The day I turned 39 weeks, December 20th, I had a doctor's appointment at 11:30am. I had been in pretty bad pain with "pubic symphysis dysfunction" for about a week…this is where there is too much of the hormone called Relaxin (which is aptly named) causes the ligaments that normally keep your pelvic bone aligned to become too relaxed and stretchy causing a popping sound that sounds a lot like bones/joints popping and make it feel like someone is grabbing each of your legs and pulling you apart like a wishbone - yeah, not real fun! It is as awful as it sounds, and honestly, sleeping was one of the worse parts. Everytime I would move in my sleep AT ALL I would wake up from the pain. Standing up or sitting down also hurt. The only way to get relief was to not move at all. So, anyway, I was getting pretty ready to be UN-pregnant at this point. My doctor knew that because I nearly started crying during my appointment. I had been dilated to 2-3 centimeters for nearly 3 weeks and thought I would have already had the baby by this point! At this appointment he told me I was now dilated to 4 cm. and the cervix was fully effaced. He also said the baby's head was "fully engaged" and he told me that he could induce that day or the following Sunday if I wanted. He knew that I did not want to be induced, but could tell that I was in a lot of pain and told me that since I was already having contractions (had been for a about 2 weeks) and was dilated, etc. that my labor would be "fast and easy" even if induced. I was still so uncertain and told him that I would go home, call Casey, and call back if I wanted to be induced either day (later that day or on Sunday the 23rd). I wasn't real happy about the fact of being induced on the 23rd because I was pretty sure that would mean I'd get home on Christmas day…but he wasn't able to induce on Friday or Saturday, so it was either later that SAME day or Sunday…
I left the office, in a lot more pain than I had come in with, and went to meet Casey, his parents, and Sawyer for lunch. At lunch I told them all about the appointment and Casey just seemed to want to do whatever I wanted to do. I wanted him to have more input so I waited til my mom called me back before making a decision. Sometimes you just want to talk to your mom, you know?! She was seeing clients back-to-back and was hard to get ahold of, but eventually called me back after lunch (around 1pm). She seemed to think inducing was a good idea if the doctor thought it was a good idea, but told me ultimately I should do what I wanted to do. I told her I kind of wanted to induce and she jumped fully on board and made me feel comfortable with it. I was nervous about it because most all of my friends did not have "easy" labors when given pitocin and I really wanted to try to go without an epidural, or at the very least, get one late in the game like I did with Sawyer. I knew that if I was given pitocin it would be a lot more painful and I would probably want an epidural early on.
I called Casey back and told him that I was going to call the doctor and see if he could still get me in later that evening. He said okay and I told him I'd call him back and let him know what Dr. Payne said. I called his office and talked to his nurse and she said she'd talk to him and call me right back. She seriously called me back within 5 minutes and said to go on to the hospital right then! I was freaked out. I thought I was going to have hours to prepare! I told her I would need to find someone to watch Sawyer and that I would head in as soon as I could. I lied. I was still driving home from lunch and was in the car! I called Casey and he started packing up at work to head home. I continued home, took my sleeping Sawyer out of the car and cried while I carried her to her crib and then just sat there and prayed over her. I hated that I was going to leave her while she was still sleeping and I hated that her life alone with us was about to change. I felt flooded with my "only-child emotions." I wanted her to be able to remember her first 20 months of life alone with her parents that doted on only her. I know she wouldn't. That made me so sad. I have come to terms with it now and realize that having a brother will be great and that she will love having a sibling so close in age to play with for the next decade! Still, though, I wept and prayed and poured out all sorts of love over her as she slept. I felt so torn - it was a bittersweet feeling.
After I left her room, I immediately started the shower and started packing my bags. I was having crazy contractions during all of this and I think it was because I was so worked up! I took a shower, got everything ready for Sawyer to be watched by her Mimi & Poppy who were on their way, and got my own things together. Casey got home and packed his bag as well. We loaded the car and left Sawyer asleep in her room while Casey's parents sat in the living room waiting on her to wake up.
I was so nervous on the way to the hospital. We finally arrived at 3pm., about 2 hours after the nurse had told me to head in. I had signed in online in advance so check-in was easy and the showed me to my room. Here is my last pregnancy picture! 39 weeks on the day!
They said they would call Dr. Payne to find out what kind of drugs he wanted to use to start my labor. When they hooked me up to all the machines, though, they saw that I was still having natural, steady contractions about 5-8 minutes apart. They decided to just break my water and see what happened. They broke my water at 4pm (I was still dilated to 4cm) and immediately my contractions sped to 1 minute apart and stayed that way until 7:00pm!!! I went without an epidural and walked the halls from 4pm-6:30pm. The contractions were intense and I had to stop and hold onto the railings in the hallway every minute. There was only about 30 seconds of relief between each contraction and I was beginning to rethink my "no epidural" decision. At 6:30pm they checked me again and I had decided that if I was at 8cm or more that I would go without an epidural, but if I hadn't made much progress I couldn't take it much longer. I was only at a 5!!! It had been 2 1/2 hours so I asked for an epidural. The guy came in at 7pm with the epidural and I was so thankful. Immediate relief. I started feeling good, but the contractions kind of subsided and were a little father apart at first.
At about 7:30pm I started feeling the contractions again pretty fiercely and asked for them to re-administer my epidural. It helped, but I could still feel them for the rest of the time. I think that helps when it comes time to push, though. At 8pm I asked to be checked because I was feeling TONS of pressure and actually feeling the need to push -- even though I had an epidural! Sure enough, the nurse checks me and says "Wow! There's a reason you're feeling the need to push! You're already at a 10!" I couldn't believe I had gone from 5 to 10 in an hour and a half!!!
They called Dr. Payne and he told her that he was "on his way" and she told me that she could tell he was in the car… He had told her to let me "labor down" for a while. I was not happy about this. I felt like I needed to push and that is not a fun feeling to ignore! Eventually a resident and a baby doctor were also in the room and were completely set up and we were just waiting on Dr. Payne to arrive. I asked if I could do some practice pushes and also for a mirror. I wanted to watch the baby be born. ;) I also think it helps to see progress - I know some others disagree or think that's gross or whatever. To each her own. ;)
I "practiced" for a little bit, but it became apparent that I was about to deliver the baby and was beginning to not be able to ignore the urge to push during contractions. They paged Dr. Payne again. He eventually arrived at 9:30pm (90 minutes later) and came in fully dressed in street clothes, told me he was going to change into scrubs, and would be right back. I "practiced" pushing some more and eventually was told to stop and just breathe until he came back. By this time Casey & I were beginning to get a little upset. I could have had this baby an hour ago!! They couldn't find Dr. Payne, but knew he was somewhere in the hospital. Finally, at 10pm he came back in and said "I think it's time to have a baby!" The first words out of my mouth were a tad snippy. I said "I could have had him an hour ago! Where have you been!?" Haha. I don't remember his reply. Pushing was easy - it was the waiting around that made me so uncomfortable! I pushed 2 or 3 more times and Dr. Payne started saying "easy easy easy" which was different because last time he was yelling at me saying, "push harder harder harder!" Haha.
Dayton was born at 10:19pm on 12/20/2012! He was immediately given to me - and that was so surreal and crazy to me because it was such a different experience than I had with Sawyer! She was whisked away to be worked on and I didn't see her for a good 15+ minutes. Dayton was perfectly fine! What a blessing!! Casey cut the umbilical cord and then they asked me if I'd like him to be cleaned up and weighed, etc. I said "yes, of course!" secretly thinking that I wanted to hold him better, but not while he was all gross. :)
He weighed 7 lbs, 6 oz. (1 lb and 9 oz bigger than Sawyer!) and was 20" long (only a quarter inch longer than S). His head and chest were both 13". He didn't have as much hair as she did and didn't seem to look like her or Casey or myself! Mystery baby! :) He does have my crinkly ears like Sawyer does, though. :)
He seemed perfectly content while I held him and visitors came to meet him! He was very alert and awake and had dark, blue eyes. :) He was all puffy at first and I heard Casey saying that he wasn't as cute as Sawyer. Haha! Just hours later the puffiness went away and he was the most handsome little boy I've ever seen. :) I still think he's a cutie! And he definitely LOOKS like a boy!! He's broader and barrel-chested -- he just looks manly! :)
Our first night with him was easy - we were moved to our new room and settled in around 1am and then we had to wake him up to feed him every 3 hours and he slept great! He was a natural eater, too. I am nursing and that is always helpful if the baby knows what to do! (Sawyer did not).
I had a fever and a really high heart rate and they kept checking on me every hour so that was the only annoying part, but everything was back to normal after about 12 hours.
The next day (Friday) we had many visitors and it was a good time. On Friday night he gave us a little scare. It was around 9 or 10pm and we had the lights off for the night. Casey was changing his diaper and all of the sudden he starts freaking out in a panic! He kept saying "He's not breathing! He can't breathe!" I really thought he was just having a freak out moment because it was dark and I couldn't see anything, but when I turned the light on I could see that he really wasn't breathing and that he was choking! Casey was pounding him on the back and I was kind of talking him through what to do and I hit the panic call button and the nurse was also talking us through it all while someone was headed our way. Casey was yelling back at her "I'm doing that!! He's still not breathing!" A nurse entered our room about the time that Dayton started coughing up tons of amniotic fluid. They wheeled him down to the nursery (and we followed) where they put a tube down his throat and started pumping out amniotic fluid. They got out an entire ounce (30 mL) which is a LOT for a newborn to have in their tiny tummy. At a day old their stomach is only the size of a marble! Goodness gracious. I was so glad this happened at the hospital and not at home. I felt so bad for Casey - he was obviously freaked out. He choked once when he was in the 2nd grade and his teacher did the Heimlich on him and out came a jawbreaker! Now he is pretty terrified of choking and it really bothered him to see Dayton like that. Plus, he is the one that had to beat on him for a couple minutes while he wasn't breathing! Traumatizing to do that to your own 6 pound baby. :( Again, though, so glad we were still at the hospital and that they could get the rest of the fluid out before we went home.
Saturday, the next day, Dayton was circumcised and did well during that procedure, but didn't eat again or even really wake up for about 5 hours afterward. Poor guy! I was not prepared for how all of that looked and was shocked when I saw! Casey dealt with all of the diapers for the next 24 hours because I couldn't stand the site of it!!!
Our hospital stay was short -- we left on Saturday around 2pm when he was only 39 hours old! I was a little nervous that he wasn't even 2 days old before we headed home, but he was super healthy and perfectly fine!
I am so in love with our little guy and am so thankful for his healthy body and our helpful nurses while at the hospital. Casey & I have loved both experiences at Baylor. Definitely recommend it. :) We prayed for a healthy baby and a non-complicated delivery during the entire pregnancy and God said "yes" to that and it was a great experience! So thankful and blessed!
I left the office, in a lot more pain than I had come in with, and went to meet Casey, his parents, and Sawyer for lunch. At lunch I told them all about the appointment and Casey just seemed to want to do whatever I wanted to do. I wanted him to have more input so I waited til my mom called me back before making a decision. Sometimes you just want to talk to your mom, you know?! She was seeing clients back-to-back and was hard to get ahold of, but eventually called me back after lunch (around 1pm). She seemed to think inducing was a good idea if the doctor thought it was a good idea, but told me ultimately I should do what I wanted to do. I told her I kind of wanted to induce and she jumped fully on board and made me feel comfortable with it. I was nervous about it because most all of my friends did not have "easy" labors when given pitocin and I really wanted to try to go without an epidural, or at the very least, get one late in the game like I did with Sawyer. I knew that if I was given pitocin it would be a lot more painful and I would probably want an epidural early on.
I called Casey back and told him that I was going to call the doctor and see if he could still get me in later that evening. He said okay and I told him I'd call him back and let him know what Dr. Payne said. I called his office and talked to his nurse and she said she'd talk to him and call me right back. She seriously called me back within 5 minutes and said to go on to the hospital right then! I was freaked out. I thought I was going to have hours to prepare! I told her I would need to find someone to watch Sawyer and that I would head in as soon as I could. I lied. I was still driving home from lunch and was in the car! I called Casey and he started packing up at work to head home. I continued home, took my sleeping Sawyer out of the car and cried while I carried her to her crib and then just sat there and prayed over her. I hated that I was going to leave her while she was still sleeping and I hated that her life alone with us was about to change. I felt flooded with my "only-child emotions." I wanted her to be able to remember her first 20 months of life alone with her parents that doted on only her. I know she wouldn't. That made me so sad. I have come to terms with it now and realize that having a brother will be great and that she will love having a sibling so close in age to play with for the next decade! Still, though, I wept and prayed and poured out all sorts of love over her as she slept. I felt so torn - it was a bittersweet feeling.
After I left her room, I immediately started the shower and started packing my bags. I was having crazy contractions during all of this and I think it was because I was so worked up! I took a shower, got everything ready for Sawyer to be watched by her Mimi & Poppy who were on their way, and got my own things together. Casey got home and packed his bag as well. We loaded the car and left Sawyer asleep in her room while Casey's parents sat in the living room waiting on her to wake up.
I was so nervous on the way to the hospital. We finally arrived at 3pm., about 2 hours after the nurse had told me to head in. I had signed in online in advance so check-in was easy and the showed me to my room. Here is my last pregnancy picture! 39 weeks on the day!
At about 7:30pm I started feeling the contractions again pretty fiercely and asked for them to re-administer my epidural. It helped, but I could still feel them for the rest of the time. I think that helps when it comes time to push, though. At 8pm I asked to be checked because I was feeling TONS of pressure and actually feeling the need to push -- even though I had an epidural! Sure enough, the nurse checks me and says "Wow! There's a reason you're feeling the need to push! You're already at a 10!" I couldn't believe I had gone from 5 to 10 in an hour and a half!!!
They called Dr. Payne and he told her that he was "on his way" and she told me that she could tell he was in the car… He had told her to let me "labor down" for a while. I was not happy about this. I felt like I needed to push and that is not a fun feeling to ignore! Eventually a resident and a baby doctor were also in the room and were completely set up and we were just waiting on Dr. Payne to arrive. I asked if I could do some practice pushes and also for a mirror. I wanted to watch the baby be born. ;) I also think it helps to see progress - I know some others disagree or think that's gross or whatever. To each her own. ;)
I "practiced" for a little bit, but it became apparent that I was about to deliver the baby and was beginning to not be able to ignore the urge to push during contractions. They paged Dr. Payne again. He eventually arrived at 9:30pm (90 minutes later) and came in fully dressed in street clothes, told me he was going to change into scrubs, and would be right back. I "practiced" pushing some more and eventually was told to stop and just breathe until he came back. By this time Casey & I were beginning to get a little upset. I could have had this baby an hour ago!! They couldn't find Dr. Payne, but knew he was somewhere in the hospital. Finally, at 10pm he came back in and said "I think it's time to have a baby!" The first words out of my mouth were a tad snippy. I said "I could have had him an hour ago! Where have you been!?" Haha. I don't remember his reply. Pushing was easy - it was the waiting around that made me so uncomfortable! I pushed 2 or 3 more times and Dr. Payne started saying "easy easy easy" which was different because last time he was yelling at me saying, "push harder harder harder!" Haha.
Dayton was born at 10:19pm on 12/20/2012! He was immediately given to me - and that was so surreal and crazy to me because it was such a different experience than I had with Sawyer! She was whisked away to be worked on and I didn't see her for a good 15+ minutes. Dayton was perfectly fine! What a blessing!! Casey cut the umbilical cord and then they asked me if I'd like him to be cleaned up and weighed, etc. I said "yes, of course!" secretly thinking that I wanted to hold him better, but not while he was all gross. :)
He weighed 7 lbs, 6 oz. (1 lb and 9 oz bigger than Sawyer!) and was 20" long (only a quarter inch longer than S). His head and chest were both 13". He didn't have as much hair as she did and didn't seem to look like her or Casey or myself! Mystery baby! :) He does have my crinkly ears like Sawyer does, though. :)
He seemed perfectly content while I held him and visitors came to meet him! He was very alert and awake and had dark, blue eyes. :) He was all puffy at first and I heard Casey saying that he wasn't as cute as Sawyer. Haha! Just hours later the puffiness went away and he was the most handsome little boy I've ever seen. :) I still think he's a cutie! And he definitely LOOKS like a boy!! He's broader and barrel-chested -- he just looks manly! :)
I had a fever and a really high heart rate and they kept checking on me every hour so that was the only annoying part, but everything was back to normal after about 12 hours.
The next day (Friday) we had many visitors and it was a good time. On Friday night he gave us a little scare. It was around 9 or 10pm and we had the lights off for the night. Casey was changing his diaper and all of the sudden he starts freaking out in a panic! He kept saying "He's not breathing! He can't breathe!" I really thought he was just having a freak out moment because it was dark and I couldn't see anything, but when I turned the light on I could see that he really wasn't breathing and that he was choking! Casey was pounding him on the back and I was kind of talking him through what to do and I hit the panic call button and the nurse was also talking us through it all while someone was headed our way. Casey was yelling back at her "I'm doing that!! He's still not breathing!" A nurse entered our room about the time that Dayton started coughing up tons of amniotic fluid. They wheeled him down to the nursery (and we followed) where they put a tube down his throat and started pumping out amniotic fluid. They got out an entire ounce (30 mL) which is a LOT for a newborn to have in their tiny tummy. At a day old their stomach is only the size of a marble! Goodness gracious. I was so glad this happened at the hospital and not at home. I felt so bad for Casey - he was obviously freaked out. He choked once when he was in the 2nd grade and his teacher did the Heimlich on him and out came a jawbreaker! Now he is pretty terrified of choking and it really bothered him to see Dayton like that. Plus, he is the one that had to beat on him for a couple minutes while he wasn't breathing! Traumatizing to do that to your own 6 pound baby. :( Again, though, so glad we were still at the hospital and that they could get the rest of the fluid out before we went home.
Saturday, the next day, Dayton was circumcised and did well during that procedure, but didn't eat again or even really wake up for about 5 hours afterward. Poor guy! I was not prepared for how all of that looked and was shocked when I saw! Casey dealt with all of the diapers for the next 24 hours because I couldn't stand the site of it!!!
Our hospital stay was short -- we left on Saturday around 2pm when he was only 39 hours old! I was a little nervous that he wasn't even 2 days old before we headed home, but he was super healthy and perfectly fine!
I am so in love with our little guy and am so thankful for his healthy body and our helpful nurses while at the hospital. Casey & I have loved both experiences at Baylor. Definitely recommend it. :) We prayed for a healthy baby and a non-complicated delivery during the entire pregnancy and God said "yes" to that and it was a great experience! So thankful and blessed!
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