Well, he is finally here. And we finally know that he is a he. And he is a soft, smell good, bundle of perfection.
He arrived on Saturday, November 19th at 12:36pm. He weighed 9lbs 8oz.
I went to the hospital on Friday November 18th (my due date) because for a few days I had felt like the baby had been moving less. it hadn’t stopped moving so I wasn’t terribly alarmed…but concerned nonetheless.
I hadn’t been to a doctor since moving to Colorado due to insurance and timing complications. No doctor that I contacted could get me in before my due date, and therefore just didn’t schedule me. I had really hoped that I would just go into labor like a normal person…but apparently my body just doesn’t do that. -_-
The hospital here is massive. They took me to the OB department right away. I met a few cool nurses and a midwife who happened to be from St. Petersburg, Florida. Small world! (I’m still constantly in shock by the amount of young people here.) They strapped two monitors to my belly; one to monitor baby’s heart rate and one to monitor my contractions that I wasn’t having. Well, I was having tiny ones.
The baby’s heart rate was inconsistent. They gave me an ultrasound which revealed low levels of amniotic fluid – which would explain the slow down in fetal movement. The ultrasound also revealed that my placenta was probably more than 40 weeks old. Implying that I might be a week or so “past due” already (his large size implied this too.) I made it clear that I didn’t want to be induced this time. But the midwife said that she didn’t feel comfortable sending me home. I agreed to stay, as long as I wasn’t to receive any pitocin to induce my labor. I was given a pill to speed things along and I waited for Josh to meet me at the hospital.
All night long I had contractions just strong and annoying enough to keep me awake all night. Also, my freakishly bad hip pain did not like hospital beds. There would be no sleeping. Josh slept like a baby on the sofa in my birthing room. He even brought onion rings. They gave me more pills every 4 hours, but honestly even 12 hours later they hadn’t done much. So they gave me a pill to sleep. Because obviously I was going to be there a while.
In the morning I woke up and ordered waffles. Waffles with strawberries, to be exact. And I was all kinds of excited to eat them…because the hospital actually has super good food. The new midwife on shift came to meet me, because the previous shift had ended. I was chatting with Josh and ordering food when she arrived. Before she left the room I was death gripping the bed rails and crying.
(Possible TMI below)
I had thought that my water was “leaking” a little bit earlier… but it was a tiny amount if it was. When it broke this time the pads they keep under you while you’re in labor were soaked with blood…not water. My nurse tried to remove it discreetly (I think to keep me from panicking) but I saw it anyway. I was also instantly in a much higher degree of pain than I was before…like I was trembling and crying. So yeah…the blood freaked me out. I looked to my nurse and asked through gritted teeth but with panicked tone why I was bleeding. I was bleeding enough that they were weighing the pads to keep track of how much blood I was loosing. Also extremely alarming for a woman in labor.
The midwife then approached with an oxygen max and told me that I was already 8cm dilated but might have had a placental abruption and that I might soon require a c-section if baby wasn’t ready like STAT. I responded with screaming and crying for the “epidural man” suddenly terrified that I would have to remain in that much pain because it would “too late” for the epidural. I guess we’ll never know for sure if my placenta had detached or not but whatever was making me bleed made my contractions go from 0-100 real quick. Make that 200.
The epidural man came fast enough. The epidural only worked on one side of my body. This has happened to me ALL THREE TIMES. So weird. I know. So I required a second epidural (as I did all three times.) Then…I began vomiting. I did this when I was in labor with Jace as well; and as I do with pretty much all pain medications. yay. I also scratch like a meth addict. Laboring is so fun, guys!
Anyways…Baby was ready to come out STAT, allowing me to avoid the c-section. But he was a bit distressed. He (we finally knew it was a he!) was completely blue when he came out. And he didn’t cry either. They had immediately plopped him on my belly, but the pediatric nurses took him back right away. They did some intense suctioning and got him screaming. I’ve never been so happy to hear a baby scream. All anyone could talk about was how big he was, but they didn’t even weigh him until later.
They let me hold him shortly, but took him to the nursery for some oxygen for a while as he was still pretty blue. It was scary, holding my tiny blue baby. They assured me it was nothing serious, and that they would bring him right back to me. It was maybe an hour before they brought him back. But honestly time does not maintain it’s clarity during times like this, and I am totally guessing here. And however long it was… it was far shorter than the 3 days the hospital kept Jace when he was born.
Grey William Rinehart weighed 9 pounds and 8 ounces. He was 20 inches long. And despite his eventful transition earthside and the hiccups that followed, he is perfectly healthy. He was considered “Large for Gestational Age” or “LGA” as the nurses called it. Which basically means he was abnormally large, and that they therefore needed to check his blood sugar by poking his poor sweet baby feet with needles every 4 hours. It is around this time when my nurses stop liking me. I am all kinds of easygoing during pregnancy and birth, but once my children occupy a space outside of my body…I become viciously overprotective. Jace is 6 now… it hasn’t waned.
So the irregularities of my labor were about on par with the irregularities during my pregnancy. Strange but ultimately short lived and essentially harmless. So thankful. Grey was my toughest pregnancy by far and also my hardest labor. But thus far (nearly 3 weeks,) he is my easiest baby. Or perhaps you’re just some type of pro by baby 3?? …nah.
Alas, I am Planet Amanda no more. And no, I never got to eat my strawberry waffles.
