Seriously, how do I begin? With the third child in less than as many years, you would think I knew what I was doing. Since I’ve been asked, I’ll share this experience also.
Blaine was due August 26th which was also my and Brian’s 12th anniversary. I thought he would come early. Why would one whose other children came past their due date ever think their baby would come early? Okay, that’s a rhetorical question.
So Saturday, September 1st rolls around. I tell Brian that I want to go to the pool, float a little and hang out. At almost a week past my due date, I needed something to do. My stomach was enormous, like seriously – about.to pop. enormous. I could not have imagined it could stretch anymore. The pain from the stretching skin burned on a daily basis. My lingering cough pulled at my stomach and burned a little more. I kept the complaining to a minimum, though; what does complaining do besides make you dwell on the issue at hand, right? We spent from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the pool. It was perfect to wipe out the boys. I started feeling a little cramping while we were at the pool but planned on taking a nap when we got home….
At 4:40 p.m., I started timing the contractions on my Notes on the iPhone. They were a little stronger than mild cramps, every 3-7 minutes. I call these little piddle-piddle contractions. I took a break from writing them down between 5:44 and 7:47. Took Troy outside after dinner to walk around our neighborhood a little with our flashlights. Gave me some time to walk around a bit and see if I could get things moving along. I thought I’d head to the hospital soon, right? Third baby….things are supposed to happen quick…..At 10:53 p.m., I decided to lay down. Took a nap for 30 minutes without contractions. This happened again between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. Then they were a little more intense every 3-8 minutes. I wasn’t sure what was going on! I was still able to easily talk through the contractions.
At 7:30 or so in the morning, I told Brian that it was getting more intense but I wasn’t sure if we should go to the hospital soon or not. I didn’t have the intense back labor like I did with the other boys. Our good friend, Tracey, came over with her daughter around 9:30 to watch the boys. At 10 a.m., I told Brian it was probably time to go. I could barely talk through the contractions even though they were still 5+ minutes apart.
Arrived at the hospital at 10:15 (or so). I was just praying that I had progressed….I was 7 cm. 20 minutes later when Dr. M came in, I was 9 cm. While Dr. M and Brian stood in the room talking football and “boy stuff”, I was sitting on the edge of the bed and would tell Brian to push on my back. Counter pressure helped. Okay, so this labor felt very different. I could actually feel it in my stomach….the pain/intensity that I had read about where you feel the muscles contract from the top to the bottom, then relaxing in the same way. I prayed during this time and remembered how Jesus promised me that I am strong and courageous. I told myself that my body was made to do this. These little things helped a ton. After about an hour, Dr. M left. I was GBS positive earlier so I had to get antibiotics and we needed me to get those as long as possible.
Another hour later, the intensity was about the same, I really had to work through the contractions but they were still about 5 minutes apart. I asked the nurse if we could talk about breaking my water. This is all we were waiting for (besides the antibiotics). I was ready but my water had not broken. Dr. M came in, he agreed that two hours was enough for now and I told him that this baby would probably come fast! He broke my water and told the nurses to call him when I was ready. Gigi, our nurse, started getting things ready and within a couple of minutes, I told her the baby was coming. As I pushed through the next contraction, she began to tell me to stop….
This is when I sort of took over. EEk! Let me digress….when this time came when I was in labor with Justin, they told me to stop, I did the whole panting thing and followed their direction. If you have had to go through this, you know how difficult this part actually is. Your body wants to get rid of the baby so it goes against everything your body is trying to do to keep the baby from coming….
Back to Blaine’s delivery….so, here I am and I start telling Gigi that they need to call Dr. M because I am not holding the baby in this time. I actually start saying, “hurry, hurry, please hurry” and tell her that she is going to have to catch the baby. Ha ha! She was yelling at Brian to “push the red button, push the red button” and then started telling the tech in the room to get the doctor fast. When Dr. M came in, I told him to hurry and said that I knew the baby would come right after my water broke. He was pretty quick about being there to get the baby. One more push and that was it.
For the next 20-30 minutes, I held Blaine in my arms while we checked him out: his face, ears, fingers….and I asked the nurse if she looked at his feet. Let me tell you, my heard skipped a beat right here….having had a prior child with clubfeet, I had silently worried about this one’s feet. She checked his feet with me and they were perfect. Thank the Lord. For the next few minutes, we played the weight guessing game. 9 pounds was about as big as we thought he was.
As I watched them put Blaine on the scale, one nurse said to pick him up and reset the scale. Brian said that as he picked him up, his legs unfolded and we saw that he looked long! They thought the weight was wrong….uh, it was still 10 pounds, 6 ounces. 22 1/2 inches long. We all erupted in laughter, even Dr. M. No wonder my stomach was so heavy and enormous!
So I have to admit I took some Tylenol around 3 or 4 in the morning but that was it. I didn’t feel like I had delivered a baby that big. He didn’t seem that big, he’s still a newborn and seems so small!
Had I known he was going to be that big, it might have played with my mind and my ability to deliver via drug free. Glad I didn’t know and now I know that it can be done. Although I don’t think everyone’s body is made to have a baby that big.
I will say that Blaine could not have come at a more perfect time! God chose his birthday which makes my heart happy. Our family of four was over the fever/virus we had passed around. Grace allowed Brian not to get sick and still help care for everyone.
What is different with a 10 + pound baby verses an 8 + pounder?
1. Well, we’re only in day 6 and I can honestly say this one eats a lot more.
2. Does he sleep more? Negative – no – nada! What’s up with that?! He eats a LOT.
3. Completely skipped Newborn diapers and clothes.
4. Cannot figure out (yet) where he can get comfortable enough to sleep well…except for in our bed. This cannot last!
Brian was a saint – was so attentive to me and took care of everything. He knew I wanted the bathrooms cleaned before we went to the hospital – and he did it. Having two young children running around the house while I was in labor helped me go through the process. They were the perfect distractions. Brian got me water, ice, snacks, helped by rubbing my back, told me precious stories about our children…all of which helped me get through the hard work.
