Tate's Birth Story

Almost 38 weeks.  This was the last picture I took 3 days before I had the baby.  Yikes, my stomach was bigger than last time thanks to all that extra amniotic fluid I had!  

At my 37 week appointment, my doctor told me I had progressed quite a bit since my last appointment.  The baby still hadn't dropped though.  She did an ultrasound to check my fluid levels and the position of the baby.  At that point she diagnosed me with polyhydramnios (excessive amniotic fluid).  Baby was head down but 'bobbing' around in my stomach because I had so much amniotic fluid.  My doctor wanted to check me twice a week going forward.

My next appointment not much had changed.  But on Thursday, May 2nd I had progressed quite a bit since my last appointment and my doctor wanted to induce me the following day or Saturday the 4th.  Since I had polyhydramnios, going into labor on my own would be really risky because the cord could come first or I could have a placental abruption.   

When she told me I needed to be induced either the following day or Saturday I started crying.  I didn't know if my mom would be able to get here in time and I still had so much to do before the baby came.  I was planning on having another week to get everything done.  Especially everything with my swimsuit business since May is my busiest month of the year.  I still needed to train Cara (the gal I hired to help with my business) on so many things.  The thought of having a baby in two days and handing over the reigns of my business completely frightened me.  

We agreed on Saturday morning for induction.  Dr. Kelley told me I better go home and put my feet up!  She told me if I went into labor on my own I had a risk of losing the baby.

I didn't go home and put my feet up.  I am not good at doing that!

I finished paying bills, packed my hospital bag, wrapped up the company books, trained Cara, and got ready for baby.  My mom flew in the following afternoon.  We went to Costco and had hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream one last time with only one child (this had become a weekend tradition).  I went home and tied up loose ends with my business and went to bed.  

I checked into the hospital a little after 6:00 a.m., they started my IV, and gave me my epidural.  About 9:30 a.m. they wheeled me into the operating room to break my water.  They broke my water in the operating room just in case the cord came first and they needed to do an emergency c-section.  To prevent the cord coming firs, two nurses held the baby in place while the doctor held his head and guided him down.  I had about 10 times the normal amount of amniotic fluid.  Everything went OK with breaking my water so they wheeled me back to labor and delivery and started my pitocin.  The doctor told me I was almost dilated to a six before she broke my water and I probably would have gone into labor on my own anyway.

I stayed at a six for quite awhile.  Since I had my epidural, I had hardly any pain.  I was able to lay in the hospital bed and play on my iPhone and read, ha!  It was the first time I had laid in bed and read for months.  The last few months of my pregnancy were a whirlwind of running around like crazy working on my business.  It felt so good to relax!  I read up on labor and delivery and started re-reading babywise (both things I wanted to do before the baby came but didn't have time).  Since I hadn't progressed much after a couple of hours, they bumped my pitocin up one notch.  Shortly after I started having contractions that were really strong and close together.  I started feeling a lot of pressure.  Soon after the nurse stopped by to check me and I was already at a ten!  Within 15 minutes, Dr. Kelley arrived and I started pushing.  Pushing seemed much easier this time.  I only had to push for about ten or fifteen minutes.

He was born at 2:04 p.m.  When I first saw him I thought he looked a lot like Kensie did.  I held him skin to skin for a few minutes before they cleaned him up.  I loved holding my baby boy for the first time.  Such an emotional and sweet moment.

Warning:   Less than flattering pictures ahead

I was able to hold him again for a few minutes after they cleaned him up.  I thought Tate was so cute even right after he was first born.  Big lips, lots of hair, good coloring, and a little Kensie look-alike.  He was having a hard time breathing so they took him to the nursery for testing.  

Tate went through a bunch of different tests all afternoon and evening so I didn't get to see or hold him again until later that night.  They were checking his lungs and all sorts of things to make sure he was OK since he was breathing laboriously. The nurse brought Tate into my room later that evening for me to nurse him and then they took him back to the nursery.  The tests and monitoring continued for about 48 hours after he was born.  Everything else was fine except the way he was breathing.  After one test result, they said he might have to stay in the NICU for 7-10 days.  That made me really nervous.  Luckily, they retested and the results had improved.  We ended up leaving the hospital Monday evening after dinner.  After all the tests, they concluded he was probably having a hard time breathing because of swallowing too much amniotic fluid.

I was so relieved he didn't have to be admitted into NICU and that we were able to take him home.