Welcome, Jacob Wesley

Jacob Wesley

November 27, 2012 6:07 pm

8 pounds, 2 ounces, 20 inches

On Monday, I went to my scheduled prenatal appointment (39 wks 2 days).  My blood pressure was high, which made the midwife nervous, she wanted to induce either that day or the next.  It was 150/90 at first and then when she took it again it was 130/90.  She also gave me the option to wait it out, but then I'd have to come in every couple of days to have a non-stress test - which I wasn't liking that option since I'd have to find babysitters for Connor & Josh.  My cervix was favorable (3 cm dilated, 80% effaced, -1 position), so we made a compromise.  I really wanted to give one last ditch effort to got into labor on my own, we scheduled the induction for Wednesday when one of my favorite midwives would be on call, but then the midwife swept my membranes and I went in for an NST.  The NST came out good, except my fluid was low, so I needed to go in the next day to look at it again (and had to drink lots of water in the meantime).  The sweeping was barbaric, but it must have done the trick.

All day Monday, lots of contractions, but nothing regular and I could, for the most part, ignore them.  On Tuesday, more contractions.  I had to go in early that morning for an ultrasound (fluid had improved and was normal).  When I started mentally crossing things of my "to-do" list for that day and I wasn't sure how I was going to drive to pick up Joshy from kindergarten, I knew I needed to pay attention.  So from 11 am, they were coming about 5 minutes apart, but only lasting about 35-40 seconds.  I picked up Josh and when we got home, I decided to call Randy and have him come home.  I also decided to call Deborah (Randy's mom) to have her come over just in case.  We had originally planned on driving to Springville that night to drop off the boys, but I wasn't feeling confident that we would make it.  Randy made lunch for the boys while I got bags packed.  The contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart, but still only about 45 seconds and still bearable.  I had to stop what I was doing and move my hips, but since they didn't last too long, it wasn't bad.  By 1 pm, the bags were packed and we were just waiting for Deborah.  Connor didn't want to go down easy for his nap (the last couple of days, he could tell "something" was up and was more emotional)  so I rocked him to sleep (I'm so glad I got to do that!).  When I was sitting, the contractions slowed down to 9 minutes apart, but lasted about 1 min.  and sitting made it much harder to get through.  Deborah got to our place about 2 pm.  I called the midwife to get her advice on when to come in.  I wasn't sure because I'd never gone into labor naturally before!  The midwife on call (she was a student midwife)  said that since my contractions slowed down when I sat, that I might be dehydrated.  She advised to drink lots of water, get some rest and wait until the contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasting about 90 seconds. I told her my concern that I was nervous to wait too long because my last birth was less than 3 hours (but induced with pitocin), but we decided to go with that plan.  I felt dumb that I had called Randy and Deborah home, but we just went with it.  Joshy was on one, so I helped him put together a puzzle and Deborah played with Connor.

Andrew came home from school about 4 pm and Deborah took the boys home with her.  I decided that going to Old Navy would be a good idea to get my mind off things, so Randy and I took off.  The drive there and back was horrible, sitting through contractions is no fun!  When we were at Old Navy, I had a few things to return and the checker looked at me and said, "I'm really good at returns, I can do this quick."  I said, "Good, because I'm in labor!"  On our way home, I told Randy that we'd better get to the hospital.  I thought we could get a bite to eat before and then head over, but after Randy heated up some food, I said we'd better just head over.  But before we left, I needed to send a text message to tie a loose end with my calling (at 5:34 pm).  Randy thought I was a crazy person for doing that, and it turns out he was right.  We walked to the hospital (it takes just as long to drive and find parking).  I had to stop about every minute to lean against a tree or pole to get through the contraction.  About halfway there, I told Randy that I was pretty sure I was in transition.  We got to the 2nd floor and I needed to go to the bathroom.  So far, to this point, I was laboring quietly, just breathing through the contractions and moving my hips back and forth, but in the bathroom, I started vocalizing.  I'd watched many a Baby Story and I tried using the deep "ooooh's" while in the contraction.  It really helped me to keep my body relaxed and I felt in control.  I also felt like baby was coming very soon.

We walked from the bathroom to the triage area and I told Randy I didn't know how I was going to make it from here to there.  He went and got a wheelchair (which I knew there was NO WAY I'd be able to sit in because the contractions were too strong), but I was able to walk to triage.  I told the front desk that I thought we got there too late and this baby was coming very soon.  They asked me what birth this was for me, and I think they took me more seriously when I told them it was #4.  They got me into a room right away to undress, and I asked if I could just have the baby in that room.  I definitely think they took me very seriously when I said that!  Somehow, they got me on the bed, checked me, I was complete, of course.  That's when the nurses got very busy.  They wheeled me to Labor & Delivery, were yelling for my midwife, who was there waiting for me.  There were many people in the delivery room scrambling to get things ready.  Someone asked me if I wanted to go unmedicated.  We all had a good chuckle with that.   The midwife was really good to keep me focused on her and listen to her instructions.  I was "ooohing" through my contractions, and I got very loud.  This time, though, I knew that this part was very short, so I let my body just go with it and I tried to relax and just let it happen.  My water broke and got all over everything, and then with one primal push, Jacob came out at 6:07 pm.  From triage to delivery, we estimate it was about 10 minutes, since I had made that text at 5:34 pm from my house and it probably took about 25 minutes to walk there and go to the bathroom. 

He cried right away and they were able to put him on my chest.  The afterbirthing part was way worse than the labor (I'm a bleeder).  We stayed in the delivery room for 2 hours while they gave me pitocin and cytotec to help my uterus since I was losing a lot of blood.  But after that, I was able to go to the recovery unit, and it was smooth sailing.  Jacob ate like a champ right away.  I was able to shower and move around, it was a great recovery.  I was also the talk of L&D.  Jacob definitely looks like a Lamb.  I think he has more of Joshy's features (light eyes, nose, lips, chin). 

I love staying at the hospital so we stayed the full 48 hours.  Randy was able to go to work and visit us during lunch and after work.  The boys came to see us on our last day.  Connor wanted nothing to do with the baby and didn't want either Randy or me to hold him.  But after an hour, he warmed up and started to acknowledge that there was a baby in the room.  He was glad to go home with Grandma, though.  Deborah and Larry gave us the best gift by taking the boys, we pick them up on Sunday.  I'm missing them like crazy and I'll be glad when we're all together, but it's been so nice to have this time to recover and get the nursing thing down.