Enzo's Birth Story

My son, Enzo Francis, was born June 6, 1999. I went into labor on the morning of June 5. My contractions from the get-go were five minutes apart and lasted anywhere from 30 - 60 seconds. I called my midwife and she suggested I stay home for a while and wait for contractions to come faster.

My husband and I decided to go to the jewelry store because our anniversary is June 6, and we wanted to get a piece of jewelry sized. I thought the sales people were going to faint when they saw me just walking around the store during contractions! When we got back home, I hopped into our portable pool and tried to get comfortable. By then the contractions were three to four minutes apart so I thought, "This must be it!" We called the hospital to let them know we were coming.

We arrived around 5 PM, and found out I was only "dimpled" and not dilated at all! How disappointing! Both of my nurses commented how "funny" my belly looked. At 8 PM, after walking mile after mile in the maternity ward, I was still having contractions and had not dilated! The nurses and my midwife decided to give me an ultrasound because my belly still just looked funny to them. Turns out, Enzo was breech! Now they have to call a doctor in who gives me the options of having an external version, trying the version during the week, or just going home to wait. Well, I was tired of the labor and was already at 37 weeks which was good enough for me because my first son was delivered at 37 weeks also.

I went for the version which wasn't too bad. They did give me Brethene to stop the contractions during the procedure. After the doctor was done, they performed another ultrasound. Now Enzo was a footling breech with the umbilical cord hanging dangerously between his feet and head (picture a rainbow and that's how he looked in my uterus). Now the doctor didn't let me go home. He decides to go home and come back in the morning, since most of my contractions had stopped by now. During the middle of the night, I feel a tremendous whoosh and it turns out I started bleeding from the version. That scared me more than anything!

The doctor comes back in the morning of June 6, which was our one-year wedding anniversary. He performs another ultrasound, and Enzo's head is going back up toward my rib cage again. My options this time: another version or a C-section. We chose the C-section. I had planned on going natural and making this a wonderful birth experience but it just wasn't meant to be this time!

Enzo was born at 11:41 AM at six pounds, 10 ounces, and was 19½ inches long. He is, and continues to be, such a huge source of joy for us! I was disappointed in the C-section, but hope for a VBAC next time… hopefully a water birth!