3.08.2011

Gavin's birth story

So I guess there was an end to my pregnancy after all. Even during delivery, I thought for sure he wouldn't come out and I'd be pregnant forever! Here's his story:

My due date was March 2nd. I went in for my 4pm appointment and was only dilated to 2 cm. Dr. Beck stripped my membranes again and sent me home saying, "Feel free to go into labor any time!" Sound advice, doctor.

A little after 5pm, I started having pretty intense contractions. For more than 2 hours those contractions went on every 3-8 minutes. We dropped the boys off with Grandma and headed to the hospital about 8pm. The minute I put the hospital gown on, the contractions stopped. They sent us on a walk around the hospital gardens with instructions to come back in 40 minutes. So we walked. I did squats. I did step-ups onto benches. 40 minutes later I was only dilated to 4 cm and still not having contractions. So they sent us home. It was a dismal moment.

It was probably 10pm at that point. Within the hour, the contractions started up again and lasted all night long. They never got less than 4 minutes apart and were usually closer to 8-10 minutes apart. Not enough to go back to the hospital but just enough to prevent any sleep at all. So at 6 am, we called our delivery nurse friend who happened to be working and she suggested that we come in and at least get checked. If I had dilated to at least 5 cm they would likely let me stay and help things along.

To my jubilation, I was 5 cm!!! They started me on the penicillin for the Group B strep. Apparently I carry this virus that does nothing to me but can be really dangerous if the baby catches it in the birth canal. So they give us 2 doses of penicillin before he's born. That gets started and they do my epidural as well. I had a few hours of rest while they got both doses of penicillin in. By that time Dr. Beck was there delivering 4 other babies. He was disappointed that I was still only dilated to 8 cm so he started me on some petocin and went to lunch with instructions to "be ready to push" when he got back. I was obedient. We started delivery around 1:20 only to find that the baby was face up. It's really hard for him to deliver that way so Dr. Beck was turning him over as I was pushing. But between each contraction, the baby would flip back over and be face up again. I fully expected for him to tell me we had to do a C-section. Instead, Dr. Beck grabbed Gavin's head with the vacuum and pulled him (as I pushed him) out. HE WAS OUT! 2:09 pm. 21 hours after labor truly began. More than a week after contractions began filling me with false hope. HE WAS OUT!

I loved that they handed him right to me. They didn't even weigh or wash him until after I'd sufficiently snuggled and nursed him for over 45 minutes. It was so lovey.

I'm amazed how tiny he is. He doesn't have big hands like newborn Jace did nor long feet like newborn Cohen. He is just so tiny. Jace had the dark hair but not nearly as much as Gavin. They all have the same nose and chin. It's not a small nose but they grow into it! :)

We came home Friday night and have had the boys here with us. I was nervous about all of our noise in this 1050 sf house but it's been ok. We dont keep the big kids quiet. We're just letting Gavin get used to life as it really is.... Well, except that he is getting held A LOT when he should be sleeping in his bed... but I'm not stressing about that on day 5. We'll work that out.

And so...
Welcome home Gavin! We're extremely happy you're here!

14 comments:

SouthernAZ WOLFINGTON said...

So much dark hair! I love their scrunchy newborn faces. Good job mama, another healthy baby.
Love Liz

Auburn said...

tears flowing! love the story. love those babies straight from heaven. love that he's finally in your arms. can you believe you have three kids! three boys! ahhhh!!!

stephanie said...

I love birth stories. Thanks for sharing yours. Now you need to tell us how you finally agreed on his name. A perfect name, by the way, that so fits with your others.

Do you have enough help??

Rita said...

So cute! Great birth story. Congrats Jill!!!

Jaime S. said...

i love that you did squats and steps on the bench!

Unknown said...

What a great feeling...so a happy day!! He is so adorable!

Amanda said...

yay!

Mary Postert said...

Wow, tons of hair! Loved the story. Has enough time passed that you're okay with visitors? Or should I give you another week?

Mike and Becca said...

oh man, i'm frightful for one of those long deliveries. A tad diff than mine. Everyone loves to share there so quickly... not a contraction at all. Go in for apt. doc says i'm dialted far so come back and check in in an hour. come back, lay in hospital bed 2:30 not a pain in the world. Waiting for doc to come. 2:45ish/3:00ish doc comes... breaks water...immediate contractions and Jacks out by 3:30. You are a good women to suffer those contractions all night. Glad he made it. He's precious and i'm excited for you and great name. wish I could bring you dinner

AK said...

Congrates,
I saw Brad at Tanner's bday party but I didn't get near that kind of detail on how things went down. So, I'm glad you shared the story.
I want to come and visit soon!

Scott and Cheryse said...

Congrats!! Glad everything went okay.

JLynn said...

Congrats! You are such a loving person, your boys are lucky to have you! His hair looks perfect and so sweet. How exciting for you and LIsa to have little boys so close. Hope everything goes well for you all.

Courtney said...

I love that story! I get so excited to deliver each baby and each having their own story! There is nothing like that feeling of having them place that new baby in your arms...I just bawl!

Smart to let him get used to the sounds. We had Henry's crib in our loft (for lack of a room) and he sleeps soundly whether the kids are downstairs or upstairs running circles around him screaming. I hope it lasts!

Congrats! Love him all...can't wait to meet him!

Osita said...

You look amazing for being in the hospital still. So glad he made it and I like Gavin a lot. I am impressed that you waited that long to name him, cause even though we didn't know zoey's name, within 20 min my mom was badgering me and I told Zac we had to name her before my family returned, so we picked first and middle name within the next 20 min. I couldn't handle the pressure