Gavin was born on April 27, 2009 at 6:06 AM (that date also happens to be my brother, Evan's, birthday- he turned 21 this year and was so excited to have his nephew born on his birthday!)
Friday, April 24, I had Bobby pick up a "pregnancy pizza" from Cafe Trio in SLC. I had heard about a pizza that would put you in labor, and did it work? I'm not sure, but I don't really think it did. Oh well! It was a decent pizza, that I will never order again. 6 slices of pizza later I was having light contractions (which had been going on for weeks and weeks)... yes, I had 6 slices. AH! I was convinced the more I ate, the more it would help- at least it was thin crust and didn't make me too stuffed!
Saturday, it was raining so we decided to do some walking at Costco and the mall. I had some contractions throughout the day but nothing too bad (once again). When we got home that evening I decided to go over to our clubhouse gym and walk on the treadmill. (I walked in and saw that a wedding was going on in the main area- how nice! I looked lovely and all eyes were practically on me! ha! I walked 2 miles in 45 minutes and had contractions every 7 minutes while doing that... it was a good improvement! I went home and they continued... they never hurt, but were tight. I stayed up most of the night and kept track of them... they continued and moved to 5 minutes apart. I fell asleep for about 2 hours and woke up still having them. I was glad they were sticking around! I got in the shower at 6 am, just in case we ended up going in. (When I had Brody I felt so yucky, so I was trying to keep up with getting ready every day this time!) Bobby got ready as well, and we just hung around the house. My contractions started to slow down and become less frequent. I was getting pretty frustrated. (Brody was 2 weeks early so I never did the WAITING part with him).
On Sunday, My mom, who was a Labor and Delivery nurse for (13?) years, came over and checked me (TMI? Too bad!). She said I was dilated to a 3, so we decided to just go into the hospital. I had to be treated for GBS and figured I could say I was in labor, even though there was no pain. We dropped Brody off at my parents house and headed to the hospital at about 2 pm. Both pregnancies, I've walked into L & D with a smile on my face saying "I'm in labor". I always feel a little awkward going in like that, but it's fine with me!! We got checked in at 2:30 and a nurse checked me. She said I was a one... a ONE! (In my head I was thinking... are you crazy? my mom said I was a 3... how in the world could I have gone backwards?) She had us walk around for an hour. We went upstairs to post-partum and found a quiet hallway and I walked back and forth as quick as I could! I got back to my room and had a new nurse (thank goodness!) I really think it was a blessing that the first nurse said I was a one because when my new nurse checked me, I was a 3! HA! My mom was right! They saw that as a good enough change to have me go walk around for another hour. (even though I knew I hadn't really changed because that's what my mom said I was when I went in. Oh- well!) We walked for another hour and finally got admitted at 6 pm. They moved me to a new room and got me hooked up on my i.v. My nurse couldn't get it in my right hand, and I was bleeding all over- it hurt pretty bad. She then tried on my left and while she was putting the needle in, I started to get light headed and nauseous. I was about to pass out, and I don't usually get sick from needles or blood. I think she was just hurting me too bad. Bobby got some ice and put it on my forehead which helped a lot! She finally got the i.v. in and they started my liquids and antibiotics for GBS.
We hung out for a couple of hours and tried to keep my contractions coming frequently so they wouldn't send me home. I was watching the monitor the whole time. Bobby went out to get some dinner at Wendy's (a tradition!) and we watched some TV. Around 8 pm she checked me and said I was a 5! I asked if someone could break my water (I had to get it broken with Brody because I progress so slowly). Since it was a Sunday and my Dr wasn't the one on call, they couldn't break it. SAD! I had to figure out how to progress on my own. At 10, my nurse, Laura, came in and said that my Dr called and told them to have the Dr at the hospital break my water! I was so glad! He's such an amazing Dr and I was glad he knewI would need a little push- it was so nice of him to call and tell them to do that. When the Dr came in to break my water, he told me I was still at a 5. He broke it and told me to get in a good labor pattern before getting my epidural (I had my epidural at a 3 with Brody. I was a little farther, but doing ok). For the following 2 hours I just stood by my bed over a towel trying to get my contractions strong enough to make some sort of change. It was kinda funny to be standing, because with some contractions, water would just pour out! Bobby would look at me and say "did you just pee?". HA! The contractions were hurting and after those 2 hours, the nurse checked me and said I was STILL a 5. Oh man! By this time, it was shift change and I got a really funny nurse, named Jana. She came in and I was asking about my epidural. Laura was still trying to convince me to wait, but Jana was standing behind her making motions to me like "no way! Get it now!" I was so glad when she got in there and let me feel ok with getting it.
As soon as the guy got in my room to give me the epidural I started to get the shakes. I don't know why I get that way. It went well and was pretty quick. After I got my epidural, I changed about a centimeter an hour! I go faster once I can relax- next time I'm not waiting! Bobby called my mom and told her I got my epidural and my water was broken. She came in with Brody, who wasn't sleeping because his poor little feet hurt. We all tried to sleep, which none of us could do, and waited for the time to push. Brody was awake until 3 am and finally fell asleep in his stroller. My mom slept with her head on the hard table for 5 minutes, I slept for about an hour, and Bobby slept in the chair/uncomfortable bed for a little bit. The nurse would come in every 45-60 minutes and check me. Once I got to a 9, Bobby called his parents and had them head down. They got there about an hour later and Bill, my Father in law waited in the waiting room with our sleeping little boy!! My mom and Diana, my mother in law, were both in the delivery room with us. My mother in law had never seen a natural birth, and all 5 of her kids were delivered by c-section, so she really had no idea of what to expect. I'm glad that both of our moms were able to be in there with us.
When it came time to push (at 4:30 am) I had Bobby and My mom on each side of me, with the nurse as well. Bobby counted and was such a great coach (as always)! He keeps me going when I get too tired. I was pushing for 4, 10 second counts with each contraction. My epidural was hitting a nerve or something so the very top middle part of my back was hurting really bad whenever I would curl up to push. Once we were on the last 10 second count of each contraction I would usually fall back when Bobby said "8" I couldn't quite do the full 10 seconds at the end. I was worn out. I kept thinking that the Dr was going to get out the suction or something because I didn't feel like he was coming out very quickly. I was also afraid that my epidural would wear off because it wasn't very strong. I could feel when every contraction came, and I was able to move my tingling legs. It was actually nice being able to feel a little bit- none of it was bad at all. When I had Brody, I couldn't even turn onto my other side by myself, I was TOTALLY numb. My mom started to tell me to "hold him there" after I would push and then things started to move faster!!
Once Gavin was out at 6:06 am, they laid him on my stomach as they wiped him off. I love that part! Seeing him for the first time was so special! They took him over to be weighed and I watched in shock as the numbers went up to 7 pounds 9.2 oz. (which is also what my brother weighed exactly 21 years before! How crazy!) I couldn't believe I just pushed out a baby that big (big for ME at least!) No wonder it took an hour and a half to get him out! He was also 18.5 inches long. I remember while I was pushing, Diana asked how much longer everyone thought it would be before he was out. My mom looked at the clock and said (at 5:40 am) "probably about 20 minutes". The nurse then looked at the clock and said "I would guess about 6:00"... it was so funny because she had just said exactly what my mom had said, just in a different way- we were all laughing about it! They did a good estimate though, they were only off by 6 minutes! And, honestly, when I saw that they both thought he would be out in 20 minutes, I thought they were crazy- I felt like it would take a lot longer, but thankfully, it didn't!
After all of the commotion had settled, I was transferred to a new bed and wheeled up to Post-partum. Bobby went into the nursery with Gavin and then came back to my room until it was time for his first bath. I was able to get in a wheelchair and go watch Bobby bathe him- it was so much fun, and I cried! (I didn't get to go with him when Brody was born- I didn't even think to ask) The nurse then put Gavin under the heat until he was warm enough to come in our room with us. We went back to the room and I ate breakfast. Bobby went home around 9:30 am and picked up Brody from my moms. We all took naps and then Bobby and Brody came back to the hospital that afternoon. My mother-in-law and Sisters in law came up as well. That evening our friends', Dave, Becky, and Jason, came up to meet Gavin too. Brody and Jason were running wild, as always!! :) After Bobby and Brody left to go home for the night, my parents came up to visit. They brought me some yummy cheesecake from Texas Roadhouse!! While we were talking, my mom had mentioned that I should ask my nurse about leaving the next day. I ended up asking, and the next morning my Dr came in and said "what's this I hear about you wanting to leave so soon?" (being funny!) I told him that I just wanted to be home with my family and that I could be laying in bed at home better than at the hospital- I was constantly wondering when Bobby would come or where Brody was... etc.
My Dr. told me that I was ok to be discharged and Gavin's pediatrician said he was ok to leave as well- I would just need to take him into the Dr the following morning to have a final check-up (48 hours). I was so excited! I told Bobby when I talked to him that morning... he was pretty excited, but wanted to make sure I was feeling ok and really wanted to leave- I assured him that I DID! He dropped Brody off at his parents' home and came to get me and Gavin. We filled our hospital mugs for the road (They have an awesome drink that we now make at home quite often- it's cran-raspberry juice with orange juice and sprite! SO GOOD!) Before we left, while we were waiting for a few last minute things, we went on a little walk around the post-partum floor. We were pushing Gavin in his little bed and as we walked by an elevator an alarm went off in the hospital saying "code pink!" I turned to bobby and said "Oh! What's code pink? The nurse told me that code blue was with breathing or heart, and code pink was something silly!" All of a sudden two nurses came running around the corner and told us to stop! Code pink was for babies (not that silly- oops!) we had gone past the security point... at least I know everything was working with Gavin's security bracelet!!
We left the hospital at about noon on April 28. It was so much fun bringing him home! (Luckily, this time, I didn't have any baby blues! I got them for a dew days with Brody. I was really scared of getting them again- but, I didn't have enough time to sit and think too much about things!) Brody loved having Gavin come home- he had a couple of days where he wanted me, but for the most part he did ok and has loved having a baby brother to play with!
It's going to be fun watching them grow and play together!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE GIVING BIRTH! I have been extremely blessed to have had two wonderful deliveries! I hope my future birth(s) are just as amazing! LOVE LOVE LOVE my kiddies!
Our 2 sweet boys! So precious!
