blessed by Leo: the birth story

I've read several birth stories from other families who delivered (unexpectedly) a child who they didn't realize had an extra chromosome. As for us, we already knew our Leo had a little extra something special. So when it comes to Leo's birth story there are no days of worry and surprise, no moments of disbelief and fear. In fact, we had five whole months to know about, adjust to, and check on the health of Leo with regards to his Down Syndrome. We had plenty of time to carefully plan for his safe arrival. Because of that, I'm now a firm believer that there are great benefits to knowing ahead of time the makeup of your baby... but that, my friends, is another blog post in itself.

Instead, I want to tell Leo's unique birth story. Because while we attempted to know everything we could about him and be totally prepared to joyously welcome him into this world, when it came time for Leo's birth, well... God taught us that we were most certainly NOT the ones in control. And here is Leo's story...

It was March 4, 2012, the last day of week 36 for this very pregnant momma. I had been nesting off and on, to the point of beginning to make sure loose ends were tied at work each day before I left and that everything was already packed in my car for the hospital. Since Meris had arrived at week 36 on the dot (almost week 29...), and Seth had arrived at week 37+2 days, I knew Leo would come any day now. March 4 was a beautiful Sunday from what I can remember, a nice chilly spring-ish day.

We had gone to church on Sunday morning as a family, and it was now Sunday evening. Chris and I went to church again leaving Meris to wait for Youth to begin and dropping 3 yr old Seth in the childcare room with his dinner. We headed over to the building next door for a Bible Study and dinner, meeting up with friends. After the Bible study, we walked to the main building to pick up Seth. The lights were off in this area as we walked to the entrance we needed, only to realize the doors were locked. I was achy and tired from a long day. "Why don't you cut through the playground to get to the front of the building, and I'll drive around to pick up you and Seth", I said to Chris. He agreed and I was happy not to have to walk any farther!

He went through a gate and began to walk through the playground toward the front of our church as I walked to the driver's side of our van which was parked in the dark only a few feet away from me. Before I could realize what had happened, I felt my feet taken out from under me as I tripped. I felt my body go up in the air and down toward the ground almost in slow motion, and instinctly put my arms down to try and catch myself... but it was no use, as I landed with all my weight flat on the right center of my pregnant belly. I didn't realize there was a parking barrier/block in my path to the car door, which I had tripped over in the dark. I was startled, shocked, and in pain, but managed to call for Chris "I fell!" He came running back toward me.

With my stomach immediately beginning to tighten and soreness coming over me, he managed to pick me up and help me into the van. We were both frightened and trying to decide what to do as quickly as we could. First task, gather our children. After a quick drive around to the front of the building, dialog with friends, confusion about what we should do and which hospital we should go to (nearest ER, or the planned birthplace - a 30 minute drive), we decided to leave our children at home with friends and make the trek to the planned birthplace. My fear was being admitted and possibly giving birth at the local hospital, instead of our planned location which had a level 4 NICU.

We arrived at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas with me in tears and with Chris in a lot of fear. I hadn't felt Leo move since the fall. He had gone from completely active to completely still, and it was scary for both of us. Here we had spent months carefully watching Leo's organs, planning for his health needs, and making sure his little nest inside of me was perfectly cared for...only to come this far and possibly hurt him with a fall on the hard asphalt? It was heartbreaking. Once we began to get settled in the Labor and Delivery area, I realized I had cuts on the hand, knee and foot of the side that I fell. I told my story about the fall over and over to multiple staff, as each one got involved in my care. I thought, "wow, can't they just read the note? Or maybe no one has had time to write one..." Although later Chris and I discussed how they probably had to make sure this wasn't an instance of abuse but having me tell the story over and over, looking for things that might not match up. How sad!

Soon after our arrival, I began to feel Leo move occasionally. On the monitors, he looked great. Blood was drawn to make sure there was no bleeding occurring by me and by him. One of the perinatologists from the practice who had followed me came in to perform a level 2 sonogram and check in on Leo. It showed that his status was beautiful! With every test, I began to relax more and with every relaxing moment, I ached more from the fall.

The perinatologist decided to keep me overnight for observation, since there was a chance the fall could set off labor and I was already having mild contractions. Since our drive to the hospital is 30 minutes and I am known to be a very fast laborer, she didn't want us to worry about having to drive right back in. Chris and I settled in to an overflow area and the monitoring continued.

Soon it was early Monday morning, which quickly turned into almost noon. My OB rounded to check on me and saw that I was actively contracting. She said this could also be caused by dehydration, so she ordered an IV for fluids and said she would check on me in a few hours. If I was still in active labor, we would follow through with our planned c-section. Wow....that was hard to believe! But when she returned around 4pm and confirmed that I was not only continuing to contract in active labor, but had continued to dialate, we were immediately taken to labor and delivery to prepare for Leo's arrival.

After one very sleepless night....