Trent’s Birth Story

On June 18, 2012, we finally got to meet our sweet little boy.

It has been an amazing and exhausting time since getting back from the hospital, but we are enjoying our new addition to the fullest.

On Sunday June 17th, I posted about my weekend full of walking, swimming and even taking some Evening Primrose Oil capsules, so that we would get things started. Other things were done too, but I won’t go into the specifics on that.

Well, THAT night at midnight I started having contractions. At first, it was like a crampy feeling and it wasn’t too bad. I actually even said to Brett “Oh, I wonder if that’s what that is.” I had not felt any sort of Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the entire pregnancy, so this was new to me, which was why I was guessing whether this was the beginning of labor.

We were both excited that something was happening, but didn’t want to jump ahead of ourselves, so we went to bed. I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for the next morning at 9:30am, so we figured we would wait and see if it progresses before making any decisions.

Sometime between 3 and 4 am, I happened to wake up and could feel the contractions more than when they started at midnight. I decided to start timing them with one of the apps on my phone. At this point, I was confused at what to think. While they all lasted between 45 to 60 seconds, the time between each contraction varied greatly, with some being as much as 7-8 minutes apart and some being as little as 4 minutes apart. Not the consistency I was expecting based on what I had read.

Brett woke up a little while later and saw me timing myself. At this point, there was no going back to sleep. Not only because I was in pain, but because we were eager to see the progression and decide whether to go to the doctor’s appointment or skip it and go to the hospital instead.

In my mind, I kept thinking that the contractions needed to be closer together and that I didn’t want to go to the hospital for a false alarm. I mean, would they send me home or would they induce me since I was already overdue? Or should I just go to the doctor’s appointment to see what my doctor says?

In the end, we decided to go to the hospital and left the house around 9 am. Why pay a copay for an office visit if you think they are just going to send you to the hospital anyway, right? It was definitely a good decision, because as I timed my contractions in the car, they were getting closer together, some as close as 3 minutes! Yet, the pain was still bearable…not the terrible pains I was expecting, that’s for sure. I could still talk and I was still able to help pack up the car before heading out.

Our check-in at the hospital was much different this time compared to the last time we went. I guess when you tell them you are overdue and having contractions, you get to go to the front of the line! Since I already had my paperwork filled out, they didn’t need much from me, so they gave me my wristband and walked us back to triage, where I changed into a hospital gown and got ready for them to start monitoring me.

{So flattering, right?!}

They hooked up the blood pressure cuff and contraction and baby heart rate monitors and everything was just fine. Then another nurse came in to measure if I was dilated around 10:00 am. I was 6 centimeters already! I was completely shocked to be so far along without feeling too much pain yet. Today was the day we would be having our baby, if everything continued progressing along at this rate!

We waited in triage for a little while longer in order for them to get everything processed and ready for me and then we headed over to the room where we’d get to meet our son! I was able to walk to the room, which wasn’t too far down the hall. Luckily, the hospital gowns overlap in the back, so no hiney shots from me like you see in the movies. It was a pretty large room (bigger than the one they showed us during the hospital tour) with a window, separate bathroom with whirlpool tub (didn’t use it), a tv, a few chairs for guests, my bed and the area for the baby to get cleaned up and monitored.

I didn’t have a birth plan, mostly because I knew I would just do whatever it took to reduce my pain while delivering a healthy baby boy. I was, however, trying not to overmedicate myself if I didn’t have to. So when the nurse asked me if I wanted my epidural now or later (I had already told them I would want one) I wasn’t sure what to say. I could still bear through the pain of the contractions but I knew they were definitely getting stronger. I decided to go for it, since it could take a while before it kicked in. It was a good thing I said yes then, because the anesthesiologist wouldn’t be able to get to me for another half an hour. Apparently that day was a busy day for babies!

They did ask if I wanted something else for the pain until I got the epidural, and I said yes, but when the nurse told me that I would feel slightly “drunk-feeling” from it, I decided against it. I didn’t want to be completely out of it for the delivery. Luckily, the anesthesiologist made it within a few minutes of that decision, so I am glad I waited.

Brett stood in front of me and held my hands as I hunched over for the anesthesiologist to have access to my back. I never saw the needle or any of the equipment that was used. I was told it would feel like a bee sting when the needle first goes in.

Great…I HATE bees!

He couldn’t have picked another pain metaphor could he? Either way, he was right…I’ve been stung enough times to know what a bee sting feels like and I can recall several bee stings that felt worse than this - of course, the last time I was stung was when I was young, like 10 years old or something, when pain feels a lot worse than it really is. But since I was expecting it to get worse at any moment, I kept squeezing Brett’s hands. Then, when he was about to insert the catheter, he told me that sometimes if they hit a nerve it will cause me to flinch…and that I did! Almost my entire body jumped up uncontrollably…I couldn’t help but laugh. He taped up my entire back so the catheter would stay in place and within 10 minutes, I felt the sweet goodness of the epidural.

Now, this isn’t meant to be a debate for or against any type of birth experience…but I am so glad I got the epidural. I was able to relax, which made the time go by so much easier.

Shortly after, Brett’s mom arrived to hang out with us in the room. The nurse made frequent appearances in the room to see how I was doing and to check my progress and to get things ready for the big event.

{Trent’s first hat was waiting for him over in his station.}

There was absolutely nothing on TV the entire time. We had restarted our Netflix instant streaming just a few days prior so that we would have something to watch on the laptop, but it didn’t seem worth it to bust it out with the interruptions and unknown timing of everything. So we watched reruns of American Pickers and Friends. I remember actually pushing to an episode of Friends and telling the nurse I wanted to look like Jennifer Aniston in a few weeks…here’s to wishful thinking!

During one of the times the nurse came in to check me, my water broke…not sure if she did it or if it was just a coincidence. I couldn’t see, but was told the fluid was pretty clear…which was good and meant that he didn’t pass any meconium yet and that he should be pretty clean when coming out.

Around 3:30pm, the nurse checked and said I was 10 centimeters dilated. She asked if I was ready to start pushing and if I felt any pressure. I was ready to push, but since I caved in and pressed the extra epidural button JUST before she walked into the room, I couldn’t feel any pressure. She suggested we wait at least a half an hour for me to start feeling pressure, since it would help the process if I knew when I was contracting so that I could push more effectively.

Ugh…more waiting. Might as well pretty myself up since I knew plenty of photos were about to be taken of me

She came back in a little after 4 and started to get everything ready for delivery by putting the bed and me in the correct position and informing the other nurses to tell the on-call doctor that we were starting to push. Right before we started, the other nurse came back in the room and told our nurse that the doctor was about to deliver another baby and that if it was going to be less than 30 minutes, to wait and not start pushing. Brett recalls the nurse saying he was about to do 2 c-sections, but I don’t remember what she said.

Our nurse decided it would take longer than 30 minutes and that we would start pushing. Basically, every time I had a contraction, I would take a deep breath and push as hard as I could for 10 seconds, while Brett pushed me forward and I pulled my knees as close to my chest as possible, then repeat 2 more times. Then we would wait for the next contraction to do it again.

Brett’s mom stayed in the room with us and played photographer. We now have photo documentation of the entire event…minus any shots of “down there” since that was off-limits! But I remember her walking back and forth and giving words of encouragement the entire time. I was so glad she was there, even though I decided it would just be me and Brett in the room. Right before I started pushing, I asked her if she wanted to stay and, of course, she said yes!

After what felt like 30-45 minutes (I don’t remember the exact time) I remember the nurse yelling for the doctor to come in the room because he was almost out! I remember seeing a bunch of people enter the room - or as I referred to them afterward, the doctor’s “posse”. One of the most difficult parts of the delivery was when the head was literally right there, but I couldn’t push because I wasn’t having a contraction. I started to breathe very quickly and tried so hard to slow my breathing down. Luckily, the next contraction came and I pushed as hard as I could because I didn’t want to wait through another break in contractions. I had my eyes closed every time I pushed, but this time I opened them just as I felt Trent coming out.

Trent was born at 5:29 pm, weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

Ahhh relief…

…and overwhelming happiness. They suctioned out his mouth and nose and handed him over to me and Brett where he let out a few quick screams and then relaxed with us. He was finally here and we love him so much.

While I was holding him, the doctor spent at least 20 minutes stitching me up. I had several labial tears, which apparently is an unusual spot to have tears. The stitching was extremely painful, but luckily I was at least semi distracted by holding and loving on Trent. The anesthesiologist had to come back in the room to give me a shot of Lidocaine and the nurse pressed the button for me to get an extra dose of epidural.

Shortly after, I began to not feel well and asked Brett’s mom to take Trent. I started to look pale and my blood pressure dropped extremely low. They pumped several bags of fluids in me, but I spent the next 30 minutes or so shaking uncontrollably and being kind of out of it.

I did peek over to see Trent being weighed, washed and taken care of. He took his vitamin K shot like a champ and didn’t scream at all…but as soon as the nurse took his rectal temperature, he sure let the entire hospital know that he didn’t like it!

Everyone even said that when they placed him on the table for his sponge bath, he rolled over because he didn’t like the bright lights above him. I wonder if babies have superpower strength in their first minutes of life to make them do things they shouldn’t be able to for another few months…

Shortly after, Brett’s sister saved the day and brought us all Chik-Fil-A! I was so hungry, since I had only eaten a banana that morning because I was afraid to eat anything else at the risk of seeing it come back out on the delivery table! Nice TMI huh? We then all relaxed and took turns holding Trent.

Normally they have you stay in the room for about 2 hours after delivery, but since I had the blood pressure issues, I stayed there for a little while longer. They had me sit up to try to leave once, but I immediately felt dizzy and had to lay back down.

Around 9pm, right after Brett’s mom and sister left, they tried to get me ready to transfer rooms again. I stood up and the nurse and Brett walked me over to the bathroom, and just as I sat down on the toilet and Brett walked away to go to the baby, I passed out and the nurse yelled for Brett to push the emergency button just as she pressed the one in the bathroom. I was hunched over with the nurse holding me when several more nurses rushed in and stuck ammonia under my nose to wake me up. Man, that stuff is strong!

They slowly walked me back over to the bed and gave me more fluids. The feeling before you pass out is so scary, and one that I’ve experienced several times before with blood pressure drops. You begin to feel dizzy and then your hearing starts to fade out and then you wake up not knowing what happened. This was not how I envisioned the first few hours of my son’s life…his mommy barely able to stand, let alone hold him and take care of him. I guess it could have been worse, since everything was fine as long as I was lying down.

Finally around 11pm, I was asked to try again. This time they brought the potty to me, as well as a wheelchair. This time went much better and we were then able to transition to the recovery room. Brett carried most of our bags and wheeled Trent down the hallway behind me being pushed by the nurse.

We made a stop at the lullaby button…something we had been looking forward to since we found out about it at our hospital tour. Every time a new mom and baby are transferred to a recovery room, they press this lullaby button to play a short lullaby over the speakers in the delivery pavilion. It’s kind of like the baby announcing his arrival. Every time we heard it, we couldn’t help but smile.

We spent that night and the next in the hospital, from Monday to Wednesday. Trent got to meet several friends and family members that visited us. Honestly, the hospital stay got rather boring at times and it was nice to have visitors to look forward to. Much better than the knocks on the door every other hour for the nurses to take my blood pressure and temperature.

We had such wonderful nurses during the entire stay. They were all so attentive and helped me get the hang of breastfeeding (in addition to the visits from the lactation consultant…who was also wonderful). We even had a friend of ours as our nurse one night and we were so grateful to find out that she had come in to check on us during the night and decided not to bother us when she saw all three of us were sleeping.

I was glad not to have any more issues with blood pressure during our stay. Perhaps my main disappointment of the entire experience was that my OB wasn’t involved in anything. When we arrived at the hospital, my first question was “Who is the on-call doctor?” and I was disappointed to find out it was a doctor who I was familiar with and had office visits with when my doctor wasn’t able to see me. This doctor had forgotten to give me my Rhogam shot at one of my appointments, prematurely sent me to Triage at 38 weeks and is quite frantic and hurried, exactly the opposite of my laid-back and relaxed doctor. In the beginning of this pregnancy, I knew that there would be the possibility that I could end up being seen by different doctors, and I was ok with that at first, but after several negative experiences with this same doctor, I must say that it ended up being my main peeve. I question everything he did and even continue to wonder whether he stitched me up correctly…I guess I will find out at my follow-up appointment with MY doctor in a few weeks. My doctor did come to visit me each morning we were in the hospital, where we found out that the other doctor didn’t even mention all the post-delivery issues with stitching and blood pressure drops in my chart…in fact, my doctor had NO CLUE about all of it because the other doctor didn’t write any of it in my chart. I had to tell him!

It really is amazing how the demeanor of my doctor calms me down and makes me feel better about everything. He actually sits down and takes the time to talk to me, which is why I am sad he wasn’t involved in anything. I would have just felt so much better about everything if he had been. He wasn’t even the one on-call for the circumcision and he said he didn’t even know I was in the hospital until the next day. Oh well, it’s all in the past and we still have a happy, healthy baby boy at home with us.

On our final day in the hospital, Trent’s Nana and Poppa came to visit and helped us leave the hospital - we were discharged around 1 pm.

I was so happy to leave…those hospital beds are so darn uncomfortable! Especially because of the stitching, it was so difficult to get in and out of bed.

We visited a friend of ours who had her baby on the same day as us who was rooming next door before we left. We packed up all of our stuff and headed home with our new addition.

We arrived at home to find a nice sign and balloon left for us by Nana and Poppa, who apparently raced to our house before we got there to put it in the yard. Sneaky Nana and Poppa!

It has definitely been an adjustment since being home, one that we are rolling with and trying to figure out each day that passes. After a few days, I was able to stop taking pain medication and now only feel pain once in a while. Brett has been home taking plenty of photos, keeping us fed and making sure the animals are taken care of, too.

It didn’t take long for Trent to settle in…taking plenty of naps and eating like a champ (perhaps TOO much like a champ!).

We are so happy.

 

We also made a video of the entire birth experience…from heading to the hospital all the way to coming home with Trent! You can view it HERE!!

 

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