Elliot Karl Dickerson’s Birth

I’m finding that life rarely goes as planned.
I’ve been constantly reminded of this during the entire pregnancy experience and Elliot’s birth was no exception for this life lesson.

On Friday, May 25th we went into the hospital to try the ECV procedure to try to get Elliot to flip from the footling breech position (feet down). He had been head down at 38 weeks, but flipped at 39 weeks. His head would move about half way down then pop back up. The EVC was so painful! After the 2nd attempt his heart rate went way down, then stabilized. Dr. Wood didn’t think Elliot was going to flip on his own, as he was full term and there was not much fluid, so he suggested a c-section, though he knew I didn’t want to go this route. Dr. Wood was wonderful and never pressured me when making my decision. He gave us time to talk about it and offered his opinion when I asked. In the event my water were to break on its own, the umbilical cord could prolapse since it was down toward the feet.
It was so disappointing. All our visions of the birth day and birth plan had to be thrown out the window. I told myself the entire pregnancy that I would be flexible with my plan and not be too hard on myself however it went, but honesty a c-section was never even a possibility in my mind. After a while of letting it sink in and talking it over between Brant & my mom, we decided that it wasn’t worth the risk of putting Elliot and myself through more stress waiting on him to turn, which seemed unlikely.

Before we went in for the c-section Brant asked to say a prayer and our nurse asked to join us. It was all so surreal. We didn’t think we’d be having a baby that day. Brant and I were both a bit emotional as they wheeled me back. The doctors and nurses were wonderful through it all. I’m also thankful that the nurses took photos for us, since the photographer we hired wasn’t allowed in the room. (See below.) When Elliot was out, Dr. Wood found there was meconium. Luckily Elliot didn’t breathe it in. Dr. Wood told me, “It’s hard being a mom and making tough decisions, but you made the right decision to get him out today.” This made me feel better about it all, since Elliot could have inhaled the meconium if we would have waited.

Elliot looked so small when they held him up to me. I waited as they got him to cry. Dr. Wood left some of the umbilical cord on for Brant to cut. Elliot cried until they laid him beside me. When they laid him down he just looked at me and rubbed his little hand on my face (see video below). So sweet. He was 6lb 10oz. and 20 inches long. He has my hands, feet, legs and hair with Brant’s butt chin, eyes and head. We think his eyes and lips could be a combination.

That night, Elliot’s blood sugar was too low, so he had to go to NICU for 4 days. He was hooked to monitors and an IV. It was awful having all these cords hooked up to him. We also had a strict feeding schedule where they’d prick his foot to check his blood sugar levels every 3 hours. I would breastfeed as much as I could, then we’d have to supplement with formula since c-section mom’s have a delayed milk supply. We were finally released on Tuesday May 29th. It was so wonderful to be home! At a week old Elliot is pretty much back to birth weight and is doing great. He’s caught on to breastfeeding well and he’s a night owl like his mom & dad. Brant say’s Elliot thinks he’s a baby rockstar, sleeping all day and partying all night. Ha!

We are so thankful God has given us the privileged of being his parents.
Also, thank you to all the friends and family who have visited and brought us food.
We are so blessed!