I must say, not knowing the gender or arrival date of either of our other two children, it’s VERY weird to know the gender, have a planned birth date, and have the name publicly known! New normal, right?
Today we met with our WONDERFUL OBGYN, Dr. Nancy Herta. We were SO glad to be able to transfer back to her care after our not-so-good experience with the OB at the perinatal office. She met with us for quite a while to answer questions and get the c-section date set, as well as some idle chatter. Not many doctors take that much time with patients so we know we’re in the right place with her. If I don’t go into labor before, we are scheduled for October 3rd, at 2:00 PM. This is also the birthday of a life-long friend of mine, Loren!
One of our biggest concerns about the c-section is Colten’s safety and not puncturing the sac. Colten is actually in the worst position possible right now – his back is up against my belly and he is butt-down. So right about the area where they need to do the c-section on me is where Colten’s sac is. And we really really really don’t want to mess with that. So we asked Dr. Herta to explain how this would be different from a “normal” c-section. (WARNING: If you are squeamish, you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph.) She said she’ll make the incision in the normal place on my stomach, but when she gets to the uterus, instead of just opening it up, she will have to score it gently with the knife and not cut through. Then she’ll need to actually work that layer open with her fingers to avoid putting a knife anywhere near the sac. Without breaking the bag of water, she’ll get her hands underneath Colten, by his belly and front hips and work him out back/butt first. This will keep him surrounded by water to help protect his back as he moves through the opening in me. Once that part of him has cleared me, she will then break my water and get the rest of him out.
Dr. Herta said she likes to position the bed (I believe they’re called isolates in this case – the enclosed clear plastic bed with two arm holes) up near the mom’s head so I may actually get to see them do some work on him. Richard will be in there of course and he’ll be taking pictures – again, those won’t be for the squeamish! After we (hopefully) get a few minutes of seeing him and some kisses, he’ll go straight to the RNICU and Richard can go with him. At that point, our Doula will come in with me so I’m not left alone.
So our upcoming schedule at this point looks like this…
– Last OBGYN appointment Monday
– Fetal echocardiogram on Tuesday
– C-section on Wednesday
Colten will then undergo some testing before surgery including hydrocephalus monitoring and a CAT scan. His surgery will take place Thursday or Friday depending on a variety of factors.
We are incredibly thankful that my parents will be taking care of the boys for us from Wednesday through Sunday. The boys will get appropriately spoiled with Grammy & Papa, and it will allow Richard and I to focus on Colten during the critical first few days.
We are looking forward to enjoying some quality time with our boys this weekend and are relieved to know a date (if we can hold off till then, that is!). Now it’s just a matter of waiting to welcome Colten…
The Adventures of Colten Robert 
October is such a grand month for babies… [yeah I was an October baby]. You two have everything going for you… grandparents to spoil the two older munchkins, a doc you have faith in and you know from the outset that there are many people praying for and offering support to all of you. aunt mj
This Auntie is October too!
It’s interesting how it’s mentioned about ‘smaller hands’ that the doc has which will then ‘ease’ Colten’s delivery. This certainly goes right along with the dream David had about Colten’s delivery method.
Yes, I mentioned “smaller hands” & so cool there was a dream about that! Who is David?
David is my significant other, my guy. A month ago, he had a dream that Kate went into labor at home. She wasn’t able to get to the hospital and the baby was breech. (in reality, the baby was breech, but I had not told David this fact-I was waiting to see if the baby would turn on it’s own and didn’t want to worry David) In the dream, those present that could have helped with the delivery, even a nurse, couldn’t help because their hands were too big. David had the smallest hands and he was able to reach in, turn the baby, and deliver the baby. He said that ‘the baby and Kate were fine.’ After he told me of his dream, I said, I have to tell you something…the baby is breech. David is known to have prophetic dreams sometimes. So now there is Kate’s doctor who has to reach in and ‘hand deliver’ Colten and probably has ‘smaller hands’ so she’s able to do this with the utmost of care and caution. On a side note…when we found out about the condition of this tiny baby and all we knew is this one is a boy, I was laying in bed trying to get to sleep. Suddenly a thought hit me…’They’re going to name this baby Colten.’ I hadn’t even been thinking about names. It just came to me. Out of the millions of names, I come up with Colten?
Wow that is so interesting Cathy! Hope the going into labor at home doesn’t happen!
So happy to hear you have a caregiver who is listening to your needs as well as attending to Colten’s health. You have so many people thinking and sending their positive thoughts your way.
Hundreds of prayers are going up for the delivery of my new Great Nephew tomorrow. My whole church, including myself, will be praying for the surgeon and all the capable hands that will be tending to Colten tomorrow. Prayers are also being said for mom and dad and Colten’s brothers as you all begin this new chapter in your lives. You all are loved by many, many people and we all pray for the best outcome for Colten. XXOO