God's grace knows no bounds. I have 4 kids napping right now. Four!
And I have a very good newborn who gives me hours of rest at a time so that I actually wake up feeling not like a zombie so far (except the first night-I hate overnights at hospitals).
So, Kolbe's birth story.
If you have not already, it's important to read the PRE-birth story here first. It will make the entire experience a better story overall.
So there I am freaking out because we don't really have a babysitter in place, and even if we did, how terrible is it to call someone up and ask them to watch your SICK kids?? And right then I get what I know is a REAL contraction. 8:04am. And so it begins. Jesus, I trust in You.
5 minutes later another one. Chris was about to head out the door for work since I was only achy before and we were both definitely hoping it was NOT go time. But after the first two, I looked at him and said, "I think you better stay home."
Luckily Megan texted back that she could come over after dropping her kids off at 8:30. 4 minutes later another strong contraction. 3 minutes. Another contraction. 2 minutes. Contraction again. 3 minutes.... Jesus, I trust in You.
Which brings us to 8:21 and I'm trying to get ahold of my doctor because there is NO WAY I am going to the further hospital. I call and get no answer.
4 minutes. Contraction. Chris is trying to help pack the rest of my hospital bag for me. I'm trying to get the kids (Kayla and Ava who weren't throwing up) to finish breakfast and get some clothes on.
4 minutes. Another one. 8:36 am. I try to call the doctor again. Still not getting an answer. Not at his office (which should have opened several minutes ago), not on his cell. I call the back-up cell. His wife answers and says she'll try to get in touch.
It's been 4 minutes. Another contraction. At this point, I just stopped writing them down. They are coming anywhere from 2-5 minutes apart and are strong. I know Megan will be here anytime now. The doctor calls back and I just tell him we are going to the close hospital and can he make that work. He says ok (somewhat reluctantly it seems to me, but who says no to a crazy lady in labor?).
Megan arrives around 8:50 (I think) and between contractions, we explain more of the situation. I had texted her about the kids throwing up at some point between some of the earlier contractions. When she arrived she asked if we'd be ok with her wonderful friend (whom we have never met) coming over and taking over shortly. Sounds a little scary in some ways, right? Some person we've never met watching our kids? But I'm in labor and I trust Megan completely, so I'm like "Sure. Great. Sounds good. Just give her our cell numbers in case she needs anything. And thank you so much!" Because seriously Megan deserves ALL the thanks and gratitude in the world. I was panicking that the kids would be watching their first birth until she said she could get there.
So we leave (Sophie was still in bed) and head to the close (and originally planned) hospital. It's about 10 minutes away. We arrive there at 9:15am. Contractions still coming every 5 minutes (or less). We walk in and I comment to Chris that I look like a moron because I'm waddling and breathing through contractions as they come, but we make it to labor and delivery unit. We get signed in, and I try to apologize for not pre-registering.
And they bring us to a triage room to see where I'm at. A nurse (her name was Wanda) comes in and sees that I'm not going insane and I'm breathing through contractions and she briefly listens to my comment about how I have fast labors and that I've only been in labor about an hour, but they've been coming 5 minutes apart or less for that hour. She gives me my highly attractive hospital gown and asks if I can try to give a urine sample. Then she leaves again, and in my head I have already given up on getting my epidural. They just don't seem to be taking me all that seriously about fast labors and are moving rather slowly. Jesus, I trust in You.
Wanda finally came back in and asked if I'm an epidural sort of person. I said, "Yes, if I can actually get one. I usually don't make it because I go from 5 to 10 pretty quickly." So she starts my IV and takes my blood simultaneously and flawlessly (with Sophie some intern couldn't get it correctly and apparently was squirting blood all over trying to get my IV in). And then she checks me. 6 cm. 9:47am. At this point, I'm still wishing for the epidural, but I'm at 6cm, so I know the chances are pretty low for me. I came in at 5cm with Sophie (different hospital) and asked for one and it all progressed too quickly. The one thing I had going for me was that I was Group Strep B negative this time so I didn't need to get the antibiotics. Jesus, I trust in You.
We find out that Wanda is actually the charge nurse. And it's apparently really busy (hence why no one seemed to really be giving us the time of day at first and hence why we have Wanda at all--all hands on deck!!). Wanda jokes that it's really all in our heads and (finger quotes) I'm only at about 1 1/2 cm, so I'll be able to get that epidural no problem. We laugh and I keep a tiny bit of hope. She runs out again and Chris holds my hand as I lay on my side and breathe through more contractions and wait to see what will happen. Jesus, I trust in You.
At some point fairly soon, they move me to an actual labor and delivery room in a wheelchair. Wanda says no walking. That makes baby come faster and we're doing all we can to get that epidural. I smile. Even if it's just for the pushing phase, she would be my best friend if we can make that epidural happen. I meet my labor nurse, Lonnie, who I love right away.
They get the anesthesiologist (Marc) in there fairly quickly (as soon as they get me about a bag and a half of fluid from the IV) and he asks if we can try to administer it through the contractions so we can have the best chance possible of it taking effect before I deliver. I say yes, let's try whatever. I get into position for that and hug Chris and concentrate on breathing through the contractions and staying calm and still so Marc can do his thing. 10:30: epidural administered. They have purposely not checked me since the first check because they know we don't have much time (and if they accidently break my water we'd be through) and if they check we lose time and I think there is a "cut-off". So we avoid that by not checking at all. The epidural takes about 15 minutes to fully kick in. I'm still breathing through contractions that have been coming for awhile really strong and really LONG. There's still probably 3-4 minutes between each, but each contraction is loooooong. All I can do and have been able to do throughout the whole day so far is repeat "Jesus, I trust in You" over and over and over again, sometimes quietly out loud, sometimes just in my head. But at the moment I'm also just in a half state of euphoria that I actually got the epidural and it's looking like I'll get a little relief at the very end and I won't have to push without drugs. The pushing is what I hate the most. I would get an epidural just for the pushing stage, seriously. And most of my deliveries have only been a few pushes. I seriously hate the pushing so much. So there is my blatant honestly. Obviously I can do and have done it, but I hate it. Jesus, I trust in You.
Doctor A. arrives at 10:50 am and checks me at 10:55 am. I'm at 9cm. The head seems to be blocking things from having progressed a little faster. He asks if I want my water broken and just get to the delivering. I say sure. But baby's head is blocking the water bag, so he can only get it to slow leak out. No problem. My epidural has fully kicked in by now and I am in heaven. I can breathe and talk and laugh and just BE for a bit. Dr. A. slowly and methodically works on paperwork and we chat with Lonnie, who I already mentioned, I just love.
And then it's 11:34 and I'm feeling like I've been "ready" to push for perhaps a bit, but no rush since the Dr. was doing paperwork and didn't seem to be in a rush. Lonnie comes and checks and suggests some practice pushes since I mentioned that I can never remember the proper breathing and pushing sequence. So we do some practice pushes and she says I'm doing great (my legs weren't up or anything, we were just mostly practicing the breathing and mild pushing). Baby moved down a little so I was in proper form.
And eventually about 11:45, the Dr. had all his paperwork done and his tools and workspace sufficiently prepared and we began the actual pushing. I pushed once. They Lonnie asked if I want to look down and meet someone, and I'm thinking, "What are you talking about?" So I say, am I supposed to push again?" And she says sure, I took a tiny breath and the lamest push and they are holding a baby up and I see....little boy parts??!! 11:46 AM. He pretty much flew out in that first push apparently and the lame push did nothing. I was in complete shock that it was over already and that we had a son. My reaction was probably pretty lame because I really didn't have one. I was so surprised that I was already done pushing and I couldn't quite comprehend having a newborn boy. All I could do was smile and try to soothe his cries which were loud and proud.
*I should have mentioned when I first wrote this up that the first thing our little man did upon coming out was to pee all over his mama. Thank you, buddy! In case we weren't sure you were actually a boy..... *
Isn't he just the sweetest little cherub?
Stats:
Born on: August 26, 2016 (2 weeks early)
Time: 11:46 am
Total labor time: 3 3/4 hours
Weight: 7 lbs. 11 oz (our smallest baby so far)
Length: 19 1/2 inches
5 minutes later another one. Chris was about to head out the door for work since I was only achy before and we were both definitely hoping it was NOT go time. But after the first two, I looked at him and said, "I think you better stay home."
Luckily Megan texted back that she could come over after dropping her kids off at 8:30. 4 minutes later another strong contraction. 3 minutes. Another contraction. 2 minutes. Contraction again. 3 minutes.... Jesus, I trust in You.
Which brings us to 8:21 and I'm trying to get ahold of my doctor because there is NO WAY I am going to the further hospital. I call and get no answer.
4 minutes. Contraction. Chris is trying to help pack the rest of my hospital bag for me. I'm trying to get the kids (Kayla and Ava who weren't throwing up) to finish breakfast and get some clothes on.
4 minutes. Another one. 8:36 am. I try to call the doctor again. Still not getting an answer. Not at his office (which should have opened several minutes ago), not on his cell. I call the back-up cell. His wife answers and says she'll try to get in touch.
It's been 4 minutes. Another contraction. At this point, I just stopped writing them down. They are coming anywhere from 2-5 minutes apart and are strong. I know Megan will be here anytime now. The doctor calls back and I just tell him we are going to the close hospital and can he make that work. He says ok (somewhat reluctantly it seems to me, but who says no to a crazy lady in labor?).
Megan arrives around 8:50 (I think) and between contractions, we explain more of the situation. I had texted her about the kids throwing up at some point between some of the earlier contractions. When she arrived she asked if we'd be ok with her wonderful friend (whom we have never met) coming over and taking over shortly. Sounds a little scary in some ways, right? Some person we've never met watching our kids? But I'm in labor and I trust Megan completely, so I'm like "Sure. Great. Sounds good. Just give her our cell numbers in case she needs anything. And thank you so much!" Because seriously Megan deserves ALL the thanks and gratitude in the world. I was panicking that the kids would be watching their first birth until she said she could get there.
So we leave (Sophie was still in bed) and head to the close (and originally planned) hospital. It's about 10 minutes away. We arrive there at 9:15am. Contractions still coming every 5 minutes (or less). We walk in and I comment to Chris that I look like a moron because I'm waddling and breathing through contractions as they come, but we make it to labor and delivery unit. We get signed in, and I try to apologize for not pre-registering.
And they bring us to a triage room to see where I'm at. A nurse (her name was Wanda) comes in and sees that I'm not going insane and I'm breathing through contractions and she briefly listens to my comment about how I have fast labors and that I've only been in labor about an hour, but they've been coming 5 minutes apart or less for that hour. She gives me my highly attractive hospital gown and asks if I can try to give a urine sample. Then she leaves again, and in my head I have already given up on getting my epidural. They just don't seem to be taking me all that seriously about fast labors and are moving rather slowly. Jesus, I trust in You.
Wanda finally came back in and asked if I'm an epidural sort of person. I said, "Yes, if I can actually get one. I usually don't make it because I go from 5 to 10 pretty quickly." So she starts my IV and takes my blood simultaneously and flawlessly (with Sophie some intern couldn't get it correctly and apparently was squirting blood all over trying to get my IV in). And then she checks me. 6 cm. 9:47am. At this point, I'm still wishing for the epidural, but I'm at 6cm, so I know the chances are pretty low for me. I came in at 5cm with Sophie (different hospital) and asked for one and it all progressed too quickly. The one thing I had going for me was that I was Group Strep B negative this time so I didn't need to get the antibiotics. Jesus, I trust in You.
We find out that Wanda is actually the charge nurse. And it's apparently really busy (hence why no one seemed to really be giving us the time of day at first and hence why we have Wanda at all--all hands on deck!!). Wanda jokes that it's really all in our heads and (finger quotes) I'm only at about 1 1/2 cm, so I'll be able to get that epidural no problem. We laugh and I keep a tiny bit of hope. She runs out again and Chris holds my hand as I lay on my side and breathe through more contractions and wait to see what will happen. Jesus, I trust in You.
At some point fairly soon, they move me to an actual labor and delivery room in a wheelchair. Wanda says no walking. That makes baby come faster and we're doing all we can to get that epidural. I smile. Even if it's just for the pushing phase, she would be my best friend if we can make that epidural happen. I meet my labor nurse, Lonnie, who I love right away.
They get the anesthesiologist (Marc) in there fairly quickly (as soon as they get me about a bag and a half of fluid from the IV) and he asks if we can try to administer it through the contractions so we can have the best chance possible of it taking effect before I deliver. I say yes, let's try whatever. I get into position for that and hug Chris and concentrate on breathing through the contractions and staying calm and still so Marc can do his thing. 10:30: epidural administered. They have purposely not checked me since the first check because they know we don't have much time (and if they accidently break my water we'd be through) and if they check we lose time and I think there is a "cut-off". So we avoid that by not checking at all. The epidural takes about 15 minutes to fully kick in. I'm still breathing through contractions that have been coming for awhile really strong and really LONG. There's still probably 3-4 minutes between each, but each contraction is loooooong. All I can do and have been able to do throughout the whole day so far is repeat "Jesus, I trust in You" over and over and over again, sometimes quietly out loud, sometimes just in my head. But at the moment I'm also just in a half state of euphoria that I actually got the epidural and it's looking like I'll get a little relief at the very end and I won't have to push without drugs. The pushing is what I hate the most. I would get an epidural just for the pushing stage, seriously. And most of my deliveries have only been a few pushes. I seriously hate the pushing so much. So there is my blatant honestly. Obviously I can do and have done it, but I hate it. Jesus, I trust in You.
Doctor A. arrives at 10:50 am and checks me at 10:55 am. I'm at 9cm. The head seems to be blocking things from having progressed a little faster. He asks if I want my water broken and just get to the delivering. I say sure. But baby's head is blocking the water bag, so he can only get it to slow leak out. No problem. My epidural has fully kicked in by now and I am in heaven. I can breathe and talk and laugh and just BE for a bit. Dr. A. slowly and methodically works on paperwork and we chat with Lonnie, who I already mentioned, I just love.
And then it's 11:34 and I'm feeling like I've been "ready" to push for perhaps a bit, but no rush since the Dr. was doing paperwork and didn't seem to be in a rush. Lonnie comes and checks and suggests some practice pushes since I mentioned that I can never remember the proper breathing and pushing sequence. So we do some practice pushes and she says I'm doing great (my legs weren't up or anything, we were just mostly practicing the breathing and mild pushing). Baby moved down a little so I was in proper form.
And eventually about 11:45, the Dr. had all his paperwork done and his tools and workspace sufficiently prepared and we began the actual pushing. I pushed once. They Lonnie asked if I want to look down and meet someone, and I'm thinking, "What are you talking about?" So I say, am I supposed to push again?" And she says sure, I took a tiny breath and the lamest push and they are holding a baby up and I see....little boy parts??!! 11:46 AM. He pretty much flew out in that first push apparently and the lame push did nothing. I was in complete shock that it was over already and that we had a son. My reaction was probably pretty lame because I really didn't have one. I was so surprised that I was already done pushing and I couldn't quite comprehend having a newborn boy. All I could do was smile and try to soothe his cries which were loud and proud.
*I should have mentioned when I first wrote this up that the first thing our little man did upon coming out was to pee all over his mama. Thank you, buddy! In case we weren't sure you were actually a boy..... *
The proud dad holding his firstborn son. Chris is the first boy in his family and they have a family tradition that the firstborn son takes his father's first name as his middle name. So Christopher is Christopher Richard because his dad's name is Richard. So our son takes his dad's first name as his middle name and we finally get to use our boy name that we have discussed and loved for nearly 9 years (since we were engaged): Kolbe Christopher.
Kolbe for St. Maximilian Kolbe, an amazing Saint who gave his life in another man's place in Auschwitz during WWII and Christopher to keep the family tradition alive and well.
And here's Dr. A. with our little man
Isn't he just the sweetest little cherub?
Stats:
Born on: August 26, 2016 (2 weeks early)
Time: 11:46 am
Total labor time: 3 3/4 hours
Weight: 7 lbs. 11 oz (our smallest baby so far)
Length: 19 1/2 inches
The day began in a frazzled, crazed, nightmarish mess, but ended in complete bliss.
God was so so good to us.
****************************************
And just because, I will mention that the babysitter that my friend Megan procured was an ANGEL. We found out later that Sophie woke up and pulled off her diaper and poop was everywhere and the babysitter cleaned it up, bathed Sophie, washed all the sheets plus the ones that I'd left rinsed off (from the vomit) in the sink. And the girls apparently don't know where I keep sandwich bread, so dear Megan stopped by with a bagful of groceries later in the day so her friend could give our kids lunch. She brought sandwich bread (and included gluten free for me so it would be there when we got home) plus some Good Belly drink and soups to help the sick kids (and the healthy ones stay healthy).
Not to mention she brought us dinner on Saturday night, about an hour and a half after we arrived home from the hospital. And today, Megan texted to ask if I needed anything from the store. I did. This morning, I suddenly realized that almost every hand soap dispenser in the house was just about empty. So she brought us soap refills as well as Lysol that I had laughingly mentioned needing because of the sickness of Friday morning. She is THE best kind of friend in the world. Thoughtful and kind. Thanks for everything, Megan (and your angel friend too)!!
