Winston's Birth Story: Part 2

Read Part 1 HERE if you missed it!

So, I got checked in and hooked up to the monitors so they could get initial readings on us before I could get unhooked.  I was answering questions from my nurse, giving history, etc. when I realized that I wasn’t really having contractions anymore.  What!?!  I don’t know if it was the calming effect of being at the hospital and knowing the baby was really coming or what, but I had about 30 minutes straight of no contractions after all of that hoop-la!  I promised my nurse I hadn’t been making it all up :)!!  I was anxious to get checked once I was there to see what the last 30 hours or so of contractions had gotten us.  In my head I was secretly hoping to be dilated to 6 ~ that felt reasonable but not too lofty.  I was afraid of 4 or less.  So I held my breath as she checked me … 4.  Two lousy cm for 30 hours of really intense contractions.  I wasn’t really THAT surprised, just a little bummed and mostly just exhausted.  I pretty much knew at that point that the epidural would probably be happening as I didn’t think I had enough hours left in me to get from 4 to 10, and then push a baby out.

I wanted to go as long as I felt like I could before the epidural so I was planning to give it at least another good hour of work.  I decided to stay in bed for a bit just to try to rest between contractions because I was so exhausted.  In hindsight, I think this was a mistake … I should have made myself stay up.  The contractions started back up quickly and were coming much closer together.  They were every 2-3 minutes, and lasting about 2 minutes long, so I was barely getting a break.  Then, flashback to Elliott’s labor, I started having double-contractions (technically its called coupling, I think) where a contraction peaks and starts to back off, but then peaks again before it ever stops.  Ugh … the worst.  I feel like these are really emotionally defeating too because just when you think you are getting a break, they punch you again :).  After about an hour, I knew I needed to change it up but getting out of bed sounded SO hard!  I eventually made myself get up to go to the bathroom and was going to try to walk and/or possibly shower as another stalling technique.

As soon as I stood up, things just started feeling really out of control.  I’m still not sure what happened, but I got SUPER shakey and was just in a ton of pain and lost all awareness of my contraction pattern.  I think it was probably just a combination of changing positions, the rapid pace of the contractions, etc. but it just felt like I had no idea what was happening in my body anymore.  I was trying to take steps to the bathroom but couldn’t really move because of how much pain I was in … poor Adam was almost literally holding me up as I braced completely on his shoulder which may never be the same :).   I finally was able to focus and take a few steps toward the bathroom when I noticed liquid running down my legs … my water had broken!  It’s silly but it was at that point that I finally was totally convinced that I was really in labor and that it was a really good thing we had come on to the hospital.  This was REALLY happening, and my body had done all of this on its own! 

After about 30 minutes of laboring while standing with Adam, my nurse checked me again and I was dilated to 6 … and I knew I was done.  We put in the request for the blessed epidural that I got around 1:00am.  Getting an epidural is not pleasant … it’s not extremely painful (other than the contractions while hunched over) but it’s just a weird, uncomfortable sensation.  But the relief is really unbelievable.  It’s such an odd sensation to go from so much pain and tension to complete relief.  So I finally slept for 2 solid hours after however-many hours of being awake.  It was wonderful.

My nurse checked me again at 3:30am and started looking at my contraction pattern, and said the dreaded words … “Hmmm … I think your baby might be sunny-side up.”  Ugh … unbelievable.  This makes me 2 for 2 now!!  Sunnyside-up labors are notorious for being longer, more painful, and more difficult in the pushing phase.  Lucky me :).  I was only to 7cm, so they decided to do some pitocin to pick up my progression a bit.  It started working immediately, and I was to 8cm by 4:15am and then to 10cm by 5am. 

I don’t know what my deal is, but I was starting to feel contractions again and getting a little skittish that my epidural was wearing off.  He was still floating a little high, so we let him sit for a bit to drop down, and thankfully I knew we were close enough to the end that the waning epidural wasn’t the end of the world like it was with Elliott.  Pushing with Elliott was hard work but definitely not the most painful part of labor, so I wasn’t too concerned about it.  We did it once before!  Plus I felt way more prepared this time!

I finally started pushing seriously around 6:15am and they called Dr. F to hurry our way.  As the nurse was watching and coaching me, she said “Oh!  I see a white bald head!!”  Are you serious? All of that heart-burn for a bald baby!?! :)  Well, turns out my water had only been leaking before and didn’t fully break, so she wasn’t actually seeing the baby yet.  My water broke for real around 6:30 during a big push, and then wowzers … I REALLY needed that baby out of me!!  His positioning was just SO incredibly painful … much more than I remember with Elliott during this phase even though they both were sunny side up.  I was watching like a hawk for Dr. F to come and get this baby out because I was DYING.  I’ve heard stories of girls crying during labor and saying they can’t do it, which I always thought was kind of silly because they obviously can and will do it.  And that’s exactly what I did.  I just remember crying and looking at Adam and saying (and genuinely believing) “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!!”

Dr. F arrived, and I was a mess trying desperately to push this baby out to make the pain stop.  It was so intense that I wasn’t even aware of when I was contracting, so I’m sure my panicked pushing wasn’t even working well with my body’s rhythm.  I was hoping to avoid an episiotomy but after watching for a few minutes, Dr. F felt like I needed one.  I’ve never been so happy to be cut apart because a couple of pushes later, he was out!! HALLELUJAH!!!  He did end up being sunnyside up, and Dr. F commented that his head was twisted particularly strange, making it even more difficult than a “normal” sunnyside-up baby.  Special!!  :)

Our sweet little Winston was born ON his due date March 31 at 6:52am!

Dr. F and our first glipmse:

  

One of my priorities was getting to keep Winston with me immediately.  With Elliott, they let me hold him for a couple of minutes but then took him away for cleaning, weighing, putting him in the warmer, etc.  After more reading and research, I knew I wanted to hold him skin-to-skin immediately rather than have him put in a warmer for body temperature stabilization.  Luckily the hospital already had this policy so I didn’t have to fight for it … they immediately put him on my chest for the first hour, first feeding, etc., then came back later to weigh him in, etc.  I’m a big believer in protecting that first time together!   

It also makes delivering the placenta, getting stitched, etc. much less difficult when you have a sweet baby in your arms!!  He weighed in at 7 lbs 15 oz (just one more ounce than his brother!) and 19.5 inches.  

  

I definitely believe in having a team in place for support through the labor process, but there was something special about it having been just Adam and I through the night and the rest of the world waking up the next morning to the news of our freshly born little man!

 

 

I have just a few more hospital pics that I might save for just ONE more post about him being born so check back for entry #3 (!!!) for a few more pics and closing thoughts :)!!

Instagram Photos

So we have joined the latest (not really latest, but you know) social media craze with Instagram and are really enjoying it.  I'm hoping to keep mine just for personal photos and not feel pressure to make it a "marketing tool" like I feel like the rest of my online presences have to be.  I think you have to have an instagram account to be able to access them, so come find us if you do: Adam is "ajrosybaum" and I am "maryrphoto".  For those of you who don't, I thought I'd post a bunch of ours from the past few weeks to give you some eye candy while you are waiting for the rest of Winston's birth story!

Freshly hatched:

Nightly storytime:

Looking for bunnies: "Excuse me!!!  Bunnies!!!  Excuse me!!!"

Our favorite newborn book that Aunt Lissa gave us, originally for E::

Jamming with Captain von Trapp:

Brothers:

Napping buddies:

Little man:

Boxes are the best toys!

Brothers!

Sleeping:

Dinner date:

5 kinds of flour in my pantry ... yup.

Sweet boy ...

Nightly wrestling:

"Oh ... so many marshmallows!!!" If only, my son.  If only ...

Starting to feel like summer nights ... laying in the grass!

And the most recent from this morning ... boys headed off to Elliott's first Dodgers game!  They are a little excited!!

WInston's Birth Story: Part 1

So this is part 1 of 2.  I know it's crazy long and detailed, but it was something that I wanted to record just for me.  But feel free to read (skim!?!) ... it's pretty G-rated ... only a couple of gory details here and there :).  Part 2 coming soon!

For those of you who don’t know Elliott’s birth story, the brief summary is that it wasn’t pretty.  So needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive coming into my second birth experience.  I knew I wanted everything to be different (except the getting a healthy baby part), so this pregnancy we switched OB’s and hospitals with the hope of a new and different experience. 

Everything about this pregnancy has been different and better.  I was equally as sick, but blessed Zofran saved me many hours over the toilet :).  I love my new OB Dr. Fakinos ~ he has an old-school single practice where he is the only doctor.  Which means he has returned my phone calls, seen me at all of my appointments, and he was the one to deliver Winston.  It was a much better fit for me than the mega-sized practice I used the first time around.  I would love to refer him if any OC friends are looking for an OB!

The worst part of Elliott’s birth was the FAILED epidural, so I knew I wanted to look more into natural options with this birth in case it didn’t work again and because honestly … doing it all the way without meds couldn’t be worse than last time around.

Luckily my amazing friend Melissa is a doula and helped point me in the right direction, not to mention what an amazing encouragement she was during the labor process via text and phone all the way from Alabama.  Thank you sweet friend!!  I checked out 2 birth books from our library and started reading about the Bradley method, doula techniques, etc..   The more I read, the more I was kicking myself for not having prepared more before Elliott’s birth.  In just a few short chapters, I already was feeling more educated and prepared (emotionally, physically, etc.) for labor.  I went into my final weeks feeling like going without drugs was a possibility, but hesitant to fully commit due to my history of long pregnancies and long labors!  Dr. F was fully supportive of whatever I chose, and we left it as a “decide once we get there”.  He agreed in advance to letting me labor without the IV, limited monitoring, etc. so that I could have the freedom to move throughout the laboring process as much as I chose.

With Elliott, I was induced a week past my due date, and had barely dilated to 1, so I was feeling really pessimistic about my ability to go into labor on my own.  I tried to think positively, but in the back of my mind I was pretty convinced that I would get induced.  We even had an induction date scheduled since I was so convinced I would go the maximum amount of time that Dr. F felt it was medically safe.

Around week 35, I started having a few sporadic contractions but nothing significant.  I tried to remain up-beat after each weekly appointment … 36, 37, 38 … when I would be hardly dilated or effaced.  I had hoped that my dr could “strip my membranes” to help progress labor more naturally starting around 37 weeks but my cervix was never even forward enough for him to be able to.

After my 39 week appointment, I had a mini-melt down of disappointment, feeling like my body was doing NOTHING like it was supposed to and I was resigned to my fate of upcoming induction.  I was also much more skeptical about being able to endure pitocin contractions, so it felt like giving up my hopes of a natural delivery as well.  It actually was a good low point for me to get to, and Adam was able to help re-focus my expectations and perspective.  We have SO much to be thankful for ~ I am able to get pregnant, I am able to carry babies full-term, I am able to deliver without C-sections, etc.  It was good for me to have a perspective-adjustment and realize how much I had to be thankful for, even if some parts of it weren't going as I’d hoped.

My actual due date was Saturday, March 31.  My mom had a flight scheduled in on the Tuesday before that, so we were making plans for shopping, eating out, etc. to help pass the time.  Mom ran a few errands (read: Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, etc.) on Wednesday, and we all went to bed Wed night anticipating a busy day Thursday ~ Adam had an important meeting in LA that morning and my 40 wk appointment was that afternoon.  We even joked several times about how ironic it would be if I went into labor on the only day that Adam had somewhere super important to be!

So …. I woke up that night around 3:30am to go to the bathroom and had a contraction.  I immediately knew that this was different, and then came another and another.  Luckily Adam had put a contraction timer app on my phone which I assumed I would never really use, so I quietly laid in bed and started timing to see if there was any pattern and they were consistently every 10 minutes.  Hooray for iPhones during labor! :)  Having a button to push each time I started a contraction was a nice distraction and place to focus my attention.

They were hurting pretty decently, but I was practically giddy laying in bed and realizing that this was really happening!!  On my own!!  No induction!!  I started thinking that the baby could even come by mid-afternoon if the pace steadily increased throughout the day.  And despite the fact that I was ruining Adam’s meeting, we might be having our baby!  Today!!

I stayed in bed just breathing through each contraction until Adam’s alarm went off around 6am, knowing at least one of us needed to rest while we could.  I rolled over with the news:  “I think I’m in labor … no, not kidding.”  I had been watching the pace of my contractions and we were still consistently at 10 minutes, with only a few that were closer together.  We weren’t sure if Adam should go or stay.  It would have been a huge bummer for him to miss his meeting if this wasn’t real, but it also would stink if he missed that whole "birth of your son" thing too :).  Tricky.   We waited until the last possible minute, but since my pace didn’t seem to be increasing, we sent him on to LA with his hospital bag in the car and his phone on "loud" in case he had to be summoned back quickly!

Thankfully mom was there to take care of Elliott all morning as I cat-napped, labored, and timed contractions through the morning.  Finally by mid-day, they started to slow to 12-ish minutes apart, and then finally to just a couple per hour.  I went on to see Dr.F as scheduled, anxious to see what he thought and what progress I had made with these real contractions!

Unfortunately I was “just shy of 2”, but my cervix had moved enough to where he was able to strip my membranes.  He sent me home saying he didn’t think I would make it to my induction the following week, but that either way the next time we saw each other would be in a delivery room!  Woohoo!

In the car on the way home, things started picking up again.  I got home, went to the bathroom, and immediately lost my mucous plug :).  Told you there were gory details :).  Adam got home from LA, and we all decided to go to dinner just to stay busy and get out of the house.  As we pulled into the Claim Jumper parking lot, the contractions were coming again more regularly.  We had a pretty normal dinner considering that we were timing contractions the whole time, and I had several minutes of eyes squeezed shut, concentrating/breathing through contractions over my Cobb Salad.  I’m sure our neighboring diners were either concerned that the baby was about to pop out, or that I was super-spiritual and saying long extensive prayers every few minutes!  We were still consistently in the 8-10 range but I was definitely hurting and unable to talk/walk through the contractions.

By bedtime, nothing had changed.  Still contracting regularly, still really hurting, but still 8-10 minutes.  We went to bed with hopes of as much sleep as possible for Adam and/or I.  No dice for me … I may have dozed a few minutes here and there but the intensity of the contractions was too much for sleep.  I took turns laboring on my left side, on my right side, sitting on the birthing ball and leaning on the bed, back into bed, etc.  It was a long night, and the pain level was definitely much more intense than the night before.  Adam was sweet to stay with me for a few intervals, though I felt like he needed to sleep when he could.

We made it through all of Thursday night with no change.  Friday started, and we got up and tried to have a normal-ish day, though nothing was changing.  Still 8-10 minutes, still contractions about 1.5 minutes long, still too painful to walk/talk through.  Mom once again kept Elliott busy so I could focus on working through contractions ... I don't know what we would have done without her!  We passed the day trying to stay distracted ~ work, watching tv, texting with friends, etc.

As we started to approach Friday night, I started getting really weary and wondering how many hours and sleepless nights of this contraction pattern I could endure.  I decided to call Dr. F just to let him know what was going on and to see what my options were if I got to the point over the weekend that I felt like I was out of gas … a point that seemed to be getting closer and closer as the hours went on!!  I left him a message around 3:30 on Friday afternoon, and Adam and I decided to go for a couple of laps around the neighborhood just to get me out of the house, change of scenery, new motion, etc.  It felt great to move once I got going … we bumped into Courtney and Kyle, got some fresh air, etc.  We should have done that first thing Friday morning, I just was so exhausted already that all that sounded good was trying to sit or lay down!

We came home, worked on dinner, and Dr. F called back around 6:30pm to talk about options.  He recommended seeing how the night went and planning to come in to the hospital the next morning to check vitals for me and baby to see how our bodies were handling the extended labor.  Or, if I was just over it at any point before then, just to call him and I could go on to the hospital and get a smaller dose of pitocin to augment the labor that was already happening.  It was encouraging to feel like there was some relief in the near future!  I knew I could do it at least one more night with an end in sight soon after.

I sat and ate dinner on the birthing ball and was really hurting … but that was nothing new.  We were still watching the timer, and mom decided to take Elliott out for a walk to get him out of the house.  I was going to shower, and just as I was getting in, Adam started looking at the timer app and realized that I was finally speeding up … 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes!, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.   We were supposed to head to the hospital when my contractions were 5 minutes apart, so Adam started getting stuff together.  I wasn’t totally convinced that it was time yet, but I was so exhausted and too tired to question him so when he said, “we’re going,” … I just followed orders!  I called Dr. F back around 7:15pm to which he answered “Well, that didn’t take long!”  I explained that I didn’t throw in the towel that quickly, but that suddenly my contractions had finally picked up!  Hooray!

Adam loaded the car, and went to find mom and Elliott on their walk to tell them there had been a sudden change of plans and we were heading to the hospital then!   On the way my contractions were 3 minutes, 4 minutes, etc. so I felt good about our decision to go on.  We parked and entered at the ER since it was technically after hours.  I was in a lot of pain but was still laughing a little in my head as the waiting room full of patients who were all staring with wide eyes at the super pregnant girl who was quite obviously in active labor.  :)  I’m sure I was a site!!

We made our way up to L&D (with quite a few pit-stops for contraction swaying/moaning) and checked in.  I liked my nurse from the beginning ~ don’t good nurses make ALL the difference? ~ so I was SUPER thankful for someone I felt confidant about and that was a good personality match for me.  My doctor let them know in advance that I was uncertain about getting the epidural, so they matched me with a nurse who had lots of experience in natural birthing, and we got the big fancy corner room so I could have room to be as active as I wanted.  Hooray for people who care about the details like that … I was SUPER grateful.
  
Part 2 coming soon ... and there are lots of pictures with that one!!  Spoiler alert: here's a preview of what happens at the end ... he's super cute!!

A really big deal

Yup.  I'm blogging about this because it is a really big deal.

Many of you have probably seen the SINGLE, highly coveted "expectant mother" parking space at Mission mall.  This isn't like Babies R Us where there are way too many to ever be filled.  There is ONE, and it is at THE primo parking location at the overly-crowded mall.

With my pregnancy with Elliott, I started aspiring to get it each trip there with no luck.  In fact, I have NEVER seen it empty, leading me to become a skeptic and believe that no ... I don't think the driver of that pick-up truck (or whatever random car) was REALLY pregnant.   I started realizing that it was the impossible quest.

I renewed my efforts once I got pregnant with Winston, but alas, it continued to be filled EVERY time I went to the mall.

When finally, as I was headed to my 39 week appointment, I had to run in quickly to the mall and ... it was empty!  My life felt complete!  I immediately started sending texts of joy and once I was in the mall, I didn't want to leave so as to cherish the spot as LONG as possible :)

See?  Here's proof!

 

It's the small things in life, right?!?

Waiting for Winston

I am just finishing up Winston's birth story so I thought I'd track back to a couple of things we've missed over the past few weeks.  Look for it coming soon!

When we tentatively decided on Winston's name, we were going to let Elliott announce it with this video, but I never had the guts to post it because I was having trouble officially committing (big surprise!)!

I think it's super cute now!!

Boys

Yup. They like each other!

Easter Eggs

One of Lovee and Elliott's projects was dyeing Easter Eggs! They made one for Winston and Elliott, and got to decorate them with stickers.




Then we had an egg hunt on Easter sunday! He had so much fun, especially when he realized that the eggs opened and had treats inside! Elliott is seeming like such a big boy these days, especially compared to his tiny little brother!

"LoveeGG"

Elliott likes to blend couples' names ... e.g. "MommyDaddy", "LoveeGG", "DewBaby", etc.

I can't imagine what we would have done without LoveeGG over the past couple of weeks ... particularly the Lovee half!! Mom arrived at the perfect time to help out with Elliott as I was going into labor ... and BEING in labor for days :) I'm not sure how we would have managed without her!! She was able to stay through Easter weekend and did endless cooking, cleaning, laundry loads, early mornings with Elliott, conversations about big trucks, etc. We are SO grateful!

My dad was also able to come for a couple of days as we were in the hospital and the first couple of days home. Elliott loved the distractions!

We are so lucky to have 4 awesome grandparents who love our boys so much!

Thanks LoveeGG!!

Resting with Daddy

Meeting Uncles

This may be the hardest part of sharing for Elliott!!

Look right here ----------------------------------------->

Just wanted to mention this new email option! You can leave your email address and the blog will email you when we post!

And because all posts are better with a photo ... here's little man chilling with his Lovee on Easter Sunday!

Bringing Winston Home

It's such a great feeling to leave the hospital and get to be home. We managed to sneak out after only 1 night there, and were thrilled to be home as a family of 4!!

Elliott came down to meet us when we got here and help show Winston around his new home!

Winston ~ 1 week photo!

We thought we'd copy the tradition we did with Elliott of taking a photo each month to see how he grows. Here is Winston at 1 week!


We've had fun the past couple of days playing the "this time last week" game and remembering everything that happened with Winston's birth. So many of you have been sweet to ask about the labor process and if it was better than it went with Elliott. The short answer is a very clear YES!! I am hoping to post his birth story in the next few days, so more details to come!!

And, just for a brother comparison, here is Elliott's 1-week photo! Such funny little guys!