The West Side Story: Tucker's Birth Story and First Week of Life

Tucker,

The week leading up to your birth was a long one! After my appointment on Wednesday, I talked to a good friend from Bakersfield who has been a midwife for years. She helped reassure me of numerous things that were said in my appointments and with her help, I decided to cancel my induction on Monday, and instead schedule another bio-physical profile. Thursday evening I started taking evening primrose oil and woke up in the middle of the night with some contractions in my back, but they stopped after about three hours. Then Friday afternoon I sent your brother to daycare and got a one-day free gym pass at a nearby gym so I could go walking and still have a bathroom nearby :) I walked for two hours straight and about 35 minutes into my walk, I finally lost my mucus plug; just 10 days past your due date. I was pretty excited since that was my first big sign that I wouldn't actually be pregnant forever! That night I took some more evening primrose oil and started having contractions in my back again. The only things that seemed to help with the pain were a heating pad and a back massager. The contractions were pretty consistent and close together for a few hours then gradually got further apart and more sporadic. All day Saturday I would have random contractions, which was actually a good thing it wasn't active labor because Trenton also got a fever on Saturday, so we spent the entire day cuddling on the couch trying to fight these stupid fevers. Tucker, I really hope you don't ever get some weird medical phenomenon like your brother, because we are sick of it already!

At 3:00am Daddy went to bed and contractions started up again. I was able to sort of sleep through them, at least sleep between them, for a couple hours. At 5:30am I finally couldn't sleep anymore so got up and started walking around a bit since they went from 10 minutes apart to 5 minutes apart in just those few short hours. They were also consistently about 90 seconds long each, so that was pretty miserable. I called my midwife around 6:00am and let her know we would be at the hospital soon and then went and woke up Daddy. He was kind of upset that I didn't tell him sooner but since I wasn't sure if the contractions were going to continue or die off like before, I figured it would be good for him to get some sleep instead. We got Trenton up and ready to go to Gi-Gi's around 7am and then headed to the hospital! The contractions were getting really bad and only in my back. It felt like a sledge hammer was banging on my spine with every single contraction. Luckily the back massager helped ease the pain in the car as well.

We arrived at the hospital around 8:00am and got checked in and into my room. In order to have a water birth, we both had to be monitored for 30 minutes. It was the longest 30 minutes ever with the worst back labor. I honestly didn't know if I could handle it anymore. Once my 30 minutes of monitoring were up, my midwife checked me and I was already fully dilated! Thank goodness because I was seriously about ready to ask for an epidural; the pain was that bad. My midwife was absolutely amazing and she helped so much. Daddy even said later that having a midwife was like having the support of a husband, but actaully knew what she was doing :) Once I got into the water, it was like a complete transformation. My pain level with each contraction went from a 10-11 to about a 3 or 4. I knew water was supposed to help with pain management but I never imagined it would help that much.

I got into the water around 8:45am and started pushing around 10am. I was so nervous about tearing that I was pretty scared to push, but with the coaching of Joseph and my midwife, you were born at 10:56am of Sunday! I ended up taking some zofran for nausea right when the nausea started just so I didn't have to worry about puking all over the place this time. And guess what?! I didn't vomit during labor this time! As I was pushing, I felt your head go in and out probably three of four times, before you were finally out all the way, and my midwife helped with counter pressure to avoid tearing. It was such a relief when you were born! All the nurses and midwives were really surprised when you were born because you had SO much vernix still on you for being 12 days late. We stayed in the tub under the water for about 5 minutes after you were born, then Daddy got to cut the umbilical cord and hold you while I got out of the tub and back into the bed to deliver the placenta. I did have to get a few stitches for a first degree tear, but I will take it compared to the third degree with Trenton! Even after the placenta was delivered, I was still having some back pain that felt just like my contractions so I was still pretty uncomfortable.

You were born 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches long. And nothing like the ultrasound said. You were only eight ounces and one inch bigger than Trenton, and you actually have a smaller head and smaller belly than he did! You and Trenton look almost exactly alike and I love it. I always wanted my kids to all look similar :) You are so serious though! And you have hardly opened your eyes in your entire week of life so far. Daddy and I can't wait to see what your personality is going to be like as you grow up.

Maybe about an hour after you were born, one of my nurses was in my room chatting with us when all of the sudden I got extremely nauseous. I immediately told Daddy to take you while the nurse grabbed a bed pan for me. Right before I started puking I told her I was dizzy as well. Then after I puked a couple times I passed out. Luckily this time I was in the bed so didn't hit the floor. I guess Daddy was so scared during all this and so grateful a nurse was in the room when I passed out. A bunch of nurses and my midwife came rushing back in, and even though I was concious, I just couldn't open my eyes and could barely talk. I guess I was extremely pale as well. It turned out I had quite a few huge blood clots still and that was also what was causing my back to still hurt. I had to stay in the delivery room for quite a few more hours because I couldn't stand up without getting dizzy and short of breath. During those hours they found a few more big blood clots that hurt when they pushed them out. No fun at all! I got a bunch of different medicines to help stop the bleeding and who knows what else (I don't remember what they were for).

Then all of the sudden I started shaking and shivering really bad and it kept getting worse. The nurses bundled me up with every single warm blanket they had on the floor and I was still shaking horribly. The nurses were saying I was shaking as bad as the worst O.R. patient. Eventually the shaking ceased, but then I got a low grade fever so we had to stay in the delivery room for even longer. It turns out I had a bad reaction to one of the medicines I had to take. Once the shaking finally stopped, my body was sore from being so tense for so long.

Once we finally were able to move to the recovery room, I still had to have two nurses help me to the bathroom, but not nearly as long as with Trenton. I was able to actually go to the bathroom by myself like a big girl after only a few more hours :) I did have to get my blood drawn to make sure I didn't need a transfusion this time, and luckily even though my iron levels were low, I was still safe. I just have to take iron supplements for the next few months.

Unfortunately, since Daddy didn't have any time off, he had to go to work on Monday. But my nurses were all wonderful and helped me with anything that I needed. You also started nursing right away and practically nursed for the first couple hours of your life. Everyone was pretty impressed :) Your first night you nursed quite a bit, but then of course your second night you refused to wake up and went eight hours without eating. Nursing was starting to get a little bit painful and I knew it was because you had such a shallow latch, so I called the lactation consultant to get some pointers and a little refresher course. Since my milk came in, I have a very strong let down and I keep choking you almost every time you nurse. And of course it scares me every single time and I'm afraid the next time you won't be able to catch your breath :( We are working on fixing this problem, but it takes time and I get nervous every time it's time to nurse.

We got to go home on Tuesday afternoon and luckily we barely beat all the traffic coming home. So win for us there. Daddy dropped you and I off at home and then went to pick up Trenton from daycare so we could have our first meeting of a family of four! You were supposed to meet your big brother in the hospital but he still had his fever so wasn't allowed in the hospital :( I had it all planned and even made matching shirts so I could take cute pictures of you together but that never worked out. You did "give" Trenton a present when you first met that had some new Hot Wheels cars, a ball, and some play-doh, and Trenton "gave" you a vibrating monkey toy. Trenton could really care less about you at first and was way more excited about his new cars, but eventually he came around and wanted to hold you! It was so sweet. He loves holding you all the time and I love it. Though whenever you start crying he pushes you away very quickly.

My recovery this time around has been a million times better and I actually find myself wanting to do too much because I feel so good. Then that backfires on me of course. Since Trenton has been having fevers this week, I am very glad I have the physical capability to take care of you both while Daddy is at work. Plus, Gi-Gi has come over in the evenings to help. Speaking of your Daddy though, he has been absolutely amazing since we came home and has forced me to rest as much as possible. I fall more and more in love with him every day and I'm so glad he is your Daddy.

We took you to your first doctor's appointment at four days old and you were already EIGHT ounces above your birth weight at 9 pounds 4 ounces! You are my little chunker :) Especially because at 5 days old, I was tired of changing your clothes from diaper leaks five times a day and we moved up to size 1 diapers already. And we are going to have to pack up your newborn clothes and pull out the 0-3 month clothes this week because you are already pretty cramped in the newborn clothes.

We are so glad that you are FINALLY here! Our little family is complete and we are ready to move onto our next steps in life :)