Birth Story

I wrote the whole birth story at the hospital after James was born but then accidentally erased it so I said I would re-write it later but totally forgot until Lynette graciously reminded me, thank you! I think many have to have already heard it but here it is anyway. It's going to be long so I have it written down for myself to remember so please feel free to skim or skip!

I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions almost every night for 2-3 weeks and every night went to bed thinking maybe this will be the night that the contractions become real but every morning I would wake up without contractions. On Tuesday, April 13th, I didn't have any contractions all day so I actually went to bed thinking that nothing would happen that night and thinking that James was going to be late. Amazingly, I woke up at 5:15 on Wednesday morning with a contraction that was different than the Braxton-Hicks ones. Josh and I went for a walk before he left for work but the contractions were still 10-25 minutes apart and just slightly uncomfortable so he went to work and I stayed home to clean the house and get chores done thinking that we would be going to the hospital sometime that day.

I called Josh around 8:30 to ask him to come home because the contractions had become a little more uncomfortable and a little more consistent but still 10-25 minutes apart. I asked to go to the hospital because I tested positive for Group B Strep and my doctor requested that I go to the hospital early to receive IV antibiotics prior to delivery to ensure the baby didn't get the infection. We got to the hospital about 9:30 and I got a phone call from Michelle while sitting in the car waiting for Josh to finish up some work stuff. Michelle was going to swing by the house on her way to work but I informed her that I was "out and about." She asked if I was at the hospital and I had to say yes but asked that she not tell anyone yet just in case it was a false alarm.

When we got into the hospital, I told the receptionist what was going on with a smile on my face and asked to be checked. He informed me that I probably wasn't in labor because I was smiling but they checked me anyway. I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced but only had one contraction in the time I was there. The nurse sent me home about 10:30 and told me to return when my contractions were consistently 6-8 minutes apart and that it could be another day or two. I knew it wasn't going to be that much longer and didn't want to make the 25 minute drive back to Folsom and then back to the hospital again so we went to the mall to walk around.

When we got to the mall I was walking around just like everyone else with uncomfortable contractions every 8 minutes or so which I could walk through. The contractions slowly got more and more painful and became every 6-8 minutes apart but they had just sent us home so we couldn't go back. We decided to get something for lunch; well, Josh got Panda Express which I nibbled at between contractions. By noonish, I was leaning over the rails of the mall and rocking back and forth to get through the contractions. At one point, a lady in Nordstroms asked Josh if I was alright while I was breathing through a contraction. Josh suggested that we drive to Colleen's to labor at her house since she lives in Roseville but that seemed way too far still to me. Instead we drove back to the hospital which was a long enough drive (about 6 minutes only). When we got to the hospital, Josh suggested we walk along this nice path next to the hospital because he thought it was too soon to go back but I knew it was time to return!

When we walked in this time, I forced a smile for the receptionist and told him it was different this time. He smiled with a look of, we just sent you home but they happily brought me back to check me again. This time I was 5 cm dilated, having consistent contractions, and in much more pain so they admitted me. They asked if I was planning on "doing this naturally" and I informed them that "I was and I would like my epidural now!" They took me to a room, got an IV in (third time is the charm!), and got my epidural (yeah!). Shortly after I lied down, I informed them that "either my water just broke or I just wet myself." Sure enough it was my water breaking so they cleaned me up, inserted my catheter, and checked me again. It was only 2pm and I was at 9cm already!!!

Since this was the first time I was comfortable since being admitted, I allowed Josh to call Michelle and have her pass the news along. She quickly came from work and visited for a short time in the room with us. She also called Mom who called Dad but couldn't get ahold of him because he was out for a run without his phone. By the time he got back from his run, drove to Livermore to get Mom, then drive to Roseville, they arrived around 4:45pm. Meanwhile, I was told to lie on my right side in bed and not move because the baby's heart rate dropped and took a while to recover anytime I moved. After 2 hours, the nurse checked me again and just said "we need to call the doctor now" because I was ready to push. The doctor was there in 10 minutes and I started pushing. I pushed for 45 minutes and baby James arrived at 5:10pm (now I know why they call it labor!!!) During the pushing, the external heart rate monitor on the baby wasn't working so they had to use an internal monitor screwed into his scalp. Unfortunately, the first internal monitor was faulty so they had difficulty maintaining a heart rate (scary!!!) but the second one worked just fine, thankfully!!!!

When James arrived and they put him on my chest, I thought he would cry immediatly but he needed some stimulating from the nurse. I don't know if it was a normal amount of time but scary again!!! After they cleaned him up and swaddled him, I got to hold James again and really say hi. He was doing a great job of sticking his tongue out at me and I have yet to figure out how his Grandma Kim had already taught him that before meeting him! James weighed in at a very healthy 9lbs. 2.6oz. and 21.5 inches long. The nurses took him temperature when he was in my arms and he had a fever around 100 degrees so they loosened his swaddle and said they would monitor it. Thankfully his temperature regulated and was fine the rest of the hospital stay. Time flew after James was born and before we knew it, it was time to feed James for the first time and let Grandma Kim, Grandpa Craig, and Auntie Michelle meet him. Then it was off to the nursery for Josh and James for a bath and other fun stuff and off to learn how to pee properly for me!! It was very interesting trying to move and walk after an epidural but I managed! It was also different to be the patient needing help walking instead of the therapist helping the patient to walk!

I was quickly taken up to recovery where Josh and James were just leaving the nursery to join me in the room. Josh informed me that James was given formula in a bottle while in the nursery which surprised and worried me because I wanted to make sure he would breastfeed well. However, James' blood sugar was 40 (a blood sugar protical is started at 39 or less) so the nurse gave him formula to bring up his blood sugar. They had to continue to monitor his blood sugar as well after that but it came right up and was great the rest of the stay!

In addition to monitoring his temperature and blood sugar, they also had to do some blood work and cultures on James because I only received one dose of the IV antibiotics before James was born so he was at risk of getting Group B Strep which could have caused a respiratory infection. Thankfully, there was no infection!!! The nurses also noticed a heart murmur after James was born. The pediatrician ordered an echocardiogram to determine the cause of the heart murmur which was kind of scary. Thankfully it was only the patent ductus arteriosis causing the murmur and it got a little better each day in the hospital and was gone by the one week check up at the pediatrician's office. (The patent ductus arteriosis is a small hole in the heart that is used for blood flow in the womb but closes up after delivery. James' just took a little longer to close up but he is perfectly fine now!!!)

Shortly after we got to recovery, Dave and Dodie arrived to meet the new little guy. We got to spend a short time that evening with my parents, Michelle, Dave, and Dodie before sending them on their way so we enjoy James ourselves and attempt to get some sleep. We also had a little visit from Colleen, Benny, and Isa later that evening with some delicious food from Paul Martin's!!! The next morning, James got to meet his Grammie Connie and Auntie Jill who drove up to visit for a little while. We also got to spend a little more time with my parents, Michelle, Dave, and Dodie.

The rest of the hospital stay can be summed up pretty easily... little sleep and lots of learning! We got to go home on Friday morning (we had to stay a little longer because of all the stuff they were monitoring with James) which was wonderful!!! I could go on and on about the weekend and all the wonderful visitors and help we have had but then I would have to add a table of contents too to this novel! So, that's the labor story... overall, nice and easy thankfully!