I do feel bad that I never wrote anything about this pregnancy. It's hard because I was grieving throughout the entire pregnancy so it was definitely different. Nolan's pregnancy was my hardest pregnancy and I felt much bigger and uncomfortable than my other 2. I started showing much earlier which made me feel more achy and tired by the 3rd trimester. Besides the shortness of breath, and the aches and pain I felt, it still wasn't too bad of a pregnancy compared to most women. It was the first pregnancy I felt so DONE by 37 weeks though. The last few weeks were just rough!
That leads us to the week before my due date. I had been going to the doctor every week at this point and every appointment, everything looked great and there were no issues. Then at my 39 week appointment, I had high blood pressure. It seemed to have come out of no where but I was pretty rushed and stressed getting to the appointment that day which may have had something to do with it. They had me lay on my side for a bit to see if it comes down. I also had protein in my urine so they were concerned about preeclampsia. The worst part about it is that my doctor was out of town and wouldn't be back until the following week. So the doctor there sent me home saying she wanted me back in 2 days to check my blood pressure again. I went back again 2 days later trying hard to not be stressed and to relax. But of course I think it was mental at this point and I had high blood pressure again! This time, she sent me over to the hospital to get monitored for a little while.
I walked over to the hospital and they put monitors on me to monitor the baby and also kept checking my blood pressure. Of course my blood pressure was perfect the entire time. They say that happens a lot when it's high in the office but normal when they get sent over to the hospital. Thankfully after just 30 minutes, they sent me home. They told me to make sure to take it easy and not do anything like going to the Rodeo, or anything like that. Hmm, funny because I had just gone to the rodeo 3 days before that...whoops. She said jokingly that her blood pressure would definitely go up going to the rodeo. All that to say, I hadn't been taking it easy at all the last week and knew I needed to rest more.
Finally, I get to my due date and still no baby! I go in for another doctor appointment, and again my blood pressure was high. UGH! I knew that with my doctor being back, she would be more concerned now that I had reached my due date. She checked me and I was still barely 1 cm dilated and my cervix was still far back. I was so discouraged! My body was just not doing much, but with my 3rd high blood pressure reading and being past my due date, my doctor was ready to get the baby out. I was definitely ready and excited, even though I was very discouraged that my body didn't seem to be quite ready. The plan was that I would go into the hospital that evening to get cervidil to help soften my cervix to get ready for labor before being induced.
I came home from my appointment and packed my bag and got everything ready for that evening. I picked Cooper up from school and took he and the dog to my parents house to stay for the nights we would be in the hospital. I then just waited for Justin to get home from work which seemed to take FOREVER! He had to get everything done since he would be taking a week off from work. By the time he got home, we ate a quick dinner, he packed his bag, and then we were off to the hospital to have a baby!
I get checked into the hospital and we had the sweetest night nurse! I just loved her! Since I was being induced due to high blood pressure she had to check my blood pressure every 15 minutes, but of course my blood pressure was perfect the entire night. My labs also came back completely normal and I knew my blood pressure was just fine, but who cares, I'm about to have a baby and I was excited!
Before getting the cervidil, my nurse checked me and to all our surprise I was already 2 cm and 80% effaced! Um what? Just 8 hours ago, I wasn't even close to that. We were so happy and relieved. The nurse put in the cervidil and told me that I would probably go into labor soon and have this baby in the middle of the night! We really couldn't believe it. I was getting excited and knew it was an answered prayer that I had progressed that much in half a day. My nurse leaves the room for a few minutes and then comes back in to say she has good news! She said she talked to my doctor and my doctor was completely shocked at the progress I had made when she had just seen me. She said my doctor really wants to deliver me so she is going to take the cervidil out so that my doctor could deliver me the next morning. It was all a whirlwind of information but I was just very happy that we would be seeing Nolan soon and that I was progressing on my own. I was not happy, however with having to try to sleep that night being hooked up to monitors, IV, and blood pressure cuff. I didn't get any sleep that night but hey, I was too excited anyway.
They started the pitocin at 4am and I tried to sleep off and on after that. I started to feel the contractions but they were minor so I kept trying to sleep and get some rest. Of course Justin is over there snoozing away getting great sleep which is so frustrating. Dads do SO much, especially Justin, but this is the one time I think we can all agree on that Dads have it so easy (insert wink face emoji). Anyway, I digress....at 7:30am I see my doctor and we chat and she breaks my water. I'm about 3cm at this point. Her famous last words were "now, don't wait to long to get the epidural!" She must remember the infamous birth of my dear Callie Grace where I did wait too long to ask for the epidural and then the anesthesiologist had an emergency C-Section to go to and it took him FOREVER to get to me. By the time he got to me, I was so far along with hardly any break of contractions. And then it only worked on one side and Callie was born right after that. It was so not fun at all and I would not repeat that mistake. I love me some epidural and have no shame about it!
They place him on my chest and I immediately start crying. It's such an amazing miracle. I just couldn't believe he was here. After all the grief and pain we have experienced, in that moment, all I felt was pure joy and thankfulness. It was such a sweet and special moment. I was able to nurse him right away and keep him on my chest for a long time. After awhile, they took his measurements and weight and I could finally see his sweet face.
He weighed 8lb 1oz and was 21.5 in long. The nurse kept saying how long he was. The pictures make him look a lot bigger than he really is but he's not as chunky as he looks in the pictures. He is very adorable and precious!
It really was hard not having Callie there. I pictured her there the entire time. I held it together fine, but inside my heart was hurting. Kind of like my everyday life. I so wish she was there. I wish I could see her with her little brother. I brought her lamb to the hospital because I knew I wanted to honor and recognize her in our first family picture. Taking family pictures will always be hard, for the rest of our lives, I will always think of her.
All in all, this was the best and easiest birth I have been through. It was quick and really could not have gone any smoother. I'm so thankful for a birth experience I was fully able to enjoy! We are so thankful for Nolan Asher and the Joy he will bring to our family. I'm so thankful to have another son and for Cooper to have his first brother. We are all smitten with this new little life!
