FOUR!

What? A Mulligan on time?! Wow! He actually came on his due date. Well, it has been a long couple of days. We came into the hospital on Monday morning and found out that Julie was in "early labor." Around 1:15 p.m. they sent us home. So we went to lunch, then my allergy doctor's appointment, then we went home where Julie (around 4:15 p.m.) let out a bellow. I calmly said to her, "Well, let's wait till you have four or five more of those before we head back...." and in mid-sentence she let out another one. So I said, "I'll take the dog out and we will go." And back we went with stronger contractions and the hope of at least 1 cm of dialation. When we arrived, they hooked her back up to the monitors and her contractions were off the charts, but still very little dilation. They decided to admit her with the hopes of breaking her water. After many painful contractions at 8:30 they finally did break it.

When they did this, the doctor noticed that the baby had leaked a little of his first bowel movement and the baby's heart rate went from 140 to 125 to 112 to 101 to 99 to 86 to 77. These were the longest moments of my life...or so I thought. The doctor ordered a drug that would temporarily stop the contractions so the baby's heart rate could recover. It worked! After they saw that the baby was stable, they gave Julie a drug to start the contractions again to see if the baby could handle the stress of labor.

One of the major problems the doctor and nurses kept running into was how high the baby's head was from Julie's cervix. The contractions were getting stronger and stronger and talk about a c-section was brewing among the hospital staff. We decided it would be best for Julie at this point to get an epidural. The anesthesiologists said that the only way I would be allowed in the operating room, should Julie have a c-section, was if she had the epidural. So I left my wife who was on the brink of nausea and exhaustion and 20 minutes later I came back to a new woman. The nurses said it would be best for her to sleep. At 1:30 a.m. we hit the sack. At 3:00 a.m. we awoke to hear that Julie was 3.5 cm and progressing well.

At that point I could not sleep. I was wired for sound. Julie decided she would go back to sleep and I went for a walk in the lobby where I found Julie's parents. I sat down and watched TV with them for a while. I was interrupted by the nurse telling us that the baby's heart rate was not responding well to labor and they would have to do an emergency c-section.

So I got all scrubbed up and walked my wife to the O.R. When we got there, I was told to sit outside and wait until I was called in. When I finally got in, they were ready to begin. I was told I could watch If I wanted...I declined. I sat by my wife's head and waited for them to tell me when the moment of birth would occur. When they gave me the go sign I peeked over the curtain and saw my boy! They pulled him out and were surprised! His umbilical chord was short...very short-- so much so that he could not reach the birth canal. This was the reason for the painful labor contractions which were off the charts. This was the reason Julie was not dilating, and this was the reason for the bowel movement.

After they got him out and cut the chord I was able to hold him and introduce him to his mommy. But I was about to live the longest moments of my life. As they prepared to end the surgery for Julie I could see the looks of frustration on the doctors' faces. Here I was holding my newborn son and having no idea what was going to happen to my wife. They worked on her for over 45 min. My heart was racing. The baby was getting heavier in my hands. They called me around the curtain and showed me the issue. Julie had some bleeding that they were trying to get under control. Finally they stitched her up. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and after awhile she finally got to hold her son. 6 lbs 5 oz 20 in long ... William John Mulligan IV



More Photos to come...