The Birth Story

While it's still fresh in my mind I'd like to record the birth story of our Sweet S.  So, here it is:

Last Tuesday evening I went into the hospital and was scheduled for a gel treatment to help things get ready for the induction the next day.  When I called the labor and delivery floor an hour ahead of time as I was told, they asked me to hold off since there were so many women in labor at the time (can you say full moon?!).  They said I could keep calling back and checking in to see when that would change.

After getting over the disappointment of being delayed, I decided that I would just continue to check in with them as my way of being able to "do something" while I simply waited.

Several phone calls later they agreed to let me come in for the gel.  Excited would be an understatement!  It was the beginning of my induction and I was THRILLED!

My dear husband met me at the hospital and mentioned that he was so excited all day -- more excited than he would be getting ready to go Hawaii (as many of you know, that's a BIG deal for us!)

After being hooked up to the monitors the nurse noticed that I was having consistent contractions every 3-5 minutes...my day had been so busy that I had not stopped to pay attention to the frequency of them.  After my exam showed that I had begun to dilate more my OB decided that if I had the gel that it would possibly send me into hard labor and could put unnecessary strain on the baby's heart.

With childcare lined up already for 2 days, we decided to go out for a nice dinner and walk through the mall to see if we could "get things moving along".

Around 8:30 pm we walked past a hair salon.  My sweet husband encouraged me to get my hair cut since we had the time (and baby sitters in place)...so, at 9 pm I was sitting in the stylist chair getting a bob!  It was so strange to be out at that time, especially doing something like that!  :)  I'm so glad I did!

The contractions continued throughout the night and into the early morning.  Sleep just didn't come.

I had to call the hospital at 5 am to confirm that we could come in at 6 am for the induction.  Once again, there was no room for me.

This had happened with my induction with P and I had to wait several days to finally get in (I ended up being 9 days late).  With that memory still seared in my mind, I began to doubt that we would get in last Wednesday.

I called around 9 am and mentioned that my contractions were still coming and they decided to bring me in and check my progress.  FINALLY, it was going to happen!!  We went by my in-laws to give the boys some hugs then we were on our way!

I was monitored and had no further progress since the night before.  They sent us out for lunch and a long walk (thankfully it was a stunning, sunny fall day!).  After sitting on a park bench just soaking up the sunshine and just simply hanging out with each other, we walked 2 miles around a track at a local park then several blocks to our car.

Looking back on that afternoon, I am SO thankful the 2 of us had such a special time together.  I absolutely loved it!!

We came back and a room had just opened up for us!  At 3pm the official induction began.  The nurses were really busy with all the ladies in labor and did not "up" the petocin very often so it was slow going until our favorite nurse, Christine, came on at 6pm.  She encouraged me to walk the halls, bounce on the exercise ball and rock in the rocking chair to get things progressing.

For the next 2 hours that's just what I did.  I loved the exercise ball (I even convinced my husband to use one too so he could cheer me on while bouncing!  We had some good laughs!) and it was much more comfortable than sitting on the bed.

This activity sent my labor from 5 cm dilated to 9.  The pain got really intense as the contractions became almost non-stop.  I opted for the epidural at that time.

About 9 pm my mother-in-law came by to check in and visit after she put our boys down for bed.  It was great to have a distraction and have her company.  My epidural was not working on my left side so they had to give me a really strong dose.  At the time, the high concentration was awesome...when it came time for pushing, not so much.

Around 10 pm I was at 10 cm dilated and I was told that baby was "right there".  I was SO excited that our baby would have 10/20/2010 as his birthday!  (I had been hoping for this date since we found out that we would be due at the end of October.)

Around 10:30 they got me ready to push (QUITE the undertaking since the lower portion of my body had become like rubber with the amazing dose of epidural they had to use!).  I got on my back to do a practice push and all of a sudden I felt horrible.

I am still trying to find words to describe the feeling.  It felt as though I was just not all there.  My mother-in-law noted that my blood pressure dropped from my normal 120/70 to 76/4...needless to say, I was dangerously low.  My temperature dropped to 96 degrees.  At that point I began shaking uncontrollably and was put back on my side and given oxygen.

Apparently they were about to give me a shot of something that would immediately boost my blood pressure when I regained a little on my own.

Thankfully, the baby never once wavered from his steady heart rate of 140 beats per minute.  With him being so stable, they took a long time (even though he was SO ready to come out) so that I could stabilize and attempt to push.

Finally, when it was time to push (to my dismay it was past midnight and now the date was the 21st!) I was so weak from not having eaten in 12 hours, walking 2 miles around a track and walking/bouncing in HARD labor for 2 hours, that I just did not feel up for pushing the baby out.  Not to mention that I could not feel a thing from the strong epidural!

After over an hour of pushing (with P, pushing was less than 15 minutes and he was 10 pounds!)  however, Sweet S did finally come out just shy of 1am Thursday morning!  He arrived at 8 pounds 8 oz and 20 1/4 inches long.  The ultrasound technician, 2 weeks before, estimated his birthweight perfectly -- right to the oz!

As soon as he was born I was completely stabilized and feeling SO MUCH better than I had in a long time!  Confirming that pregnancy is not for me!  But also SO worth the toll that it takes on my body to reach the other side and have our precious boys.

We are so in love with our Sweet S!!  What a joy he is to us!

Textbook labor it was not and I guess we'll never know1st hand how that goes, but we're ELATED that everything worked out well!

As I reflect on this last year from the miscarriage until now, I am once again reminded that God is SO good!!  He has given us far more than we could have ever hoped or imagined!  3 healthy, precious boys!  He is beyond gracious in sprinkling His gifts on me and my family...nothing that I deserve but everything that I will treasure.

Yes, I will admit that I am still working on letting go of the date of birth not being 10/20/2010...it's really silly, I know.  But when I try to keep things in perspective, we are all doing wonderfully and there were no major further complications after the birth.

After doing a celebration dance since I was officially DONE with my pregnancy nylons, I had to go back to wearing them over the past few days due to extreme swelling in my right ankle and foot.   Today seems to be much better!  Hopefully I've rounded the corner!

Other updates, from Saturday when S was weighed to Monday when he was weighed he'd gained 7 oz! I think he's trying to keep up with his older brothers and reach 20 pounds by 16 weeks!  :)  At this point, no concerns about this little guy thriving!  One less thing to worry about!

I'm holding up and trying to push through each day being really sleep deprived.  Thankfully between my mother-in-law and husband, I have people helping especially with the older boys, and life in general.  I just somehow need to figure out how to get in a bit more rest each day...life just seems to stand in the way of that!

Thank you for your prayers and support, especially last Wednesday as I was "in the thick of it"!  I know that we are and were being sustained by the prayers offered up to the Lord.