Taylor made his debut into this bright, cold, and foreign world weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches in length. 

What's in a name? 

Uriah: A valiant, loyal, and brave warrior in the Bible. Literally translates to "the Lord is my light/fire." Rob has loved this name for years, and the name really grew on me. It was a toss up between Elijah and Uriah, but during my third trimester, I knew that his name would be Uriah. While I loved Elijah, I felt nothing when I talked to the baby and used the name Elijah. Uriah was innately right.

La`ahia - a sacred desire or delight set apart for a specific, consecrated time. La`ahia has definitely lived up to his name, as he has determined when he entered this world despite concerted efforts to bring him earlier throughout homeopathic and medical interventions. Additionally, we found out that we were expecting while in Michigan for Rob's father's funeral. What was such a sad, emotionally heavy experience was blessed with hope and love when we discovered the next generation Taylor was on his way to us. We were so happy to be able to leave our grieving family with such exciting, happy news.

Rob brought baby Uriah up next to me and laid him on my chest while the surgeons finished my procedure. Despite being high as a kite, I remember crying tears of happiness this time, and felt an instant and intense love the moment Uriah was next to me. 

Recovery for the surgery was about an hour. I started shaking violently and uncontrollably, and remember shivering and feeling very cold. They put a warm blanket on me and within a matter of minutes I started feeling better. Apparently, I lost a lot of blood to the point where they were monitoring me for a blood transfusion even into the next day, but thankfully, everything leveled out and my recovery went probably as good as one can expect considering major abdominal surgery. Throughout our hospital stay, the staff at Castle hospital was so accommodating and helpful, and I truly hope that I am in Hawaii for my next baby so I can deliver there again. 

Uriah and Rob are my greatest blessings in this life. Even after 34 hours of labor and all of the hiccups along the way, at the end of it all, I have the most precious, sweet baby that I've been entrusted to care for and love. I love you son and look forward to so many more happy and exciting years with you!