So now, a whole year later, I am finally posting the story of Carter's grand entrance to this world. :)
Be warned, this just might be the longest post of all time! Well, maybe not of all time, but at least in the history of our blog. Also, I will be going in to quite a bit of detail, which might be TMI for some people. As a nurse, it doesn't bother me to hear (or tell) the details, but I want to give fair warning. If you prefer to just scroll down to the pictures at the end, I won't be offended (really, I promise! The details are more for me anyway).
Ok, with the disclaimers out of the way, I now need to preface the story with a few things.
Brady and I were taking classes to learn the Bradley Method for natural childbirth. I loved the classes and would highly recommend them to anyone who is thinking of having an unmedicated birth.
Also, remember from a previous post that I had some labs done (blood work and a 24-hour urine test) to test for pre-eclampsia, and was still waiting to hear the results.
Wednesday, December 5th 2012
1 am - I wake up feeling a little bit of fluid leaking, but it doesn't seem like much to worry about. I have a bit of trouble falling back to sleep due to some cramping and pain in my lower back. Brady is snoring, and I find myself especially irritated by it. First of all, it was kind of loud and keeping me awake, second... I was jealous that he was sleeping so soundly! Eventually, I do fall back asleep.
7 am - We both wake up to the alarm and start to get ready for work. I tell Brady what happened during the night and decide to call the clinic to see if I can get in earlier to see the midwife (I already had my 37 week appointment scheduled for late that afternoon). I haven't really been leaking any more fluid, and I'm still kind of crampy... maybe they are contractions? I don't know...
8 am - I call the clinic to try and move my appointment earlier. They're all booked, so they say they can't move up my appointment. I figure that's fine, I'll just have to wait until my original time. While I have them on the phone, I figured I would ask about my test results. The girl puts me on hold to check, then gets back on and says that they will have a nurse call me back about the lab results. At this point, I decide to go into work and see how the day goes and just wait for my afternoon appointment. I also decide to wear a dress instead of pants, which turns out to be a truly inspired decision.
10 am - I'm at work, in my boss' office discussing a few things (at this point, I'm pretty sure I'm having contractions, but they were still very mild and irregular, so I'm trying not to get to excited about it. I figured since this is my first, I would probably be dealing with this for a long while before I have the baby to show for it). He asks for my opinion on an email he received. He opens the email on his computer, and walks out of the office for a moment (to get a drink or something). I stand up from my chair to go read the email... and there's a gush of fluid! I quickly check around me, and see that fortunately, the fluid didn't end up on anything but me. I run to the bathroom, discover that my underwear is soaked, but I'm not currently leaking. I clean up as best I can, and then run back to my office to call the midwife.
Just as I'm walking into my office, my phone rings. The clinic was calling me. I answer the phone, and one of the nurses was calling back with my lab results. She says the blood tests all came back normal, but they were still waiting for the midwife to review the results of the 24-hour urine test. I thank her for calling me back and then inform her that I'm pretty sure my water just broke. Surprised, she asks what happened. I explain, she puts me on hold for a moment, and then gets back on and says, "the midwife would like you to come in to the office right now".
11 am - We are at the clinic, and my contractions are getting quite a bit stronger and more regular. The midwife has some good news, the 24 hour urine test came back within normal limits, so I do not have pre-eclampsia (just pregnancy induced hypertension). She then does a nitrazine test to check for amniotic fluid, and at first it appears inconclusive. Then she checks my cervix, and I'm dilated to a 4, 90% effaced. Then she notices that there's more fluid, does the nitrazine test again, and it is 100% positive. She says that my water has broken, and I'm in active labor, and asks if we would like to go straight to the hospital or labor at home for a while. We decide to go home and pack (we didn't have anything packed yet), and I would labor there for a while before going to the hospital. I'm thinking since it's my first, I would probably be in labor for some time and I wanted to do as much of that at home as I could.
At this point my water has completely broken and there's so much fluid coming out that I have to waddle out to the car with a blue chux pad between my legs... so grateful I wore a comfortable dress, as that trip would have been much more awkward trying to fit back into pants...
Noon - We get home and start packing. The contractions are getting intense enough that I have to stop and really concentrate on relaxing. I find that making a low, humming sound gives me something to concentrate on instead of the pain. Brady also heats up some leftovers for us to eat. Again, we're expecting to be in this for a while, so it seems like a good idea for me to eat while I still feel like I can; I'm going to need the energy later. It takes me a while to eat, since I have to break for contractions that seem to keep getting more intense and closer together.
Brady was rushing to get everything together and in the car. My contractions were pretty close together at this point, about 3 or 4 minutes apart, and lasting about 90 seconds. By the time Brady had everything in the car, we decided to head to the hospital.
2:30 pm - We arrive at the hospital. Our midwife had notified them ahead of time, so they already had the natural birthing room reserved for us and our admitting paperwork all ready to go when we arrived. We settled right in; I changed into a gown and concentrated on relaxing during contractions, and Brady fielded phone calls and texts from work.
At this point, I am so focused on labor that I can't really be relied on for a good timeline. I know the order in which everything happened, but my sense of time was completely warped.
There are several nurses in the room, one working on placing an IV, another getting an initial tracing of the baby's heart rate, and another asking Brady and I questions about our medical history. Apparently I'm a pretty hard stick as the first nurse blew the vein in my right arm, and had to get another nurse to attempt to stick my left. After much poking and prodding, they place an IV in my left hand (ouch, IV's in the hand hurt!), and put an saline lock on it (that means it's not actually hooked up to an IV bag, so I'm not actively getting any fluids or medication) so I can move around freely but they will still have venous access in case something goes wrong and they need to give me something. I'm dilated to a 6, 100% effaced, and the baby's heart rate looks great.
Our midwife arrives, and I request to get in the jetted tub (I was super stoked when I saw that we had one in the room, I had hoped to be able to use one). I found the tub was the best place to labor; the warm water and jets really helped me to relax and eased some of the pain of the contractions. Brady sat on the edge of the tub and I would lean against his knees during a contraction and concentrate on totally relaxing.
Things go like this for a while, and the midwife periodically checks the baby's heart rate. At some point, our midwife notices a chemical, gassy smell in the room. A few other nurses come in and try to figure out what's causing the smell and they are concerned that we might need to move rooms. They even call in one of the hospital maintenance guys to come in and check it out. The whole time I was just praying and hoping that we would't have to change rooms, I did not feel in a position to move at all. The contractions are super intense, and I have to really focus hard on relaxing.
Eventually the chemical smell begins to dissipate, and they decide we don't need to move (thank heaven!). Contractions continue to get more intense, but I am progressing quickly, and I feel like I'll be able to make it without an epidural.
Then transition hits. Guys, transition is awful. The worst. And that's when the yelling started. I honestly yelled so much, my throat was sore for the next day or so. I wasn't really yelling at anyone in particular, more than anything I just wanted to be done. I specifically remember shouting several times, "Is he crowing yet?!?!", just hoping that someone would say "Yes! You are almost done!". Unfortunately, the midwife would calmly respond, "He still has to descend a little bit". I continued to yell things like, "Get this baby out of me!", "I can't do this", etc, and I'm sure Brady was thinking I had completely lost it. I really don't yell much, (actually, not really at all) so I think he was pretty surprised that I was yelling so much. However, he continued to reassure me and support me, as did the nurses and the midwife; they were all fantastic.
Anyway, right as I hit transition, I'm fully dilated and they help me move from the tub to the bed (which is the LAST thing I wanted to do at that point). The bed is positioned so I can kneel and lean over the head of the bed, gravity helping him to descend. It seemed to take forever for him to come down, and I eventually got so tired I had to lay down rather than kneeling.
Then (finally) it comes time to push, and I think I end up pushing for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The nurses and the midwife kept telling me to push longer than I felt like I could. They kept saying, "He's almost here, one more push!"… but then I would push, and no baby. By about the 5th time they said "one more push", I was getting super bugged and just decided to stop listening to them and push when I felt like it. I honestly think that because I wasn't medicated, I could feel when to push and for how long, and even though it took forever, Carter tolerated everything really well and I ended up only having 2 minor tears (and my recovery wasn't bad at all).
Finally, at 6:24pm, Carter is born! Brady cuts the cord, and they lay Carter on my chest. Words cannot describe the feeling of seeing your baby for the first time, it is simply one of the most beautiful, wonderful experiences of my life. I only get to hold him for a minute or two before they take him to clean him up a bit, weigh him, and do a more thorough evaluation. In the meantime, the midwife is stitching me up, and makes the comment, "You did really well! You should have lots of kids!" I think I just smiled and nodded politely, but in my head I was thinking, "Are you crazy? No way am I doing that again!". ;) Don't worry though, by the next day I was gazing at my sweet little boy and thinking, "Wow, I could totally do that again for another one of these".
Anyway, they bring Carter back and I just can't help but to stare in awe of this perfect, little human being. After a few minutes, Brady kind of quietly and sheepishly asks, "Can I hold him?". I didn't even realize that Brady hadn't had a chance to hold him yet! Then seeing Brady holding
It took us until the following morning to settle on a name for our sweet little man (we are pretty indecisive in general, plus he surprised us by coming 3 weeks early). So there you have it, Carter's birth story with all the gory details. Now enjoy some pictures. :)
At this point my water has completely broken and there's so much fluid coming out that I have to waddle out to the car with a blue chux pad between my legs... so grateful I wore a comfortable dress, as that trip would have been much more awkward trying to fit back into pants...
Noon - We get home and start packing. The contractions are getting intense enough that I have to stop and really concentrate on relaxing. I find that making a low, humming sound gives me something to concentrate on instead of the pain. Brady also heats up some leftovers for us to eat. Again, we're expecting to be in this for a while, so it seems like a good idea for me to eat while I still feel like I can; I'm going to need the energy later. It takes me a while to eat, since I have to break for contractions that seem to keep getting more intense and closer together.
Brady was rushing to get everything together and in the car. My contractions were pretty close together at this point, about 3 or 4 minutes apart, and lasting about 90 seconds. By the time Brady had everything in the car, we decided to head to the hospital.
2:30 pm - We arrive at the hospital. Our midwife had notified them ahead of time, so they already had the natural birthing room reserved for us and our admitting paperwork all ready to go when we arrived. We settled right in; I changed into a gown and concentrated on relaxing during contractions, and Brady fielded phone calls and texts from work.
At this point, I am so focused on labor that I can't really be relied on for a good timeline. I know the order in which everything happened, but my sense of time was completely warped.
There are several nurses in the room, one working on placing an IV, another getting an initial tracing of the baby's heart rate, and another asking Brady and I questions about our medical history. Apparently I'm a pretty hard stick as the first nurse blew the vein in my right arm, and had to get another nurse to attempt to stick my left. After much poking and prodding, they place an IV in my left hand (ouch, IV's in the hand hurt!), and put an saline lock on it (that means it's not actually hooked up to an IV bag, so I'm not actively getting any fluids or medication) so I can move around freely but they will still have venous access in case something goes wrong and they need to give me something. I'm dilated to a 6, 100% effaced, and the baby's heart rate looks great.
Our midwife arrives, and I request to get in the jetted tub (I was super stoked when I saw that we had one in the room, I had hoped to be able to use one). I found the tub was the best place to labor; the warm water and jets really helped me to relax and eased some of the pain of the contractions. Brady sat on the edge of the tub and I would lean against his knees during a contraction and concentrate on totally relaxing.
Things go like this for a while, and the midwife periodically checks the baby's heart rate. At some point, our midwife notices a chemical, gassy smell in the room. A few other nurses come in and try to figure out what's causing the smell and they are concerned that we might need to move rooms. They even call in one of the hospital maintenance guys to come in and check it out. The whole time I was just praying and hoping that we would't have to change rooms, I did not feel in a position to move at all. The contractions are super intense, and I have to really focus hard on relaxing.
Eventually the chemical smell begins to dissipate, and they decide we don't need to move (thank heaven!). Contractions continue to get more intense, but I am progressing quickly, and I feel like I'll be able to make it without an epidural.
Then transition hits. Guys, transition is awful. The worst. And that's when the yelling started. I honestly yelled so much, my throat was sore for the next day or so. I wasn't really yelling at anyone in particular, more than anything I just wanted to be done. I specifically remember shouting several times, "Is he crowing yet?!?!", just hoping that someone would say "Yes! You are almost done!". Unfortunately, the midwife would calmly respond, "He still has to descend a little bit". I continued to yell things like, "Get this baby out of me!", "I can't do this", etc, and I'm sure Brady was thinking I had completely lost it. I really don't yell much, (actually, not really at all) so I think he was pretty surprised that I was yelling so much. However, he continued to reassure me and support me, as did the nurses and the midwife; they were all fantastic.
Anyway, right as I hit transition, I'm fully dilated and they help me move from the tub to the bed (which is the LAST thing I wanted to do at that point). The bed is positioned so I can kneel and lean over the head of the bed, gravity helping him to descend. It seemed to take forever for him to come down, and I eventually got so tired I had to lay down rather than kneeling.
Then (finally) it comes time to push, and I think I end up pushing for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The nurses and the midwife kept telling me to push longer than I felt like I could. They kept saying, "He's almost here, one more push!"… but then I would push, and no baby. By about the 5th time they said "one more push", I was getting super bugged and just decided to stop listening to them and push when I felt like it. I honestly think that because I wasn't medicated, I could feel when to push and for how long, and even though it took forever, Carter tolerated everything really well and I ended up only having 2 minor tears (and my recovery wasn't bad at all).
Finally, at 6:24pm, Carter is born! Brady cuts the cord, and they lay Carter on my chest. Words cannot describe the feeling of seeing your baby for the first time, it is simply one of the most beautiful, wonderful experiences of my life. I only get to hold him for a minute or two before they take him to clean him up a bit, weigh him, and do a more thorough evaluation. In the meantime, the midwife is stitching me up, and makes the comment, "You did really well! You should have lots of kids!" I think I just smiled and nodded politely, but in my head I was thinking, "Are you crazy? No way am I doing that again!". ;) Don't worry though, by the next day I was gazing at my sweet little boy and thinking, "Wow, I could totally do that again for another one of these".
Anyway, they bring Carter back and I just can't help but to stare in awe of this perfect, little human being. After a few minutes, Brady kind of quietly and sheepishly asks, "Can I hold him?". I didn't even realize that Brady hadn't had a chance to hold him yet! Then seeing Brady holding
It took us until the following morning to settle on a name for our sweet little man (we are pretty indecisive in general, plus he surprised us by coming 3 weeks early). So there you have it, Carter's birth story with all the gory details. Now enjoy some pictures. :)
Carter Brady Morris
Born 12-5-2012
7 lbs exactly
19 inches
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| Happy Family! |
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| Brady and Carter |
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| So excited to be a dad! |
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| He had the biggest cone head I have ever seen on a baby! |
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| But he was still adorable! :) |
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| Getting all cleaned up. |
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| 7 pounds even! |
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| Enjoying some post-delivery snacks. |
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| Meeting aunt Bridget |
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| So excited to be an aunt! |
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| Meeting uncle Brandon |
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| Bridget, Brandon, and Brooke. As you can see, Bridget is doing her sisterly duty and sending out pictures/updates to family and friends. |
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| My Mom, so excited for another grand-baby! |
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| Meeting Grandma Sorensen |
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| So excited to have this sweet little boy in our family! |
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| First silly family picture... classic! :) |
