Six Months & A Birth Story
Jack turned 6 months yesterday. I can't believe how fast it is going! He weighs 17lbs and is in the 50 percentile for height, weight and head circumference. He talks, drools, babbles, eats his toes, laughs, and acts adorable and happy all day and then sleeps all night. We love him a lot.
I thought in honor of being 1/2 a year old, I'd finally post Jack's birth story. I wrote this down a couple months ago but just never posted it. What a crazy day that was! I guess when my babies are ready to come they are ready.
I woke in the morning with some light bleeding so I decided to call my doctor after I picked Aida up from preschool. I wasn't too concerned but since Aida was premature and I was only 34 weeks I thought I should at least call. Zack was on a business trip in Nebraska but would be home that night at 6:00pm so I wasn't too worried about not having him home.
11:30am I pick up Aida and call my OB. The nurse asks if I'm having any contractions and I tell her no, I fell completely normal. She tells me to come in at 1:30pm and they would do an ultrasound just to make sure everything was OK. I call Zack at this point but just get his VM. I leave a message to call me back but didn't say what was going on. I didn't want to worry him since I was sure it would be nothing.
12:00pm Aida and I eat some lunch and I pack up some snacks and crayons and a coloring book so Aida will have something to keep her busy while I was am at the doctor's office.
12:30pm I start feeling some suspicious cramping and they are coming about every 10 minutes. They aren't very strong but are definitely there. I try calling Zack again and still get VM. I try calling my mom and get VM. I try calling a few more friends just so I can talk to somebody about this and convince myself that it's no big deal. Nobody is answering and I start to feel a little anxious.
12:45pm My mom calls me back, and as I tell her what is happening I start to cry and realize that I am feeling more anxious than I thought and I am just so happy to talk to somebody. The contractions are getting stronger but are still about 10 minutes apart. I hang up with my mom and call the OB's office again and let them know that now I am also having contractions. They tell me to go ahead and come in right now since my appt. is at 1:30pm anyway. I start sending urgent text messages to Zack to call me right away.
1:15pm Aida and I arrive at my OB's office which is in a building connected to the hospital. My contractions are getting consistently stronger and closer together. I have to take a break and lean on the counter while I'm trying to talk to the receptionist.
1:30pm Aida and I go into the room for the ultrasound. I think I've talked to Zack at this point and told him what was going on. I'm still convinced that I will just be given something to stop the contractions or at least I'm at such an early stage of labor that it will still be a few hours before anything needs to happen. Unfortunately, my contractions keep getting stronger and closer together at an alarmingly fast rate. I'm already having to really focus on my breathing while I'm waiting for the ultrasound.
1:35pm The tech performs the ultrasound and informs me my cervix is 100% effaced (WHAT?!) but the baby is still in a completely high and sideways position with his head under my right ribs and his feet under my left. I don't understand how I can be 100% effaced since I only started having contractions about an hour ago but I couldn't think about it for too long since another contraction hits and the pain is now what I would call "very intense."
1:40pm I'm taken to a room with a reclining chair and hooked up to a monitor for my contractions and another one for the baby's heart rate. I get a hold of our friend, Eric, to come and get Aida and have him call his wife, Emmy, at her work so she can try to leave early and come be with me. Aida is playing and chatting with the nurses, she doesn't really know what is going on. At this point my contractions are about every 2 minutes apart and once again, just like with Aida, they are all in my lower back. I'm suddenly in a lot of intense pain but I can't go over to the hospital until Aida is picked up since no kids are allowed in the hospital due to flu season. My OB tells me that I will be having this baby today. I tell her we need to stall until this evening so my husband can be here. She looks skeptical but tells me we can decide after we get over to the hospital and get checked in.
1:50pm Eric arrives to take Aida. She is excited to go to Eric's house and play with his kids. I have to tell her to come back and give me a kiss since I am having the baby and probably won't see her for a few days. I barely have time to think about the magnitude that this will be the last time I see her when it is just me and her, a family of three. The contractions are taking up most of my mental energy at this point but I'm glad I called her back for that last hug and kiss. Eric tells me that Emmy is trying to finish up work and will come over as soon as she can. I've been in contact with Zack, he tried to get on an earlier flight but wasn't able to so he won't be getting to the hospital until 6:00pm. I still think we will be able to wait.
2:00pm After Aida leaves, my nurse, Sarah, starts to get me ready to move over to the Birth Center. I tell her I wish I had brought my camera so she borrows one from the other nurses and says she will go with me and stay with me until Emmy shows up. Thank goodness for Sarah and the other nurse's camera or I wouldn't have any pictures or video of my son's birth. They unhook my monitors and tell me to try to start walking down the hall. I can barely make it a few steps before a contraction hits and I have to stop and lean against the wall and breathe. I start to panic that it will take me at least an hour at this rate to walk over to the hospital and the pain medication that waits for me there. Sarah offers to get me a wheelchair and tells me I should try to use the restroom before I go.
2:05pm I go into the bathroom and as soon as I sit down another contraction hits and my water breaks. I'm so thankful it waited until I was in the bathroom over the toilet and not a few minutes before or after when I was still out in the hallway. Sarah goes to get my OB and she informs that now that my water has broken and I am 100% effaced but my baby is still so breach that there will be no more waiting, I will be having this baby in about an hour.
2:10pm - 3:00pm I'm wheeled over to the hospital and begin the process of preparing for the emergency C-Section. Amazingly and thankfully, once my water breaks all the pressure and pain I'm feeling in my back disappears and even though I am still having contractions, I am only feeling them in stomach and they aren't very strong anymore. I try to convince my OB that this means we can wait but she isn't buying it. I've called Zack and told him the news, I'm so sad that this is happening without him here. He feels bad that he can't be here for me but I'm not worried about me, I'm sad for him to miss the birth. There was no way for us to know that this would happen but I can't believe it is all coming down to a few hours of bad timing. I'm given a gown to change into and then I have a swarm of nurses all working at once to get me ready. One is going through the admittance forms, one is removing my jewelry, one is prepping me for surgery, one is trying to insert my IV (which takes 3 tries, me and stupid small veins). I'm finally ready around 3:00pm right as Emmy shows up and quickly changes into her scrubs.
3:00pm - 3:23pm I'm wheeled into the OR and given the epidural. They start getting everything ready and Emmy comes in to video and take pictures. Most of this C-section experience is the same as it was with Aida. The anesthesia makes me really cold and I get nauseous at one point. I can feel the pressure when they start trying to get the baby out. Since he is still breach and so high up they have to push really hard to get him out. I feel like my ribs are cracking. I ask "Is he out?"
3:24pm My OB says "Yes, he's out" and holds him up for me to see. He has blond hair. He is taken to the warming table and immediately starts crying. He is struggling a little to breathe so he is given a C-pap and taken to the NICU. Emmy goes with him and gets a picture of him on the scale. He weighs 5 pounds and 14 ounces and is 19 inches long.
3:25pm - 6:00pm I'm stitched up (and have a weird freak out on the operating table because I feel this incredible need to move my legs but of course I can't so the anesthesiologist gives me a little extra dose of something to calm me down) and taken to recovery. Emmy joins me again but this part is all a little fuzzy as I'm tired and slipping in and out of sleep. I learn that my baby boy is doing fine, he is breathing under an oxygen hood and has been hooked up to an IV but is stable and perfect. I'm taken to my room and spend the next hour calling family and friends and waiting for Zack.
6:00pm Zack arrives at the hospital, 2 hours and 36 minutes after the birth. So close! :) He kisses me and immediately goes to the NICU to see his son. My dad calls to let me know he has booked a flight and will be arriving at midnight so he can stay with Aida for the weekend while Zack stays with me and our boy in the hospital.
9:00pm I'm able to slowly and carefully maneuver myself into a wheelchair so I can go to the NICU and see my baby boy. Needless to say, I am completely in love.
I thought in honor of being 1/2 a year old, I'd finally post Jack's birth story. I wrote this down a couple months ago but just never posted it. What a crazy day that was! I guess when my babies are ready to come they are ready.
I woke in the morning with some light bleeding so I decided to call my doctor after I picked Aida up from preschool. I wasn't too concerned but since Aida was premature and I was only 34 weeks I thought I should at least call. Zack was on a business trip in Nebraska but would be home that night at 6:00pm so I wasn't too worried about not having him home.
11:30am I pick up Aida and call my OB. The nurse asks if I'm having any contractions and I tell her no, I fell completely normal. She tells me to come in at 1:30pm and they would do an ultrasound just to make sure everything was OK. I call Zack at this point but just get his VM. I leave a message to call me back but didn't say what was going on. I didn't want to worry him since I was sure it would be nothing.
12:00pm Aida and I eat some lunch and I pack up some snacks and crayons and a coloring book so Aida will have something to keep her busy while I was am at the doctor's office.
12:30pm I start feeling some suspicious cramping and they are coming about every 10 minutes. They aren't very strong but are definitely there. I try calling Zack again and still get VM. I try calling my mom and get VM. I try calling a few more friends just so I can talk to somebody about this and convince myself that it's no big deal. Nobody is answering and I start to feel a little anxious.
12:45pm My mom calls me back, and as I tell her what is happening I start to cry and realize that I am feeling more anxious than I thought and I am just so happy to talk to somebody. The contractions are getting stronger but are still about 10 minutes apart. I hang up with my mom and call the OB's office again and let them know that now I am also having contractions. They tell me to go ahead and come in right now since my appt. is at 1:30pm anyway. I start sending urgent text messages to Zack to call me right away.
1:15pm Aida and I arrive at my OB's office which is in a building connected to the hospital. My contractions are getting consistently stronger and closer together. I have to take a break and lean on the counter while I'm trying to talk to the receptionist.
1:30pm Aida and I go into the room for the ultrasound. I think I've talked to Zack at this point and told him what was going on. I'm still convinced that I will just be given something to stop the contractions or at least I'm at such an early stage of labor that it will still be a few hours before anything needs to happen. Unfortunately, my contractions keep getting stronger and closer together at an alarmingly fast rate. I'm already having to really focus on my breathing while I'm waiting for the ultrasound.
1:35pm The tech performs the ultrasound and informs me my cervix is 100% effaced (WHAT?!) but the baby is still in a completely high and sideways position with his head under my right ribs and his feet under my left. I don't understand how I can be 100% effaced since I only started having contractions about an hour ago but I couldn't think about it for too long since another contraction hits and the pain is now what I would call "very intense."
1:40pm I'm taken to a room with a reclining chair and hooked up to a monitor for my contractions and another one for the baby's heart rate. I get a hold of our friend, Eric, to come and get Aida and have him call his wife, Emmy, at her work so she can try to leave early and come be with me. Aida is playing and chatting with the nurses, she doesn't really know what is going on. At this point my contractions are about every 2 minutes apart and once again, just like with Aida, they are all in my lower back. I'm suddenly in a lot of intense pain but I can't go over to the hospital until Aida is picked up since no kids are allowed in the hospital due to flu season. My OB tells me that I will be having this baby today. I tell her we need to stall until this evening so my husband can be here. She looks skeptical but tells me we can decide after we get over to the hospital and get checked in.
1:50pm Eric arrives to take Aida. She is excited to go to Eric's house and play with his kids. I have to tell her to come back and give me a kiss since I am having the baby and probably won't see her for a few days. I barely have time to think about the magnitude that this will be the last time I see her when it is just me and her, a family of three. The contractions are taking up most of my mental energy at this point but I'm glad I called her back for that last hug and kiss. Eric tells me that Emmy is trying to finish up work and will come over as soon as she can. I've been in contact with Zack, he tried to get on an earlier flight but wasn't able to so he won't be getting to the hospital until 6:00pm. I still think we will be able to wait.
2:00pm After Aida leaves, my nurse, Sarah, starts to get me ready to move over to the Birth Center. I tell her I wish I had brought my camera so she borrows one from the other nurses and says she will go with me and stay with me until Emmy shows up. Thank goodness for Sarah and the other nurse's camera or I wouldn't have any pictures or video of my son's birth. They unhook my monitors and tell me to try to start walking down the hall. I can barely make it a few steps before a contraction hits and I have to stop and lean against the wall and breathe. I start to panic that it will take me at least an hour at this rate to walk over to the hospital and the pain medication that waits for me there. Sarah offers to get me a wheelchair and tells me I should try to use the restroom before I go.
2:05pm I go into the bathroom and as soon as I sit down another contraction hits and my water breaks. I'm so thankful it waited until I was in the bathroom over the toilet and not a few minutes before or after when I was still out in the hallway. Sarah goes to get my OB and she informs that now that my water has broken and I am 100% effaced but my baby is still so breach that there will be no more waiting, I will be having this baby in about an hour.
2:10pm - 3:00pm I'm wheeled over to the hospital and begin the process of preparing for the emergency C-Section. Amazingly and thankfully, once my water breaks all the pressure and pain I'm feeling in my back disappears and even though I am still having contractions, I am only feeling them in stomach and they aren't very strong anymore. I try to convince my OB that this means we can wait but she isn't buying it. I've called Zack and told him the news, I'm so sad that this is happening without him here. He feels bad that he can't be here for me but I'm not worried about me, I'm sad for him to miss the birth. There was no way for us to know that this would happen but I can't believe it is all coming down to a few hours of bad timing. I'm given a gown to change into and then I have a swarm of nurses all working at once to get me ready. One is going through the admittance forms, one is removing my jewelry, one is prepping me for surgery, one is trying to insert my IV (which takes 3 tries, me and stupid small veins). I'm finally ready around 3:00pm right as Emmy shows up and quickly changes into her scrubs.
3:00pm - 3:23pm I'm wheeled into the OR and given the epidural. They start getting everything ready and Emmy comes in to video and take pictures. Most of this C-section experience is the same as it was with Aida. The anesthesia makes me really cold and I get nauseous at one point. I can feel the pressure when they start trying to get the baby out. Since he is still breach and so high up they have to push really hard to get him out. I feel like my ribs are cracking. I ask "Is he out?"
3:24pm My OB says "Yes, he's out" and holds him up for me to see. He has blond hair. He is taken to the warming table and immediately starts crying. He is struggling a little to breathe so he is given a C-pap and taken to the NICU. Emmy goes with him and gets a picture of him on the scale. He weighs 5 pounds and 14 ounces and is 19 inches long.
3:25pm - 6:00pm I'm stitched up (and have a weird freak out on the operating table because I feel this incredible need to move my legs but of course I can't so the anesthesiologist gives me a little extra dose of something to calm me down) and taken to recovery. Emmy joins me again but this part is all a little fuzzy as I'm tired and slipping in and out of sleep. I learn that my baby boy is doing fine, he is breathing under an oxygen hood and has been hooked up to an IV but is stable and perfect. I'm taken to my room and spend the next hour calling family and friends and waiting for Zack.
6:00pm Zack arrives at the hospital, 2 hours and 36 minutes after the birth. So close! :) He kisses me and immediately goes to the NICU to see his son. My dad calls to let me know he has booked a flight and will be arriving at midnight so he can stay with Aida for the weekend while Zack stays with me and our boy in the hospital.
9:00pm I'm able to slowly and carefully maneuver myself into a wheelchair so I can go to the NICU and see my baby boy. Needless to say, I am completely in love.
posted by Monica at
3:26 PM
2 Comments:
love that you posted your story. he is so cute. has it really been 6 months?
he is sooooooo cute!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home