Trenton's Birth Story

Well we are home and all learning how to be a little family! This will be a long post, so just a warning, but now everyone can be filled in on Trenton's birth a little more since we have had lots of questions about it.

Saturday afternoon around 4:30pm is when I started getting contractions. It also happened to be the exact time we all went out for Joseph's birthday dinner. At first they were about 8-10 minutes apart and lasting about 30-45 seconds. So all through dinner and then hanging out afterward I hid my contractions pretty darn well since no one knew what was going on but Joe and I :) Then around 11pm I finally called the doctor since contractions were about 6-8 minutes apart and about 45-60 seconds long. After I got off the phone with the doctor, I went to Joseph and his reaction was fantastic. He was eating left over pasta from lunch and after I asked him if he was ready to be a daddy, he replied with, "No..., I just want to eat my pasta...!" hilarious; I started cracking up.

So around 2:30am contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart so we decided to head to the hospital. Around 4am we finally got done with all the paperwork and questions and when the nurse checked my cervix I was 4-5cm dilated. Contractions really weren't too terribly bad during all this time. Joseph was very supportive and helpful too. Then at 7:07am my water broke and everything went downhill from there. Just a few minutes after my water broke I had another contraction and immediately told Joseph I felt like I was going to throw up. It was also shift change during these minutes and the second the new nurse walked in I just puked all over and couldn't stop. It was absolutely miserable. I hate throwing up but I discovered over the next couple hours when the contractions kept making me nauseous and/or vomit, that I am a whimp when it comes to throwing up. I can handle pain really well but this? No way.... The actual contraction pain I was able to handle, but it was also bringing on nausea and I had to give in and get some anti-nausea medicine in my IV; twice....I also ended up having to get an IV injection of pain meds unfortunately also, but only one dose of that.

Around 9am my doctor came in (which by the way happened to be my main OB that I've seen since the beginning which was such a blessing; especially since it wasn't the doctor that I absolutely despised). I was finally 10 centimeters and she said I could push whenever I had contractions. I had told the nurses a few different times that I wanted the birthing bar for delivery, but for some reason they didn't bring it. I think it was for almost an hour that I was leaning back on the bed and trying to push, knowing that being on my back wasn't good, but I just couldn't form the words to say anything no matter how hard I tried. The nurse did want to lean my bed back more but I was able to get out a "no" for that one. I don't know if the nurse finally remembered I wanted the bar or what, but she did finally go get it for me. I think this must've been around 10am or right before because as soon as I got the bar and was able to squat down and have gravity help with delivery, I felt Trenton coming immediately. The pain obviously was bad during this time, but it was a very different pain than every other contraction before. Maybe because I knew I was finally close to the end, I don't know. Joseph said he thought I only pushed using the bar 3 or 4 times before he was born. All I remember was pushing and the nurse seeing that he was crowning, and hearing her call for the doctor. She kept telling me to stop pushing but I couldn't listen to her. He was coming, whether she liked it or not. Then I hear her call for any doctor or midwife. Luckily my doctor showed up at pretty much the last second possible, it seemed, because one more push and he was out. I really don't remember much, but the doctor and Joseph both said I did really well. As I'm typing this though, I just realized Joseph didn't get to actually catch the baby coming out like we had originally wanted...but no one really did I guess because I just remember him coming out and laying there on the lower portion of the bed...Joseph did cut his umbilical cord though. I got to hold him for a few minutes and then the neonatal nurses took him to clean him up and make sure he was alright. Every nurse that came in over the next couple hours kept saying how they could hear him cry from the nurses station; the boy sure does have some lungs! He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long. I really was surprised at how big he was; I was expecting a baby more in the 7 pound range.

I did have some major tearing and the doctor took 2 1/2 hours to stitch me up and she said I was the most complicated case of third degree lacerations that she has had....encouraging huh? I looked it up later and only about 4% of women with vaginal births get third or fourth degree lacerations. I guess I am one of those "lucky" few.....Joseph got to hold him for most of those 2 1/2 hours until the neonatal nurses had to be called back in. He was having some issues breathing and they were a bit concerned. His lungs were clear though but his breathing wasn't sounding right. Luckily, the doctor let me hold him and have some skin to skin contact while she was stitching me back up to try and get his breathing regulated. It did seem to work :)

Before I moved up to my post-delivery room, the nurse wanted me make sure I could get up and use the restroom and everything. Well, after she helped me with that and all the "wonderful" post-baby padding I get to wear, I started getting dizzy as soon as I got up and we start walking back to my bed, I remember hearing her tell me to look up, but the next thing I know I am waking up to the ceiling. She said I only passed out for a couple seconds and started waking up when she got me to the floor. But I guess I just lost so much blood. Once she got another nurse to help me up, they pretty much had to run me the 5 feet to my bed because the second I was standing up I almost passed out again. After another hour or so in the delivery room to make sure I was okay, we were finally able to move up to my post-delivery room. I did have to hurry to the wheel-chair though because those few seconds got me really light headed again. And for the next 24 hours or so I was stuck on bedrest and wasn't allowed to get up without nurses since I kept getting short of breath and light-headed.

Once family came in and got to see and hold Trenton, one of the neonatal nurses came in to check on Trenton. They took him to the nursery to do a quick check on his breathing and then found out his blood sugar was extremely low. Normal was at least 50 and his was 25, so they ended up having to give him a little bit of formula to get his blood sugar back up. If they hadn't have caught it, then he could've had brain damage, so even though I wasn't too happy about him getting formula without me knowing, I am glad he isn't going to have brain damage. He had to stay in the nursery for a couple hours, which was miserable for me, but Joseph and I were able to get some sleep since we had been up for about 30 hours straight at this time. The formula did help him want to nurse when he came back  though because he wasn't too interested for the first few hours of being born.

Later during the night I had to have an EKG and my blood drawn, which I didn't know what for until my nurse came in a little later. But the EKG was to check my heart and make sure it was okay since I kept getting really short of breath when I got up. The blood test was to make sure I didn't need a blood transfusion since I had lost so much during delivery. Both of those came back normal though. I was on a close watch throughout my stay because my blood pressure was high for quite a while and my heart rate was high pretty much until early Tuesday morning. I had to have 3 bags of IV fluids throughout Sunday and Monday also.

Sunday night Trenton decided he wanted to nurse constantly. Pretty sure I didn't get any sleep the first night but that's okay. Monday morning he got his hearing test done and it took him twice to pass the left ear and he failed his right ear. He was tested again Tuesday and he passed. Soon after this test on Monday, my baby got circumcised so the entire day he was not very happy. He hadn't liked his diaper changed before, but after his surgery, he definitely didn't like it. And Joseph was the one changing all of his diapers while in the hospital....Monday was full of tests for Trenton so it felt like he was hardly with me. A little after midnight the nurse took Trenton to the nursery (I forgot what for originally) and saw under the bright lights that his skin was a bit yellow. When she tested him for jaundice he was in the 75th percentile, which is in the upper moderate risk area. In the morning, the pediatrician tested him again and he was still in the same range so she said to make sure we get him in on Wednesday to see his pediatrician to test his levels again.

Our second night with Trenton was completely different than the first. This time he absolutely refused to wake up to nurse. He went almost 7 hours without eating Monday night because he was just so stubborn! We tried tickling him, stripping him down to his diaper, messing with him in all possible ways, rubbing a baby wipe all on him....the only thing he did was make his grumpy little faces at us. At one point he opened his eyes for a second, glared at me, then scrunched his face back up refusing to wake up. This kid is hilarious already. 

Tuesday morning we got discharged and left in the afternoon with our new baby :) He left the hospital weighing 7 lbs 12.5oz so he lost a normal amount of weight. I was still in excruciating pain every time I moved unfortunately and I still am looking forward to the day where I can just sit up without hurting. I can say that even though I was pretty apprehensive about a hospital delivery, I am very grateful we were at the hospital with everything that happened with Trenton and I. Plus every single nurse we had was fantastic. And every nurse just loved Trenton. When he was in the nursery, the nurses there just loved holding him :)

Our first night home went fairly well. I was in a lot of pain though. But Joseph was able to take him for a couple hours so I could get some sleep and let the Ibuprofen kick in. It takes me a long time to move still, especially from the bed.

Wednesday we took Trenton to the doctor for his check up and make sure his jaundice levels were okay. The nurse and doctor were both great and I was very happy with them. Trenton's jaundice levels were in the low risk category so now we don't have to worry about that anymore, his circumcision was healing nicely, and he had gained 2 ounces since leaving the hospital and grew 3/4 of an inch since birth, at 3 days old. It was nice to be reassured that we were doing something right at home. So he weighed 7 lbs 14oz and was 20 3/4inches long on Wednesday.

My milk started coming in on Monday night or Tuesday so Trenton is doing well with breastfeeding. Since being home it has been quite painful and I've even started to dread nursing at times because it hurts so bad. But I know this is quite normal for the first week or so. Luckily this afternoon when we nursed it wasn't nearly as painful. I'm glad to think we are both getting better at this :) My swelling has gone down quite a bit from my stitches also, but I am still in a lot of pain. I hate taking medicine, but as soon as the Ibuprofen wears off, the pain makes me want to cry almost, so I know I've got to keep that up for a little while longer. Luckily I don't have to take anything stronger than Ibuprofen though. Plus, everytime I see our little baby smile or make those hilarious angry faces at us, it makes the pain bearable at least :)

Joseph has been the most amazing husband and father these past four days and I am so very blessed to have him in my life. Throughout labor and nursing and everything he has been so encouraging and done as much as he can to help me also. I absolutely love seeing my two favorite men together. Even when Trenton makes his angry faces every time Joseph kisses him :) I guess he already thinks he's too cool for Daddy kisses...
Hopefully soon Joseph will write about his view of Trenton's birth and first few days of life, but for now, we are enjoying learning how to be our own little family and relishing in every moment with our son. He is just so funny and adorable at only 4 days old with such personality. I am so blessed to be called his mother and to watch him grow up.