Jack's Birth Story- Part 2

In my last post I began Jack's birth story.  You can find it here. Here is the conclusion of our little Jack's birth story...

Jack Jordan G

January 5, 2014

8 pounds 2 ounces

7:28am

By about 2:30 in the morning the contraction and back labor had become unbearable.  They were coming 2 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute long. Breathing through them was not working. I was begging our nurse, Jo, for an epidural.  My on call doctor instructed my nurses to administer the epidural at 4 centimeters.  Problem was I was stuck at 1 centimeter. He also instructed the they could give me a pain management drug along with an anti nausea med (remember that romantic dinner?) at 2 centimeters, again I was stuck at 1.

As crazy as this may sound the next few hours were blurry for me. I remember bits and pieces of how my labor went. I had tons of support from my mom, mother in law and my husband.  I was extremely hot and found it very difficult to lay in any other position besides my right side due to the back labor on my left side. I held the sides of my bed like no ones business.  My husband said at one point I tried to make a deal with my nurse. I told her we could pretend I was 4 centimeters dilated so she could give me the drugs. Apparently I was desperate.  When I finally got to 2 centimeters the gave me a shot for pain management and anti nausea.  It didn't do a thing for me other than make me seriously dizzy.  My back labor had continued. My husband curled up in bed with me and rubbed my back with each contraction. He said he could actually feel the contraction as it started so he knew exactly where the pressure and pain would be. He was very in tune with body which still amazes me.

The next several hours were extremely painful. I begged for the nurses to check me. It was about 7am and we were all very surprised when they checked and realized I was fully dilated and ready to push. I knew we were there when my nurses Jo and Carol looked up at one another and said "She's ready, get the doctor here now!" My hospital does not have a doctor on call at all times. If the doctor lives less than 5 miles from the hospital they stay home and get called in when needed. The look on their faces really scared me. As if baby was coming before our doctor arrived. At this point, completely oblivious to what was really happening, I asked for the epidural. I had no idea how ready to push I was. I asked again for the epidural and when the nurses said there wouldn't be one I had a meltdown. My mom said she was going to start the curse calculator.  I let her down because I only dropped a couple of F bombs.  I began crying and begging Brian, my mom and mother in law for help. I also called my nurses liars.  At this time I looked at my mom and told her I was ready to go home and in her words I said "I'm done with this shit." Before I knew it my bed was prepped. I looked at Carol and said "I'm pushing" she was very adamant told me I wasn't and gave me a crash course in lamaze.

When my doctor arrived I felt the ridiculous need to catch him up on my labor. I told him my nurses had lied about my epidural and I needed him to help me. I recall begging him to make it all better which he chuckled and told he wold gladly deliver my baby and make it all better. My doctor began prepping me and informed me he would numb me. I did tell him he could use all he wanted and begged for extra. My mom, Brian and nurses later told me how funny I was. They even said they felt guilty giggling.

We were ready to push.  With in 3 pushes and less than 10 minutes we had a baby. The cord was wrapped around his neck so he did not cry right away which was terrifying.  When our doctor announced he was was boy we were surprised and elated! Our little Jack was here.

He was put in my arms and I was madly in love. They quickly took him to the warming station and then given to Brian and his new grandmothers. Jack arrived within 7 hours.  My doctor was shocked as he thought I would be in labor for another 12 hours. I looked on for a little bit while everyone loved him and eventually fell asleep. I woke up an hour later in time for my daddy to arrive and meet his first grandson.

Jack's birthday was filled with so much love. He was visited by 22 people that day alone, friends and family gushed over him for days. It's amazing to see how lucky and loved our little man is. Labor was an amazing thing. I had no clue what an emotional experience labor really is. I am still in awe of what my body was able to do and the support from my coaches.

Thank you so much for reading Jack's birth story and all the sweet comments.
Happy Wednesday!

Jack' Birth Story- Part 1

After the not so great news I posted about Friday I really wanted to focus on the happiest and most positive moments of my life on the day leading up to Jack's birth. It was the most amazing experience of my life. I am still in awe of what my body was able to do. 

The day before Jack was born I woke up feeling a bit strange plus the little man in my tummy was super active. My entire pregnancy Jack was a night owl. There was very little movement during the morning and afternoon from the very first time I felt movement. I felt overly exhausted so I rested for most of the morning while watching episodes on One Tree Hill on Netflix. I took down a few Christmas decorations and felt the overwhelming need to get to Walmart for baby safe drier sheets. I also had an urge to get the rest of our baby laundry done.

My husband was working a few extra hours and thought it would be fun to finally go out for our last romantic dinner. We had been planning this dinner for months. I finally felt good enough to dress up so I drove down to meet him at our favorite Italian restaurant.  The food was nothing short of amazing. We indulged on calamari salad as an appetizer. For dinner we had homemade pasta. Mine was topped with a creamy garlic sauce, porchini mushrooms, asparagus and shrimp. I topped it off with a cannoli chocolate cake. Remember this is a birth story... I would regret that meal. Just being at dinner with Brian and chatting about the start of our new life was such a great time.

Here it is! Our very last belly bump picture. 

Week 39! Our little man arrived less than 24 hours later. 

Our our drive back home I got a call from my best friend to meet her and her husband out to listen to a band and celebrate her birthday. While we sat at the bar, yep 9 months prego sitting at a bar chugging down seltzer! The entire time we were at the bar she rubbed and spoke to my tummy begging little baby g to make an appearance the next day for her birthday.

When we got home Brian and I cuddled up on the couch to watch the movie "End Of Watch".  We still haven't finished it but it will always remind me of that night. I started feeling a little yucky. I tried laying down, sitting up and walking. I couldn't find a comfortable position. At first I thought it was just the enormous amount of heavy food I ate for dinner. I went to the kitchen for some water and as I sat back on the couch my water broke at 12:26am. I did for a second think I peed myself. I looked over at Brian with a "OH!!!" He knew immediately. I went to the bathroom and realized it was my water. I sat in the bathroom and called our doctor. He instructed us to stay put until my contractions were 7 minutes apart. I hadn't had any contractions yet. He also suggested if contractions didn't start to lay down and come to the hospital at 8am. My water proceeded to "leak" another few times and as soon as I hung up the phone my contractions began. They weren't terrible but they were exactly how my mommy friends described, really back menstrual cramps. The next contraction was exactly 7 minutes later. Panic mode began. Brian started packing a bag, although I had already packed a bag for him weeks ago. I put on my "hospital clothes" and my water then exploded again. I changed my clothes, went down to the laundry to pull out a few things we needed for baby and Brian ran out to the car to check the car seat was secured to my car. The contractions kept coming and I waddled out the car yelling to Brian we needed to go! Our hospital is 40 minutes from our house so I knew it was go time.

The car ride to the hospital was actually pretty relaxing although my contractions were staying put at 7 minutes apart. I did catch my husband speeding a few times. We called both our moms. I texted my best friend who begged baby for baby to come. We talked about girls names because we still hadn't decided.  Because it was about 1:00 am we had to enter through the ER. The ER on Saturday nights aren't the nicest places to be. There were no wheelchairs available at the time I arrived so with the help of security guard he sat me on a stool while we waited for my labor nurse to come and get me. At this time my contractions were 5 minutes apart. We pre registered so we were able to go right up to our labor suite. I will highly suggest pre registering if you are expecting. When I got up to my room my water broke again while I was in the bathroom. I accidentally and unknowingly pulled the emergency cord while trying to change into my gown. While I was half changed 3 nurses stormed in to the bathroom. Embarrassing to say the least. Little did I know things were going to get real embarrassing in the next several hours. About 30 minutes later my mom arrived. By this time my contractions ranged from 2-5 minutes apart and lasting 60-90 seconds. They were painful but nothing I couldn't handle. I was not progressing even though the contractions were coming so fast. I was 1 centimeter dilated and had been for several weeks. My mom and I went to walk the halls and instructed my husband to take a nap. As we walked the halls my mother in law arrived. She was so excited she couldn't sleep. It was around 2:30 and the real labor was about to go down.

Check back soon for the second part of Jack's birth story.

Being a Mom Can Be Heartbreaking

It seems as if last Friday our lives just stopped. On Friday we were notified that our little Jack's newborn screening came back abnormal for Cystic Fibrosis. We took him to a Children's Hospital on Tuesday and received the news that Jack is positive for Cystic Fibrosis. 

Cystic fibrosis is the most common, potentially lethal genetic disease, occurring in one in 3,000 births. The disease is a multi system condition that leads to progressive lung failure, pancreatic failure and gastrointestinal obstruction, or blockage. My perfect little angel only 2 weeks old now has to deal with this. We are left with little answers to the questions we have. Our specialist believes Jack's symptoms could be on the milder side but there are no answers to what "mild" could be. We hope that he shows minimal symptoms in the future.  He will visit the specialist every 2 weeks and be monitored closely for any symptoms. The one hopeful thing for me to focus on is he is gaining weight. There is just a lot of hope going on around here while dealing with the hand that we've been given. We hoped and dreamed for him. It was so difficult trying to conceive Jack. He makes me so happy. He is the most perfect angel. I love him so very much.  

I can't express the scary sadness that has taken over our home. We went from pure elation to the lowest of low. I've cried all day every day. I'm trying to be a new mom, take care of myself and grasp what this diagnosis means for our son. All I know is I'm barely holding everything together. I'm so stressed I can barely nurse him. I'm probably so dehydrated from crying all the time. I've been forcing  myself to eat because the thought of eating makes me sick. I'm really trying to be everything for him but I feel like I'm failing at everything. All I want is for my baby to grow up big, strong and healthy. I just wish I was coping better than I am. 

Does anyone have experience with Cystic Fibrosis? 

Any words of wisdom or encouragement would be greatly appreciated. 

My husband...

Today my husband went back to work. I miss him terribly already. I think the world of my husband and I always have but after the birth of our son I can't put into words how amazing he truly is.  He was an amazing coach and he has been an even more amazing daddy.  This picture is just one reason I love him so much.  I love the expression on his face.  I think I was just about ready to push (Yep, I know I'm looking all sorts of cray) The excitement and joy on his face makes me just melt.  

Sidebar- 

My labor did not go as planned and was so fast paced and much more pain filled than expected so his expression is so much more important to me.  

Daddy's first picture with Jack. 

 Such a proud daddy.  

I just love them so very much. 

It's A BOY!!!

Please let me introduce you to the new love of our lives! 

Jack Jordan arrived on January 5, 2014 

(surprised us 6 days early)

7:28 am

8 pounds 2 ounces

21 inches 

We are all doing well. 

The joy I feel is so intense my heart feels like it could explode. 

I still can't believe I'm a mom! 

I'm enjoying every single second with my new little boy and my husband. Who, by the way is the best daddy, husband and labor coach a girl could ask for. 

38 Bumpdate

So I skipped out on week 37. It was a complete blur with Christmas and everything else happening these days! Oops.

How Far along: 38 Weeks, 6 days
 

Baby is the size of: Baby G is the size of a PUMPKIN! Good lord that is probably why I'm so uncomfortable. Baby is about 18.9 to 20.9 inches long and weighs about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds. Baby's head is now about the same circumference as her abdomen.

Total Weight Gain: Ugh, I'm up 40. I haven't gained in my last 2 appointments but I feel like I've been eating so much more these days.

Sleep: Most nights it is pretty tough.

Best moment of the week:
* Christmas was pretty great. Spending it with family and friends always makes the holiday so much nicer.
* Baby's head is down, I'm 100% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated as of my last appointment. The doctor gave me hope that baby would be coming soon.  
Worst Moment of the Week:

* While out ot dinner on Saturday night I had some significant contractions. They started 8 minutes apart. We drove home and they began to space themselves out to 16 minutes and then disappeared. I really thought it was go time but nothing. This baby is a trickster!!!
* I am so nervous about this blizzard about to hit. It has been making me sick for days. I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow. I've been feeling funking and I'm so scared to go into labor tonight. My husband is going to be an hour away. I have a feeling he is getting stuck at work late and then at his parent's house. I pushed my doctor's appointment up to this afternoon to see if anything is going on.

Miss Anything:

* I miss feeling good about my body image. I'm so close to meeting baby it doesn't matter so much any more.

Food Cravings:

* Not much these days but I indulged Christmas and Christmas Eve big time!!!

Anything make you queasy:

* Nasty acid reflux wakes me up every night. It sucks!

Have you started to show? Oh yes, have you seen that picture up there?!?!

Gender: Surprise baby!!!

Symptoms: Swelling, trouble sleeping, soreness in my hips and my lady bits all the time.


Workouts: I've been doing a lot of walking these days. I also tried to walk up and down the steps a lot the past few days in hopes of getting baby moving further south!

Mood:  I've been feeling very sensative lately. I'm sure it has been the hormones. I can't say its a terrible thing either. I'm feeling so much closer to my family and friends because of it.

Looking forward to:

* Meeting baby! Come on little one. I can't wait to meet you

Maternity Clothes: Yes!!! plus lots of yoga pants!

Stretchmarks: There are a few.UGh!

Rings on or off? Haha, these monster fingers haven't seen a ring in weeks!

Bellybutton in or out? It's sort of in between still.

This week I:
* Enjoyed lots of family time.
* Realized how hard it has been working a full 8 hours this far along in my pregnancy. It has gotten much tougher over the last week.
Baby Update:
* Organs have matured and can function outside of the body!
* Our baby may have an inch of hair already.
* Baby is head down and getting ready to enter this crazy little world.