Meredith and Omari welcomed their son, Orion, on May 23, nearly a month earlier than expected. Their journey was the epitome of letting go and changing plans, a very good training ground for parenting, as it turns out. Some serious itching and concerning lab results, confirmed that Meredith had developed a complication that would necessitate an early induction. Regular NST’s kept close watch on their son while in utero, until ultimately homed in on May 21. I reminded Meredith that inductions can be a long and gradual process. Her provider said the same. And on the day of admission to the hospital, her nurse and midwife echoed the same. Meredith told me she was all about the realistic expectations!

We were in communication during the ripening phase of the labor. The plan was laid out with her midwife. They would begin ripening with Cytotec using several doses throughout the night and into the day. Meredith was grateful to still have the option of eating in the early part of the process. After all, she wasn’t even in labor yet and she was hungry. By the following night she was dilated 1 cm, so after dinner and a shower the plan was to use a foley bulb to manually open her cervix further. Sometime that night Meredith experienced the stereotypical movie moment of having her water break in a gush! And it was reassuring to know that her body seemed to be picking up on the plan of labor.

Pitocin was initiated to help generate contractions, and we all continued to expect a slow and gradual process. But Meredith was breathing through contractions that were more difficult than expected for her dilation. She began to use her breathe and movement to work with her body. At 11:00 that morning there was still a fore bag of fluid in front of her baby’s head, so the midwife broke that to continue the forward momentum of labor. Meredith’s cervix was hard to gauge, and with contractions more painful than expected at that stage, Meredith decided an epidural would help with relaxation. She had also been staring at the same four walls for well over 24 hours at that point.

Meredith was surrounded by her best friend, cousin, and husband, and even had her in-laws and dad, and stepmom in her room from time to time. There was no lack of love for Meredith, Omari, or Orion, and it was heartwarming. But Meredith reached a point where she desired silence and solitude, so she requested most of her visitors leave so she might rest and focus. Her labor was working on getting going, but they thought an IUPC would help gauge whether the contractions were even strong enough. And on top of that, the epidural was less than perfect, and Meredith struggled with the catheter Ultimately her nurse removed it but Meredith still felt that pressure.

Then at 5:45 pm something crazy happened. Whether it was the perfect level of Pitocin, or the fact that the crowd of loved ones had cleared, an exam revealed that Meredith’s cervix was dilated 9.5 cm! Meredith sobbed, “I’m just so happy!” as everyone mobilized for second stage. The delivery cart was prepared, and the midwife gowned up and everyone got excited for pushing. The time stamps for her dilation were quite remarkable: Meredith was dilated 3 cm at 2:00 pm, 5 cm at 4:00 pm, and then 10 cm at 6:00 pm! She just flew! The energy in the room shifted and we were gearing up for a birthday party.

There was no rushing pushing, as there was no rushing labor. So, we gave your mom time to let her body dilate completely and move you down so when she did push it would be for less time. Just before 6:45 pm pushing began. Baby was at +2 station, so he seemed to be in position. But when Meredith pushed her baby’s heart rate dipped. They applied an FSE to get a precise read on his heart rate and turned off the Pitocin to give him a break. After enough time had passed, they resumed pushing and turned the Pitocin back to half. Meredith pushed in a variety of positions, including knees closed, to open her pelvic outlet. But her baby’s heart rate continued to dip in a concerning way. And he wasn’t descending as much as he should have after pushing so long.

Meredith’s doctor assessed whether he might be able to assist with an instrumental delivery, but the baby wasn’t low enough for it to be a safe option. A c-section was recommended, and Meredith’s baby seemed to punctuate the decision. There was time to consider and discuss, but Meredith was ready to meet her baby and didn’t want to possibly induce more risk for her baby. He had already displayed signs he was not tolerating pushing very well.

Once the team was assembled, Meredith went back and after Omari was dressed in his paper garb and they were ready, he was admitted to the OR to take his seat beside his wife. Their son, Orion Zadd Robertson was born at 10:09 pm on May 23, 2022. He weighed 6 lb. 5 oz. and 19 in. long. He was perfect and adorable according to his parents, of course, but the birth professionals in the room agreed. He is particularly cute!

In her postpartum room, Meredith’s demeanor was elated and relieved. She was excited and grateful. Omari was in the nursery with Orion since he needed a little more attention initially. But they were soon reunited as a family of three. I have deep admiration for Meredith and the way she loosened hold on the birth she imagined and embraced the birth her son needed. Love was at the center and surrounded this journey from start to finish, there is no doubt.

The Birth of Orion Zadd Robertson 5/23/22