Ben and Juliann: The Arrival of Baby Theodore

My original due date for this baby was March 31, however, after my first ultrasound the date was moved to March 22. I had doubts that this was my actual due date and thought there was a good possibility that I was going to deliver after my due date. My parents came on March 20 to help with the girls and to be here for when I had to go into the hospital to have the baby. They arrived about four o'clock on March 20. On March 21 at four-thirty, twenty-four hours after their arrival, I had my first contraction.

Ben went to his classroom to get a lab ready for Monday. My parents and I decided to take the girls on a walk to the park. Once we got their I sat on a bench to watch the girls play and I had my first contraction. After about four or so contractions and I told my parents that I was having them. This made my Mom nervous and she said we better get back. I went to the restroom when we got back and noticed that I lost my mucus plug.

We had some dinner and waited for Ben to come back home. Ben got back around six o'clock and I told him I think this is the real deal. We got the girls to bed and watched Wonder Woman while I stood and walked around the room. My contractions were uncomfortable through the evening but not painful. At eleven o'clock everyone went to their rooms to get some sleep. I was able to sleep on and off in between contractions for about two to three hours. At two-thirty in the morning, the contractions became more uncomfortable and I could not lay in the bed anymore. I took a nice hot shower, got dressed, and let Ben get a little more sleep while I labored. At five-thirty in the morning, I woke up Ben and told him I wanted to go to the hospital because my contractions were starting to be pretty painful. I kept delaying waking him up because I was waiting for my contractions to get closer together. But, they did not for most of my labor, they remained five to seven minutes apart and just kept increased in intensity.

Ben submitted his time off request for work, and we got dressed and grabbed our hospital bags. My Mom heard us leaving and met us at the door wishing us good luck. On our two minute drive to the hospital, one of my friends actually texted me and said she had a feeling that I was going to be having a baby soon and was thinking of me! I had asked my co-worker and friend, Katharine John if she would be my nurse for the delivery. She was also my nurse for Bridget and so agreed. So, when I arrived at the hospital, I gave her a call letting her know it was time.

At six thirty in the morning, she checked my cervix and I was dilated 4cm and 70% effaced. I then got to sit in the uncomfortable hospital bed for an hour while I was poked six times for an IV. Following that, I was moved to my labor room and was able to walk around. I was admitted to my lucky labor room, room number 73! It was the same room where I delivered Jocelyn and Bridget! While walking around I had a few contractions that made me teary eyed and I was having a lot of pelvic pressure. It was close to nine in the morning, Katharine, had me get back in bed to monitor the baby for a while. At that point I asked for an epidural. I was informed that the nurse anesthetist was in a procedure in the operating room and was unable to come. They checked me and I was dilated to 7cm. Since I cold not get the epidural I asked for a dose of Fentanyl and was given a 50mcg dose once. Dr. Nelson came in a short time after that and checked my cervix, I was dilated to an eight.

Around nine-fourty-five, the CRNA came to my room. At that point I was unsure if I wanted another epidural because I was so close. He gave me a minute to think about it, however, during that minute they called him back up to the O.R. There was my answer, I was doing this without an epidural. Dr. Nelson came back into my room and asked if I would like my membranes ruptured. I agreed and at ten o'clock he broke my water and told me I was 9cm dilated. There was meconium present in the amniotic fluid. I asked him if he was going to stay at the hospital, he told me he was not going to leave. He would be just outside the door on the computer.

After he broke my water, Katharine told me I was going to have this baby soon. She guessed that I would have the baby by ten thirty. It was 10:07am when she said this, I remember looking at the clock and saying no, I am going to have this baby sooner. I told her five minutes! Maybe it was out of desperation because I was begging for it to be over. Or maybe it was mother's intuition! I was not far off of my prediction because after two contractions I was ready to push and I let Katharine know. She checked me, asked me to do a little practice push, and said she is ready! They called Dr. Nelson back into the room. While the doctor was putting on his gloves my next contraction started. I felt the baby's head and wanted to push. I looked at Katharine and she told me it was okay to push. It was finally time to find out the gender of our little one! I picked up my legs and gave one push and out came our beautiful baby boy! Katharine reached down and picked up my baby since Dr. Nelson was still putting on his gloves. His time of birth 10:15am.

Ben cut the cord and they held up my baby boy so I could see him. His eyes were open, but he was not crying. They took him over to the warmer and I was told they had to give him a few rescue breathes to get him to start breathing. He perked up quickly, peed on the respiratory therapist and then was ready to come back to us! Ben was the first to hold him. I had a second degree perineal laceration and a peri-urethral laceration that were being sutured up. Pushing the baby out in one push was really not in my favor! I was struggling with the pain while being sutured up and Dr. Nelson had to keep reminding me that I was at the top of the bed.

Some things that helped me through my labor... my wonderful, supportive husband and my wonderful nurses. I stood and walking a lot! Avoiding the bed as much as possible. I did not my best to take deep breathes and focused on keeping my hands relaxed. I had read that if you keep your hands relaxed during your contractions it will help you keep the rest of your body relaxed so each contraction is more effective. I continued to remind myself during my labor that I can do anything for a minute, and to take each contraction one at time. The last thing that really helped was not knowing the gender. I looked forward to meeting my baby, but I also had the anticipation of wondering if I was going to have another girl or have my first baby boy.

Once the girls were out of school, we got on video chat so they could see their baby brother for the first time. After the girls found out they had a new baby brother we let the rest of the family know that we had a healthy, beautiful, baby boy! Teddy was our smallest baby and also the baby with the most hair. The first two days of his life he was the best cuddle buddy, too great of a sleeper, a very poor eater, and he was so quiet.