For all of you girls who enjoy reading (long winded) birth stories, this blog post is for you. If you want the (somewhat) shortened version, skip to the first picture and read from there. These first few paragraphs are just background info on why I went with an induction. And really . . . this is for ME so I can remember the day.
Four years ago, I was induced with Renae and had a horrible experience. My body just wasn't ready. Sammy's labor started spontaneously, and it was amazing. Not to mention his birth was much (much) shorter. Because of these 2 drastically different labors, with this pregnancy, I was avoiding an induction like the plaque. I was wiling to wait for labor to start on it's own, despite the fact that I was ready to be done being pregnant.
However . . . at my 41 week appointment, I had some questions for my OB. I have absolutely loved her, and I'm so glad a friend referred her to me! My OB is pretty conservative, medically speaking. She won't even induce first time Mom's unless there is a severe medical condition. So it was encouraging to hear her thoughts on inductions. She was happy to wait it out with me if I wanted to wait for labor to start on it's own. But, I asked her if the success rate of inductions is better in 2nd and 3rd labors. I wanted to avoid a c-section if at all possible. Her response was very encouraging as she said without a doubt, women who are already dilated and have already had babies have a very high success rate both statistically, and in her own experience. Since we were a week away from Thanksgiving, and I didn't want to have a newborn the week of Thanksgiving with family visiting, and I wanted to be sure my Mom could be here for the birth, I told my OB that if I was actually dilated, I would consider being induced the next day since she was on call then.
Lo and behold, I was dilated to 2 cm! With Renae and Sammy, I never dilated until labor began so this was pretty encouraging. With that in mind, and the fact that this was my 3rd baby and my chance of having a normal vaginal birth was high, I decided to go with an induction the next day.
Timing wise, it couldn't have been better. I was able to call my Mom and she came down to KC that night. Plus, Jesse was going to use a week of his vacation and this way, he could work Wednesday morning, before the induction, and then be off until after Thanksgiving-a full week and a half home with me-yay! I went home from my appointment, discussed everything with Jesse and we made the final decision to be induced the next day, Wednesday November 16. Then, I headed to one more Zumba class in hopes it would get labor started. :)
Now I did have to do some grieving. I was really looking forward to that moment when you realize your body is in labor. I love surprises and I like not knowing when things like this will happen. So to be honest, I was kind of sad on Wednesday morning as I got ready, and as we drove to the hospital. I knew it was a good decision for us, but I had to give up the excitement of going into labor spontaneously. I was thankful that early Wednesday morning I was having some real contractions and although they didn't become regular, they were still doing something to get my body ready.
Four years ago, I was induced with Renae and had a horrible experience. My body just wasn't ready. Sammy's labor started spontaneously, and it was amazing. Not to mention his birth was much (much) shorter. Because of these 2 drastically different labors, with this pregnancy, I was avoiding an induction like the plaque. I was wiling to wait for labor to start on it's own, despite the fact that I was ready to be done being pregnant.
However . . . at my 41 week appointment, I had some questions for my OB. I have absolutely loved her, and I'm so glad a friend referred her to me! My OB is pretty conservative, medically speaking. She won't even induce first time Mom's unless there is a severe medical condition. So it was encouraging to hear her thoughts on inductions. She was happy to wait it out with me if I wanted to wait for labor to start on it's own. But, I asked her if the success rate of inductions is better in 2nd and 3rd labors. I wanted to avoid a c-section if at all possible. Her response was very encouraging as she said without a doubt, women who are already dilated and have already had babies have a very high success rate both statistically, and in her own experience. Since we were a week away from Thanksgiving, and I didn't want to have a newborn the week of Thanksgiving with family visiting, and I wanted to be sure my Mom could be here for the birth, I told my OB that if I was actually dilated, I would consider being induced the next day since she was on call then.
Lo and behold, I was dilated to 2 cm! With Renae and Sammy, I never dilated until labor began so this was pretty encouraging. With that in mind, and the fact that this was my 3rd baby and my chance of having a normal vaginal birth was high, I decided to go with an induction the next day.
Timing wise, it couldn't have been better. I was able to call my Mom and she came down to KC that night. Plus, Jesse was going to use a week of his vacation and this way, he could work Wednesday morning, before the induction, and then be off until after Thanksgiving-a full week and a half home with me-yay! I went home from my appointment, discussed everything with Jesse and we made the final decision to be induced the next day, Wednesday November 16. Then, I headed to one more Zumba class in hopes it would get labor started. :)
Now I did have to do some grieving. I was really looking forward to that moment when you realize your body is in labor. I love surprises and I like not knowing when things like this will happen. So to be honest, I was kind of sad on Wednesday morning as I got ready, and as we drove to the hospital. I knew it was a good decision for us, but I had to give up the excitement of going into labor spontaneously. I was thankful that early Wednesday morning I was having some real contractions and although they didn't become regular, they were still doing something to get my body ready.
41 weeks exactly. Right before we left for the hospital.
Jesse came home from work early on Nov. 16 and we arrived at the hospital at 9:00 am. Our nurse checked us into our room, explained how they would start the induction and off we went! I was still feeling kind of sad about how everything was just happening like some medical procedure instead of labor starting spontaneously, but I kept reminding myself of all of the pros of being induced that day. By 9:30 I was hooked up to an IV and the pitocin was started at a very low level. Jesse and I just hung out and chatted for a bit until we decided to try and sleep. I'd been awake since 2:30am except for a short 30 min rest around 6am. Jesse had worked that morning at UPS so he had been up since 3am. We needed to rest! Eventually I started feeling contractions and started timing them. By 11:00am, I decided to ask for the epidural. The contractions weren't totally unbearable, but I was dreading getting the epidural put in so I decided to get it over with.
Holding my baby for the 2nd time after he was all cleaned up.
This is where our story got a little funny. Jesse can get a bit squeamish when it comes to needles. He wanted to be supportive of me while I got the epidural because he knew I was kind of nervous (despite the fact that I LOVE epidurals and this was my third one!) He stood in front of me next to the nurse while I sat on the bed and waited for the anesthesiologist to get things ready. After a bit, Jesse had changed positions and was leaning on the bed a bit as he held my hand. The nurse was telling me what to do and helping me sit correctly and Jesse kind of slinked away into the chair behind the nurse. I noticed he was sitting in the chair like he was about ready to fall over, and then I saw him rip open his button up shirt and start faning himself. As I'm waiting for a NEEDLE to go into my BACK, I ask Jesse is he's ok, and the nurse turns to look at him. Jesse says, "I feel like I could faint." So the nurse has to tell him to lie down, but the couch is back by the anesthesiologist so he can't lie down there. Instead, I watch as the nurse helps Jesse onto the cold hospital floor, and call another nurse in to help. It's at this point that Jesse said he felt totally emasculated, and honestly, I was laughing because it was pretty funny. But not for long because then I started feeling faint. So my nurse is helping me to last through the epidural being inserted without fainting, and another nurse is giving my husband, who is still on the floor, some apple juice! After I was back in bed and the epidural had kicked in, we laughed for a good while about the near fainting experience.
Jesse holding his third child and 2nd boy. Love it.
My OB came in and broke my water at 12:00pm because I had dilated some more. After that, Jesse and I just tried to relax and take naps. Jesse seemed to get quite a bit more sleep than I did, but I think I dozed off and on. It seemed to take awhile for my cervix to dilate to 5cm and that made me nervous because it was also still high. However, once I hit 5cm, it progressed FAST. By 3:00pm, I was at 8cm and we decided to call my Mom so she could come be there for the birth. Our friends Maggie and Jimmy were going to watch the kids for a few hours so my Mom could come. This was also when I was feeling really good about our decision to induce. I was glad I was able to get an epidural before contractions were horrible, and I loved that everything was progressing well, my Mom could get there in plenty of time, and my OB was there to deliver my baby. (Side note . . . my Mom had never seen a live birth before! My twin brothers were born via c-section, my other brother was adopted, and I was born via c-section too.)
Mom holding her 6th grandchild after seeing her first live birth.
Mom arrived around 3:30pm and for about an hour, Jesse, my Mom and I just relaxed and talked. I loved that my body was progressing well, and I wasn't feeling a thing! By 4:30 they started bringing in the stuff for delivery. By now I was really excited and couldn't wait to hold my baby boy. It was all so calm in the room too and all of the people I wanted to be there for the birth were there. Jesse was by my head encouraging me, my Mom pressed on one of my feet while I was pushing, my OB was, obviously, where she was supposed to be to catch the baby, and my awesome labor nurse pushed on my other foot while I pushed. When it was time to push, in between contractions, we all were chatting about the birth, the baby, and it was sooo calm and relaxing. I loved it. During one of the contractions, my OB said she saw the head and the hair looked light. On the 4th contraction, after about 10-15 minutes of pushing, I pushed Colton out on the 4th push! MY OB just held him and let the cord pulsate for a bit before she cut it, then he was wrapped up slightly and put on my chest. It was so good to see his face and hear his cries.
Bruised from a quick exit, but healthy.
I gave the nurse our baby so he could get cleaned up and my OB took care of the rest of the junk I had to deliver. Eww. I was quick to ask if I tore and I only had a small tear, requiring just one stitch. Yay! I was stitched up for an HOUR with Renae after a 4th degree tear so this labor proved again to be far better than my first. Have I mentioned how much I loved my OB? I have never had my own doctor or midwife deliver my babies. I've always had whoever was on call. After experiencing this birth where the person at the end of the bed was someone I knew and trusted, I can say it really made the birth experience even more awesome.
Sammy just wanted me when he first came into the room.
After I gave Colton to the nurse, he was taken to be weighed, cleaned off etc. Mom was able to watch the nurses take care of him and get some good pictures. The nurses and my OB made guesses on Colton's birth weight and the OB was closest as she estimated 9 lbs. He was 8lbs 13oz! I couldn't believe I had delivered that big of a baby! The endorphins were running high in me and I didn't want to let go of Jesse's hand. I think I kissed him about 5 times because I was so in love with him and our baby. Cheesy I know . . . but it's what happened. :)
So in love . . .
Our hospital has this great program where you can request to not be bothered for the first hour after birth so you can have time to bond with the baby. After the initial things were taken care of, the medical personnel left, my Mom left to get the kids, and it was just Jesse, Colton and I. He nursed right away and Jesse and I discussed what we were going to name this little boy as we still were undecided. We tried out a couple of them on him, (Trey David, Nehemiah Trey,) and then Jesse said "Sammy and Colton, what are you doing?" It worked and we decided Colton was what he would be named. Colton actually comes from a video game Jesse played once. I know, I know . . . lame. But we've always liked that name, and the character in the video game was a manly western kind of guy so we that's how we decided to use the name Colton. Trey is Jesse's brother, who is the Third, and has gone by Trey most of his life. Now, our family are the only ones who call him that as he goes by Jonathan now. But he will always be Trey to us, and Trey is a great Godly guy who we hope Colton will like. We hope Colton Trey will serve others, and love God like his Uncle Trey does.
Look at that chubby face . . .
After our hour alone, I was able to eat-hallelujah! My Mom came back with the kids and some Arby's for Jesse and I. I ate most of the hospital meal AND an Arby's meal. I was hungry!
Renae was instantly in love with her littlest brother.
Of course a day later we discovered Colton had broken his arm during delivery. He came out fairly quickly and my bones don't exactly provide spacious accommodations so that combined with Colton's large size caused the break. Because of the swelling, the break wasn't noticed until the next day when Jesse saw his left arm was laying limp and not re-flexing like his right arm. Poor little guy . . .
Isn't that the most pathetic and cute little baby arm ever?
This is how his arm has been the past few weeks, and it will remain like this for about one more week.
My sweet little boy.
I loved this birth experience. It was so special, calm and relaxing. I know birth isn't "supposed" to be calm and relaxing, but that's how I like my births. :) I was fast, only 7.5 hours, and recovery has been pretty easy. We are done having babies and I'm so glad my last was an experience I enjoyed and will remember.
Our THREE kids. Wow.
