Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been busy..having a baby! :) Here's a sorta quick birth story... (fyi: I know there's a few guys that read this blog, so don't say I didn't warn you that you might not enjoy what you read!)
Contractions started Sunday morning, the 8th. Tyler and I were up getting ready for church and I was feeling really crampy, so we decided to stay home for the morning. Throughout the morning the cramps got worse and I remembered reading somewhere that if they were real contractions, they would NOT go away by taking a bath, changing positions, etc. So I hopped in our jet tub and spent almost an hour in there. (I even shaved my legs... which I'm now very thankful for! hehe) After I got out, I was still cramping really bad and the cramps had spread into my back. We cancelled our lunch date we were supposed to have with my brother and his wife and kids and decided to head to the mall. I still had not found a "going-home" outfit for Jax, and I thought walking around would either A.) make the contractions worse or B.) stop them. While we were at the mall, one of the trips to the bathroom I noticed that I had some blood when I wiped. The cramps had not stopped but at the same time, they were not really timeable. They ranged from 8 minutes apart up to 23-25 minutes apart. I called my friend Karalie who is a L&D nurse on the way home and she told me to go home and try to keep walking but she recommended going in just to be checked at least to see where I'm at... if I progressed after an hour of being there, they would keep me and admit me. We went home and by this point I knew for sure I was having contractions. They were getting stronger and harder for me to talk through them, but still really far and random apart. We headed to L&D and the nurse checked me and I was at a 2. She had me get up and walk for 30 minutes, and afterwards checked me again... still at a 2. So they sent us home. I cried the whole way home... I felt stupid and it was really frustrating to be in pain and have nothing to show for it.
Sunday night I didn't sleep because my contractions ranged from 7-15 minutes apart. So I would doze off to sleep and then wake up because they were that strong. By Monday morning they were so strong that I could not walk or talk through them, and I was exhausted. I called my OB dr and he wanted to see me... so I headed to his office. He checked me... now I was at a 2 1/2. He sent me home again and told me to labor at home as long as possible but I was welcome to head to the hospital whenever I felt like I needed to. Monday was terrible... I was so tired that enduring the strong contractions made it miserable. I also had pretty bad back labor so that wasn't helping anything. At about 4:00 I called my OB and left a message. I asked him how long he was going to make me labor and be in pain without helping me along. I said I didn't care if he just gave me something to sleep & manager the pain, or if he gave me something to help me progress faster, but I wanted SOMETHING. The nurse called me back about 15 minutes later and told me to head to L&D. They would have a nurse check me and then call my dr with an update as to where I was, and we'd go from there. Tyler met me at the hospital, and by this point every contraction I was having I was in tears. The nurse checked me... she didn't even think I was at a 1. I can't tell you how many emotions I had run through me when she said that... my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart at this point and measuring really strong on the doppler, so it was obvious that I was in lots of pain and again, didn't have anything to show for it. At this point the nurse asked me how my Mom delivered me. I told her that my Mom had 4 c-sections because she was never able to progress. I think a little light bulb went off for the nurse and she said she would be sure to let my dr know that when she called him. About 20 minutes later she came back and told me that my dr would be in shortly to talk to me about my options. In the meantime she had me take a jet bath... she wanted me to relax and also because she had tried to give me an IV and my veins were not cooperating (nothing new there!) so she thought by having a jet bath that would help.
My dr came in about 20 min later and checked me. He could not even get his finger in my uterus... meaning it had completely closed. I went from being a 2 1/2 that morning in his office to absolutely nothing at 4:30 that afternoon... but my contractions were still 2-3 minutes apart and very strong. He told me I had 3 options. A.) I could go home, but he didn't want me to since my contractions were so close together... he said "that would be very mean of us to send you home." B.) I could labor for another 24 hours, and then if I still didn't have any progress I would have a c-section. or C.) I could just have a c-section that night. He explained all of my options and talked about how laboring for another 24 hours could be really hard on the baby. Before he had even left the room, Tyler told me he wanted me to go ahead with the c-section that night. He said he didn't want to see me in pain for another 24 hours and possibly cause harm on the baby. I agreed... even though I was pretty scared. The funny thing is all throughout my pregnancy I had it in the back of my mind that a c-section was possible, just because of how my mom's pregnancies were. So I was comfortable with it because throughout my pregnancy I had researched it a ton, and asked lots of questions to those who have had c-sections in the past. We called the dr back in and told him we were going to go ahead with the c-section... and he told the nurse we'd do it at 8:00 that night, so to go ahead and prep me for surgery.
The next couple hours were a blur... they did so many things to me to prep me for surgery, none of them painful though. Tyler called our families to let them know we'd be having the baby that night, so both our families hopped in their cars and headed towards us. At 8:00 they wheeled me back to the OR to start surgery. On the way there, I was crying... holding Tyler's hand and telling him that we were going to meet our son soon. It was an amazing feeling, but I was so scared, all at the same time. Once we got into the OR, they gave me a spinal... which yes, was scary. Karalie, my friend, was not scheduled to come in that night but she came in anyways and scrubbed in on my surgery to hold my hand and take pictures for us. (She's amazing!) She held my hand as they were doing the spinal and talked me through the entire process. Tyler came in after they had given me all the meds I needed, and I was completely numb. He sat by my head, and the surgery began. Minutes later... I heard the most amazing sound. It was my son screaming! They had told me I would feel lots of pressure as they were taking him out, but I didn't feel a thing. As soon as we heard him scream, Tyler and I just looked at eachother and started crying. We had created life, together. They took Jaxon to be weighed, clean him off, etc... and I told Tyler to go over and watch... he said "I don't want to leave you." I encouraged him to... I knew I'd be fine. They kept asking me how much I thought he would weigh and I said "at least 9 pounds... 9 something." Sure enough, Karalie yelled... "you were so wrong, Meg! He's 6 lbs 10 oz!" I just laughed... you've got to be kidding me. All this time we all thought I was going to have a huge baby. After they cleaned him off, Tyler brought him back over to where I was. Seeing Jaxon for the first time was indescribable... he was beautiful. Tyler held him while we just sat and stared at him for the longest time with tears running down both of our faces. There he was... he was here.
Sure enough... my dr saw how thin my uterus was, meaning I was having some hard contractions for a long time, and saw how it was closed shut at the bottom. Jaxon's cord was also wrapped around his neck 2 times, so having a c-section was definitely a blessing in disguise. Laboring for another 24 hours, then trying to deliver him with the cord wrapped around him twice could have been very bad for him.
We headed back to our room, where we spent the next 30 minutes just in awe of him. I also breastfed him for the first time... it was (and still is) a challenge, but he's catching on like a champ now. After a while, Tyler went out and brought my family into the room to meet him. I loved seeing everyone's expressions as they met him... it is amazing how instantanious you can fall in love with someone. Tyler gave him his first bath and he was brought back to me. I can't describe what it's like to hold your baby... YOUR baby, how surreal. It took many days for me to fully grasp that he's ours... honestly, I still struggle with it at times when I look at him and see how perfect he is in every way... how could we be so blessed? Tyler's family arrived at 12:30 that night and also came to meet him... he is loved by so many people, and we have the best support system we could ask for.
I was in the hospital until Thursday, we loved our stay at the hospital... they had great staff and treated us fantastic. I am recovering really well - in fact, a few of the nurses told me they've never seen anyone bounce back so quick after having a c-section. I was asking for a shower Tuesday morning, less than 12 hours after delivery, when they said most patients wait a few days because the thought of moving and getting out of bed is too hard. I don't regret having a c-section AT ALL... I had an amazing experience and am healing really well.
I am loving my time at home with Jaxon... all day, everyday, I get to hold him and love on him as much as I want. And then when Tyler gets home, I have to share. :) Just kidding... Tyler is beyond amazing with him, we are both so head over heels in love with him, it's unbelievable.
Here's a few pictures... I promise to return soon! Thanks for all the prayers and support.
Jaxon Daniel Keith
Born 2/9/09 at 8:30 pm
6 lbs, 10 oz - 19 in long
