Carson Scott Fife is Born!

On May 21^st, I had another appointment with Dr. Brown. We’d started seeing him on a weekly basis I believe at the beginning of May because we were getting closer and closer to our due date! I was 37 weeks, 2 days at this appointment. He was checking me every week too to see how close I was. Unbeknownst to me, when he checked me this time he also stripped my membranes; which explained why it hurt like I couldn’t believe. I didn’t realize that’s what he’d done until I spoke to my sister on the phone later that day and she suggested that’s what he’d done. Apparently it can help get labor going – like a medicine free induction. I was a little annoyed that he hadn’t told me he was going to do it, but there was nothing I could do now and I was considering having him not do it at my next appointment. On the other hand, the sooner I went into labor the better because I didn’t want the baby to get too big with me attempting a v-bac. I really wanted to avoid another c-section.

The next morning – Wednesday – I woke up with contractions. They weren’t very strong and they were inconsistent, so I didn’t think too much of them. They were annoying but I was able to ignore them for the most part. I figured they’d stop by the next day anyway.

Well, I was wrong. Thursday rolled around and the pain was getting worse. I also lost my mucus plug. But the contractions were still inconsistent and you can lose your mucus plug and not go into labor for several more weeks. So I was still convinced I was experiencing false labor. But I did keep a closer eye on things.

Friday at work was a little difficult to concentrate. I still thought the contractions were inconsistent but they were definitely stronger. Before I left for the day I made sure my work was cleaned up just in case I didn’t come in Monday. I didn’t really think I’d have the baby but I tend to be paranoid and like to cover my bases when possible. I left work still unconvinced I was in labor.

I woke every ten minutes that night. I started sleeping on the couch again that week because the contractions would tend to wake me up and that in turn would wake Scott up. I was so incredibly uncomfortable. The pain was only getting worse. I could handle it – after all, the nurses said don’t go in until you can’t breathe or laugh through a contraction. And I still could. Plus I still thought they were too far apart – I’d finally accepted that they were growing more consistent – but they wanted me to go in when they were 5 minutes apart, not 10.

Around 6am Saturday morning, May 25^th, I finally went and laid in bed next to Scott and told him I was in a lot of pain. He said we should take me in so they could check me and see where we stood. I agreed, mostly because I was in so much pain I could barely walk. I decided to start getting ready, so I hopped in the shower really quick to see if that’d help.

It didn’t.

I couldn’t even stand up straight in the shower! I got out after maybe five minutes and really started to realize this could be it. I didn't do anything with my hair other than put some curling cream in. My hair can be cuh-raaaaazy if not tamed after I wash it, but at this point I decided I didn’t care. The day before we'd made our Saturday plans to include packing our hospital bag and taking a tour of the hospital. Instead we grabbed what we could – paperwork and my purse – and headed to the hospital.

Scott offered to drop me off at the entrance but I said I’d be fine. So we parked and walked to labor and delivery. I rang the button for the door to the Labor and Delivery unit. A nurse answered over the intercom and asked what we needed. I said, “I think I’m in labor.” And they opened right up and let us in. It was 7:00am on the dot when we went to the counter. A nurse had me fill out some paperwork, while I tried to pretend like I wasn't in pain. One of the nurses then took me back to a triage area where they’d do a checkup and see how far along I was.

We were probably back there for 30 minutes or so waiting. I changed into a lovely hospital gown and at least got to lie down. It didn’t help with the pain but it was nice not worrying about falling to the ground and curling up in a ball with every contraction. When the nurses came in to check me, they hooked me up to a monitor to see how far apart my contractions were. Three minutes. So apparently I was way off on how far apart they were. They also put in a monitor to track the baby’s heartbeat. It was nice getting to hear him, though he kept squirming away so it’d scare me when his heart would suddenly stop beeping. I don’t think he liked the monitors squishing him – they were held on by a tight belly band, so they were on my stomach pretty tight! The nurses then checked me – I was at 4 cm and 100% effaced. Which meant, as the nurse said, I wasn’t leaving the hospital without delivering!

We called our parents and let them know, and the nurses got me checked in and set up in my room. At one of my weekly appointments I’d been tested for Strep B. The results were positive, so I had to have two bags of antibiotics before I could deliver. The nurse said they’d give me one bag, then let me have my epidural and they’d break my water after that, then give me my second bag. So while I was waiting for the first bag to finish, my parents arrived. We talked, trying to distract me from the constant contractions, which didn’t really work but it was a nice gesture! I was definitely to the point where I couldn’t talk through contractions and had to practice breathing techniques to get through the pain. But even then it wasn’t as bad as I’d always imagined. They were just menstrual cramps on steroids!

Finally, the bag finished and they brought in the anesthesiologist to administer the epidural. I didn’t know this, but the anesthesiologist told us that the majority of dad’s have issues when the epidural is administered, not when the birth actually happens. I found this quite interesting. But I’m happy to report that Scott in no way had any issues and he held my hand and was such a wonderful support! And once the epidural kicked in – HEAVEN! The pain just went away and I could finally relax…and realize how exhausted, hungry and thirsty I was.

Because I was attempting a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) I was considered high risk. So I wasn’t allowed to eat any food just in case they needed to do an emergency C-section. But they did give me crushed ice; which honestly was the most wonderful thing I could get at the moment because it moistened my very dry mouth and cooled me down. Scott fed it to me hahah.

Dr. Brown works with three other doctors at his practice and they all take turns working weekends. Well, earlier in the week at our appointment Dr. Brown jokingly told us we should have our baby this weekend because he was on call. Well, there we were, having our baby and Dr. Brown got to be our delivering doctor! I was thrilled it worked out that way, what with our history with him.

So he came in I believe a little after I got the epidural. Once I received the epidural and was relaxed back on the bed, Dr. Brown broke my water, they put a monitor on the baby’s head to better keep an eye on him and put in a catheter for me. Dr. Brown left and the nurses said it’d probably be a few hours before we’d be ready to push, so they turned the lights down and suggested I take a nap.

Well, I would have loved to, but as soon as the nurses left I began to feel extremely uncomfortable. It felt like the epidural was wearing off and my parents looked at me and asked if I was all right. Scott tried to help me rearrange (since I was numb from the waist down and couldn’t really feel my legs) and I told them I was just really uncomfortable and that I didn’t think the epidural was working anymore. Both my parents got this look on their face and my dad said, “She’s ready to push!” After watching my mom give birth to 6 kids (we have 8 in our family but he wasn’t there for the first or last hahah) he knew that look when a woman is ready to push. I wasn’t so sure at first, I’d never been in labor before so I didn’t know what I was feeling! I just knew it wasn’t comfortable at all but I had a feeling I wouldn’t be getting my nap...

We called the nurses back in and they seemed skeptical. My dad left so they could check me. The first nurse asked if it felt like I needed to poo (sorry, but that’s how it is!) and I said I wasn’t sure, I just felt a lot of pressure. So she grabbed the other nurse. She said they don’t like to check too often but they’d check me this time. The first nurse checked me and kept her face blank. She turned to the other nurse and said, “I won’t say anything, I want to see what you think.” So the other nurse checked and she smiled and said in a surprised voice “She’s ready!” So in a matter of maybe 30 minutes I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. They joked and said that was the shortest time anyone has been hooked up to a catheter!

By this time I could tell that’s what the pressure was – I needed to push! Unfortunately, Dr. Brown wasn’t there so they told me not to push yet. Holy crap was that hard! Dr. Brown’s office was literally down the street, but it felt like an eternity for him to get there. Before he came the nurses got everything prepped to the point where they let me do some practice pushes, so by the time Dr. Brown arrived I was already in active labor. He apologized for taking so long and said he hit every light possible between his practice and the hospital – figures hahah.

I have to say before I have another baby I am going to be in better shape. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more intense workout. Pushing is a lot of work! I didn’t think much about pain to be honest…the contractions were my friend at this point, helping me push the baby out. Maybe the epidural blocked enough of the pain that it wasn’t too unbearable but I don’t remember being in much pain – just exhausted from each long push. I loved that Scott was right there, helping me along the way. It felt like I’d only pushed for maybe 10 minutes (my mom said it was closer to 40) when we could see the baby’s head appear. They had a mirror for me so I could watch the birth and I have to say that was one of the coolest and strangest moments of my life. I was so exhausted but seeing how close he was, and with all the encouragement from Scott, my mom, the nurses and Dr. Brown I gave a few more pushes and…magic.

There he was. The most perfect, amazing, precious thing I’ve ever seen. He was here! They gave him to me and I just stared at him in wonder. We made that. We made this wet, squishy, adorable baby boy! Amazing.

They took him and got him all cleaned up while Dr. Brown sewed me up and everything. (I remember that hurting worse than the actual delivery…) Scott took pictures as they measured and weighed him. Carson Scott Fife was born May 25^th at 11:41am and was 8lbs 3oz, 18 inches long (okay, that’s what they told us but he had to have been at least 20-21 inches long. So whatever) He was two weeks early, but we feel he was right on time!

 

As I laid there getting sewn up, I listened to his cry and was filled with so much joy. He had the most beautiful scream. I remember that particularly well because his older brother was born sleeping – he never made a noise. I wanted to enjoy the fact that I had a healthy and yes, loud baby who could cry and complain to his heart’s content. It was music to my ears.

They gave him back when they were done and I got to feed him for the first time. He was (and still is) a very good eater and didn’t have any problems getting started, which I was very thankful for!

 

 

The rest of the day was kind of a blur. I stayed in the delivery room for a little while so they could make sure everything was okay with us. It turns out I was bleeding a little heavier than is normal, so they had to give me extra medicine to make it stop. The nurse told me she didn’t want to have to give me the next option if this first one didn’t work. I didn’t ask why…I imagine it would be extremely uncomfortable for me and to be honest the first medicine wasn't the most fun to have administered so I hoped it worked. Luckily option one DID work so I was wheeled up to my recovery room. We found out here that because my delivery happened so fast, I didn’t receive my second bag of antibiotics, so there was a chance Carson might have gotten the Strep virus at delivery. This meant testing and having to stay in the hospital an extra day. So that was lame.

After having a c-section, recovery from a vaginal delivery is a walk in the park. Of course there was discomfort, but at least it didn’t take me five minutes to get out of my bed. And I was walking on my own by the end of the day after the final effects of the epidural had worn off, so I was pleased. Honestly, I felt incredibly blessed and humbled. I couldn’t have imagined birth going so smoothly. It wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it’d be and because it was so quick I might go natural next time since I barely had time to enjoy my epidural before I was pushing. All I know for future pregnancies is, when my water breaks we better be ready to delivery that baby!

We had family come and visit over the next few days – my mom was there to help a lot too. Scott was also there the entire time, which we were SO grateful for because we were worried he might miss the birth all together thanks to everyone he works with taking vacation at the same time, right when we were in the red zone for possible delivering. Had it happened any other day, he most likely would have missed it. But because it was a weekend he got to be there for everything. Except he did have to go back home and grab some things – since we’d left for the hospital in such a rush we didn’t get to pack our bag. But we did get that hospital tour, just in a much more personal way than we’d anticipated!

 

Y’know, I thought it would be Carson who would keep me awake, but honestly it was the nurses coming in and out on a regular basis (and the family next door whose kids liked to yell and run up and down the halls at all hours of the night) that kept me awake – either at night or when I’d go to take a nap. And I felt bad for all the tests they had to do on Carson. Poor little guy. It was fun for Scott to go give him his first bath though! We also had him circumcised, but it wasn’t as bad as we thought it’d be and Carson took it like a champ! Luckily the testing all came back normal and his labs for the Strep B showed he was clear! So we were good to leave the hospital on Tuesday.