First family photo
This post is long...I decided to write out all of the events around his birth (don't worry - nothing graphic) so I could remember it all and have it recorded somewhere. Here goes!Henry's birth week was very eventful! My mom was here and we had been working super late every night to get the house cleaned up and ready, so we were already exhausted. We were determined to get the paper off of the floors and get the house cleaned before our little one arrived...and it was close!
We knew we didn't want a Halloweeen baby, and we were glad he waiting until the 2nd to make his appearance. We had a checkup on Thursday Oct 31st and since I was more effaced (closer to 80%) but not dilated any more, the doctor went ahead and stripped my membranes to help move things along. We also scheduled an induction for the following Tuesday night/Wednesday morning just in case the baby decided to be stubborn and didn't want to come on his own. I had been so certain that I didn't want to be induced but the closer my due date got, the more I realized we had a healthy baby and it was crazy to keep waiting while we had my mom here to help.
On Friday the 1st, I just felt so slow and achy, and didn't do much during the day until late afternoon. My mom and I decided to go into town and run some errands for a couple of hours and by the time we got home and fixed supper I was starting to have contractions - evidently all I needed to do was walk around Walmart for a while to put myself into labor! We timed them for about an hour and a half and they started getting stronger and closer together...making me think it may be the real thing. A quick text to my doctor, and we were off to Wichita! Well...it didn't happen that fast because Chance and my mom were scurrying around getting everything in place and Chance was working on finishing the kitchen island. I just tried to keep timing and made sure our bags were packed - luckily my mom had made me pack mine and the baby's bags already so all we had to do was add stuff for Chance.
The drive to Wichita went by pretty quickly although I'm sure if I had waited another hour it wouldn't have been. We got checked into the hospital right at midnight, and I was only dilated to a 1 1/2 so they suggested I walk for an hour and get rechecked. The words "send you back home" were mentioned and I was determined that wasn't going to happen. We walked and walked the halls and finally were admitted when I made it to 3cm. At this point, my mom went to the waiting room and let Chance and I "go at it alone". This was around 4:00AM...
Before the contractions got strong...and I got grumpy :)
I labored on my own with the help of pitocin (which I was not mentally prepared for AT ALL) until I was 4cm and could get the epidural and at that point, it was around 5:30AM and we were exhausted. Once the epidural took affect, we finally got about 30-45 minutes of sleep before the nurses changed shifts. The events after this all run together for a few hours because we were so tired, but I remember the doctors checking me and telling me they could go ahead and break my water, and at that point, I dilated to an 8. The doctor let us know that the baby was positioned sideways - he was head down, but his face was towards my right hip and the back of his head was towards my left hip. This explained the back labor pains I had been having on my left side - evidently the epidural doesn't do anything for back pain.
The doctor couldn't turn him because he wasn't down far enough, so they had to try and position me to make him turn. Every 30 minutes the nurses would come in and turn me on my side, and then switch, so there was no chance of getting any rest.
Once I was fully dilated, things moved really fast - people were everyone all of a sudden, the bottom of the bed was pulled off, and the show was on the road. I honestly didn't think I had the energy to do anything, much less push a baby out, but what choice did I have?! We started pushing and that's when it got scary. I would push, and his heart rate would dip and not come back up and after about 3 or 4 pushes of this happening, our doctor said no more. It meant he was in distress and something was wrong - either the cord was wrapped around his neck or since he was sideways it was just causing too much stress on him. After a brief discussion, the doctor told us we were going to do a c-section...and things moved even faster after that. Forms were signed, gowns/scrubs and hairnets were passed out and before I knew it we were on our way down the hallway to the operating room.
I prayed...and prayed...and my mom prayed, and Chance prayed...please turn over baby, please don't make us have a c-section.
And somehow, from the time we left the labor/delivery room, wheeled down the hall and shuffled me onto the OR table, he turned. But not before the anesthesiologist bumped up my epidural to a full block and they prepared me for the c-section. We were almost ready for the surgery, and for some reason, my doctor said "Let's try pushing one more time"...and so we did. After 3 or 4 pushes with the baby's heart rate staying stable, the doctor decided it was worth a try and we continued pushing. Since I had such a strong block, I could barely even lift my body to push. It was a circus...nurses helping me sit up, the doctor holding a towel and me pulling on the other end to help myself sit up and push...just crazy. I decided it was a mental game and kept asking myself - what would it feel like it I was pushing right now? - and when they kept saying "good job" I guessed I was doing something right (but they probably say that to everyone, right?).
After 35 minutes or so of pushing, our little boy made his appearance into the world. Upon our request, Chance was the one who made the announcement of his gender - and it was the perfect moment.
Here are a few shots from right after he was born:
We stayed in the labor/delivery room for a few hours - since my epidural
was so strong they had to give me extra time for it to wear off. My
mom came in from the waiting room (where she had been all night and
barely slept) and Chance's parents came to visit too.
Getting checked out by the pediatrician
Meeting my mom for the first time
With Mommy (man was I swollen!)
Eventually, they
moved us to the postpartum room with a king size bed and we were
there for two days. We had the option to leave after 24 hrs, but I
don't know how people do it...we were glad we stayed the extra day. Here are pictures from after we moved rooms:
Checking things out from my lap
Daddy during his first sleep deprived night with Henry
So in love :)
Daddy changing the first poop diaper - Henry was not a happy camper
On Saturday night we had several visitors from Chance's family and Sunday we had even more visitors. Henry was a popular little boy! Sunday was a big day - he had his circumcision, blood drawn, pictures taken, hearing checked and met a lot of new people. All of the activity must have been too much for him because he kept
mommy & daddy up ALL night on Sunday night! Whew were we exhausted!
Finally sleeping after keeping us awake the entire night before
My mom came back and forth both days and came to pick us up on Monday to go home.
First bath by mommy & daddy - not happy
All dressed and ready to go home
Serious talk with my mom :)
One last hospital picture
On our way home from the hospital
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