8:00 AM November 8th
Kevin had late meetings scheduled for that night so we decided to start the day by going to breakfast as a family. I had been contracting all morning but they became a little uncomfortable during breakfast and I started having some low back pain. It didn't hurt, but they were strong enough that I couldn't ignore them. That was when I noticed they were about 6-8 min apart. I had a feeling I was in pre labor but I didn't want to get my hopes up. After breakfast I ran some errands for a couple hours to see if they would go away or slow down but they didn't. I had a Dr. appointment scheduled for later that day so I called in to see if I could come in early and get checked. I put the hospital bag in the car just in case and as soon as my mom showed up to stay with the girls I was nervously driving myself to the hospital. Leveno checked me and although I was now 75% effaced, I was still only dilated to a 3 and not quite in active labor. We decided that since they had been regular for several hours that I should be monitored in the hospital to see if I would progress.
12:00 PM Hospital Observation
I spent the next few hours trying to relax in bed while I listened to baby's heartbeat and tracked contractions. I would've loved to have gotten some sleep but I was having terrible heartburn the whole time and nothing they gave me worked. However, I enjoyed the quiet and kept family members updated. At 4:30 Dr. Leveno came and checked me again but my dilation still hadn't changed. In fact, my contractions had even slowed down a bit. I was feeling a little discouraged and starting to doubt my maternal instincts about this being pre labor. For some reason the hospital had actually lost some power earlier in the day and my building was running on generators. Since they were trying to preserve power they didn't want to induce me. Leveno told me I should stay over night so that if the power was fixed he could break my water for me in the morning.
5:00 PM
Literally 30 minutes after my doctor had left for the day the contractions started to pick up again and this time they were starting to hurt. I called the nurse in and she confirmed that contractions were now 3-5 minutes apart. She had to go help another patient for a few minutes but said she would check my cervix again when she came back and that I could finally eat something. I was starving but I only allowed myself to eat half the meal because I knew it would all come back up. In the meantime I updated Kevin and told him that I would let him know if he should leave work after the nurse checked me. I think 3-5 mins apart was a little too close for his comfort because he left right away. I was still only dilated to a 3 but I was glad he was there with me. The contractions were really starting to hurt and I had to stop talking and breathe through them whenever they came. At 7:30 PM I finally got my epidural. I was scared to get it but grateful for the relief as usual. My anesthesiologist was AWESOME. At this point I was dilated to a 5 but I stayed stuck there for several hours. Kevin worked, updated me on the election and held my hand. I tried to rest and enjoy the quiet even though I was so excited.
MIDNIGHT
My nurse checked me again and I was still stuck at a 5, but my water bag was bulging. Since the power was still not fixed they were not allowed to break my water or induce me. My nurse was awesome though and just "gave the bag a little pinch." As soon as my water broke I dilated very quickly. I needed more pain medication, but the second round was a little too much and I wasn't breathing very well. Baby descended very fast and the heart rate dropped. All of a sudden I had an oxygen mask on and the room was full of nurses. I was a little out of it from the medication and very confused as no one had told me anything. "Is the baby okay?" I panicked. "Am I having a c-section?" The nurse told me the heart rate was low but everything was okay. Kevin didn't seem worried at all even though the nurses were flipping me from side to side. I had waited hours and hours and suddenly everything was happening all at once. Baby's heart rate stabilized and I caught my breath for about 5 min until the doctor arrived and said I was ready to push.
1:00 AM Wednesday, November 9th
I couldn't feel anything but I willed myself to push somehow. In between contractions I had to focus on breathing with the mask. It only took 5 contractions/pushes (10 minutes) and baby was born at 1:11 AM. Kevin caught the modest baby with legs all bunched up over privates. He finally looked at me and smiled, "It's a boy!" I had a feeling it was a boy all along but I still couldn't believe it when he said the words. He laid him right on my chest and I scooped him up. I held him close and looked at his cute tiny face. I felt so much love for him immediately. The cord was around his neck loosely when he was born and he wasn't crying, so I started to worry. The nurses took him to look at him and I just stared at him on the table worrying and waiting for a cry that never came. Kevin was still in shock and started to break down. I love that guy. Having a surprise baby was the most amazing experience for me. I would recommend it to anyone!
Leveno delivered my placenta and told me that I didn't even tear, which was amazing since baby boy was my biggest baby weighing in at 8lbs 2oz. The NICU nurses finally came over and said that they had no idea why he wasn't crying but that all his vitals and everything were fine. He was just calm and chill. I got to hold him again for a minute and let him nurse before they took him to the nursery to observe and poke at him. (Still, he never cried.) He latched on right away and has loved eating ever since.
They were all very sweet with him and we took a video of their sweet meeting and sent it to close friends and family to announce his birth and gender. We had a couple visitors that day but as the adrenaline wore off I had to fight the urge to hold him so that I could rest. We really kept him all to ourselves that first day. We couldn't stop holding him and loving on him.
On Thursday we decided he was going to be our Oliver and we announced him to the world.
Weslie preferred to call him the name she had given him for the first couple days which was Sally Rudolph but now they all just call him baby brother and it melts my heart. The girls love holding baby brother. They are so curious about him and all of his "baby things". Every time he squeaks or cries his sisters form a response team and they all come in yelling, "Baby brother is crying!" Sophie has been the most unsure about the changes but she still adores him. They have all been the best little helpers in their own ways. Oliver hardly every fusses but he is hard to burp and that has kept me up a lot at night. Things have been exhausting but life couldn't be more perfect right now.
Going home from the hospital on Friday:
Oliver has just been a dream for the last week and I still can't believe he's here. Now that he is here, it's easy to see that he is exactly what our family needed.
