Birth Story

When we began thinking about starting a family, we decided to schedule a preconception appointment. Danny knew that Quincy wanted a natural childbirth at a birth center followed by a midwife. We went to the appointment and knew that was where we wanted to have our pain medication free, water birth. Quincy had always told Danny that she wanted a September baby so that was also included in their plans. Throughout our pregnancy, we researched what we wanted for our birth. Our birth plan included delayed cord clamping, a water birth at the birth center, no pain medication, support of two doulas, immediate skin to skin, a birth playlist during labor, catching our baby ourselves, and much more. We attended natural childbirth education classes over the weeks leading up to Quincy’s due date and Quincy read books on natural childbirth. We read to our baby, prepared the nursery, and began feeling excited for the big event of our child’s birth. No matter how much we researched and planned, we could not have anticipated the events that lead to us finally bringing our beautiful baby home.

September 13: Due date given by the ultrasound technician.

September 20: Original due date

September 25: Quincy first experienced contractions but they were minor and not regular at all.

September 26: Contractions continued but were not painful or regular still.

September 27: Contractions ramped up over the course of the day in intensity and averaged roughly ten minutes apart. We began tracking them at 3 AM and did not sleep after that. They first became painful in the early evening. This was the first day of work that Danny took off. During the day, we went to Costco to get snacks for labor, went out to lunch at Hop Jack’s, and took a walk at the Silverdale Waterfront. We started to let our parents and siblings know that it was finally happening. Chloe, Quincy’s sister, drove up from Utah with her dog, River, as soon as she found out.

September 28: Contractions intensified throughout the night so much that we were not able to sleep. Contractions averaged roughly eight minutes apart throughout the day and night but they were still not regular at all. We had an appointment at Salmonberry that was scheduled for 4:00 PM but we called and got our appointment moved up to 10:45 AM because Quincy was in so much pain. When we got there, they let us lay down in the birth suite while we waited for our midwife, Holly Campbell. Holly did a cervical check on Quincy and informed us that although the baby was low, her cervix was still posterior and she had no way of telling how dilated she was. She suspected that maybe the baby’s head was pushing down in an area that prevented labor from progressing. To stimulate baby movement, she asked the acupuncturist that was there to help. She showed Danny how to do moxa (a traditional Chinese medicine therapy using burning dried, rolled herbs to stimulate healing and move the baby into proper position for labor) on the outside of Quincy’s feet. As soon as that started, the baby noticeably started moving more. The acupuncturist also inserted roughly twenty needles into Quincy’s hand, face, and ear. This helped her get about an hour or two of rest and temporarily relieved the shooting pains down her legs. Before we left, the acupuncturist put small patches with needles in them on some of the same spots she had placed the larger needles. We went home to rest. Pain intensified throughout the night and we were not able to sleep again.

September 29: At about 3:00 AM we called Mandy, who was the student doula of Kristina Kruzan because Kristina was not available. She offered to come to our apartment to try “Spinning Babies”. When she got there she had Quincy go through about three contractions in each of four positions that were designed to get the baby into a better position. Quincy’s chiropractor and about three other chiropractors in the area were all out of town but Kristina got us in with one at Pro Sport and Spine in Gig Harbor around 11:00 AM. We asked Chloe to come with us, so she met us there on her way to Karli and Jeff’s in Quincy, WA. The chiropractor, Josie Ball, was 33 weeks pregnant herself. She was very friendly and was able to temporarily relieve some of Quincy’s pelvic discomfort. She also put KT tape on Quincy’s stomach for support and prescribed Arnica cream and tablets for muscle and joint pain. When we got home, Quincy took a bath with the lights off, candles burning, and an aromatherapy bubble bath product Danny got Quincy for her birthday. Danny laid down next to her on the ground and we were both able to rest a little between contractions. Pain became so intense that we called our midwife, Holly, and she recommended that we come to Salmonberry at 6:00 PM to do another exam and explore options. We invited our moms and both doulas to come after the exam. The exam showed that her cervix was still posterior and that she had made little to no progress in terms of dilation. We decided to go to Harrison Hospital in Silverdale in an attempt to get therapeutic rest by taking morphine and trying to sleep. Our plan was to gain strength through sleeping and then getting discharged to have our natural birth at Salmonberry. When we checked in, we met Dr. Barbour. He had a cold personality and made us very uncomfortable about being there. He seemed to be hard of hearing and he also talked very quietly. The nurses assigned to our room were very friendly (especially Alik). They gave Quincy morphine for rest after two to three hours of being there which did not help reduce the pain of the contractions at all.

September 30: At about 6:00 AM, Dr. Barbour came in our room and said that the contractions were causing the baby’s heart rate to dip which was concerning enough that if he saw that pattern continue for another few minutes, he would rush us to the O.R. where we would have an emergency C-Section. Danny called everyone to tell them to come down to the hospital right away. We waited for Dr. Barbour to come back and tell us what was going to happen but we did not see him again for another couple of hours. When our photographer, Ashley Grimes, got to the hospital she told us that she overheard the doctor talking about how the baby’s heart rate was showing signs of improvement and that we probably would not need to have an emergency C-Section after all. Shortly after this, and finding out that Quincy was still only 2 centimeters dilated, we decided that Quincy was suffering so much that she needed to get an epidural. This relieved some of the pain temporarily. At 9:00 AM, Dr. Barbour changed shifts with Dr. Bird. She was an improvement over Dr. Barbour in that she was not the worst person we have ever met. Quincy was in so much pain still that they were concerned the epidural was not working properly. A second anesthesiologist came to undo the previous procedure and put in another epidural. This worked temporarily again but Quincy was still in excruciating pain. The anesthesiologist came back in to test the epidural’s effectiveness and was shocked that not only did Quincy still have movement and feeling in her legs, but she could kick both legs up almost as easily as she could before she got an epidural. Around 11:00 AM, Dr. Bird came in and said that we had three options: 1) Continue waiting it out and hope that labor starts becoming active and actually initiates dilation. 2) Ramp up Pitocin to initiate stronger and more frequent contractions. 3) Get a C-Section. She said the benefit to choosing the C-Section right away was that it would be more controlled and the likelihood of having to be put under for the surgery was less, the sooner we decided to do it. We asked everyone to go outside so we could discuss the options. Quincy had not slept for over 80 hours at this point so she had to have the options repeated several times. While we were deciding, the nurse in charge of our room that day, Laura, came in and talked to us about the lack of risk in trying the second option and trying to get the epidural dosage ramped up while the Pitocin was being administered. She talked us into that option because she said there were no drawbacks to at least trying it before the C-Section option and because we really wanted to have a vaginal birth. After trying that for a couple of hours, the epidural wore off and Quincy was in the most intense pain of her labor. Before going in for the C-Section she asked to be checked one more time. Dr. Bird performed the exam and told her that she was 9 cm dilated! Quincy decided to keep going because she was so close. She was in agony for about an hour before it was time to start pushing. They gave her the go ahead to start pushing around 2:40. She would do three pushes per contraction and was coached on how exactly to do that by Laura and Dr. Bird. She pushed much faster than expected and at 2:52 PM, Dr. Bird told Quincy to take a breather. Quincy did not hear her (or did not want to hear her) and pushed as hard as she could. Lennon was caught by Dr. Bird, who did not even have time to put on her gloves. In Lennon’s first few minutes in the world, he was put skin to skin with Quincy while Danny put on Beautiful Boy by John Lennon. Quincy was able to request delayed cord clamping as well. Lennon weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces. All three of us were able to spend the night together in a new hospital room even though Lennon had to be under a warmer throughout the night.

October 1: While Danny was making a call right outside of the room in the morning, our nurse came in and told Quincy that because of a possible infection, Lennon would have to be taken to a special care nursery immediately. When they rolled Lennon in his crib out of the door, Quincy told Danny to follow and stay with him so he would not feel alone. When they got there, they explained that they were worried about a possible infection because his body temperature was consistently too low and that he was also dehydrated. They tried about five times to insert an IV into him in different locations but every time they got the needle in a vein, the vein would burst. On the sixth try they were able to get an IV inserted into the opposite side of his elbow to administer fluids and the first dose of antibiotics. However, when it was time to give him the second dose of antibiotics, the IV was no longer working. They tried to start a new IV ten times in the hand, foot, and head but each time, the vein burst.

October 2: The nurses said the morning crew would try to get the IV in again when they got there but he needed the antibiotics now. They administered the second dose through a series of three shots in his thighs at 1:30 AM. All of the shots and IV attempts up to this point, Lennon handled without crying but these shots made him scream out in pain. At 8:30 AM, the morning shift nurses tried a few more times to get an IV going without the vein bursting but they were unsuccessful. They informed us that the only other option to get him fluids and antibiotics was to install an umbilical catheter. This would be an operation that would consist of cutting off the umbilical cord to a point where two veins and/or an artery would be visible. At that point they would feed a catheter line through any of those three options and it would travel downwards, curl up, wrap around the liver, and end near his heart. The nurse told us the biggest risk of the operation was that the catheter could slide out of the vein or artery and puncture the liver. Also, Harrison Hospital did not have the monitoring capabilities that were necessary for a baby that was this risky, once the procedure was complete. This meant that he would have to be transferred in an ambulance to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. The operation was performed by April Morris while one of the nurses, Tamie, assisted and made sure that Lennon was doing okay. The operation began at 10:00 AM. Lennon was awake and alert throughout and did not seem to be in any discomfort according to Tamie. We were in the room during the procedure but we had to stay about 15 feet away because it was a sterile procedure. Lennon was covered completely by surgical pads so we could not see him. We spent the roughly 45 minutes the procedure took trying to read the facial expressions of April and Tamie. Near the end of the procedure, April gave us a thumbs up to indicate the procedure was a success. After this, x-rays were taken of his torso and minor adjustments were made by April. The procedure was complete and the ambulance was called for at 11:00 AM. While we waited for the ambulance, Russ, Quincy’s dad, brought over some food for us. Danny also was able to walk him down to the special care nursery to see Lennon for the first time. The ambulance arrived at 2:00 PM and they spent an hour loading him into an incubator, having us sign paperwork, and loading him into the ambulance. They said that Quincy was not allowed to ride in the back of the ambulance but that she could follow in the car with Danny or ride in the front of the ambulance. We decided to ride together and we followed closely behind. We parked the car and found the NICU. Before they let us in, they made us wash our hands for three minutes. Quincy went first and went inside. Danny spent the three minutes washing his hands and trying to look inside to see if anyone looked concerned. When we both were there, everyone was in good spirits. We met Kim Carson, who was our first nurse at St. Joseph, who told us that Lennon looked like a very healthy baby to them. We also met Dr. Welty right away who put our minds at ease as well. They put us in a curtained off section of the NICU that only had room for the monitoring station for the baby and a chair. Kim saw how stressed we were and told Quincy about how her son had to be transferred to the NICU right after he was born too and that he is about to turn 27, he is graduating from medical school, and that he was best friends with her throughout their lives. She told Quincy that our little boy was going to be fine and that they would be best friends throughout their lives too. They performed various tests throughout the night including an EKG. Lennon was under a warmer and was hooked up to several monitors. He needed help to be picked up and to have his diaper changed because if the umbilical catheter came out, the doctor said it would spurt blood everywhere. The charge nurse in the night crew, Cody, was especially helpful. We were given a room to sleep in with a shower that night. Danny went back to the car to get all of the bags. He realized after he exited the hospital that every door was locked from the inside except for the Emergency Room door at the opposite end of the hospital.

October 3: We were able to get about three hours of sleep in the morning before we were told that they needed the room back. We did get to use a sleep room that had a bed and enough room to put our things. At 10:00 AM we were invited to attend an all staff meeting about Lennon. Dr. Welty led the meeting and it was also attended by the nurse assigned to us at the time, a nutritionist, a lactation specialist, a physician’s assistant, a pharmacist, a social worker, and several others. Everyone took turns explaining various aspects of Lennon’s health based off of their specialty. We learned that Lennon suffered a kidney injury from the dehydration and antibiotics. The doctor decided that the umbilical catheter had to come out today because it also could be contributing to his kidney injury. We also learned that a test for an infection came back negative and that as a result, no more antibiotics would be administered. To combat the dehydration, the plan was for Quincy to breastfeed, supplement with formula as needed, and pump, every two to three hours. The EKG results were not overly concerning to Dr. Welty but he said he would have a cardiologist look at it to make sure. Shortly after the meeting, they moved us from the curtained off section of space into an isolation room. This was a more spacious room that had a reclining chair and actual walls. Danny’s parents texted us that they took the day off of work and were going to hang out in Tacoma just to be close in case we needed anything. We asked for several things at the store including some things that were supposed to stimulate breast milk production (they went to three different stores to find the kind of oatmeal cookies Quincy liked), slippers, and notebooks so we could stay organized with all of this new information we were getting about Lennon. They were able to come see Lennon one at a time but were not able to touch him. Later that night, after days of frustration, Quincy’s breast milk started coming in. She used a dropper to get every drop she could into the cup they needed to store it in. When Danny brought it to our nurse, Yazmine, her and all of the nurses that knew Quincy started cheering for her. At 7:00 PM, Victoria took over for Yazmine as our nurse. Both Yazmine and Victoria were extremely kind and helpful. Victoria was a nurse that went to UW and had only been working at St. Joseph for a couple of weeks. She talked with us quite a bit throughout the night.

October 4: At 1:00 AM, Danny went to go find some food to drop off in the sleep room. When he came back to the NICU, Lennon was in the clothes we bought for him for the first time. At 7:00 AM, Kim Carson, took over as our nurse again. She requested to be assigned to us because she promised yesterday that she would help give Lennon his first bath. At the 10:00 AM meeting with the staff, we were informed that Lennon would need an ultrasound on his kidneys and that his urine output was not good enough to be discharged at this time. They were also waiting on a couple of other test results and felt that another 24 hours of monitoring would be a good idea. Dr. Welty also mentioned that it would be a good thing if we were able to actually see him pee while changing him to make sure everything was normal. Everyone congratulated Quincy on her breast milk production after the lactation consultant updated everyone. At 11:00 AM, Kim and Quincy gave Lennon his first bath while Danny filmed it and took pictures. Kim said that she would give us her signature bubble bath, which no other nurse in the NICU did apparently. After the bath, Lennon peed on Kim and all three of us cheered Lennon on and were so happy that he did it. Brenda and Russ came to visit and have dinner with us that night in the cafeteria. They were also able to see him one at a time but did not touch him. At 7:00, we said goodbye to Kim and she spent about 45 minutes talking to Quincy mostly about how she thought Quincy should become a nurse. Victoria took over during the night shift again. Quincy slept in the sleep room while Danny slept on the recliner. Every two hours or so when Lennon woke up, Danny would call Quincy to come down and feed him. The roughly five hours of sleep we got that night was the most we had since Quincy went into labor.

October 5: Yazmine took over for Victoria at 7:00 AM. At the morning meeting, they discussed how Lennon’s urine output was much better and that everything they had been monitoring during the day looked normal. Dr. Welty decided that we needed to schedule follow-up appointments for his kidneys and heart but also that we were able to go home today. The process of getting discharged took several hours but we were able to take Lennon home that evening for the first time.

We are so blessed and fortunate to finally have Lennon home with us. It has been quite a process coming to terms with the natural childbirth that we did not obtain. So many aspects of our birth did not go as planned from the location, the pain medication, the providers, and Lennon’s health afterward. We also had to supplement with formula and use pacifiers to soothe Lennon while he was having to undergo various painful procedures. One of our nurses in the NICU told us that “It is all about perspective.” We are focusing on all of the positives that came out of this experience and the components of our birth plan that we were able to achieve. We learned so much about parenting and about ourselves over the last few weeks. Despite all of our planning, Lennon came into this world on his own terms and we are so blessed to have him.