Yup. You may have guessed it.... my best friend in the whole wide world, Kimberly, had her baby boy recently! It took a whole lot of effort and strength and courage on her part to get him here, but goodness are we ever glad he made it safely!!! He's just so handsome.
Meet Channing Gerard Parker Vink - born March 20, 2012 at 12:35 AM - 7 pounds 5 ounces and just over 20 inches long - just plain adorable! Congrats to mama Kimberly and daddy Ben!
His birth story is nothing short of a miracle. I've copied parts of Kim's message that she sent to me and some of her close friends (I was lucky enough to get a personal phone call too while she was still in the hospital!) with all the details:
"I was in labor for at least 54 hours [30 hours of which involved intense contractions five minutes apart or less, and one minute in length]. The hospital still didn’t want to admit me even when I had been having contractions for 22 hours straight because I wasn’t dilated enough. They said I have a cervix of steel.
The hospital had sent me home the night before after I went in after having contractions for a few hours. They said that I should wait until they were 2 - 3 minutes apart for a while, because of my cervix. I thought that was ridiculous, but I listened to them.
During that night, Ben got sick. I mean, severely sick. We both curled up in bed, both in severe pain, all night. We had family taking care of us and timing my contractions. In the morning I went on a walk. My contractions had been 3 minutes apart for a bit. I was trying to get them to be 2 minutes apart, so they couldn’t send me home, again. When I came back from the walk, we ended up taking Ben to the emergency room because the pain became too much.
My contractions started to get a little more spaced out because I was so worried for him. I had never seen him in that much pain. I refused to go and get checked out again until I knew he was okay. So, there I sat in the waiting room, in active labor, crying because I didn’t know what was wrong, and I didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t want him to miss Channing’s delivery. I was scared Channing wouldn’t have a dad.
The emergency staff treated Ben horribly. They thought he was part of the drunken, drugged group of men that arrived in four ambulances right before we arrived. They took their time seeing him and said mean things to him. When I finally found out he would be okay, I had an intense three-minute long contraction and they let me go and see Ben for a second before they made me go and get myself checked out.
When I got to the birthing triage, they monitored Channing’s heart rate and it dropped a few times. I still wasn’t dilated enough so they were going to send me home... again. I told them I didn’t understand how I was supposed to know when to come in when I was having such consistent contractions for so long. They decided to have me walk around for two hours. So I went for a walk and even attempted squats. I was in so much pain. I just wanted him to be here already.
After my walk, they still weren’t going to admit me because I was only 3 centimeters dilated. I broke down because I couldn’t stand the intense pain and didn’t know what I was supposed to do at home to let me know when to come in again. I had been in labor for at least 48 hours at this point and contractions were three minutes apart consistently. They finally decided to admit me because my cervix was close enough dilated and I was in so much pain.
By this point, Ben was out of the emergency room. He had received treatment and was feeling a little better, but he was contagious, so he had to wear a mask and gloves when around me. They moved me to the room where I was supposed to deliver Channing. After three hours there, I finally got my epidural. Of course, as was par for the course that night, it didn’t help at all. They had to give me more and more and more stuff. I felt relaxed, but I felt every contraction. I was still in a lot of pain. It partly numbed all around but where I needed the pain relief. Let’s just say that check-up internals still hurt (of course I still get to pay $1,500 for receiving one).
They broke my water and were going to start Pitocin, when Channing’s heart rate dramatically dropped. (Luckily triage had ordered that Channing’s heart be monitored the entire time because of it dropping earlier that day, when they usually do it only intermittent). When they turned off the monitor, a doctor came and told them off and they were ordered to turn the monitor back on. Someone was watching over us, because it was the monitor that told us that something was wrong.
Nurses came in and put a monitor on Channing’s head. They flipped me all over the place to get him off the umbilical cord while I wore a mask delivering oxygen. His heart rate kept dropping. More nurses came in and explained that they were going to move me to a different room and take vitals and see if I needed a C-Section. I knew they meant I was getting one, so I asked what the chances of me getting one were. He said, “At the moment, pretty good.”
The room had been prepped for someone else, which they bumped to get me in. The second the wheels of the bed entered the room he announced I was having one. They quickly moved me over to the other bed and started getting things ready. They said Ben could come in if I didn’t need to be put under. They said that the baby was doing better and they had plenty of time to get Ben in the room . They weren’t telling the truth. Channing’s heart rate was getting worse but they didn’t want my blood pressure to increase, and Ben was already changed.
They gave me additional stuff because they were aware that the epidural wasn’t effective. I could still feel the poke test, so they explained quickly what was going to happen. They put me under. Ben was outside the room trying to look in as 6 doctors surrounded me. Within five minutes of finding out Channing’s heart rate was dropping in the other room, and they decided a C-Section might be in order, to the point Ben saw them pull Channing out, was five minutes or less.
I woke up one hour later, totally out of it from all the pain killers and such they had given me. I was shaking and it was hard to take that Channing was really Channing and not some other person’s baby, because I didn’t see similarities to Ben and myself at first, and I didn’t see him come out. It was a rough night getting the pain killers out of my system and taking in what happened.
When they moved me to a room that I would stay in for the rest of the time I was admitted, I became extremely itchy from the morphine. They later gave me a shot that would take away part of the effectiveness of the pain killers, which they were giving me to help with the pain for the C-Section, to make me less itchy. Of course, that meant I could feel more pain.
My several days there were rough. My suture opened up a few times. It hurt to do almost anything. The process of turning or sitting up was torturous, let alone getting up and walking. It was a tiny bit better by the time I left the hospital. Luckily, I had Ben there to help me do things. Ben learned on a very fast learning curve how to do things. He is a natural father. I am lucky to have him.
Unfortunately, Channing has my skin allergies. The rash started out small. The nurses said it was normal. Then it kept getting worse and worse. They said it wasn’t usually that bad. At one point, I said enough is enough. He has sensitive skin. I asked them what they used to wash their bedding and such. I found out all hospital laundry was done commercially with harsher chemicals. So I had Ben bring Channing’s clothes and bedding, which I had already washed with Ivory Snow (baby laundry detergent). I changed out everything. He started to look better. I also had my mom and Ben give him another bath with just water before Channing had a circumcision, in case he was also allergic to the baby soap used when the nurse bathed him. He is looking better each day.
Because Channing was born at 12:35 am on March 20th, the hospital saw how it was close to March 19th, and let me leave a day early to save me thousands of dollars. Everyone here at the house tried to make things easier on me. They moved Channing’s bed downstairs to a room with a bed so that I dont have to attempt stairs. They help out as needed. I am grateful to and for them. I still do things myself at night though, for the most part. I refuse to give into the pain. He is my son and I want to be the one to take care of him.
Unfortunately, Channing’s days and nights are completely switched. You could take him to a rock concert during the day and I am sure he could sleep through it. He doesn’t want to do anything during the day. However, night hits and all he wants to do is look at everything, get up and eat all the time, and go to the bathroom all the time. Sleep isn’t an option. Then 7:30 AM hits and he starts to get sleepy again. I am working hard to switch his sleep schedule. Hopefully it switches soon. I could use some more sleep.
Overall, I feel lucky. I always feared a ridiculously long and painful labor that would somehow still end up as an emergency C-Section. Well, I got what I feared. The umbilical cord had been wrapped around Channing’s legs twice, which caused stress and his heart rate to drop. Luckily, everything had been caught in time. Otherwise, Channing most likely wouldn’t be here today. Thank you ,God, for looking out for our little boy."
What a story, huh?! One that will be told and heard mnay times over to come throughout the years, I can imagine. I am so proud of my best friend. We have been friends since high school and even though our lives have taken us in different directions and all over the map, we still keep in touch as much as possible. She married a Canadian (sigh) so she lives in Canada with him and his family. I miss her so much but we're lucky to have Facebook, snail mail, and Skype to keep in touch with. I wish she was closer so that we could go do "mom" things together and have play dates and all that jazz. It's amazing that we both always wanted kids so much and now we both have our first chilrdren, who are basically 6 months apart. It's awesome that we got to be pregnant at the same time for a period of time, but sadly we couldnt see each other in person during either of our pregnancies :( I also find it ironic that we both ended up having C-Sections, both of which we did not want. I had to since Anistynn was in the breech position and Kim's was, as you read above, an emergency. It's kind of funny because I remember telling her that the best thing I could remember from my birth classes was to be prepared emotionally in case you have a C-Section. Things dont always (in fact, they almost always never) go the way you thought. Luckily, I had a bit more time to process that I would be having one (although truthfully, it didnt make me feel better or any less anxious) but Kim didnt know until right at that moment. I hope she (and I'm pretty sure she did) thought about that scenario though so hopefully in the long run, it's not as traumatic as it could have been. I'm so so so thankful that Channing arrived safely and that his mommy is safe and healing as well. Now Kim and I get to share our C-Section stories and will be able to relate to each other that much more. It's interesting how we both had the same surgery, yet under totally different circumstances. Oh, the stories we can share of our experiences :) For a while, it was hard to look at my scar (I've never really had any major scars before and definitely no surgeries), but now I look at it proudly and know that I got my baby girl that way. And I wouldnt change that for anything in the world.
Kim is supposed to be visiting the states in July. I am so excited to see her as I dont think I've seen her since her wedding at the beginning of 2011 (which ironically was when I was barely pregnant and didnt know it yet). I think it's majorly overdue! And I cant wait to hold that sweet baby boy. He will be about 3 months old by then. And Kim will get to finally meet Anistynn, who will be almost 10 months old!!! I'm sad she didnt get to see her or hold her as a little baby but I'm glad for the opporutunity to see her none the less, no matter what time it is! And of course, Anistynn is excited to meet her new best friend and pen pal in Canada (I dream of them drawing pictures and writing notes to each other across the country heehee). When I told her about his arrival, I showed her a picture of him and this is literally what she did (I snapped it right when I showed her the picture):
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