Ammon Chaz Allen

7 pounds 9 ounces
Grandma Allen

Marek didn't know quite what to think.

He just stared at him for minutes like this. It was hilarious.

He did start to warm up to him though :)

One proud but tired Daddy!

I just love him.

Here is Ammon Chaz Allen's Labor and Delivery Story:

I had contractions since Monday morning and they continued on until Wednesday night when I went into labor. I brought on stronger labor contractions by going to Sam's club and purchasing a Birthing Ball. I sat on the ball and would rotate my hips/pelvis in circles. When I started doing that they instantly got stronger and harder. I was at my friend's house doing this while Chaz and Marek took off to go pick up Mom Allen at the airport. It ended up that my contractions got so close together and strong that I needed to go to the hospital but Chaz was stuck in traffic in Nashville…so my friend took me to the hospital :)

When we got there I told the nurse, “I think I’m in labor.” She looked up at me and replied, “No you’re not. You are too happy to be in labor.” I then told her, “It’s because I’m 12 days overdue and have been looking forward to this.” She was very skeptical and probably thought I’d be sent home right away.

Major blessing: The doctor on call that night was the only doctor I’ve seen here that would think about “augmenting” my labor. After checking me out and being dialated to only a 2 but contractions being close, he gave me 3 choices:

Go home and wait out the contractions more and then come back.
Go walk around and wait out the contractions at the hospital.
Be admitted right away and wait out the contractions while being monitored.

I went with BE ADMITTED. The doctor said that I could walk around the room and do what I could to get the contractions closer together and dilate. Soon as I was dilated to a 3 or 4 he would see where I was at and he might “augment” my labor. Not “induce” but “augment.” I was happy about this. He also said he would break my water for me to help things along.

I walked through my contractions in my room and sat on my birthing ball. I soon was in severe pain and asked to be checked. I was almost a 4 and fully effaced. It had only been an hour, so they were very surprised but pleased. So, they gave me my epidural. They kept monitoring the baby and me. We were doing excellent! They were very impressed with how great the baby looked. Then the doctor came in and he broke my water and put internal monitors on inside of me.

This is where it goes wrong. 10 minutes after breaking my water the baby’s heart rate dropped dramatically. The nurse told me to breathe in the oxygen mask and he started turning me from side to side. Other nurses came in and all of a sudden a blur of people were in the room, including the doctor. I was going to have a heart attack. I was so worried. The doctor then looked at me and said, “Okay, things are going to get fast paced. We are heading to the OR.” I said, “Are we doing a C-section?” And he said, “YES.” Me, “OH NOOOO.” Him, “It is a matter of Life or Death.” All I could do was pray my little Ammon was okay.

They rushed me to the OR and tore me open and got Ammon out all in 8 minutes. It turns out the umbilical cord was wrapped around Ammon’s neck and that is why his heart rate dropped. See, my water was blocking Ammon’s pathway to drop deep in the birth canal and when the doctor broke my water he was able to decend further. When he did the cord was right in the way and it started to choke him. The doctor said it was such a good thing that I decided to stay at the hospital and be admitted rather than go home because if I would have gone home and my water would have broke… Ammon probably wouldn’t have made it.

So, I ended up getting my dreaded C-Section. I won’t be able to have the 10 children I have always wanted. I will always have to get c-sections and most doctors only advise 3 or 4 tops. I didn’t get to experience vaginal delivery. I labored and went 2 weeks overdue just to end up getting the c-section anyway. Yes, I am disappointed and sad and I don’t understand why it had to be this way but that is okay. All that matters is that my little guy is healthy and alive. I would let anyone tear open my body to save my son.

Ammon is completely adorable. He has tons of hair just like Marek did. Ammon’s hair is a little darker than Marek’s was though. He weighs 7 pounds 9 ounces and was born at 12:16 am on February 18th. I was officially 12 days overdue. Ammon is doing great and completely healthy. His Apgar scores were mega high. He is so sweet and content. I love him so much. He reminds me so much of Marek that I think I am reliving Marek’s birth all over again! It is crazy!