Jacob's Birth Story

It's been a busy week, but here is the story of our little boy's birth. Enjoy!

On Saturday, August 18th at 9:50pm I was walking around the house when my water broke. Tim and I had had a pretty active day, since we were cleaning up the house for my mom's arrival the next day. I don't know if cleaning the bathtub put me into labor, but regardless, Jacob was going to be coming into the world soon! I called my doctor's voicemail and when she called back she told me to go ahead and go to the hospital so they could make sure that I was in fact in labor since I hadn't been having any contractions. I took a quick shower and packed my bags (I STILL hadn't done that yet - whoops!) and we arrived at the hospital around 11:25pm. They took me to my room, confirmed my water did break and checked my cervix. I was only 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. Not very much progress considering when your water breaks they like to deliver the baby within 24 hours to prevent infection.

My doctor thought it would be best to try to get the labor progressing so we could get the baby out within that 24 hr time frame, so I was started on Pitocin (a drug that stimulates contractions) shortly after midnight. The contractions became progressively stronger and closer together, but I wanted to work through them without pain meds for as long as I could. I labored through the night without much sleep. I was just too anxious and excited! The pain was manageable- I just had to focus on the fact that we would be holding our son by the end of Sunday!

By morning Sunday I still hadn't made any progress and my nurse began to discuss with me that if I hadn't made enough progress by 9:30pm that we would have to go in for a c-section. We decided to start me on IV pain medication (Nubain) to possibly help relax my body enough that it would dilate more. I still held out hope that my body would do what it was supposed to do so I could deliver on my own, without surgery. It seemed like 9:30pm was still so far off and I thought certainly a c-section could be avoided.

Tim left to go check on our doggies around pick my mom up from the airport around 8:30am- she had already planned on coming into town on this day anyway, but hopped on the earlier flight once she knew I was in labor. I got some good rest while he was gone, since my pain was lessened by the Nubain.

My doctor made her rounds around 10:30am and checked my cervix. She thought I was about 2.5cm and 90% effaced. It wasn'[t much, but it was some progress! It made me even more hopeful that things would continue to move along. Dr. Tricia also did a quick ultrasound to see if there was anything else that was possibly preventing me from progressing and we found that the baby had his head turned to the side instead of down. I was told that we would begin changing my positions frequently to get him to turn.

Mom and Tim got back to the hospital just before 11am. It was a nice distraction from the labor. We got to open some lovely gifts that family members had sent from NM and took lots of pictures.

By late morning they had my Pitocin all they way to 34mL/hr (the strongest dose is 36mL/hr) and the contractions were coming hard about every minute and a half to 2 min apart. I kept trying to breathe through them, but by 1:30pm I was ready for some relief. The anesthesiologist arrived and I had my epidural at 2pm. It was heaven! I had to breathe through several contractions while they were doing it, but it was well worth it. I instantly felt better and was even more hopeful that the epi would relax me enough to help me dilate more.

The rest of the day went pretty much like the first half - no progress and increasing frustration on my end. By late afternoon/ early evening I had been on the highest dose of pitocin for hours and my body was just becoming exhausted. I had to wear an oxygen mask and they were really monitoring my blood pressure since it had been dropping fairly low. I began to have a low-grade fever and by 9:30pm we knew that c-section was our only option.

I cried because I wanted so desperately to avoid that road, but I knew it was what was best for me and the baby. They prepped me quickly for surgery and wheeled me down the hall to the operating room. Tim was allowed in shortly after they had given me the local anesthesia and were ready to go. My mom had to wait outside until we were finished. I was scared to death. I kept praying and trying to calm myself down, but I had never been in a situation like that before and it was terrifying. Tim was so great and tried everything he could to calm me down.

I was shaking and crying and once I realized that they already had me open and were pulling to get the baby out I lost it. I was feeling so much pressure and a really strong pulling sensation. My body was fighting the doctor and nurses since I was so tense and they had to ask me several times if I would like to be put to sleep. I definitely wanted to be awake for Jake's arrival so I did my best to relax.

I continued to cry but just held on to Tim's hand and breathed through the pulling and the pressure. When I heard our baby boy cry it was the most incredible sound. The tears really flowed then, and at that moment everything around me was quiet and still. All I could hear was his beautiful cry. They took the baby to the side of the room to check him and clean him up. I was able to see from the operating table and Tim followed him over there to take his first photos!

The first thing Tim said was "He looks just like your brother" which was funny because our baby was due on my younger brother's birthday, so we decided his middle namesake would be Alan after his Uncle Alan. We had been considering a few different names, but it seemed natural to go with Alan.

Jacob Alan was born on August 19th at 10:22pm, weighed 7lbs 12oz, measured 21in, and scored 9/9 on his APGARS. He is so perfect and every time I look at him I still can't believe that Tim and I created him. We love him so much and are just so proud he is our son.

Hope you enjoyed our story! Sorry it took me a week to get it out!

~Steph and the boys :)