So to sum up the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I went to the doctor the Tuesday after Thanksgiving for my normal weekly appointment. I had several contractions through the weekend but didn't think too much of it. I mentioned it to Dr. Bill just to be sure and he wanted to check me to see if I had made any progress. Surprisingly I had already dilated 2 cm and I was 50% effaced. Dr. Bill wanted to give me a steroid shot just in case the baby came early. I asked about whether or not it was safe to continue working and he said as long as I felt good then I should be okay. But if I started having more contractions then I should go home. He also gave me medicine that would stop any contractions that I had. He gave me the same medicine with Tucker and I never took it. I started taking it with Jackson immediatley when I got it filled and pretty much took it every day until 36 weeks. I went to work the next day and I started cramping really bad again. I ended up calling the doctor and asked if I come back and be checked again. I was already going to get the second dose of the steriod shot so they just told me to come in earlier than my appointment. I saw Dr. Campbell. She checked me and had me do a NST. There weren't any major contractions showing up on the NST and I hadn't made anymore progress. But as a precaution, she and Dr. Bill agreed that it was probably best for me not to work. Working so far from the hospital and already making so much progress made them nervous. So bedrest it was.
I went back weekly after that. Thankfully, I didn't make anymore progress until 37 weeks. I stopped my makena injections at 34 weeks. I just knew that I would go into labor after stopping the shot but thankfully I didn't. At 35 weeks, I switched my blood thinner injection from lovonox to heperin. I was extremley nervous all during Christmas that I would go into labor but I made it. I kept taking the medicine for contractions when I felt my stomach starting to cramp and I think that helped a ton.
I went to my 37 week appointment on December 29th. I was then 4cm and about 65% effaced. Dr, Bill went ahead and scheduled my indcution for the following Monday. I asked him when he was on call just because I thought there was no way that I was going to make it until Monday. Unfortunatley he had been on call the last two nights so he wasn't going to be back to work until Monday. I left the appointment so discouraged! I just knew there was no way I was going to make it until Monday. With Tucker I went from two and a half centimeters to 10 in less than 30 minutes, so I knew that at any minute I could go into full labor. I spent New Years weekend trying to take it extremely easy. I took the contraction medicine at any sign of pain just in case. When I was finally tired of worrying about whether or not I would make it until Monday, I prayed to God that he would allow me to not go into labor. After that I had a peace about it. I knew that God had already written Jackson's birth story and there was nothing I could do to change it. But I had faith that I was going to make it to Monday. Everyone kept saying that there was no way I was going to, but I'd just tell them that I was.
Sunday night I was so excited! I had made it all weekend long! If I could just make it a few more hours Dr. Bill would be able to deliver my baby!!
After a very sleepless night, my alarm went off at 4:30. We were so excited!!
This was Tucker's reaction when I told him that we were about to head to see his baby brother.
We got to the hospital about 6:45 and met all of our parents in the lobby. They were going to keep Tucker for us while we got settled and then they would come back with us for a bit before Jackson was born.
My nurse wasn't there yet when we got to our room so another nurse gave me my gown and started hooking me up to all the machines. Dr. Bill came in a few minutes after seven so excited that we had made it so he could deliver the baby! The nurse told him not to break my water just yet since I didn't have my IV yet. My nurse, BreAnn, came in about 7:15 and got my IV started. Dr. Bill came in about 7:30 and checked me and broke my water. Surprisingly, I was still at 4 cm but I was 80% effaced. I kept telling them to make sure they had the epidural ready! I didn't plan on having a natural birth again. I was really surprised how quickly the contractions got so strong! It was so painful! About 8 or so, Ben went down to get all of our stuff out of the car. He sent my mom in to sit with me while he was gone. Ben's dad ended up coming with him to bring all of our stuff in. They were in there for a few minutes and were able to see several contractions. Mom and Ben kept telling me how big or small the contractions were and when they were almost over. I just clinched the side of the bed or held Ben's hand through them. I kept asking them to check me again and asking for the epidural.
At about 8:30, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural! I was so relived that he showed up when he did! The plan was for our families to come in for a while before I made enough progress to start pushing, but the epidural didn't slow down labor at all. So we just told them to hang out in the waiting room because it wouldn't be too much longer before the baby was here.
The epidural helped with the cramping pain of the contractions a ton but I could still feel a lot of pressure and I could feel them checking me and such. Finally a little before 9, BreAnn checked me and I was an 8 and 100% thinned out. A few minutes later Dr. Bill came in and I was still 8cm. They said a few more contractions and I would be able to start pushing.
Breann started rushing around trying to get everything ready for Jackson once he was born. After a few more contractions, she went to get another nurse to help set up everything since I was progressing so quickly. Between 9:15 and 9:30, I finally started pushing. It was really weird because they kept telling me to push but I couldn't really tell if I was or not. I pushed for about 45 minutes and Jackson was finally low enough to get Dr. Bill to come in and deliver. Once Dr. Bill got in there and got all set up, I pushed through several more contractions. At 10:20, his head was out. One more contraction and he was here!! He didn't come out screaming immediately. They had to suction his mouth several times but he was making noises so I knew he was okay! He eventually started crying good. He checked out good! His heart rate was really fast for a little bit but they think it was because they had to give me medicine twice to get my blood pressure up. They think the medicine went to him and was causing his heart rate to be high. They checked it every 30 minutes or an hour for a few hours and it finally came down pretty good! We did skin to skin for a while and then I nursed him. Our families were able to come in about 12 or so.
I'm going to stop here. I'll blog about our families coming in and meeting Mr. Jackson in the next post!
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