Introducing Isaac Viet Nguyen

Isaac Viet Nguyen was born on March 13, 2010 at 3:05AM. He weighed in at 6.03 lbs and he's 19.5 inches long.



He was born in Portland, Oregon at the Andaluz Water Birth Center.



The birth was an incredible and amazing experience. It started with a requested ultrasound. I decided to schedule an ultrasound on Friday, 3/12, in the morning. The main purpose was to make sure Isaac was in a good position for birthing and to also double check that he was a boy. The ultrasound tech told us that everything looked great with Isaac and confirmed that he was indeed a boy.. But my amniotic fluid seemed pretty low for what it should be.



After speaking with my midwife, she advised-with a sense of urgency- to get another ultrasound at Legacy Emanuel, same day and in the afternoon. The results were the same- low amniotic fluid and a doctor came in to advise that we should be induced either that day or Saturday as it looked like the placenta was losing steam.



After talking with our midwife, her advice was to go ahead and get induced at the hospital. But which one should we go to? It was late in the afternoon on Friday and my midwife was calling the hospitals in Portland. Legacy Emanuel was willing to take us in but the out of pocket costs would be double of what I would have to pay for at a Providence Hospital. And when my midwife called my previous doctor at Providence, the doctor declined to take me because I transfered care over to Andaluz Birth Center a few months ago. My midwife then called over to Providence St. Vincents to see if they would take me- they did not seem very interested to take me either. Personally- I didn't want to go back to Providence..



So after an hour of contemplating where I should go to get induced, my midwife called back and suggested that we come into the birth center to get a cervical check and possibly see if they could induce my labor naturally. Tony and I went to the birth center at 7PM that night and I was already at 5 cms. We all were stunned because I have not felt any contractions at all to get to this point. The midwife then sent us home and advised us that we would probably start laboring that night or tomorrow morning.



We both went home and watched a Blazer game and nothing was happening so we went to bed. Around 1AM, I woke up and had a pretty good contraction.. Went back to sleep and a few minutes pass by and then another contraction hits. After 10 minutes.. I was thinking to myself-this is really abnormal.. because the contractions should be 5-7 minutes apart.. it feels like they are 2 minutes in between. After 1/2 hour, we called the midwife and she told us to go to the birth center. Still thinking there was time to do things, Tony was making coffee, a protein shake for me and bagels.. I was brushing my teeth.. And all the sudden, my water broke.



We head to the birthing center. On the way there, the contractions were right on top of another and I could feel the pressure of Isaac's head.. Tony was very calm.. I'm not really sure he sensed how fast the baby was coming because he was going the speed limit. A few minutes before we got to the center, I told him.. if we did not get to the center soon, we were going to have the baby in the car.



At 2.30AM, we arrive at the birthing center and I saw my midwife in the front room.. I just waved at her and ran to the bathroom.. the pressure was so intense.. All I wanted to do was sit on a toilet and stay there.. even though nothing was coming out. My midwife gently asked me.. Do you want to go in the tub? She guided me into the warm and relaxing bathtub. Within 15-20 minutes, Isaac was born.

Thanks to all who have kept us in prayer. This is truly a blessing from the Lord!