Logan's Birth Story

When I was pregnant I LOVED reading every birth story I could get my hands on.... i like to think it was the athlete in me trying to get psyched up for race day, but maybe it was the control freak/planner in me trying to wrap my head around all of the potential ways that our "labor day" might play out.... so here's our birth story... if you aren't into reading long birth stories, here's the cliff's notes - nothing goes as planned- and we have a beautiful baby boy to show for it!

The day that I went into labor started just like any other 41 1/2 weeks pregnant day did.... slowly!  I had finally given up on the idea that our baby (yet un-named) would make his big debut w/o being induced, and the induction date was safely tucked away 5 days in the horizon.  We had been to the doc the day before, i was 3cm dilated, 75% effaced, and she had stripped my membranes again, in hopes of naturally inducing labor.... but I had honestly given up.... our Lamaze teacher had told us back in October that most first time moms deliver late and have LONG labor days.... for some reason I had not accepted that as truth until December 14th....

So i decided to do what everyone had been telling me to do all along... whatever i wanted!  i got up, took a long shower, took my time getting ready and headed out for yet another gingerbread latte (with whipped cream!)  and some shopping.... i stopped by my mom's school to say hello, we went to lunch, i came home and watched tv... same old stuff.... chuck and i went to my parents house for dinner and then came home.... around 9pm i started having some mild contractions, spaced about 7-8 minutes apart.  We had been through this the week before... i had contractions for about 2 hours and then they stopped.  So i tried not to read too much into it, i just kept an eye on the clock as Chuck and I watched Elf for the 5th time this year.... Chuck went to bed around 10 and I stayed up for a bit... my contractions had gotten a little closer together and i wanted to see if they would continue to increase... by midnight my contractions were every 5 mins apart and stronger than before.  My OB advised me to go in to the hospital at any time, as i needed to get some IV antibiotics... she didn't want me to labor at home for too long.... so there we were!  Heading down to the hospital at 1am!  I had accomplished two of my goals... 1)to start labor at home 2) to be able to say to chuck "honey, it's time!" as we were getting into the car....

Since we got to the hospital in the middle of the night (the first of many things that were not in our plan) we had to enter through the ER entrance... they took one look at me and got a a wheel chair to take me to L&D.  I told them I could walk, but they would not have that.... We got checked in, got my iv started and then the contractions came on super strong! I was dilated to 4 and was definitely in active labor.  I had a birth plan, which included laboring naturally for as long as possible.... walking the halls, using the birth ball, the shower, the tub.... that plan has not seen the light of day since i put it in my hospital bag... it is still sitting in there.... being stuck in bed with the iv changed everything.... by the time my doc came in to see me at 3AM (side note she is AMAZING, she was not on call an still came in to see us at 3AM!) my entire body was shaking uncontrollably and my brain felt like it was scrambling with each contraction..... she kindly reminded me that the shaking was my body's reaction to the pain, and that it was most likely going to be a long day... since i had not slept at all that night i decided to get the epidural and try to rest.... i had to get that darn IV finished before i could get the epidural, but by 4:30 i had some sort of pain relief.  By 5AM i was one happy girl, blissfully numb from the waist down!  Chuck and I tried to rest... i think he slept a bit.... i could not.... i was still blown away by the fact that we were having a baby TODAY!~  no more waiting!

The epidural dropped by BP to 80's/40's... i was feeling pretty crummy... so they pushed more IV fluids! At around 8am my parents came to the hospital.  The 4 of us spent the next 7 hours watching movies and just trying to pass the time, calling family and texting friends to let them know that it was "go time" ... the epidural started to wear off on my left side, so i started feeling every contraction again... my progress had slowed so by this point they were giving me pitocin.... i didnt have to watch the monitor to know i was having majorly big contractions... i was using some of the breathing techniques we learned in Lamaze, and trying to keep my body relaxed....
 but that monitor was a source of entertainment for everyone else in the room!
goal #3 achieved - to really experience some of the labor pains.... glad i had most of my body numbed!  the hot spot on my left side was enough for me!

i was finally ready to start pushing by just after 3pm.  Since i had the epidural i could not lift up my legs for the pushing... so my mom got recruited to help hold a leg (another unexpected change to our plan!)... chuck had the other one.... they were an amazing support system!  Chuck kept his cool and really encouraged me to keep pushing strong (in his words, "wow! baby! you are pushing like a tank!") and my mom counted (very slowly!!!) to 10 repeatedly during each contraction.... i pushed for almost 2 hours and then Logan joined the party at 5:02 pm!  He was 8lbs 0oz and 21 inches long!

My dad and sister, Jamie, stepped out into the hall when it was time for the pushing to start.... and since it had been nearly 2 hours they were getting anxious... so they were listening by the door and actually heard everyone telling me "open your eyes!  open your eyes! look!!!he's here!" and then they heard his little cry through the door~! !  What a special treat it was!  I have tears in my eyes as I type this... i am so glad we had such an amazing support system surrounding us on our big day!

Dr. Lockey was amazing!  We are so glad we have her as our doc and friend! 

So there you have it!  Maybe more than you wanted to know about how Logan made it into this world! We are so glad he is here!