Granger is HERE! — His Birth Story

On December 5th we welcomed our little Santa Baby into the world. His birth and labor was insane even for me. The day before he was born he wasn’t head down. My blood pressure was okay. I hadn’t dilated any further. We agreed that induction was definitely unnecessary and to wait out externally attempting to spin him. I left that appointment with a gut feeling that Granger wouldn’t be here before Christmas. I let my guard down and stopped thinking into all of my regular contractions and labor scares. Fast forward to the next day. I felt odd and threw up all day but didn’t contract at all. I just didn’t have any energy or an appetite. I didn’t clean my house. Didn’t shave my legs for once. Didn’t think one time ‘wonder if today is the day’. At 3:30 pm I had my first contraction. It was significantly stronger than the contraction from the weeks of prodromal labor that I was used to. The next contraction came 3 minutes later. And the next 2 minutes later. I instantly began to contract every 1-3 minutes. At 3:49 pm I called my husband and told him to come home right away. We ran our toddler to my grandma’s house and made it to the hospital by 4:30 pm. I was 6 cm dilated when we got there and he was HEAD DOWN! though the contractions were back to back and strong, they were only lasting 30-40 seconds. I just knew that there was no way that those types of contractions would dilate me quickly and I 100% expected to have a stalled labor. We left our home so quickly that we didn’t get all of the bags so once I assessed that I’d probably be in labor awhile I had my mom run home to get our stuff. She was gone 20 minutes when the OB came in. We discussed the options as far as breaking my water or just letting things happen on their own. I wanted to make that choice based on if I was dilated any more. Expecting to still be a 6, I figured that we’d just labor without breaking my water. For me once it’s broke the pain kicks in massively and my babies come within 20 minutes but since I wasn’t in pain yet I was worried to take the chance of putting me in pain before my body was ready. He checked and quickly said that I was an 8-9. We both agreed to break my water which was about 5 seconds of a huge relief in pressure then THE contraction happened. That notorious ‘baby just dropped into the birth canal’ transitional contraction. With that contraction my body naturally began to push. From an ‘8-9’ to crowning with two contractions and his body out with the third. It was fast. Intense. He was born at 5:19 pm, roughly 2 hours after my first labor pain. I remember roaring loudly with those 3 pushes and I remember the second that I pulled him up thinking that he was extremely tiny. He didn’t cry at first and his heart rate had shown signs of distress during the pushing stage so I was concerned but he pinked right up. He eventually cried and reached up for my face. I whispered in his ear, “Hello sweet boy. Mama loves you!’ over and over and it was perfect. Because of how quickly it all went down my mom missed his birth. My photographer missed his birth. My camera was in my bags that were left at home and my husband didn’t take pictures until right after he was born. Cell phone pictures. That’s what we got and that’s something that makes me upset but at the same time Granger’s birth was beautiful. It was exciting, drug free, and fast so the pain was very short lived. We did skin to skin for an hour after his birth and labored out my placenta on it’s own. He didn’t leave my chest for get a bath. We didn’t weigh him or measure him. We just took our time meeting one another. Aside from breaking my water, there was no medical intervention or interruptions. My parents and niece arrived shortly after he was born. My husband went to go get our bigs while my family visited. It was intimate and peaceful. He nursed well originally and was so content in my arms. Absolute heaven. Things have been bumpy since then though. I had hemorrhaging issues. He had low blood sugar and shallow latch issues. He has a temper when he’s hungry which doesn’t help the struggling latch problems. He’s very impatient ha. My toddler didn’t like him at all at first. She told me to ‘put him down and make him walk’. It was kind of unexpected because all she does is talk about him and how much she loves him. But we are adjusting. He’s latching better. The kids all 4 adore him. We are finding a better sleep routine. I’m not bleeding heavily and we got his blood sugar stable. I didn’t need stitches but because of the dramatic pushing on my stomach to try to help with the bleeding I was abnormally sore in the stomach area. I felt like a bus hit me in the guts. That’s slowly getting better though. We are so smitten with our big family and can’t believe that he’s finally here. We are so blessed! 

It’s Baby Month: 36 week update

Long time, no post. I’ve fallen behind on blogging recently. Between Fall break, Thanksgiving, the holidays, pregnancy business, and just basic life as a wife/mom — it’s been a touch overwhelming. I wanted to hop on and do a little ‘in general’ update but also a pregnancy update. 

First of all, happy late thanksgiving. I hope that each of you had a wonderful day no matter what you did. Per tradition we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, spent the afternoon with family, and spent the evening cuddle up by the fire while we watched movies. I got all of my Black Friday shopping done online and aside from two gifts, finished my Christmas shopping. Holla! I’m so happy to be basically done so we can just focus on welcoming a baby into our family and focus on Christmas. 

Speaking of baby, this kid has been trying to come for weeks. He’s also been breech AND I’ve had high blood pressure with protein in my urine. We’ve been working hard to keep him in past 36 weeks and as of last Wednesday, we made it to that goal. I’m officially 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. At my appointment this coming week we will assess his position and my blood pressure/urine. If he’s breech, we will attempt to turn him externally again. If it’s successful we will induce labor. If my blood pressure is still high, we will also induce despite how turning him goes. So if it’s high and we can’t get him turned, I will unfortunately have a cesarean. I’m praying that he’s either turned or that we can get him turned if induction is what we need to do. Having had preeclampsia preterm with my oldest and having passed out because of it, I’m really nervous to play around with that. I already have a history of TIA’s so that’s another concern for us. As much as induction isn’t my birth plan and it scares me quite a bit, I am secure in that choice should my protein levels be higher and my bp still be high. 

If you can’t tell by now, home birth isn’t appearing to be in the cards for us. We realized that last week at my midwife appointment. She was very blunt with us. She told me that they aren’t comfortable with delivering breech babies because of the elevated risks. That alone wasn’t going to end our home birth chance though. We had a game plan to attempt many things to turn the baby. So you’d think ‘no big deal’. However, consistent signs of preeclampsia is almost always a risk out. Ultimately here’s what it came down to: if I risked out before 37 weeks my fees would be prorated to the care that I had already received. If I risked out after that I owed the full amount without any refunds. This was roughly an $1800 difference. She was very open with us and laid that out clearly. She told us that she was highly likely to risk me out due to my blood pressure and baby’s position if he couldn’t be spun. She left the choice up to us and we opted to pull out of care. Knowing the facts. Knowing how much money that is. Knowing that it’s Christmas time. Knowing that this isn’t planned to be our last baby so I’ll get another shot at it mostly likely. Knowing few risks. Knowing what’s safest at this point. And knowing that aside from the medical risks I’ve already been in prodromal labor for going on a month. We just all agreed that this was the best choice. I have regrets, of course. I probably always will. I try not to think much about it and honestly, should my blood pressure issue go away and the baby turn on his own i very well might jump back into home birth care but as of now, too much is unstable. I’m not at peace with birthing at home and if I don’t feel safe with that choice in our specific situation, it would be highly irresponsible to attempt it or keep pushing for it. I’m let down. I’m sad. I’m disappointed. But I’m not ignorant and the facts currently are just that, facts. I had a beautiful self assisted birth with my youngest. I adore my Ob and the hospital staff. I have faith in my journey and my body. That much has not changed. No matter what happens this week, as long as Granger is born healthy — I am okay. It will be okay. 

As for pregnancy symptoms:

Headaches and swelling kicked in

I gained 2 lbs in one week which makes my total gain around 17 lbs

Heartburn is outrageous. For reals. It’s. So. Bad. 

I crave ice obsessively. 

The pelvic pain is still severe. Walking is dang near unbearable. I do think that girdles help though. 

I’m dilated 4 cm and fully effaced. 

My house is stocked up on groceries and household supplies. Bags are all packed and loaded. Car detailed. Car seat base installed. Nursery is done. House is staying clean thanks to the help of my kids and husband. We are ready. Whether he comes tonight or in January, we are ready!