Henry’s Birth

[It’s already been a week and a half, I can’t believe it! Time flies when you have a newborn and are adjusting to lack of sleep. I want to be sure and write this down before I forget anything. I love to remember these moments when our kids are born, so forgive how long this is.]

In the weeks leading up to Henry’s birth I was having really intense contractions every day. I’d already started progressing a bit at 36 weeks so my doctor even recommended I go on bed rest for two weeks to make sure the baby “stayed in” before it was safe for him to be born without complications. This really convinced me I was going to have this baby pretty early, well before my doctor would induce me at 39 weeks. I still can’t believe that I ended up being induced because really I thought I was ready to pop any minute. The week before I was induced I felt the baby drop really low. He was so low it was hard for me to even walk (I was definitely waddling at that point!) because I felt like he was right down there. I was already progressed to a 4 too, so that made me even more sure I was about to go into labor.

Well each day passed and I didn’t go into labor. I’d have tons of pain and contractions for hours, and then they’d suddenly stop. My doctor set up a tentative induction for April 16th if I didn’t go before then.

I was bummed I wasn’t going into labor (especially because I was having so much intense back and hip pain) but then tried to remind myself how much nicer it really would be to be induced. We already had babysitting lined up, bags packed, we could take our time getting ready and make sure we had everything, and Mitch could easily plan to be out of work.

By Monday the 15th I realized I wasn’t going into labor, and would just be induced the next morning. Luckily my best friends here knew how depressed I was to still be pregnant (and in so much pain!), they set up a fun play date for us to hang out and let our kids play. It was a great way to get my mind off things.

That evening we decided to make a fun FHE for the kids—we went out for ice cream, we played a ton with the kids, and prepped them for the next day. They were excited to meet the baby too! After they were in bed, I did our weekly grocery shopping as normal, actually being thankful I hadn’t gone into labor yet because I loved to have it all planned out—a fridge stocked with food, house clean, kids watched, time to get ready, etc. About 10 minutes into my grocery shop I started having really really intense contractions. I remember wincing as I was getting even small items off the shelves. I remember saying a prayer in my mind asking if I could just get my shopping done before going into labor. By the time I was out of there and had loaded the food into the car, I was breathing through the contractions and in tons of pain. I got home and Mitch helped me get everything away, we finalized our packing, and got to bed. That night I could barely sleep I was having contractions 5 minutes apart; I finally got out of bed at 4am. I was still having contractions, they were getting more frequent and I was set to be induced anyways in 3 hrs. so I got ready, had a nice breakfast, and enjoyed the quiet house. I called the hospital to make sure I could still come in and also let them know I was having consistent contractions. They told me to come in at 7. We had a wonderful woman and close friend coming over at 6:30am to stay at our house while the kids slept, get them up, dressed, fed, etc. She was then taking them to another friend’s house for the day.

Here I am, ready to go:

Right when we got to the hospital I told Mitch I had to use the bathroom really badly and used the one in the lobby right when we walked in. I came out and told him I thought my water was breaking. I was leaking fluid, and though I could tell it wasn’t all my water breaking, I was definitely leaking.  I thought, wow it’s nice this is happening while we’re already at the hospital.

They got us checked in and had us fill out some paperwork. They got us a nice room with a huge window and we had a nurse we really liked. I’ve realized that the random nurse you’re assigned affects your birth experience so much. She’s the one with you all day, much longer than your doctor is. We were so happy we liked her! We had so much fun hanging out with her all day and hearing her funny stories about what people name their kids and different birth techniques she’s seen people use. When my doctor got there we saw her say “oh good it’s Jane” – my doctor said Jane was the best nurse at the hospital. I’m not sure if she was lying but it certainly made us feel great to have her.

At 8am my doctor broke my water all the way. It had just been leaking earlier. Also, when they broke the water she said there were small traces of meconium in it. She said not to worry because it looked really light, but my sister’s first baby had meconium in his lungs and ended up in the NICU for a week, so I was really nervous about it. I said a prayer that he’d be okay. She kept reassuring me that this happened to lots of babies and is usually not an issue. I tried to not think about it.

Breaking my water started helping me progress by a cm, but she said if I wanted she’d give me Pitocin too. Because I’d used Pitocin before I knew it worked well for me and thought it was a great idea. I decided to get my epidural before the Pitocin this time which was really nice. The anesthesiologist was awesome and gave me the best epidural. After having 3 I can tell that they’re all a little different, and before in my births I could still feel pain. This time I didn’t feel anything. The nurse just kept upping that Pitocin because I felt so great and it was making me progress quickly. I rested while Mitch caught up on work things from his laptop in the room. By 11am I was fully progressed so my nurse called the doctor back over to the hospital. Once she got there they got everything set up and let me start pushing. I love my doctor and have such a great time with her. Before I was supposed to start pushing we were all joking about something and I laughed really hard which started to push the baby out. She wasn’t ready and said “whoa whoa stop laughing!” It was pretty hilarious. After two pushes our little guy made a quick entrance into the world. He was crying really loudly when he came out which was a definite answer to my prayers—his lungs were completely fine and crying would be the first sign of that my doctor had said. No meconium in his lungs! I was so grateful!

They placed him on my chest while I got stitched up. He was such a sweet baby and I was grateful to hear those cries. They got him dried off and weighed and Mitch held him for a couple minutes while the doctor finished up. I was overwhelmed by the spirit holding my baby for the first few minutes. We had gone back and forth on two names during my pregnancy and were pretty sure we’d decided on a different name, but right when he was born Mitch and I looked at each other and both mouthed “Henry” – we just thought that’s exactly what he looked like. It was a really sweet experience that we both felt that strong impression together.

Maple Grove Hospital was amazing. We loved our birth experience and I felt great right after. The epidural wore off right after my doctor was done stitching me up and I was able to walk much more quickly than with the other kids. Rather than staying 2 days, we left the next day. I was ready to get home to my bed and see my other kids. I felt great and I knew that was a huge blessing because we didn’t have any family coming out to help when we had the baby. Mitch took off a week and a half of work, which was amazing, but after that I needed to be ready to take care of 3 kids on my own! We had several friends come visit us too, which was lots of fun. Who doesn’t love friends ooing and awing over your baby??  

That afternoon Mitch went to get the kids to come meet Henry. They were so excited. Emerson kept asking to hold him. Genevieve gave the baby a kiss, but then seemed really scared to be around the baby. We bought some presents for the kids and wrapped them “from the baby” – we thought this would help them feel positive about the baby. We got Genevieve a doll with its own pacifier and diaper. We got Emerson a Hot Wheels race track. The kids loved their presents and we’ve been so shocked how much Genevieve loves her baby. She carries it everywhere and loves to imitate mom. She had a hard first week but in the past couple days has loved Henry. She brings me his pacifier whenever he cries and always tries to pat him when he’s burpy.  We are grateful for this sweet little boy in our home. A newborn baby just makes the home a happy place. Though I am tired from those nighttime feedings, I’m feeling very grateful for this wonderful experience. Welcome baby Henry!