Townes' Birth Story

When they say no two pregnancies, labors, or babies are the same they truly mean it! Let's start from the beginning.

Townes William

It took us longer than anticipated to get pregnant this go around. I had an early miscarriage in December of 2020 which brought with it additional anxiety and heartbreak. We had scheduled a fertility appointment in August of 2021, and who would have guessed that the last cycle before than we were pregnant! Much of this pregnancy was similar to my previous- LOTS of heartburn early on (except this time I had to get on prescription meds), difficulties sleeping, late swelling, but overall generally kind to my body. This pregnancy seemed to fly by (probably because I have 2 other kiddos keeping me busy) until the last month that is. We had some extra and more detailed scans of babe to be sure that they did not have the same condition Navy does (CDH) and they were all clear. Growth was around 50%ile all along and they had a lot of hair from the beginning (thanks heartburn). We did not want to find out the gender before they were born - which was great for Dustin but not as easy for me as a type-A planner. 

At my 36 week scan - baby was looking great! Head down, 52%ile and lots of hair. Then at 37 weeks the little turkey had flipped breach. I was crushed. After 2 vaginal deliveries I had never anticipated anything different for the 3rd. The doctor offered to do an External Cephalic Version (EVC) where they use physical manipulation to rotate the baby to be head down. There are of course risks associated with any medical decision, but we felt that a vaginal birth was really the way we wanted to go. On March 8th I went in at 7am for the procedure. I had some IV fluids and was monitored before, during, and after the procedure to make sure the baby was doing okay. The doc (Kraft) came in and explained everything and then got started. Basically they squirted a lot of jelly onto my belly and he cupped his hands around the baby's head and butt. He pushed them clockwise so they were in the correct positioning. It was a little uncomfortable and painful but mostly strange and surreal. I did not have any medications during the procedure. It took less than 2 minutes and there was a whole gallery of med students and nurses observing. My nurse assured me that was the quickest and most successful version she had witnessed in 15 years! Yahoo! The baby was head down and all seemed good. Then about 3 hours and 45 minutes into our monitoring time, their heart rate dropped a bit. I had some oxygen and moved positions a bunch. The baby had squeezed their cord giving everyone a scare. That earned us another 4 hours of monitoring, but after that event they behaved! I was happy they were head down, but now we needed to keep it that way.

With this pregnancy I had a lot of prodromal labor (intense contractions that are timeable but not true labor). Of course they were happening almost every night from 37 weeks on, prohibiting me from getting much sleep at all. I was beginning to feel super discouraged because as soon as I would get up and start my day they would taper off. Both Dexter and Navy had relatively sudden onset of labor without much warning or early symptoms - so I expected this go to be the same and it was far from it. I also had both kids during my 38th week - so I assumed this baby would also come early. Each appointment confirmed baby was still head down, but I was not making much progress. I had scheduled an induction for March 24 (39 +4) with my preferred doc. I went in to see him for my 39 week appointment on March 23 around lunch. He checked me and I was 2cm and babe was still head down. I was elated the baby was in the proper position for a vaginal birth still. I was having intermittent contractions before, during, and after the appointment. I went home and laid around all day to try and keep the contractions at bay until the following day so I would have the doc I wanted for delivery. 

By 5pm, my contractions were pretty intense and getting increasingly close together. At 6pm Dustin and I headed to the hospital. They admitted me and checked my progress. I was 6cm and contractions were coming in hot. They paged anesthesia because it can take awhile to get them there and the epidural started. At 7:45 I got the epidural and started to feel a bit of relief. By 8PM they broke my water and the contractions started picking up. I also started to really feel the contractions in my left leg. It turns out the epidural did not take all the way and therefore I was going to feel every single contraction unless they did something, So I got a big boost of the medicine - no change. Then I laid on my side, another big boost of meds - and slowly my leg went numb. The doc came back in to check me around 9:15PM and calmly announced the head was in position and it was time to push. I could not believe it was going so quickly!

The team assembled and everyone seemed to think I could get this baby out in a single push. I was not quite as confident given my history of long labors. Part of my concern was the two big bolsters of meds really made me unable to feel anything at all - which makes it hard to use the momentum for pushing. But I was really excited to meet out little one. I began pushing and the doc and nurses were so encouraging. Lots of positivity and help! I could not have asked for a better crew during my delivery. I had a med student (shoutout to Lauren) who had come to my appointments from 30 weeks on and was following my care. She was super encouraging and helpful throughout. It took 4 good sets of pushes and the baby's heart rate was beginning to drop a bit, so the doc asked if he could use a vacuum to pull them out on the next set of contractions. At this point they gave me oxygen to help see if it would help the baby. As I completed that final set, they used the vacuum one time to move the baby, and then I was able to successfully push him out at 9:42PM! They quickly suctioned his little mouth and announced it was a boy! I could not believe it happened so quickly and relatively smoothly. They laid him on my chest and I cried tears of relief. Relief he was healthy and here, and relief the delivery went so well. I needed a few stitches for a Level 2 tear, but it was so much better than my 4th degree with Dexter. Everything was so surreal.

I had called this pregnancy and birth my chance for redemption. I had a beautiful delivery with Navy - but everything else about our experience with her was a challenge. I needed an opportunity to hold my baby before 20 days and be able to breastfeed. And this experience was everything I could have asked for. Townes successfully latched after an hour of skin to skin. He was perfect in every way. He did have 2 large sub-dermal hematomas on his head from the trauma of birth and was slightly jaundiced. Both issues have totally resolved. After 2 days we headed home to introduce Townes to his big brother and sister.

The adorable welcome hone sign Dexter made!

The kiddos meeting Townes!

Townes William Cozad weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 20.25 inches long. He was born on March 23, 2022 at 9:42PM at Mount Nittany Medical Center. I wish I could say we have a really great story about his name - but we heard Townes and just fell in love with it. William is in honor of Dustin's paternal grandfather and my fraternal grandfather. We are truly in love and have adjusted pretty well as a family of 5. Dexter and Navy are absolutely smitten with him, and he has really been a joyful addition. It is hard to remember life before him. My recovery has been so much smoother this pregnancy. My swelling went down after about a week and at 4 weeks out, I am pretty much symptom free. Being a mom is still my proudest accomplishment.

Our sweetest new addition