A Baby Story - James Edition

Well it's been 2 and a half months already. But time to try to get caught up on this blog! First and foremost THE BABY STORY!

Well, we bought tickets to fly my mom out on the 18th. When Mary was about to be born my mom had come out to Utah. She had come to see my sister's new baby and then I was supposed to be induced while she was there. But my doctor's office was really picky about how progressed you had to be before they would do an elective induction, and when the time came I wasn't progressed enough so my mom had to go home before Mary finally was born. It was awful! I bawled all day. So this time around when we were planning out my mom coming I didn't want to take any chances of her being here before James came and still missing it. We flew her out on the 18th (only one day before my due date) and hoped we could be induced the same day, but since my doctor was in the hospital on Sunday the 17th and not the 18th, the induction was scheduled for the 17th.

Sunday came and James hadn't made his appearance on his own so an induction it was. Robert's mom decided to fly out a couple days before so she could take care of the kids during the labor and delivery process. It made the weekend that much less stressful. So Mom R dropped us off at 9am and we were off.

Last baby bump pic at the entrance of the hospital.

As soon as we got there we got a room and Doctor Mumm broke my water. You never know, but I think I had started having real labor pains on my own that morning anyway. So maybe I was already in labor and maybe not, but it just made me less nervous for the induction because I knew my body was ready, and right away after he broke my water the contractions started coming 3-4 minutes apart. Another good sign.

But we soon learned that just because your body is ready doesn't mean it's going to make the whole process super quick. We expected some wait so we brought a bunch of card games to play. Cribbage, Nertz, Monopoly Deal, and Speed were our main games of choice. We quickly became known as "The Game Room" by the staff. Through all of the games I played standing up and would pace around the room between my turns and breathing through my contractions. It was a different experience doing this part of the labor in the hospital. With the other 2, I was able to clean the house or whatever to pass the time more quickly, but it's hard to not think of the task at hand when you are in a hospital room. 

Eventually my feet started to get real sore from all of the standing and pacing so we would alternate card games with Robert rubbing my feet. Don't know what I'd do without his support.

By 4:00pm I had only dilated to a 3 and was about 75% effaced. My magic number is 4cm. With both the girls once I got to a 4 I was complete within an hour, but it takes me a long time to get to that 4. The doctor then put me on a pitocin drip to hopefully move things along a little more quickly. This made the contractions really intense. I got some fentanyl for the pain because I was trying to go without an epidural. That helped for a little while, not so much with the pain but it helped me to relax for a little bit longer, but it wore off really quickly.

When we got to the hospital at 9am I was the only one there in labor and delivery, but throughout the day 5 other women had come in to have babies, and at about 6pm things started getting really crazy. All 6 of us women started getting to the point of pushing all at once. I went through about 5 nurses in just a couple hours as they tried to juggle all of us. The doctor checked me at 7:00pm and I was a 4cm (the magic number) and 90% effaced. Within a few minutes after that I (admittedly) kind of mentally gave up and asked Robert to ask them for an epidural.

A little backstory, with both of the girls I was Group B strep positive which means I needed 2 courses of anitbiotics through an IV once in labor but before delivering the baby. With Lydia I got an epidural because her labor was so long and I wanted to sleep. With Mary I was laboring so quickly that I wasn't going to have time for both courses of antibiotics so I got the epidural to slow down the labor so the antibiotics could finish. After that I told Robert that if I were to ever deliver without an epidural I would have to be Group B negative. Well, I was negative this time so we were like "Sure. Let's not get an epidural. Why not? We've got this." And we went in thinking we've done this twice already, we know what we are doing. We took no time to practice relaxation or breathing techniques or anything and hadn't done so since before Lydia was born. So let's just say, I was NOT prepared.

Robert went and told the staff I was asking for an epidural. Once I had decided I was done with the pain, all my coping mechanisms were gone and, especially to poor Robert, I was MEAN. He would put his hand on my shoulder (which I had beforehand asked him to do) I would slap it away. He would try to breath with me (which I asked him to do), and I screamed at him to brush his teeth because his breath stunk. He would talk softly to me (which I asked him to do), I would shush him, put my hand on his face and push him away. We laughed about it almost immediately afterward, but in the process it wasn't an entirely enjoyable experience for either of us :)

At 7:30pm, (a half hour after he had checked me) the doctor came back in and said that the anesthesiologist was prepping a C-section and I would not be getting my epidural. From that point until James was out I went CRAZY. I literally screamed the whole time like the crazy ladies in movies or TV shows that I would watch and say "It's not actually like that." Irony is funny sometimes. Anyway, the doctor checked me right then and I was a 9 and 90% effaced (yep in less than a half hour I dilated 5 more centimeters) But the doctor said I was really stretchy and if I didn't start pushing soon he would be in the C-section with another patient and a nurse would have to deliver me. So they prepped and at 8:00pm I started pushing. At 8:49pm after many pushes and A LOT of screaming, James arrived! Oh the feeling of pure bliss when the baby is finally in your arms!

8lbs 13oz, 21in long and a 15in head circumference. Our biggest baby yet and we love him to pieces :)

All in all, James delivery was definitely different than the girls. Different state, different hospital, no sister of mine there as part of the support team (Melissa was there with Lydia. Katie was there with Mary. This time Robert was on his own. Again... poor Robert), no epidural, and a big headed baby! But it was still so special. When I called my mom right after I delivered my exact words were. "He's here. I did it without an epidural. I am NOT a fan!" Even now I don't know that I will do it without an epidural again, BUT I'm glad I have the experience of delivering without an epidural. AND I definitely think I could do it again, but if I did Robert and I would want to prepare myself more. Practice all the breathing and relaxation techniques more beforehand on my own and with Robert, and I would want a sister, my mom, or a doula there to help with keeping me focused.

That all being said, the miracle was the same. And the spirit right after the birth and for the first days of James' life is indescribable and has been with all of my babies. The closeness to heaven you feel as you hold this brand new baby in your arms... it's what life is all about. It's heaven on earth.

  

Heaven!!