Gavin's Birth Story

My last Dr visit, my membranes were stripped to help the labor process move along quicker. My Dr was concerend that I would have the baby quickly because he had completely dropped. In fact his words were "If I were you I'd get to that hospital as soon as those contractions kick in, don't wait until they are five minutes apart." Way to freak a girl out! Well Friday came, just two days after my Dr visit, and sure enough I was having a lot of pain, tightness and felt like I had to cross my legs because of how low the baby felt. I called the Dr office to let them know how I was feeling and they felt I should go in and get looked at just to be on the safe side. So I went in and found I was dilated almost 4cm and was confident that I would have my baby before the weekend was over.

Saturday I was a little worried and stressed because Phil had been scheduled to do shows every Sunday and I knew he was scheduled for tomorrow's show as well. I didn't like the idea of being so close to going into labor, having to take my kids 30 minutes north(the complete opposite direction of where the hospital is) for church by myself, and feel like I could go into labor any day now. Thankfully the Lord understands all of this and He provides a way! I started contractions around 2am. I counted how far apart the contractions were and by 4am felt it was time to make the necessary phone calls and get to the hopsital. My conceren was that the contractions were going to stop as soon as we got to the hospital and I'd get sent home. This is why I waited it out as long as I did.


Checked into the hospital around 5am, was given a room by 5:45am, and hooked up to monitors by 6am. At this point I was dilated to 4cm. I was told to give them the word of when to send to the epidural and I decided to wait until I was at least 5 or 6cm along because I know for my the epidural slows things way down! And I was right. I called for it around 7am and because things were really going slow for an hour and half they decided to break my water and then told us that we should expect to see our baby by this afternoon. HA! Little Gavin had another idea.


I was loving the epidural and knew this would be my last chance at getting any sleep before my baby got here. So I went to sleep for another hour and half. Was woken up just after 10am to get checked and sure enough Gavin was half way out. They called for my Dr and got everything ready. As they were also encouraging me to NOT push. When everyone was ready to catch my sliding baby, I pushed twice and there he was! Born November 7th @ 10:40am. Weighing 5lbs 7oz and 19in long. We are so glad our little man is finally here for us to hold and love!

Contractions

Hard contractions this morning, feeling a little annoyed and ready to give up being hopeful about them. But I wont of coarse! At least I know that if I don't have a baby by my next Dr apt on Tues, they promised to let me be induced next week. So maybe the 10th or 11th of November. Either way, I'm happy to know that by next weekend I'll have a little infant in my arms to hold.

Since Last Dr Visit...

I have been having very painful and sharp contractions that are nothing more than sporadic. They can't be timed properly because they can't seem to make up their mind on what they want to do! Well, last night I was up a great deal of the night because of them. They were coming 10 then 20 then 15 then 8 then back to 15 minutes apart for about 4 hours. They would stop for two hours and then start up again with the same annoying patters. UGH! I wish my body would decide whether or not we are going to actually have a baby! I called into the Dr office to let them know what's been happening and they went ahead and made room for me to go in to get checked. I am now at 4cm, but because the contractions aren't 10 minutes apart consistently for and hour or more they wont submit me to the hospital (and put me out of my misery). It just might be another long night.

38 week visit

Went in, not really wanting to be at the Dr office because I felt like there wouldn't be any progress. Things have been happening, but rather slowly and miserably, not to mention painfully too. I am now dilated to 3cm and Dr still concerned about him coming fast. He also went ahead and stripped my membranes to get my cervix dilated quicker and to hopefully push for starting labor within 24 hours.

37 weeks

Today's Dr visit went well. The baby is looking great with size, weight, and heart rate! He is definitely dropped and sitting right on top of my thinning cervix. The Dr highly recommended that I get to the hospital at the absolute first sign of labor, even if the contractions are only 8 or more minutes apart. This baby is ready and he's going to come fast! This makes me a little bit nervous! I was actually to the point of decided to have an epidural but if he comes as fast, if not faster, than my last baby then I wont even have that option. Poor Phil! I don't want to put him through that! I'm also even more nervous about going into labor in the car or at home. We are about thirty minutes away from the hospital and that's if it's not rush hour. I hope this little guy corporates with us and waits until night time when Daddy is home and the roads are clear of cars!

Belly Compares

I have been feeling HUGE lately, and I swear I am bigger with this one than my other two! But then as I have looked back at pics I really am about the same size. It's just been a while! Here is a pic of the prego belly with Bryson
The prego belly with McKenna

And now the third child. The angles aren't all the same so they really aren't too accurate, but it made me feel better to see them! Oh these last few weeks are killer!!

Ultrasound Visit

Wed afternoon I went in for another ultrasound apt due to the Dr's being concerned for the size of my baby, or the size of my belly. It was great to get to see him again before getting to meet him in person! What a cutie! And best of all, the kids were able to come see him as well as my mother-in-law and Liz. The kids were so excited for this opportunity and I'm so glad I was able to share it with them.
Our little man is looking great! He looks absolutely perfect and he was measuring at 4lbs 3oz. For him to be that big at 34 weeks is an excellent sign in my book because already he is bigger than my last two kids by this time! Bryson came full term at 4lbs 13oz and Kenna was also full term at 5lbs 4oz. I just have small babies.
I just got the results from my Dr looking over the notes and everything from the ultra sound, and instead of summarizing it for you, I'm going to copy and paste.

Dear Alicia Hall,

A review of your follow up OB Ultrasound has been completed. The report(s) show that the test(s) were normal. Your baby looks fine! The fetal growth is in the 25th percentile which correlates to the size of your other babies.

Follow-up is needed, according to your regular prenatal visits.

Your Health Care Team,
Susan A Harwood, PA-C


I am so glad the the Dr's are beginning to realize that this size and the way I look is normal for ME! I am all baby in the belly and I have a tilted uterus. I think they are going to stop harassing me about it now. =)

Contractions

Monday morning I was woken up around 4am with sharp contractions. These definitely weren't the typical braxton hicks from before, this was the real deal and I knew I needed to time them. They were coming every five minutes, then two minutes and back to five; as well as lasting more than a minute long. We went into the hospital and went through all the paper work and I was hooked up to the machine. Of coarse by the time you get to the hospital everything settles down, no matter how bad it was before you got there. I even timed them for more than an hour before I told Phil that perhaps we should go in, especially since I was already dilated from the fall I had two weeks ago and my last child came rather fast. Long story short, I ended up with a urinary tract infection, which actually causes pre-term labor. So they gave me a shot to put a stop to the contractions and gave me a prescription for the infection. I was told to eat more, drink more, and stay down more.

33 week update

Yay, only seven weeks left to go! That still seems like a while. I've had to take it easy since the fall that I had two Saturdays ago. There is a lot more pressure now and my hips hurt as well as there being more cramping and braxton hicks. Yes, I report all of this to my dr and they all say... "oh that's normal". To me all they are saying is 'who cares'. Whatever.
I am dilated and I think I have dilated more, but who cares, right? I really don't mind having him early, as long as he is healthy. I am a pro at little babies and I'm terrified to push anything out that is larger than 6lbs. We'll see what happens. Phil and I both think that he might come early. I do have my 34 week dr visit next week, which I am glad for because it's with the dr that I really like! And they have me going in for another ultra sound to make sure that our little guy is growing accurately because I carry so small. I still think I'm bigger with him than my other two. At least I get to see him again on camera!

Pressure

There has been a lot of pressure lately.... Not sure if that's a good sign or not. Pressure on my cervix and pelvic bone. I have to take it easy most days, which can be frustrating as there are so many things I would like to just do and get done. But that's alright, this little guy is more important! I am now officially 30 weeks into my pregnancy and last night was the first I've experienced some contractions. Now based on how they were measuring out they were more like braxton hicks, just very painful. I had four within one hour. The first three were five minutes apart and then I had a few more that were getting further apart and more tolerable. It was a very long night for me and I'm just keeping an eye on things today. I have my Dr apt tomorrow morning where I'll get checked and we'll see from there.
In the meantime, I'm going to spoil myself with bubble baths and pray that I can just get through this week with Kenna's birthday party.