This is me on 2/20/2015 at 40 weeks. Both of my previous babies had come early so I did not expect to make it to 40 weeks (+) with my 3rd guy at all and was not quite enthused he was still so comfy inside. We walked a lot and it’s the only time in my life I’ve eaten Jalapenos to try to spice him out as well, ouch!
Here I am again on 2/22/2015 just 2 days before he was born. 40 weeks, 2 days pregnant. Still trying to walk him out….. no go.
Then we make it to Wednesday 2/24/2015, my sisters birthday. I had a gift prepared for her and had planned on celebrating her birthday with my family at my parents house that afternoon. I wasn’t quite feeling well though and we ended up deciding to stay home. We had dinner as a family at home and I started feeling worse and worse. At 6pm, I started hurting. I was having what I thought was digestive stomach cramps. Bo banished me to the couch to “rest” (yeah, right, with 2 toddlers in the house??) and rather than relaxing and feeling better, I felt worse and worse. Bo had notified my parents that I wasn’t feeling well and it could be “go” time but I wasn’t aware of that. I thought I was having digestive issues and was just cranky with the kids being hyper that night while I didn’t feel well and Bo having anxiety about it all. It wasn’t a very pleasant time in the house. I laid on the couch from 5pm-7pm and finally realized, yes, I was having consistent contractions and started timing them and they were already 3 minutes apart at that time. We asked my parents to come over so we could go check at the hospital to see how I was doing because they were getting stronger and closer together as I rested on the couch rather than farther apart and less intense. I remember sending a text message to my friend/photographer Sara that said something along the lines of “I think it may really be time this time”. My parents arrived at our house to stay with the kids, we arrived at the hospital around 8pm and they checked me before we even got settled and said it’s basically time to go already. They had to call the doctor and his team, prepare the room, etc so they put us in a different room with a tub so I could lay and “relax” in the bath. It was nice and comfortable but my contractions only increased and intensified in the tub. Sara with The Blessed Everyday Photography arrived just after we did and helped get us settled and started snapping away. The nurse got concerned that I was going to deliver in the tub because I was so close and made me get out of the tub. I told her I couldn’t deliver that day, it was my sisters birthday and I wanted her to have her special day to herself and not wreck her birthday with a different birth. (delirious much?) Hahaha. The nurse pretty much laughed in my face and said not a chance. I still had planned to squeeze my legs tight and hold off for a few more hours until morning. I finally made it up into the bed and got situated as the doctor walked in ready to deliver and something bad happened. I didn’t know what it was but it felt awful, it was bad and I got scared. Solomon had flipped over in my tummy and was ‘sunny side up’ at that point which was concerning to the doctor as well. He just said he’s facing the wrong direction so it will be a more difficult delivery to push him out naturally and I would have to work extra hard. I don’t remember all the details but I know I was put on oxygen though they had me flipping from side to side to get a different angle to get him un-stuck so he could get out. I was scared and it seemed like everything was falling apart so quickly, I had no idea what was going on, I was exhausted and all done pushing already (weenie, it hadn’t been long at all) but I had been doing it wrong. Once they got me to tuck my chin and hold my legs, Solomon flipped over on the way out and popped right out with the cord wrapped around his neck. He was a scary shade of blue and didn’t scream right away, that’s when Bo got really scared as well. It didn’t take long for him to take his first breath and pink up and we were good to go! I remember a few hours later when we were in the recovery room after I had the chance to take a shower, clean up and get in a clean room, I did not feel good at all. So much so that I wouldn’t even hold Solomon and I couldn’t sit up on my own. We hadn’t realized that I had been continuing to bleed profusely even after having pitocin & another post delivery medication to help stop bleeding. They hopped into emergency mode again and gave me shots of something to clot the blood and clamp the uterus and got me cleaned up again. It wasn’t until the next day that I felt well enough to even hold Solomon. He was born at 10pm on my sisters birthday, the nurse was right! Hahaha. Thanks again to Sara with The Blessed Everyday Photography for the amazing photos that captured every moment of his birth for us to remember forever! This is one proud daddy…. again. The best photos I have from both sets of photos Sara took for our births were of Bos proud look when he sees his boys for the first time. It’s so sweet.
