Birth Story – Mommy Blogger

09/24/2018

Nicole Betker is a mother, wife, rabid Toronto Blue Jays fan and a pop culture junkie. Always having an opinion or something to say, it’s time this journalism grad found a place to share her musings on the acts of “adulting”

I finally can add the word Aunt to the list of words people use to describe me. As an only child, this is a big deal. Thank goodness for marrying into a family I grew close with.

Watching and listening to my sister-in-law’s birth story this month made me think of my own. It seems so long ago, but yet just like yesterday.

My son’s due date was May 28, 2015. But as I grew further along in my pregnancy it became clear that my stubborn little man refused to flip. I was breech. Despite attempts to flip by my doctor and endless reading on how to encourage him to turn around, he just wouldn’t. I was scheduled for a c-section on May 21.

In my final three weeks of pregnancy, my blood pressure began to spike. My lower number or diastolic number was out of control. So much so, that that my doctor monitored me daily at the hospital. At my 37 week appointment, she had enough. Baby needed to come.

It was Tuesday, May 12. She rescheduled my c-section appointment for the next day. I went to the hospital for pre-op and was due back for 11am.

At least it would be a relaxed trip to the hospital. Or so we thought.

We woke early and lazed in bed for the final time watching Netflix. Like any pregnant woman, I soon needed to go to the washroom. When I stood, my water broke. And like that we were on our way to the hospital. A million things ran through my mind. Thank goodness we had dropped our dog off at families house the night before. Did I put everything in the hospital bag? What was happening? Was he still breech?

Dropped off at the door, I went up to the maternity ward patient check in. I waited in line for what felt like forever, while my husband was stuck briefly in the elevator. I was finally admitted. It was 9:07am. An ultrasound and a cervix check showed I had no fluid left and that my baby was ready to come. The doctor could feel his feet. In to my c-section, I went.

Told I would be fit in when they could a day earlier, I was now an emergency and my doctor was able to get to Royal University Hospital in seven minutes. Carson Robert Betker was born at 11:16 am on Wednesday, May 13 at six pounds, four ounces. He was so breech that his bum was facing my stomach and he got a little cut from the incision. He was healthy and here, that is all that mattered.

After a three day stay in the hospital, we were sent home.

I shared this story because I love hearing birth stories. No two are ever the same. Every family and woman has a different experience. Childbirth is a magical and beautiful thing. It is amazing what a woman’s body can do.

Be proud of your body, your scares and your story. It’s unique to you and special to you. Share it and celebrate it.