On Thursday September 24th Brandon, Bashlyn and I took the jeep up to Sandpoint. It was a beautiful day and we knew our nice jeepin days were dwindling. We stopped by Round Lake and hiked that hike-over 2 miles and Bashlyn did the whole thing by herself!!
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| Round Lake Hike 9/24/15 |
Then we made our way up to Sandpoint and had lunch at Jalepenos followed by delicious hand made ice cream at Panhandle Coffee and Cone. About 3:50 I started getting pains that I felt were frequent enough to time. They were anywhere from 4-10 minutes apart so I told Brandon we should make our way home. We got home about 6 and they were still coming but they were not intense enough to go to the hospital. I told myself if they kept me from sleeping we would head in. I timed them until 10pm and then decided to go to bed for the night. You can imagine how discouraged I was when I woke up at 3am and 6:30 with no pains at all. I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about 3 weeks and I told Brandon "I am so over these dang braxton hicks contractions, they either need to turn into something or just stop!" I was beyond frustrated. They kept getting my excitement up and then I would be crushed because once again "today wasn't the day".
My mom was planning on watching Bashlyn for a few hours on Friday. I started getting regular pains again about 10 am so I told Brandon, lets just pack everything for the hospital just in case. I had a doctor appointment at 1:30 that day so I just wanted to make it to that and they would be able to tell me if I was progressing or if it was just braxton hicks again. We started to drive into town (I was driving) and I started getting terrible pains. I told Brandon I was going to have him drive so we made our first stop and he drove after that. We made it to my moms and I told her I was leaving everything for Bashlyn "just in case they send me to the hospital after my appointment".
I had been wanting to try this new restaurant in town, Fu-Ki. Its the type of place where they cook the food at the table and there are several other people sitting there with you. We had enough time to go there for lunch before my appointment. Of course everyone was asking me, when are you due, and I'd respond, any day, hopefully today! I had my contraction timer app on my phone up and was timing my contractions all through lunch. After lunch they were 5 minutes apart and I was anxious to get to my appointment.
We got to my appointment about 1:20 and I told Brandon, "I really hope these are doing something, I really hope I'm more than a 3 like I was last week" He goes "well what do you want her to say....a 5?" and I just said "I just want her to say anything more than a 3!" Faith came in and I told her I thought I was having contractions but I just wasn't sure because I'd been having so many braxton hicks lately. She checked me, giggles and she goes "oh yeah you're like a 6 with bulging waters, we're going to send you over to the hospital right now. I just have to rearrange a couple appointments today and I will meet you over there" I just started crying and she hugged me. I was so relieved that the pains were doing something and "TODAY WAS THE DAY!!".
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| All checked in and ready to go! |
We made it to the hospital and settled into our room. By this point it was around 3pm and I was just sure I would have him in the next few hours. Faith checked me around 5 and I was still at 6, no more progress had been made. She said his head wasn't engaged yet and she didn't feel comfortable breaking the water because there was too much space and he could slip an arm up there or the cord could come down and then that would be an emergency c section right away. She said we needed to wait for him to engage some more. So we waited and I labored some more...
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| Goal today: Have a baby! |
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| I can do anything with you holding my hands |
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| The best coach!! |
Around 7pm she checked me again, I was still at the same place...a little over a 6. Talk about frustrating!! We talked about a couple different options- pitocin which would get my contractions closer together and stronger, or having the OB/GYN come and break the water, knowing there was still the risk of the cord getting in the way and a c-section. We talked about this for 45 minutes and I decided to try pitocin so we could get him to engage more and I would have the pain management help of my waters still being in tact. I started pitocin around 8. The contractions were more intense but not unbearable and I was still having about 3 minutes of rest in-between them so I really felt like I wasn't making any more progress. I was so emotionally frustrated and drained at this point.
They checked me at 9:30 and I was barely a 7....so I was on pitocin for over an hour and barely progressed a cm....I just cried! They said the OB was getting ready to go home for the night in the next few minutes so if I wanted her to break my water I had to do it now. I said ok lets do it. She came in and she reminded me of the risk of the cord prolapsing but said she had never had that happen and she would let me know if she felt too uncomfortable once she checked me. I was scared but really felt like I was just stalled out (and had been for 7+ hours). She checked me and said I was closer to an 8 and she was going to break my water. At 9:35 I felt the pop of the water breaking and the warmth rushing all over. I hate that feeling, hated it with Bashlyn and hated it just as much with Coleman. Then the intensity started. Instantly it hurt a million times worse than anything I'd experienced. I told Brandon I couldn't do this laying down in the bed, I HAD to get up. I remember grabbing fistfuls of his green shirt to pull myself up. As I was trying to turn over my body took over and I just started pushing. I heard the nurse go "its go time, that wasn't her, that was her body bringing this baby down". I turned over and was trying to get untangled from all the cords everywhere and I had to push again. I wasn't sure what I had just felt so I asked "what is happening" and they said "his head is out". Brandon said he looked down and it looked like a blueberry. Two more pushes and he was out at 9:44pm. It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening. I realized he wasn't attached to me anymore, and he wasn't crying. They had cut the cord away from me and took him over to the warming area on the other side of the room. I was asking "why isn't he crying", there were 10+ people all over there and I didn't know what was going on. It felt like an eternity. He finally started crying, just little cries though, not whaling like a newborn usually does. They called dad over and cut the cord (they had cut it really long). I was so glad Brandon was still able to have that experience.
They had to get opinions from 4 different doctors that he was ok. When he came out the cord was wrapped around his neck VERY tightly. They told me they think the reason he wasn't engaging and I wasn't making more progress was because he was kind of "hung up" in there on the cord, it wasn't letting him come down on his own. Gahh so scary to think what could have been and I am just so thankful he is ok. Finally at 9:57 I got to hold my baby boy for the first time. Those 13 minutes were so long and scary and I know it was even more scary for Brandon. Getting to hold him and look into his eyes for the first time was just incredible. I couldn't believe he was here, finally, my sweet little boy I had prayed for so much! He nursed right away and we got to do skin to skin for over and hour.
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| Holding my son for the first time! |
We made our way down to recovery and settled in for the night. The pediatricians want the baby to stay at the hospital for 24 hours after birth. They would have released us Saturday at 9:45 if we wanted but that was just too late so we stayed and were released Sunday morning around 9:30. Coleman passed all his vitals and tests while we were there. No jaundice or anything! He had his initial dr appointment yesterday and he is only down to 7.34 which is 2% loss of his birth weight. The drs are very happy about this!
Just a side note I find so interesting. Bashlyn and Coleman were both born 5 days before their due dates. Bashlyn was 6.6 19.5in and Coleman was 7.6 20.5in. Same day gestation and exactly 1 pound and 1 inch difference.
Bashlyn is doing amazing and loves her little brother. Its so cute to hear her say "lub you Coleman" and give him kisses.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement throughout this pregnancy!
