Nash Davis Owings

Nash Davis Owings was born on Monday, April 7. He weighed 9 lbs and was 22 inches long.

Here's the labor and delivery story (long version).

I was so ready to have this baby that I was doing just about everything that I could to go into labor. I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a while, and I'd had my membranes stripped. On Sunday, Jon and I took Shea to the zoo to walk around. We were hoping that the walking might help start something. It just may have worked!


I got up at about 6:15am on Monday morning, and as I was stepping into the shower, my water broke. I almost went ahead and took my shower, but I was too excited and just wanted to get out the door. I called my parents and caught them just in time. My dad was supposed to drive to Atlanta that morning. He was able to postpone leaving until after Nash was born. We got Shea up and were in the car on our way to the hospital by 6:35am. It was too early to drop Shea off at daycare, so we took her with us to the hospital. My water was really gushing by the time we arrived, but they put me in a triage room (Room #1) to make sure it was amniotic fluid (as if there was any doubt). Of course, it was, and I was dilated about 3-4 cm. We were in that room for about 45 minutes and watched cartoons until my parents arrived to take care of Shea. Shortly after they got there, we were moved to the labor and delivery room (Room #2).

Mom took Shea to daycare so she and Daddy could stay in the room with me without being distracted. I got hooked up to all the devices. I had to have the intra-uterine monitors for fetal heart rate and contractions because my attempted VBAC was high risk. My contractions got really painful, and I needed Jon to apply a lot of pressure to my lower back to help me get through them. I was having pretty awful back labor, but I was getting through them with my relaxation techniques (and Jon's help). I didn't want an epidural because it could slow down labor. I was attempting a vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC), so I couldn't be induced with pitocin and didn't think my ob would give it to me to augment my labor because of the increased risk of uterine rupture. I really wanted to avoid another c-section, so I thought that I'd go natural. Well, my ob mentioned that if I did get an epidural and needed some pitocin to augment my labor, she'd give it to me. It didn't take me long to decide that I really wanted the epidural. Sometime around lunch time, I was about 6cm dilated, and they came in to give me the epidural.

My last epidural was just perfect. This one was not. The first person who attempted to give it to me was unsuccessful and had to get someone else to do it (a little scary). Once I finally did receive it, it only worked on my right side. So the nurses had me roll to my left side to see if gravity would help it out. Nash's heart rate immediately plummeted. I think 120-160 bpm is about normal. When his dropped to about 90, it seemed like about 10 nurses rushed into the room. His heart rate dropped all the way down to just under 70. I was quickly turned to my right side, and it began to steadily increase. It eventually got back to normal, but it was scary for a couple of minutes. Nonetheless, my epidural wasn't working properly, and I couldn't turn to let gravity help it out. The anesthesiologist said that I could have another epidural, but after my experiences with the last two attempts, I didn't want anyone else poking around my spine. The epidural was at least dulling the pain. It also slowed my contractions down, so I did need some pitocin.

By 4pm, I was at 10cm and could start pushing. After about an hour of pushing, I was wondering why I wanted a vaginal birth instead of another c-section where the doctor just plucks that baby out of my belly. I pushed for 1 hour and 45 minutes before Nash made it out. Needless to say, I was glad for the rest the epidural afforded me because I sure did need my energy for that. Nash was face up, which caused my awful back labor and combined with his large size to make it really hard for me to push him out. He was a little blue when I first saw him, and that made me slightly nervous. He looked a little alien-like with his cone head, but he was beautiful at the same time. He did have a complete knot in his umbilical cord just like Shea did. He weighed in at 9 lbs and was 22 inches long.