Meet Weston James Deen

I went in for my routine appointment on Monday and one of my readings was a little off so the doctor suggested I do a NST-Non Stress Test. They hooked me up to an external fetal monitor for about an hour to track the baby's heartbeat. From what they saw, all was good in the womb. 
Over the next 2 days,however, I didn't have much movement in my stomach, which was unusual for our little guy so I came in to the doctor on Wednesday to check it out. They decided to do another NST and added in an Ultrasound this time. 
They do a grading system on all of their tests to show quickly how well the test went. The NST went great and we got 2 points out of 2 points, yay! Then we did the ultrasound.... they check for movement, breathing and amniotic fluid levels and give another score out of 8 points. So a total of 10 points possible with the NS5 score.... we got 0/8 points on the ultrasound part so we only got 2/10 points total. NOT GOOD.
My doc came in and I asked if I needed to call Toby. She said she would wait. Once Toby was on the phone, the doctor said "We are having the baby today... you aren't leaving the hospital." 
It was about 4pm by then so Toby immediately left work and stopped by the house for my remaining hospital bag items. You have to remember I came in voluntarily after already being out for the day and this was all incredibly unexpected. Toby and I had planned on laboring at home where we would have time for these extras. 
Once Toby arrived to the hospital around 5pm we had to decide if we would try inducing first or go straight to a C-section. After confirming the risk for the baby of trying to deliver vaginally was relatively low with full monitoring, we tried inducing first. Delivering vaginally was something I had always wanted for me and my baby. 
Somehow during these stressful moments, Toby and I realized it was probably a good time to name our little guy. To me, giving a name to our little guy would make him stronger and more ready to meet us. We had come to the hospital with two names (and two signs with the names on them just in case), but now it was time to choose. It was between Trip Tyler Deen and Weston James Deen. I asked Toby what his sons name was today.... a common question in our house the last few weeks and he said "Weston." I smiled and agreed.
After 9 indecisive months, we had a name picked out for our son and it all of a sudden wasn't so hard.
Now we just needed to meet him. Safely.
I was moved to labor and delivery, hooked up to monitors and an IV and the pitocin drip (labor inducing medicine) was started. After the doctor broke my water, the contraction pain was intense! 
Plan was to try and do a natural birth and move around and let gravity help, but because of the fetal monitors, I was bound to the bed and we decided to get the epidural. Toby got a bit queasy during the epidural placement due to some projectile spinal fluid so he was becoming a bit skeptical on his ability to handle the next few hours. Thank goodness he kept this doubt to himself. 
After the epidural was placed, the pitocin was upped again and we kept a close eye on the baby's status with the fetal monitors. 
The baby heart rate is supposed to be between 120-180, but we saw the heart rate drop to 100 so we quickly stopped the medicine, several nurses did some invasive situating of my body and I had to wear an oxygen mask for quite some time. All of this just to get the heart beat back up. What else could happen? What was happening in the womb? Was our baby okay? It was incredibly scary, but there was no space to express it. 
At that point, Toby and I decided on our own that if there was another scare like that (which was likely) we were ready to opt for a c-section.  With doctors approval, we were going to try one more time for a vaginal delivery.
Once we all stabilized, we started the pitocin again. That is when things got worse. The heart rate dropped to 70 and it was time to immediately have the c-section. I'm glad Toby and I knew it was coming and had a few moments to mentally prepare and be together after the first heartbeat drop. At that point, we all knew it was definitely best for baby to get him out immediately. So... they wheel me and my big ole belly on the labor bed to the surgery room. 
It was difficult to say goodbye to Toby in the hallway outside of surgery. I needed him and wanted him, but he had to get scrubbed in and I had to get prepped. 
Good news with the route we went is that the epidural we placed previously helped get the c-section started faster, thus helping baby get out faster.
I got wheeled into the surgery room and very very slowly, I had to move myself from my labor bed to the surgery table. They smushed the tables next to each other, but that didn't make me feel any more stable... my legs were 99% useless and had zero feeling due to the epidural so this was quite a feat. 
While I was laying naked and afraid on the operating table talking incessantly because I was nervous, Toby was getting prepped in his baby blue hospital scrubs and texting my parents "I'm going in" with a picture of him in his surgery scrubs. Even in times of stress, he keeps a level head... or maybe he was manic. Who knows.
Toby finally comes in and I am so relieved to see him. The nurses and doctors all come in and introduce themselves to me one at a time. To be honest this may have happened before Toby came in... all I know is I'm glad they did that. They were still strangers, but they didn't seem so anonymous now. 
The anesthesiologist (his nickname was Deuce) checked my numbness on my stomach to see if they were ready for surgery. I was on such a high, I'm glad he was persistent with making sure I was medically ready.
Dr. Chambers... the best OB I could have ever asked for... was QUICK. The c-section happened and Toby was on my left side being so incredibly supportive in my ear and I was doing everything I could to not cry. All I wanted was to hear my baby cry. I wanted to hear that my baby was ok. 
Somehow I had my wits about me to ask Toby to look as the baby came out. I had wanted a clear curtain so I could see it myself, but that didn't happen so next option is for Toby to get to see it. Just remember his queasiness with the spinal fluid just a few hours prior. Somehow, he kept his nerves down and managed to take a look. How cool... no matter what the exit, Toby got to be first to see our son. Bonus: He took pictures for me to see!
So, in the 2 seconds it took for our baby to cry, it felt like 30 minutes. But he did it... he cried. Best sound ever. That was my Weston. That was my baby.
They immediately took Weston to the "baby bed" to assess him. Especially with the dramatic last act, they needed to see how he was doing. Babies get an APGAR score when they are born. This is a score out of 10 points to quickly assess how well they are doing. Weston got a score of 7 at 1 minute and 9 at 5 minutes... which is GREAT!!! 
While Weston was being evaluated, I was being sewn up. Toby is still so impressed by how quick the surgery was... "it took her longer to sew her up than to get him out!"
Seeing Toby become a dad was pretty special. After Weston was born, the nurses said that he could go meet his son and I could see the strain in Toby's face on being so torn. Of course he wanted to meet his son, but he knew I was freaking out. He stayed with me until I let him know that I was good and then he went to Weston and captured a few more first moments in pictures and videos so that I could be a part of them too. 
This picture shown here is our first picture as an official family of three.
Team Deen is doing great!!!! 
Weston is doing wonderful and we couldn't be more in love. I'm just so happy and thankful he's OK. Hearing him cry as he was removed was so needed after such a scary day. Toby is such an amazing dad already. My love has grown exponentially in 24 hrs.

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