Our birth story...

Our birth story

            On Friday, November 16, I started to have some abdominal pain as I was getting ready for work.  I didn’t think much of it and just got ready for work excited that it was the last day before a week off for Thanksgiving.  The pains continued throughout the day, and I just held my side a lot any time I had to walk around.  I still was not worried though and just figured Jake was probably just stretching out inside of me.

            Saturday morning the pain was still there, but we had a busy day planned so I again ignored the pain.  I cleaned up my car and went and got an oil change so we could begin the process of selling it because I am going to take Brian’s SUV and he is getting a new one.  Brian and I spent most of Saturday ~ probably 9 hours ~ car shopping.  The pain continued all day with sometimes it being a sharp pain.  At one of the car dealerships, I had to lie down on a couch in the service waiting room.  A couple people even came up to me to make sure I was okay.  I did feel a little better after I took some Tylenol so I figured I was fine.  Car shopping was a success though, as Brian drove away with a new Toyota 4Runner and I drove home the TrailBlazer.

            Sunday we were up early to head to the Falcons game with Brian’s mom and stepdad.  The pain was still present, but bearable.  We enjoyed the morning tailgating and then headed inside the Georgia Dome for the 1 o’clock game. 

Walking to the Dome made my side pain very bad and my lower back really started to hurt.  Once inside, I was very happy to be able to just sit.  Brian’s mom made a little pillow for me with her jacket and put it against my back.  A very sweet random lady came up to us and told us that she had a dream a few nights ago about me being in labor at the game and delivering at the Dome!  She had noticed us and me being pregnant at other games earlier in the season.  We laughed and said no, not due for another month and a half.   Throughout the game, I was in a good bit of pain, but still it was tolerable and we were enjoying the game and watching the Falcons win!  

Walking back to the car was pretty bad.  I had to lean on Brian the whole way back.  I made the comment to Brian that I could not imagine what labor pains were going to feel like since these pains were getting so bad. 

            I had been Googling all weekend to try to figure out the reason for the pains I was having.  At first I thought they might be Braxton Hicks, but then I kept reading how they should not be painful and how they should not last for so long.  Every website said that I should definitely go to the doctor.  Since it was the weekend and I already had a check-up scheduled for Wednesday, I just figured it was okay to wait.  Finally Sunday night, I decided that I would go to the doctor first thing Monday morning to just make sure everything was okay.  I was still thinking that the pain was just because Jacob was getting bigger and it was just normal. 

            I could not get through to the doctor’s office by phone, so I decided to just go up there right when it opened at 8am.  The office staff was very nice and got me in rather quickly for not having an appointment (first they scolded me for having pain for days and not calling them!).  The nurse practitioner examined me and I was waiting to hear her say something like all is fine have a good day.  Instead she said you are in labor and you have dilated 3cms!  I responded with no that’s not right that I was only 34 ½ weeks along.  She said yes I know it’s not time yet, but you need to go to the hospital.  I quickly called Brian to tell him to come to the hospital.  I had to call him twice though because he did not answer the first time because he had stepped out of his office and didn’t take his phone.  When Brian did answer and I told him I was in labor, I could tell his voice was instant concern. 

            Being wheeled over to the hospital was so surreal and seemed like a blur.  I think I was in a little bit of shock and worried.  Everyone was very nice and reassuring though.  At first they told us that they would probably try to stop labor, but the doctor then told us that after 34 weeks they do not stop labor.

            I won’t ever forget the look on Brian’s face when he walked into the hospital room.  It was a mixture of concern for me and our baby, relief that he was at the hospital, and excitement that we were getting close to having a baby.  I was so glad to have him there, Brian is much better at asking questions than I am.  I still was not thinking that we would be having a baby yet until one nurse came in and told us that we were not going home anytime soon because we were definitely having a baby.  This made Brian and I speechless and a little scared now as we realized our baby would be premature.  We were excited to meet our little boy, but we prayed that he would wait to continue growing. 

            Since I had the whole week off for Thanksgiving, I had a to-do list of things to get done before Jake arrived.  Brian and I had set a deadline for ourselves of December 1st to have everything ready for our little man’s arrival.  I kept thinking about all those things that I had to still do.  One of the things on the to-do list was to pack a hospital bag.  The nurses told Brian that if he was going to go home and get anything, then he needed to go sooner rather than later and not to take too long. 

            Brian got back to the hospital pretty quickly with the biggest suitcase we have and I think half of everything we own!  He said he just started grabbing things.  There was nothing that I needed for the days that we were in the hospital that Brian didn’t have.  He even grabbed some tampons and told me that he had read that I would have some bleeding.  So sweet, but I informed him that I would not be using those for awhile!
           For the rest of the day Monday, Brian and I just hung out in the hospital room chatting and playing on our iphones.  It still was not registering with me that we could have our baby soon.  I was still thinking that I would just be sent home and put on bed rest.  The thing that concerned me the most was the nurses kept telling me that I would only be able to eat Jell-O the whole time I was in the hospital until I delivered ~ even if it was a few days!  Brian did a great job making sure I had plenty of Jell-O!   

Monday night I had not progressed past 3 ½cms dilated so the doctor mentioned that I might be able to go home the next morning and that I could go ahead and eat dinner (very exciting since they originally said I could only have Jell-O until I delivered Jake!).  Brian’s mom and sister got Chick-fil-A for us.

            Tuesday morning I woke up with some pain, and I told the nurse and she told me to not move that she needed to examine me.  She did and announced that I was 8cms and I would be delivering shortly!  It was all a blur and happened so quickly.  Brian and I later commented that it was nothing like the movies ~ we never counted contractions or had any screaming or running around (other than Brian’s trip home to pack our bag).  The anesthesiologist came up to give me an epidural (throughout my pregnancy we were not sure if I would be able to have an epidural because of my shunt and we had an appointment that day with the anesthesiologist to discuss this.  When he came up, he told us he had been Googling to find out if an epidural was okay and he said they could not find much so he figured it was okay.  We laughed at the fact that he said he was Googling this!)  The anesthesiologist also told us that it might be too late for the epidural so it might not work!  Yikes!  I did not feel the epidural being given at all.  I guess I figured it was going to be a huge needle and really hurt, but it was not bad at all.  Pretty quickly I started to feel my body go numb and my legs fall asleep as a result of the epidural starting to work. 

            Delivery went well.  I did not feel anything!  I only pushed for about 20 minutes.  Jake did get a little stubborn towards the end so the doctor ended up having to cut me a little to get him out, but again I didn’t feel anything.  It was amazing to see our little Jacob arrive!  Since Jacob was premature, the NICU staff was present ready to check him out.  I remember thinking as Jake came out that he did not seem that small to me.  He was 5 pounds, 9 ounces, and 19 inches long.  The NICU staff checked Jake out quickly and determined that all his vitals were good so he did not need to be rushed off to NICU just yet.  They let us hold him and then let Brian’s dad, mom, and stepdad come in and hold Jake for a few minutes.  It was a very happy time for Brian and me to have our little boy!