Well… Landon is now 14 weeks old, and here I am finally documenting his birth story. :) Luckily for me, it is something that is pretty much engrained in my head that would take a very long time to forget. Even though I THINK I would never forget it, I probably shouldn't test that and I will get everything written down. Buckle up, because I am long-winded!
Ok, so where to begin… Let's go back to 36 weeks pregnant, shall we? By this time in my pregnancy I was seeing the doctor weekly. Sidenote: I'm not sure if I ever talked about my doctor before, but he was awesome and I loved him! He was very laid back and relaxed, but he also displayed confidence that helped you know he would be able to step in and take care of business, if needed. Anyway, I went in to the doctor at this particular appointment and was told that the doctor was delivering a baby, but the nurse practitioner would see me. The NP told me that they were going to take the measurements and if the baby was still measuring fairly significantly ahead then they would send me to the hospital and schedule a "dating ultrasound". Lo and behold, they took the measurements and I was measuring at 39 weeks, so I scheduled an ultrasound for the next day. They also let me know that I was dilated to 1/2 cm, so that was good! I know it's pretty insignificant, but I was glad to not be completely closed. :)
The next day, I went in for the ultrasound. It was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing, but when you're pregnant, it's always fun to see your little guy/girl in there! I did have the tech confirm that he was, indeed, a boy, and he was, so that was good. Everything else went fine as far as I could tell. All the tech did/could tell me was that at my anatomy scan (18 weeks) he was measuring 2 weeks early, and she was dating him even earlier than that. Ok, so you would think this would have set off the alarms in my head... you are 36 weeks, the 2 weeks from the previous ultrasound would put you at 38 weeks, and this tech measuring you even earlier... Hmmm... nope! I just said "well, he's going to be a big boy!" and went on my merry way!
Fast forward to the following week. I am 37 weeks pregnant in for my regular doctor's appointment. I walked in excited to see if I had progressed at all. The nurse practitioner came in and starting spouting something out about checking to see how dilated I was and then possibly starting labor induction... THAT NIGHT. That was the first I had heard of anything like this! The last thing my doctor and I had talked about was starting a "cytotec induction" on May 2nd... 5 Days before my due date, not 3 weeks! Needless to say, when she took my blood pressure that appointment, it was much higher than the norm. So fast forward a little bit... I'm dilated to a 1, and they start telling me about how my "dating ultrasound" discovered that I had high amniotic fluid levels (polyhydramnios), something I had never heard of before. Dr. Boling said that it wasn't crucial to get the baby out right away, but we needed to start toying with the idea a little more seriously. When we had talked about induction at my earlier appointments, I talked about not wanting to be super aggressive with my induction methods and I wanted to take the little guy when he was ready, if at all possible. So we decided to go ahead with one dose of cytotec that night and then we would come again in the morning to re-evaluate.
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| This is the last pregnancy picture I have of myself.. 37 weeks! Holy cow, I was huge! haha |
WOW! A lot changed with just that one doctor's appointment and I was kind of freaking out. My doctor told me to go ahead and take care of everything I needed to, get some dinner, and head to Labor & Delivery whenever I wanted to. So I actually ended up going back to work and tying up as many loose ends as I could not knowing exactly when I would be having this baby. That night, we went in to L&D and got the first round of cytotec. They put me on the monitors, gave me the cytotec, monitored me for 2 hours, and then sent me home. It was pretty uneventful! The next morning, Matthew had a test so I went into work for another hour before heading to L&D for another round of cyotec. Same story there, we just went in, got the cytotec, got monitored, and headed home.
**Side story: Friday morning, it was kind of funny because we went into L&D and one of the nurses was like "So, we're told today is the day!!". I feel bad for the woman because Matthew and I both just kind of stared at her and said "It is?" They put me in an actual L&D room and everything instead of a postpartum room like the night before. She came into the room a few minutes later and said "Ok, so I just talked to Dr. Boling, I guess today isn't necessarily the day, but it could be! Pretty funny, I just blankly stared at her.**
So we had the option of going back to L&D for another round that night, but we opted not to and to just see where things go. I was having contractions at this point, but they weren't painful. It was actually kind of cool to watch my stomach tighten and hold it there for a couple of seconds and then relax. The human body seriously is incredible. I was amazed throughout this entire experience by how much my body just did! I didn't know what the heck I was doing, but I just followed what my body was doing and it all worked out. Anyway, Matthew and I went and took maternity pictures this night (pictures are in the post prior to this one) and then we walked around Walmart for a little while and grabbed some "just in case I actually do go into labor" items like a nursing bra and a zip-up robe to wear in the hospital. I'm sure there were some other items too, but those were the main ones I remember.
Saturday morning, I was supposed to be in Nauvoo for a primary workshop, but we thought I should probably stay a little closer to home. We went to L&D Saturday morning for yet another round of cytotec. We had talked to my doctor beforehand and decided that after this round we would take a break for the weekend (and Easter) and then come back again on Monday or Tuesday. Well.. I went in Saturday morning, got checked and I was at a 2-3! I was excited to see that my contractions and the cytotec were doing exactly what they were supposed to and I was progressing! So I was thinking the cytotec would induce labor within the next few days... Awesome! Well... in comes my doctor to drop yet another bomb on me! "You are progressing, awesome! I have no problem with breaking your water and getting this baby here today." Umm... what?? I was not ready for that. Ultimately, he left the decision up to me and said we could do another round of cytotec if I really wanted to, but he thought my body would do great and progress just the way it should if we put me on pitocin and broke my water.
My doctor and the nurses left Matthew and I in the room to talk it out. Once we got to talking, I was really scared. I didn't want to force anything especially when it was still 2.5 weeks early. After talking for a little while and saying a little prayer (Matthew had already given me a blessing as well), we realized that my main reservation was just being scared of labor itself. Haha I am such a chicken! I was SO scared to start all of that not knowing what was coming, how bad it was going to hurt, how I was going to handle it, etc. I think the worst part was just the unknown. It an be scary! I really did feel at peace with my body and I had confidence that it would do what it was supposed to, and most of all I trusted my doctor. Matthew ended up talking to Dr. Boling and asked what he would do if it were his wife and Dr. Boling said he would induce labor. He explained that with polyhydramnios (my high fluid levels thing) the risk of cord prolapse increases pretty significantly, so it was pretty important to try to have a controlled break with medical professionals present, if at all possible. If the cord prolapses, that is an immediate C-section and it can be pretty scary, so I totally understood his point there. We felt at peace with that decision, so we went ahead and moved forward with the induction. We joked around that my Grandma Waite (my German grandma) was holding on to our little guy because she wanted him to be born on April 20th (Hitler's birthday). I told the nurses if I was going to be induced he better be there before midnight because I was not having a baby on Hitler's birthday! I think they thought I was crazy for even knowing when Hitler's birthday was and even crazier for having a problem with an Easter baby. (Easter was on April 20th this year).
I got moved to the L&D room, hooked up to the monitors, and then hooked up to my IV. They started the pitocin and then we waited! I thought I would labor on the pit for awhile and progress a little further before breaking my water (aka: "the point of no return"), but nope! My doctor was in my room breaking my water just about 5 minutes later! I was way nervous the whole time he was breaking my water because of the risk of cord prolapse, but Landon's head was right there and dropped right down where it was supposed to. That was such a relief and a huge blessing. In all honesty, I expected there to be a lot more water, especially since I had high fluid levels, but there wasn't all that much (yet). The only part of Labor I had planned out was the fact that I wanted to epidural PLACED before I actually needed it. That way, when I was in pain and asked for it, I didn't have to wait for them to place it (and try to sit still while they were doing it), all they would have to do was feed the medicine through. So Dr. Boling was followed by the anesthesiologists coming to place my epidural. In hindsight, I am SO glad I did it this way. It was perfect for me. So the epidural was placed and then we were just basically left alone to labor and wait!
I could feel the contractions at this point. They weren't super painful, but I could feel them more than I had been before. They upped my pitocin every once in awhile. At some point, I was in some pain and just really uncomfortable and the nurse said the anesthesiologist was on the floor, so she would check me and if I was at a 4 (what I said I wanted to be at before getting the epidural) then she would have them give it to me while they were up there. So she checked and I was still at a 2-3! Freak! I was really disheartened because I had been in labor for several hours and I had made no progress. She did tell me I was almost completely effaced though, so she thought I would start dilating soon.
I still knew something needed to change because what I was doing wasn't working and I wasn't comfortable or able to focus. I couldn't get up and walk around because of pit, but I remembered that when I sat on the edge of the bed for the epidural, the contractions were much more manageable. So the nurse grabbed me a chair and I sat on that. Holy cow! Night and day difference! I could manage the contractions so much better and really focus on my breathing. Unfortunately for Matthew (and probably all men during labor) there was really nothing he could do for me. He just sat on the bed and held my hand. But FORTUNATELY for Matthew, the NBA Playoffs were on and I couldn't have cared less if he watched them. Haha So at this point my contractions were closer together and I was having a hard time relaxing enough in between contractions, so Dr. Boling gave me a little bit of pain medicine to help me relax in between contractions. That was really nice too and something I wasn't aware could be done! I loved it because they put it directly into my IV, so it took effect really fast. It helped so much to where I was able to focus and breath through the contractions, but I was able to relax so much faster in between them to recover a little more before the next contraction. After getting the pain medicine, I just focused on my breathing and that really helped with contractions. I would breath as deep as I could and then I told myself if I could just breath deeply in and out 7 times then the contraction would be over and I could relax again. The little short-term goals really helped me focus on the short-term and not worry about what was coming or how long it had been. I think it helped time pass a little quicker too.
Eventually I was still having a hard time relaxing and I couldn't breath as deeply or focus as well so I said "Matt, please go get the nurse, I don't even care, I want my epidural!" (He said my voice was so sad and he felt really bad at this point. Haha) So he went to grab her and then came back and I went to the bathroom. I sat back in the bed and she came and checked me and said I was at a 6-7! Halle-freakin-lujah! Sitting in the chair worked! :) But seriously, it totally did! I don't know if it was the position or gravity helping me out or the pain medicine helping me relax and not fight the contractions as much as I had been or what, but something worked, and that's all that matters! :) So the nurse went and called the anesthesiologist and came back and said she would "mosey on up" to feed the medicine through. Umm... No. No "moseying"! Get your butt up here! Haha Luckily, she didn't take too long though. So she started to feed some medicine in and then another nurse came in to check me. The nurses had just changed shifts, so she came to check me and when she did she said "Ok, I'm going to go make sure Dr. Boling is on his way". So she went out quickly and then came back in and said luckily he had just arrived because I was at a 9+! :) Holy cow, I'm glad I got the epidural placed before because I went from a 6-10 way too quickly to get one placed. So they said "Ok, we'll just wait for your epidural to kick in and then we'll push!" YAY! It was awesome. So the epidural worked its magic, I didn't feel pain, but for the most part I could feel when to push. So I got focused and did some "practice pushes" with the nurses. There were a couple of times where his heart rate dropped, so they put me on oxygen in between pushing and then he was just fine.
So I don't know what "practice pushes" are, but I assure you, pushing is pushing. So eventually Landon was crowning and the nurse went to grab Dr. Boling. I honestly didn't even see him come in, though, my mind was elsewhere. I pushed and pushed and my eyes were closed and then at some point everyone in the room said "Lauren, open your eyes!" So I opened my eyes and Landon was right there! He looked a lot more blueish/gray than I thought he should and I saw the back of his head and the cord up on the back of his neck. It kind of freaked me out because I thought the cord was wrapped around his neck, but it wasn't, it was just on the back of his neck. One more push and the rest of his body came out! Once he was out I was like, "Oh, THERE'S the rest of the fluid they were talking about. Haha when they broke my water, apparently his head had plugged the hole because there was a ton of fluid that came out with him, they said he basically surfed out! I remember hearing him cry and seeing dark, DARK hair! And lots of it! The nurses hurried and wiped him down just a little bit and put him directly on me. I remember him crying and crying while they were wiping him and then as soon as he was on my chest he calmed down immediately. It was such a surreal moment, I can't even explain it. I just couldn't believe that was my son and he was finally here. He was SO beautiful!! I really was convinced that Matthew and I were going to have an ugly baby, but he was so perfect! He was so calm whenever he was laying on my chest, it was as if it was exactly where he belonged and he knew it. The connection, for me, was instantaneous. Matthew and I just sat there and stared at him until the nurses needed to take him over to his warm bed for routine tests and weight/height measurements.
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So from start to end, my labor went from about 11:30 AM to 7:41 PM, I pushed for about 40 minutes, but it didn't even feel that long! Pushing was pretty freaking exhausting (even with an epidural! Go natural?? No thank you!), but you are so focused that it goes by pretty fast. I'm sure if you're pushing for hours it doesn't go by all that fast though. Landon weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. (thank goodness we didn't go to me estimated due date!) and was 21" long. Truly the perfect size. We actually thought he would be longer because his torso was so long! His head-rump was 14"! I guess he's just got short little legs! Who knows where he gets that from though! Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery experience. I think I freaked myself out SO much about it that once it was all said and done I was like "Well that wasn't THAT bad". I guess that's the key! Expect something so awful and terrible that you're just pleasantly surprised! :)
Overall recovery went really well. I had some stitches, but they didn't bother me too much. Breastfeeding was kind of stressful and hard and frustrating for the first few weeks, but we figured it out. I did get mastitis after about a week and that sucked, but once I got my antibiotics it was night and day difference! I had so much help and was so grateful my mom was able to come out and be with us for the first week and a half. Since I went early, she had to get a last minute flight out (Thanks to my sister-in-law and her buddy passes!), but she was there the night before we got released from the hospital. We had great friends bring meals and visit and definitely just made us feel loved! I am so grateful we got such a happy and beautiful baby. Matthew and I are so lucky to have Landon in our lives. We love him more than we could ever put into words. Matt is such a good daddy. He has done amazing with the adjustment to having a child while in medical school. He still made time for Landon and I even in the midst of finals and all other busy times. He has done great!
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| Look at that handsome daddy!! :) |
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| Don't mind my crazy hair… I was just in labor! Haha |
So... there you have it! Landon's birth story! If all of my pregnancies and deliveries go as well as this one, I should probably have 10 kids! :) We'll see how mischievous he turns out to be, though. He is, afterall, his daddy's son! Anyway, I have lots more updating to do, hopefully I can get this blog caught up ASAP! Until next time!
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| Such a beautiful, perfect baby boy! |
