Welcome to the World, Madelyn Claire Wingler!

Madelyn Claire Wingler was born on 11/12/11 at 11:39 a.m.  She was 7 lbs. 9.6 oz. and 19 inches long.  We are so excited to finally have our little girl in our arms!

Moments after being born

 Our birth story started on Tuesday afternoon. Cody was in clinic all afternoon and I was eagerly awaiting my appointment with Monica, our midwife. She had agreed to meet us at the office after Cody finished clinic. That day she stripped my membranes and we started the waiting game. We went home and I contracted from about 10 pm till about 3 am, but these were irregular and coming about every 10 minutes. We knew this was not labor yet. 

Our Wednesday was pretty uneventful. Cody took me and Hershey to the Duck Pond for a walk, and we had signed up to eat dinner with the applicants to the family medicine residency program that evening. We went, and I ate steak while contracting. When we got home, my contractions began to come more frequently and also changed in intensity. They got stronger and eventually they got bad enough that I could not walk through them. Cody and I stayed up all night counting contractions until they were about every 4-5 minutes and had been happening for at least 1-2 hours. Finally we decided to go to triage at the hospital to see if this was the real thing. When we got there, the resident on-call checked my cervix. I was only 1-2 cm dilated and about 90% effaced! All that work was hard for not much gain. We went home and continued to have the same contraction patterns until we went to see Monica the next morning.

On Thursday, we went to the Doctor’s office and saw Monica. She checked me and I was still 2 cm, but about 95% effaced. She also did a non-stress test to see how Maddie was handling the contractions. She did great! I, however, had been better. We decided on a trial of therapeutic rest, which involved me taking pain medications and something to help me sleep. I was reluctant at first to try this, but I was very glad that I did. We both were able to go home and get 4-5 hours of rest. My contractions slowed down, but then came back with a vengeance on Thursday night. Around 10pm again, I started contracting and these were worse than the day before. They were coming every 5-7 minutes for a while, and then changed to one every 4-5 minutes in the middle of the night. We did not venture out to triage that night and Cody stayed up with me and helped me breathe through each contraction. We slept none. We went back to the Doctor’s office the next morning to be rechecked and to regroup with a plan. 

On Friday morning I was exhausted. I had already been through two sleepless nights of contractions that were pretty painful. I expected to have some change in my cervix after all those contractions! When Monica checked me Friday morning, I had dilated to 3cm, was 95% effaced and Maddie’s head was down to about 0 station. This was some welcome news as I had progressed. Monica talked with some other physicians and they decided that I had been in protracted prodromal labor. Normal latent labor does not last for two days! They decided that it would be good to go ahead and admit us to the hospital and break my water to help my contractions ramp up in timing and intensity. It was really about to start! We were relieved to finally be doing something besides sitting at home waiting. 

We went to the hospital and were admitted. I got my dreaded IV and Monica met us there after she finished in clinic. She broke my water and this really made my contractions pick up. I labored on the birthing ball for a few hours with Cody by my side, telling me I was doing a great job. He is so supportive of me. I was really glad to have him there with me! Monica rechecked my cervix and I had dilated to a 4, but my contractions were spacing back out. She decided that I needed some Pitocin to help me get going, and it certainly did. We continued to labor as the contractions got more and more painful. If you know me, you know how much I HATE needles and the thought of an epidural scared me to death. I had planned to get through labor as natural as possible and knew that if I had to have pain medications that an epidural would affect Maddie the least. I made it thought the contractions until about midnight at which point they were unbearable. Together we made the decision that I would get an epidural. I was so afraid, but the epidural was not as bad as I thought it would be. My IV in my hand hurt much worse. We slept through most of the night, and Monica would come check my cervix periodically. I continued to dilate through the night.

Laboring away

On Saturday, I began to notice that my epidural was not working as effectively as before. I ended up needing 3 extra doses of the medication in my epidural to help with the contractions. I continued to progress and eventually reached 9 cm, but that is where I stalled out. Monica came in to check and see how Maddie was positioned, and when she checked, she was OP or “sunny side up”. This meant that her face was looking up instead of down like normal. This caused my excruciating back pain and slowed my labor down. Now we knew why it had progressed so slowly. Unfortunately this meant that she would have to be repositioned or I would have to have a c-section. They did not think repositioning her would be the best plan of care, so we went forward with a c-section. So far my natural birth plan had been anything but natural. 

Rolling to the delivery room for the c-section

Normally they do not let spouses in the operating room until anesthesia completes their job and gets the patient numb for surgery. I was terrified and did not want Cody to leave my side. He had been with me through every contraction. He talked the anesthesiologist into letting him come back and be with me during the placement of my spinal block. We had this done since my epidural was not functioning. They were able to get me completely numb for my c-section, which was one of my fears. They started on getting Maddie out when they ran into something that no one had expected. Maddie’s head had been sitting on my foley catheter and my urine was being blocked from leaving my bladder. This caused my bladder to grow to about 4-5 times the size it normally should be. There was a silent hush over the OR as they worked to get my bladder drained. They actually needed another resident to come in to lift Maddie’s head off my bladder and my foley drained about 1 liter of urine! With that problem resolved, they started with the c-section. It was 11:39 am when the OB/GYNs began to giggle over the surgical drape. They said that when they opened my uterus, Maddie was looking up at them with her eyes wide open saying, “Come get me!” Madelyn Claire Wingler made her grand entrance at 11:39 am on 11/12/2011 weighing in at 7 lbs 9.6 oz and measuring 19 inches long. Cody and I thought she was perfect. Cody cut the cord, and held her next to me in the operating room. They soon finished the surgery and we got to hold Maddie in the recovery room. She was awake a lot and stared back at us, happy to finally meet her mom and dad who had waited so long for her arrival. 

Madelyn's first picture

Our first family photo

Cuddle time with Mommy in the recovery room

Snuggling with Daddy in the recovery room

Cody and I went through a lot to have Maddie. We dealt with two years of infertility and endured IVF. God taught us many lessons about patience and trusting totally in him. As we sat in the recovery room, staring at our daughter we could not help but thank God for blessing our lives with her. Jeremiah 29:11 was one of our favorite bible verses throughout our trials. We may have a plan for our lives, but God has the ultimate plan for us. Maddie’s birth may not have went as Cody or I expected, but it went according to God’s plan. Now our family has grown to four (three humans and a brown dog) and our faith in God has grown deeper and stronger. Now we look forward to what God has in plan for Cody and me, as well as our beautiful daughter, who God will continue to shape into the woman he wants her to be. We eagerly look forward to what God has in store for our family.