June 22, 2010

June 16, 2010

Spencer's Birth Story

3 weeks ago today....
Spencer Scott Hughes entered the world, and our lives will never be the same. What a sweet addition to our family, we are so glad God gave him to us.

I was due on Monday, May 26, and we had Jason's mom come come out a few days before that so she could be here when we had to go to the hospital and then get to meet him in his earliest days. She could only stay till Thursday, so we were sure hoping she'd get to meet him. I was 4 days early with Olivia and 2 days early with Carson so I was expecting this little boy to be a couple days early as well...and both C & O were born on Sundays, so we thought that would be kind of cool if he was too....but he was nice and cozy in my belly and decided to come 2 days after his due date. :-)

Tuesday night, Jason and I decided we'd take advantage of having his mom here to stay with the kids while we went out to a 9pm showing of Shrek 4 in 3D. We hadn't been out to a movie in a long time, so it was a fun little date. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks on and off, and nothing unusual or more that day, but during the movie, I did notice some funny pains at the top of my groin, kind of a burning pain, different than I'd felt before, but nothing to really make me think that I'd be having a baby in a few hours.

We came home from the movie about 10:45, and I was really tired, so I got ready for bed right away, but started having some bigger contractions that did make me think that we might be heading to the hospital soon. At 11pm I was going to crawl into bed, but couldn't because the contractions came on so fast and furious, that we knew this was the night he'd be born. I was trying to get my things together, and breathe through my contractions.

Olivia came 4 hours after my labor started, so I knew I needed not to linger around home for very long. Time went by so fast while we got ourselves organized and ready to go, and we got to the hospital around 1am. I was so thankful that Patti was there and that the kids were asleep and we didn't have to worry about calling anyone to come over to help us with them. We had to go through the emergency room when we got there because they lock the front doors after hours, so they wheeled me down a long hall to Labor and Delivery (so grateful I didn't have to walk, I think Spencer would have been born in the hallway.)

My contractions were coming every couple minutes and were really strong, but when they checked me, I had only dilated to 3 or 4 cm, which made me feel discouraged because when I got to the hospital with Olivia, I was at 6 or 7. I knew I didn't want to have any pain medicine, but I was feeling a little discouraged that I was only at 4 cm, and wasn't sure if I could do this for a really long time......but only a half hour later I was dilated at 8 cm, and the urge to bear down and push was so great, it made it SO hard. I never had that feeling with the other kids. I was most comfortable in the bed, but I thought it might help to change positions, so I tried standing up by the side of my bed with my head down resting on the pillows....that was hard....then I tried sitting on the birthing ball, which I actually sort of liked because I could slowly bounce and rock and it was a nice change of position, and felt like when I had that huge urge to push that the ball would keep the baby in till it was time to really push. Having to resist that urge was so hard and crazy intense. Jason was a wonderful support to me....giving me back rubs, constantly giving me water or juice and chapstick, encouragement and words to keep me calm and slow down, and just his quiet presence was so good.

My sweet doctor had written all over my chart to call her, even if she wasn't the doctor on call because she wanted to be there to deliver my baby. I really liked her and I'm so glad she was able to come. They called her in right away when they saw I was at 8 cm, so I just had to wait for her to get there, and when she did, she broke my water and instantly I was dilated to 9 cm and a minute or 2 later I was just about at 10, with just a small lip of my cervix still there, but I had to push so bad, that she just held it back a little bit while I pushed and it went away. I remember the nurse calling the team in over the intercom saying, "Okay, we are going to start pushing at 2:23" which was in about 4 minutes. I guess this correlated with the timing of my contractions.

So at 2:23 I started pushing. It was really hard work, and I feel like I had to focus really hard on where to push. It's hard to explain, but I had to really concentrate on doing it right. So his head came out and he made a little cry, but his shoulder got stuck in there, so Jason and the nurses had to pull my legs way back and I had to push really hard while the nurse tried to turn him a little bit. And then at 2:35 his whole body slipped out....what a relief! I didn't see it, but they said the umbilical cord was all wrapped around him, under his arm, around his waist, between his legs, etc. Not tight or constricting, but he was definitely all tangled up. And the nurse said he was kicking the whole way out, which I did feel. It was kind of funny.

They put him right up on my belly/chest, which I just love. love. love. It feels so good to feel that warm wet body and see the sweet baby I'd carried all those days. Jason cut his cord and they continued to deliver the placenta and sew me up with a couple stitches. It was a nice distraction from the pain of that to have Spencer up on my chest where I could focus on adoring him. :-) What a wonder...what a miracle, it's all such an amazing thing and I'm so glad things went the way they did.

Spencer weighed in at 8lbs. 13oz and 20 1/4 inches long!!! Our biggest babe yet. :-) And his wonderful head of blonde hair and his adorable little tiny nose, woah, what a cutie!

Seeing the joy on Carson and Olivia's faces the next day when they came to visit was priceless. It felt so right and good to all sit on the bed as a new family of 5. Thank you Lord!!