A Birth Story (And a Billion Pictures)

Well, I'm back :) This is going to be long which is partly why I have been avoiding it. I thought about breaking it up-but I'm not going to. So, if you're ready for all the gory details, read on!




To start off, like I said a few posts ago, I was certain (and so was my doctor-what do they know anyway? ;) that I would have the baby sometime the week before my set induction date. I had an appointment a week before my induction date and I was dilated to a 3. I requested my membranes to be stripped and the doctor I saw said he would do it (I went to an office where you had your main doctor but you also saw the other doctors in the practice because there wasn't a guarantee that your doctor would be on call to deliver you. They wanted you to get to know other doctors if this was the case). I had heard it hurt really bad, so I was a little nervous. But when the doctor did it, it was a little uncomfortable but by no means painful. I went home hoping to go into labor that night. I didn't even have any contractions. The next day I Googled things I could do to go into labor. A bunch of people swore by Olive Garden's salad that it induced labor. So Andrew (who was as anxious, if not more than I, to have this baby get here) took me to lunch. We went shopping afterwards and walked and walked. Nothing. The next day I worked oragnizing and cleaning all day. Nothing. Friday came and I was desperate. I had been having contractions on and off but nothing regular or painful. I called the doctor's office and asked if they could squeeze me in and have my membranes stripped again. They told me my actual doctor was there (Whom I adore) and he said he would be happy to do it. He couldn't believe I hadn't already gone into labor. So Andy and I went in and I told him that one of the other doctors I saw had stripped my membranes Tuesday and it hadn't even hurt. He asked which doctor I saw and I told him. He and the nurse started laughing. They said he never really actually did anything whenever anyone asked him to strip their membranes. He just said he would..... Ohhh, was I mad! Anyway, my real doctor did it and Holy. Crap. It hurt so bad I actually screamed. I couldn't even help it. Andy and the nurse and my doctor were all laughing at me and my pain! It was pretty funny though. My doctor told me he was on call that night and that if I started having contractions at all or if I was leaking fluid to come in immediately (because I tested positive for Group B strep-which I've never had before. I have my babies so quickly that he wanted me to get in there to be able to get 2 doses of antibiotics-they have to be 4 hours apart). Anyway, I started contracting a bit on the way home and I had a friend watching all my kids, so Andy and I went home and got ready to go to the hospital just in case. We sat around for a bit and I kept having leakage (sorry-TMI!) and I wasn't sure if my water had broken or what. I didn't think so, but Andy swore it was, so he said we should go in and since my doctor was the one on call that maybe they'd just keep me. I still didn't want to, but he convinced me. So we did. They monitered me for awhile, did an ultrasound and determined my water hadn't ruptured. After a couple hours they sent me home. Andy felt bad that he'd insisted I go in, so we went out to a late dinner since our friends had volunteered to have our kid's sleepover. We got a good night's sleep and worked all the next day getting ready for my mom to arrive that afternoon. We had a ward Halloween party that night so Andy went to pick-up my mom at the airport and I got the kids ready. They got back (It was SOOOO great to see my mom and the kids were SO excited!) and we left to go to the party. Everyone (seriously-EVERYONE) commented to me "You're still here?!" Uhhh, no, I actually had the baby and I'm dressing up as a pregnant lady for Halloween (is what I wanted to say to them :) Sunday was kind of surreal thinking that I was going to be having my FIFTH child the next day! Crazy. I called the hospital that night and they told me I was the only scheduled induction so I could come in at 5:30. I slept great that night (after staying up with my mom and gabbing for awhile) and got up bright and early the next morning to get ready to go.



We made it to the hospital and the got me all checked in and IV's started around 6. They put me on the lowest dose of pitocin because I still had to get my 2 doses of antibiotics 4 hours apart, so they didn't want me progressing too quickly. It did nothing. I was still only dilated to a 3. They dosed me with the first antibiotic at 7AM. I was hoping they would turn up my pitocin, but no. I was so uncomfortable being stuck in the bed and I just wanted it all to speed up. The doctor who was to deliver me (my doctor wasn't on call, but the doctor who was is the head of the practice and I was so happy it was him-he is the best) came in and talked to me and told me that after my 2nd dose of antibiotics he would be in shortly after that to break my water and they'd crank up the pitocin and he knew I would go very quickly after that.



So around 11:30 they dosed me with another round of antibiotics and turned up the pitocin (barely). The nurse checked me and I was still only a 3... I told her I knew the only way I would progress was if my water was popped. She told me the doctor was on his way to do that. He made it there around 12:45 (he was going back and forth between 2 different hospitals as well as the doctor's office which are about a half hour away from each other) He broke my water and I knew that my contractions would go crazy as soon as he did-that's the way all my labors have been. I requested my epidural then because I knew the contractions were going to start hurting very quickly. I had a few right away that were uncomfortable and then all of the sudden WHAM! Serious pain. I had to start breathing through them before the anesthesiologist even made it to my room. He came in around 1:15 PM and had me sit up on the edge of the bed. As soon as I did, I felt a HUGE gush of water move down.... and.... I was speechless. In fact, I think the nurse asked me a question right then and I know I just looked at her with panic in my eyes because she asked, alarmed, "What's wrong?" and then all of the sudden it was Niagra Falls dumping over the edge of my bed. And it just kept coming!! And coming! My ultrasounds had shown that I had extra fluid in there. Um, ya-it was a lot of extra fluid. The nurse couldn't stop laughing and kept having to get more and more towels. They ended up changing my mattress because my bed was completely soaked. At one point she said "Does it feel like it's going to stop anytime soon?!" Well, it finally did. It was pretty funny (when I wasn't hunched over in pain with a contraction). The anesthesiologist finally finished up after about 15 minutes and my pain vanished.



Ahhhhhhh...... bliss :) I laid back down (on my newly changed mattress and sheets :) and within about 1/2 hour (around 2 PM) I felt like I needed to push. The nurse was shocked. She didn't believe that I could be complete from a 3 in only an hour. She checked me and I was indeed. She frantically told me not to push and ran to call the doctor. From there she called the nursury nurse and about 4 nurses were running around the room (well, not running-calmly and quickly :) gathering supplies and getting everything ready for delivery. While she was doing this she explained that the doctor was at the other hospital and there wasn't even a doctor on the floor at that time (I was in a brand new, tiny hospital). She told me she could deliver if she had to but that she preferred not to. I'm super glad my mom and sister are labor and delivery nurses because I know they have delivered babies a handful (or more) of times and it didn't worry me at all that that might be the case here.



Anyway, my doctor must have really sped to get there because he came in at about 2:20 and they finished getting ready. I started pushing around 2:35. On the first push out came the head..... and on the second push out came the body. Andy crowed "It's a BOY!" and they put that wiggly little baby on my chest and he started crying. I love that first cry. So amazing and sweet.



The whisked him away to do all that stuff they do and the doctor delivered the 10 pound evil twin... I mean... placenta (just kidding.... but pretty close ;) and told me I had no lacerations or tears-woo-hoo! Recovery is just a million times better that way. They cleaned me up, cleaned the babe up (my baby BOY! :) and brought him over to nurse. He latched on right away and nursed like a champ. Andy and I just kept smiling at each other. We were so happy.



And still are.



Now, if that loooong re-counting hasn't put you to sleep, here are the tons of pictures.... and even a few more details. Lucky you! Seriously-I look at this picture and feel so sorry for myself. I was HUGE!!!!

Happy after my epidural

Baby boy! He seemed so small to me. I guess being my second to smallest baby must have had something to do with that. He still seems so tiny to me and everyone who sees him says "He's huge!" Not to me!

goopy eyed and swollen

Daddy and his boy

Bathtime!

All cleaned up with my terrific doctor who delivered me

All my kids together for the first time seeing their baby brother

The first day the kids couldn't hold him because he started struggling to breathe a little bit that evening. The pediatrician wanted to do a chest x-ray and found that there was a lot of gunk in his lungs and belly still, because I pushed him out too fast. It's good to go a little more slowly because it squeezes all of that nasty stuff out of their lungs and body. Whoops.

First x-ray at only a few hours old. The pediatrician also mentioned that he had a heart murmur (which isn't unusual in newborns) but they were a little concerned just because I had been seeing a perinatologist occasionally during my pregnancy because of my autoimmune disease. They were monitering me because apparently with my disease it can cause heart problems in utero for the baby and cause the little valve that is supposed to close shortly after birth to not close which would cause heart problems. They were going to have a cardiologist come look at him if the murmur hadn't gone away by the time we were to leave the hospital. Thankfully it was gone by the next night, and his lungs had also cleared out by then and the pediatrician deemed him perfectly healthy.

Grandma with her 11th grandchild

The kids came the next day to visit so they could actually get a chance to hold their baby brother

How are all these kids mine?! Haha

Our new family of SEVEN!!

Mom and Dad-sooo happy (and tired looking :)

Time to go home!

Magnus had a high bilirubin count, so we had to take him in several days in a row to be checked. It kept going up and they said that if the next time it didn't go down he would have to have the lights. Thankfully when he was a week old it finally started to go down and we didn't have to bother with that.

Our first few days home were so great. Magnus was fussy the first day until my milk came in (I think he must have been starving because my mom finally gave hime some formula and he gobbled it down and slept for 4 hours) and since then he has been a dream. He sleeps well, rarely ever fusses and is so much fun to just sit and stare at. I adore him and am absolutely relishing this time with my newborn baby. I am in love.

After all-what's not to love?