Sunday, May 11, 2014

James Michael's Birth Story

My poor blog has taken such a backseat in my life the last...like..year that I didn't even blog about my pregnancy with Baby J!! Basically:

  •  I got huge and everyone always said I looked like I was having twins or about to pop (which, you know, feels awesome). 
  • I worked out until the third trimester and couldn't anymore. 
  • I was more sick in the beginning this time than I was when I was pregnant with Emily. 
  • He kicked less and stretched more than Emily. 
  • Not as much heartburn until the very end. 
  • I get really bad pelvic bone pain that makes it hard to walk or move or do anything while pregnant and it was worse this time than when I was pregnant with Emily. Therefore, I was MORE THAN READY to have him whenever he felt like coming.
 Luckily, he did decide to be nice to me and came ten days early!! Here is my labor story!

My due date was May 11th. That's today- Mother's Day! But we've been blessed enough to have had James since May 1st. What started out as a normal "I'm so uncomfortable, get this baby out of me now" day turned into an exciting day we didn't expect! I had an appointment on Wednesday, June 30th to go to my weekly OBGYN appointment to see how baby was measuring, hear the heartbeat, etc. Before I left for my appointment I took this belly picture. It was my 38 week picture.


At my 11:15 am appointment, I basically had a mini meltdown and was crying to my nurse practitioner about how miserable I felt physically and how the waiting was killing me. She was very nice and understanding. I told her that I didn't want to have her check to see how dilated I was this time because it hurts and doesn't even mean anything as far as when the baby would come. Then I told her that there was a slight chance my water might have been leaking (it wasn't obvious) since the night before and so she took two samples, tested one that was positive, then left the room to check the other one (leaving me freaking out and getting excited because if they were both positive for water leakage I knew they would send me to L&D to have the baby). She came back in the room and said "It's your water leaking, you're going to head to L&D now!" I was shocked and so thrilled. I left the appointment with a huge smile on my face. I had just, that morning, run this scenario with Michael as a "what if" because I had our one car with me.

So anyway, I called Michael and said "Remember that scenario we talked about this morning? Well...it's happening. We're having the baby!" And he didn't believe me at first. Then he started freaking out. I called my mom to tell her so she could start heading out because she was going to watch Emily for us. Then I called my friend Heather and she was nice enough to drive Michael and Emily to the hospital, drop off Michael, then turn around and take Emily back to our house because by then my mom got there. Crazy!! During all that, I was checking into L&D and getting my hospital gown on (my nurse called it my Victorias Secret gown and undies or something haha). I snapped this picture in the bathroom.


I look happy here because I was! I was so thrilled to be finally having him and that it was early! Emily was five days late. Also, my contractions hadn't started so I wasn't in any pain as far as labor goes.

Michael got to the hospital just after I was checked to see how dilated I was. I was only 2.5 cm dilated so they had me walk the halls of L&D for an hour to try to get my contractions going and I only felt a couple in that hour. During my walk I was sneaking bites of a sandwich I made Michael get from the hospital downstairs because I was starving and labor hadn't even really started yet but I wasn't "allowed" to eat since I was admitted already. I hadn't had lunch yet.


When they checked me again I was somewhere around 4.5 cm so the walking moved things along but as soon as I layed down again I didn't progress much at all for several hours.




I was on a constant penicillin IV and then they started talking about giving me pitocin since my water had leaked the night before and they were worried about infection if I didn't have the baby soon. I had already been thinking I would probably get the epidural this time around (I did it naturally with Emily) but when they said that about giving me pitocin I knew I wanted it. I had heard how much more intense contractions are with pitocin and I wanted nothing to do with that!!

So they hooked up some liquids to my IV before I could get the epidural, then when I was getting the epidural I was shaking so bad. I am sure it was nerves, not cold. I got the shakes several different times in the hospital. Anyway, the pressure of the epidural actually did hurt but once I was hooked up I was fine. The nurse who put my catheter in was in serious danger of getting punched in the face. I hated her. She had no bedside manner, didn't wait until I was numb enough, then had to check it again to see if she put it in right. I was cranking up my epidural so I wouldn't feel it. I used that as my numbing guide. If I could feel my catheter, I cranked it up. I LOVED the epidural. I didn't mind one bit being numb down to my feet. After being in pain and so uncomfortable for nine months, I welcomed this break. It was awesome to see my contractions on the chart get closer together and more intense, feel the pressure in my belly, but not be in any pain. I was watching House on my phone and Michael was watching The Godfather on his lol. We couldn't sleep (sleep is near impossible in hospitals because of the constant coming and going, questions, etc.) but we rested well into the night in our dim hospital room.

At some point, probably around 3:00 am, they checked me again and felt that I had more water that needed to break so that the baby's head would come down more and then I would dilate quickly. They popped the water (another reason to be grateful I had the epidural) and then left this thing in me that better tracked my contractions. The pressure of THAT was weird. Every time I had a contraction it moved. So weird. The pressure of that got more and more intense but it didn't hurt so I didn't think much of it. When they checked me again (probably around 3:50 am) they freaked out because apparently the pressure was THE BABY'S HEAD. I was crowning!! They started frantically telling me not to push, I told them I wasn't but he was coming anyway. They were waiting for the midwife to come in who was delivering another baby next door. She came running in a few seconds later, they put my feet up in the stirrup things (ouch...), told me to push..I gave half a push and he came FLYING OUT. I didn't even really need to push! I couldn't believe it. They exclaimed, "he's huge!!" and the midwife said "it's a girl!"...we had a second of panic until they double checked and said "no, it's a boy" hahaha! They put him on my chest for a couple of minutes, then they asked if I wanted to see how much he weighs. I said yes and they took him for his measurements.



James Michael was born at 3:53 am on May 1st (my brother Brian's birthday too!) weighing 9 lbs and 21" long. I kept saying I couldn't believe I had a nine pound baby!!! And he was early!



We love our little boy so much. He's seriously the sweetest, most mellow baby ever. He barely ever cries and he is totally fine with cuddling, sitting in his swing, or laying in his bassinet. He's just such an angel and a total blessing. He's the perfect addition to our little family.




8 comments :

Lin said...

Ive said it before & I'll say it again, he's gorgeous! I can't wait to meet him.

Sheri Money said...

Aw, so glad you got a mellow baby! They are the best! Harper was such a mellow newborn. And so interesting that it was all so different this time! Gives me hope that maybe I'll be early next time too! I'd be SO surprised if I had a 9 lb. baby. He looks soooooo cute!

Amanda Wissmann said...

I don't know how I lost your blog in the move to Bloglovin- but I'm so glad I found it again! I didn't know you were pregnant but Oh gosh he is such a little handsome guy! I still remember when Emily was born! I can't believe she's 2! Congrats on being a mom again :) Looking forward to catching up!

Misty, Handbags + Handguns said...

Ah!!! I love that next to last photo. He's beautiful.

So glad labor was easy since pregnancy was rough. It was the same with both of mine. The actual having the baby part was my favorite. I had drugs, and it went fast.

megs7827 said...

Love May 1st babies! That's great you didn't have to push! I didn't even think about how he was 9lbs and early! Do you think you will have more?

Venassa said...

Congrats! He is beautiful! Sounds crazy how fast he came though.

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Our Home Grown Adventures said...

I just found your blog and wanted to say what an amazing birth story! Off course I may be biased as I have a James and an Emilie too :)

Have a great weekend!

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