Liams birth story

Wow, where to start.

First I was just thinking how blessed I am because almost everything that I did want happened or didn't want did not happen. Really, I feel so lucky. I was going to list all of the ways I feel it went really well, but it would make this post even more ridiculously long.

Truly, it was one of the BEST experiences of my entire life. So special.

Just a warning!! I am going to include all the details of my labor so if you are at all sensitive to those sort of details, I would skip over this part of the post and enjoy the pictures instead! :) I am including all the details so I have it all written down for my record. Also, because it is long, I decided to put pictures of the events into the text so it's not too boring...

So for a couple weeks before my due date, as I mentioned in my updates, I had been having quite a lot of painless contractions (braxton hicks) that every day would come more regular. On Sunday (my due date) I woke up having these painless contractions almost all day. In sacrament meeting I decided that I would start timing them because I noticed that they were coming at very regular intervals. Just as I thought, they were coming every 5 minutes and lasting for about 2 minutes. But they weren't hurting so I figured it was false labor. This continued all day and I was confused because I was told to go to the hospital when they were 5 minutes apart but they weren't hurting yet. So I decided that it was just false labor and went to bed around 11pm. I got up to go to the bathroom around 2:30 am and as I was getting back in bed, I noticed that I was still having contractions so I decided to keep timing them to see if they got closer together. As I layed there timing them, I noticed that they were slowly starting to get painful but it wasn't too bad yet. I was afraid to wake Richard up because he had to get up to teach his seminary class at 6:30. So I wanted to wait it out to make sure they got closer and more painful before I woke him up. I didn't want them to stop hurting and go away and then have him not be able to go back to sleep. Sure enough, they started getting more and more painful and closer and closer together. Eventually they were only 2 minutes apart and really painful. At 3:30 I woke Richard up to tell him my contractions were now 2 minutes apart and painful. After deliberating for a couple minutes about what to do, I called the doctor. In his most sleepy voice he told me to go to the hospital. We looked at each other and realized this could be it!!! We were so excited!!! But because I wasn't expecting to be going into labor for another 5 days, I hadn't finished packing our hospital bags, the house was messy because I didn't want to worry about cleaning the house during our last weekend together (which I am so glad I did that because it allowed us to do all sorts of fun things together), my hair was dirty and of course, I didn't feel as prepared as I would have liked to be. So we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off throwing clothes and the final touches into our bags. At this point it was 4am and Richard realized he had to find a substitute for his class that started in 3 hours! We didn't know what to do so Richard called the brother who is over all the student teachers to find out what to do! Richard said that the poor guy sounded delirious and completely out of it, but eventually they were able to figure out what to do with his seminary class. Meanwhile I was sitting on the couch having painful contractions trying to rack my mind for anything else we needed. Eventually we went out to the car with everything we needed (and more haha) and by this point my contractions were getting worse and worse to the point that I couldn't talk through them. We drove to Idaho Falls and I was SO happy that there was no snow on the ground and everything about the drive over was perfect. Richard was cute saying that February 8th sounded like the perfect day for Liam to be born and that he was sure he was going to be born before the day was over.

As we got into Idaho Falls I remembered reading in my books that once you are in labor in the hospital they won't let you eat so we stopped at Burger King to get some food in me. I had such a nervous stomach that all I could eat was hashbrowns and some orange juice. But at least I had something in my stomach which I am glad we did because at that point I had no idea how long it would be until I could eat again. We got to the hospital and we went up to labor and delivery. Once we got there I wasn't sure what to say so we walked up to the nurses station and I just said "I think I am in labor". They looked at me a little weird and then Richard explained to them how I was having painful contractions 2 minutes apart and had for about 3 hours. They took me into a delivery room and we got hooked up. Sure enough I was having contractions (I was worried they would laugh at me saying that I wasn't having contractions and send us home) and Liam's heart rate looked perfect.

Richard was SUCH a huge support and help

So we waited for awhile with me hooked up and sure enough the contractions were coming 2 minutes apart. After a little while they came in to check me and I knew that this was the moment of truth since I wasn't dilated at my appointment a couple days earlier. To my joy I was dilated to a 1 and about 80% effaced! YAY! Even though it was only a 1 I was glad to have some sort of change. Then the wait insued. I was having regular contractions that were getting more and more intense but when they would come and check me I wasn't further dilated but each time a little more effaced. They realized that I had some sort of band in my cervix that was keeping it from dilating and even when they would try to stretch it it wouldn't budge. That was frustrating! So they had me continue to wait, walk around the labor and delivery unit, get in the tub, use an exercise ball or do anything I could to progress. Apparently because I wasn't progressing (in regards to dilation) I wasn't TRULY in labor because the definition of labor is having progression. That was a little disheartening and they were confused because the contractions were strong enough to make me progress but they weren't because of the ring.

One last belly picture right before I was going to get into the tub...I was HUGE!

So finally at 3:00pm the doctor came in and gave me 3 options. He said that I could 1. Go home and continue to labor and come in later when I am more progressed but I wouldn't have any option to have pain meds if it got worse 2. I could have a morphine drip that he said would let me sleep and that 50% of the women who choose to do that wake up in labor 3. Have him break my water and basically induce me but he said that increases the risk of having a C-section if I didn't progress. I felt like the #1 option was not right and I REALLY REALLY REALLY didn't want to be induced or have a C-section if I didn't need to, so we felt really good about doing option #2. They hooked me up to an I.V. and started the morphine drip. It sort of took away the edge but was no where enough to allow me to sleep. But I was able to relax a little bit. They checked me after getting the morphine and I was dilated between 2-3cm! So we knew it was working and I was now officially in labor because I was progressing!! YAY!. Exactly 30 minutes later I felt a pop and a HUGE gush as my water broke!! I was so excited it broke on it's own and I had Richard go get the nurse to check. Sure enough, it had definitely broke and because my water had broken, they had to keep me and I had to have him in 18 hours (they don't want it to be longer because you can get an infection). I was so happy that I was staying for good because I was afraid that after hours of painful contractions, not being able to sleep for hours and being in the hospital they would send me home. They checked me after my water broke and I was at 4 cm and 90% effaced. Almost as soon as my water broke, the contractions got WAY worse and I had Richard rubbing my back really hard, the nurse pushing my legs up (which helps the back labor) and had to use ALL my concentration to not lose it. I was having horrible stomach contractions, back labor and pain in my thighs. Now that I was at 4 they said I could get an epidural and I decided that I did because I was SO exhausted plus I didn't know how much longer it was going to last. So they called the epidural guy and he said that he was on his way. But it took him an hour to get there and that was the longest hour of my life! But I had originally wanted to go as long as I could possibly go so I was REALLY glad I was able to do that. The contractions at this point were 2 minutes apart still but were lasting 1 minute long and were TOTALLY off the chart. They were actually afraid with those kind of contractions that I would progress too fast and have him before he got there. My nurse had mentioned that if he didn't get there soon, they would give me an intrathecal instead of an epidural. While we waited for the epidural guy to come they checked me again and I was at a 6 and 100% effaced. Also when they were checking me at one point (they kind of are all blurred together at this point...) they found out that he was transverse rather than vertex (the normal position) which completely explained why it was taking me so long to progress and why I was in labor for so long. Without trying to scare me they said that he wouldn't be able to be born (which meant a possibly C-section) that way so they were going to try to flip him. They had me laying on my side and changing from side to side in hopes to flip him. Eventually the epidural guy came and he had me sit on the edge of the bed. Problem with that is that every time I would move I would have a horrible contraction. So as soon as I sat on the edge of the bed I had probably the worst contraction and of course this was when I was supposed to hold really still. But with the help of Richard and the nurse I was able to hold still long enough. When he was preparing my back he noticed my scoliosis and he said that if I wasn't as skinny as I was there would be no chance for an epidural! But it went totally smooth and everything went perfect. He did mention that because of my scoliosis it may not be effective everywhere. But I didn't care because about 5 minutes later I couldn't feel the contractions and I was so incredibly exhausted that I fell right to sleep. It was the best thing EVER!!! The nice thing about it was that I couldn't feel my stomach and back at all but my legs were just a little numb and I could still move them fine. I really didn't want to have my legs really numb so that I couldn't walk afterwards. They checked me again about 1 1/2 hours after I had the epidural and I had progressed from a 6 to an 8 but then about 30 minutes later my contractions went from about 1-2 minutes apart to 5 minutes. So they started me on the lowest possibly dose of pitocin for just a little while and sure enough my contractions went back to 2 minutes apart and were WAY off the charts. But I couldn't feel them at all!! muhaha! Around 9 pm and about 30 minutes after they gave me pitocin, I started to have A LOT of pressure and so they checked me and I was ALMOST complete and we got the best news ever: He had flipped the right way!!!! About 1 hour later that the pressure increased A TON so they checked me and I was complete! They decided to do a test push and it went really well. The nurse said that the doctor on call (who was AMAZING) has a different way of doing things at this point. Once girls are complete and feeling pressure he allows their body to labor the baby down for an hour so that they don't have to push for a long time. I was really happy to hear that because I was already so tired that I wasn't sure I could handle pushing for a long time. And I was fine with it too because I didn't feel the contractions pushing him down just a lot of pressure which I could totally handle. So after an hour at 10:55pm they had me start pushing and he started to crown. Richard was mentioning how neat it looked and so they offered to get me a mirror. This was probably the best decision I made. It was so neat to see him being born. I don't think that the epidural completely worked past my stomach because I felt a lot of pressure and pain as he was being born but I was actually happy about that because it made my pushes way more effective because I wanted to be finished with pushing. Sure enough, 15 minutes after we started pushing at 11:10pm our beautiful baby boy was born screaming! As soon as he was born, they put him up on my chest and that was the most amazing and indescribleable moment of my life. It was so incredible to see him after carrying him for 9 months and to feel the love for him instantly. He was my son and I felt that connection right away. I loved being able to see and hold him right away. They also had Richard cut his cord while he was still on my chest and that was so special to me. After about 5 minutes they took him to the other side of the room to get him cleaned up. He had some fluid in his lungs so they suctioned that out, gave him some oxygen through a little mask to help while they got the fluid out and I was able to watch all of this while they doctor helped me deliver the after birth.

He REALLY loves his daddy...

I had a second degree tear and I think it wasn't any worse because my doctor massaged and stretched my perinal the whole time I was pushing. I am surprised that with a 9 1/2 pound baby I didn't get a worse tear! HUGE blessing! It's because my doctor was AMAZING!!! Truly, he was perfect. Anyways, they measured him and he was 21 1/2 inches long and then as they were about to weigh him they asked me what my guess was. I knew that he was a big baby because as the doctor was helping him be born and we saw him for the first time he mentioned that he was a really big boy. So I guessed 8 lbs 10 oz. The nurse put him on the scale and laughed REALLY hard. She said "add a pound to that and you are right!" I was in shock. 9 lbs 9 oz came out of me?! They said that him being transverse AND that big was the reason it took him awhile to come. They could not believe that a baby that big came of out a 5 ft 4 in girl with a pre-pregnancy weight of 115 who had no problems with blood sugar levels (that will make you have a big baby) and someone that gained the perfect amount of weight during pregnancy AND with an averaged sized husband! It still shocks me. All the nurses could not stop mentioning how shocking that was.

After he got all cleaned up, they gave him back to me and it was so fun to see him looking around just being absolutely adorable. I breastfed him for the first time but I kept falling asleep because I was incredibly exhausted.

Our first family picture!!

Richard went with Liam to get his first bath in the nursery and because I could walk totally fine, they moved us right away to my recovery room which was so nice.

Right after his first bath.

I thought it was funny because the typical hospital hat looked like it was about to come right off because his head was too big for it. They had to give him a special hat to fit his head but even that was too small!

Our stay in the hospital was amazing. The nurses, doctors and everything about it was perfect. It was such a neat experience and I would do it all over again to have our little Liam.

The night we took him home he was such a trooper! I was so excited to dress him in this first outfit and he looked ADORABLE! It was newborn sized but was almost too small! We put him in his carseat with a blanket all ready to go and started to look for our keys. We looked and looked and couldn't find them and the whole time he just sat in there looking around and drifting off to sleep. Most newborns would have been screaming but he was totally chilling and calm. It was so cute. We eventually found them in the weirdest place and took our first drive home as a family! He slept all the way home but I wasn't too surprised because he would always fall asleep in the car when I was pregnant with him.

I still wonder if maybe my date was off because the pediatrician said that his weight, height and head circumference are all in (about) the 90th percentile. The doctor I had been seeing almost my entire pregnancy came to do rounds and check on the patients for the doctor who delivered me the next day and after he recognized me I think he was embarrassed that he was in fact 9 1/2 pounds like I had mentioned I was worrying about him being a couple months ago rather than 7 pounds like he thought. O well. Luckily I had a great experience so I am not upset that he didn't induce me early like we had talked to him about doing.

We've had him home now since Wednesday night and it has been SO much fun. I have taken tons of cute pictures of him since being home but because this post is already HUGE, I will save those for another day. He is such a good baby. He hardly ever cries and sleeps really well. My recovery has also gone REALLY well so I am super thankful for that.

One last thing I had to share is this darling video that Richard made with his mad video making skills. He put together some videos we took as he was being cleaned, his first bath and those recovery days in the hospital. I always tear up when I watch it. Its so cute.

We sure love our little guy and we are SO glad to have him in our family!