The Birth of Gavin Wayne

I was nervous, yet excited at the thought of becoming a mom but I was also scared shitless! I liked kids, other people's kids but wasn't sure I knew how to take care of one...when you hold someone else's kid and they cry, you don't know how to tend to their needs right away...so thankfully you can hand them back. That isn't the case with your own child.....our lives were changing forever!!

  March 17th, 2015- I woke up, the feeling going through me was so intense. The thought that I was hours away from giving birth made me nauseous. My husband was almost worse than me...he's a very sentimental and emotional guy which are a couple reasons I fell in love with him. He was great during my pregnancy, tending to my every need and when I told him I needed a soft serve ice cream sundae, or sour patch watermelon, he was on it within minutes. I couldn't have asked for a better husband, life partner, father to my children! We both were so anxious but knew we had to eat and go on about our day since we couldn't go to the hospital to be induced until 7pm that night. We went to one of our favorite local food/ice cream stands called Arrow Queen and got some loaded nachos (It was still one of the food items I could eat since I was gestational diabetic while pregnant). We both tried to take a nap, pass the time....it wasn't happening. I suggested we go to the mall by the hospital to kill some time and try to walk some to help get this baby to come out.

At 5:30pm, we decided to head towards the Dayton Mall. We pulled in and started walking and I had what I thought was regular contractions....stomach felt tight, like a vice was squeezing my insides and pressure in my lower abdomen. Walking through the mall, I had probably 2 or 3 of these but I didn't time them as they weren't close to two minutes apart. We walked up and down almost the whole mall and I had to eat one last time because I knew I would be on a liquid diet once I got into the hospital. I requested Auntie Anne's Pretzels as my last meal before we head in....it was like heaven!!

So, here we are, pulling into Southview Maternity Hospital and parking not knowing that utter chaos was in front of us. We walked up to the check in desk and they asked what we were coming in for. Our response, "We are here to have a baby and get induced". They asked us a bunch of questions about insurance, if I had a living will, if we had a birth plan which at the time, our doctor advised against one because more than half the time, they do not turn out as planned. We were then taken to our birthing room, Suite 1....the same suite that my first nephew, Caleb was born in a little over 12 years ago. The room was HUGE, thankfully as we had anticipated quite a bit of visitors. The nurse had me empty my bladder and change into the gown. Then came the IV and she started explaining to us the process of how the night was going to go for the induction.

First, she explained that they would be checking my cervix, to see how far dilated I was and if I was effaced any more than my last appointment which was 1 1/2 and 50%. She proceeded to explain that the doctor on call starts induction with a prostaglandin gel which will ripen the cervix and help push along induction. One will be given at 8pm then another at midnight. They would then check me again to see my progression. After that, they would start the pitocin. Everything went as planned, 8pm I was dilated still at 1 1/2cm. At midnight I was dilated to 3cm. At this time, I had my husband, mother, step dad, and friend, Katie in the room and we were all tired and slap happy. I had tried to start taking a nap but my contractions were starting to get more intense and closer together, about 3-4 minutes apart. Still nowhere close to full on labor though.

At 4am, the nurse came in to check my dilation and I was still between 3-4cm and they started the pitocin, increasing it every 30 minutes. At 5:15, my water broke. That is the point when my contractions really started to increase and I was about 2 1/2-3 minutes apart and around 6:30-7pm, I expressed that I was in enough pain to request the epidural. They filled me with more fluids for about 30 minutes and sent in the anesthesiologist. At this time, my mother in law and father in law were there and they kicked everyone out of the room. They told me I had to relax (haha, I was about to get a large needle stuck in my back and I'm supposed to relax?). I had to hunch over the edge of the bed with my legs dangling off the side, nobody there to hold my hand and comfort me but the nurse that I had only known for 2 hours since the shift change....palms sweating, contractions continuing, they told me they were ready to inject the needle after they numbed me and told me I would feel a small pinch. I had to tell them to wait for the contraction to stop and then they began. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but boy was I shaking. It had almost started working immediately, the right side becoming more numb than the left but gradually becoming even.

The epidural was amazing! I couldn't feel a thing. If there was a hospital fire and I had to get up to save myself, I wouldn't have made it. Still having not eaten or slept, I was able to relax and possibly take a nap but there was just too much going on and the excitement kept me awake, let alone the nurses continued to come in every 30 minutes to increase the pitocin and the blood pressure monitor going off every 30 minutes also. The nurses then started coming in to move me, side to side, on my back, then the other side again. I asked if I could have some apple juice as I hadn't eaten and my blood sugar was a low 74. They told us they had some concerns, that the baby's heart rate was decreasing after the contraction when it is supposed to decrease when the contraction was happening. Their concern was that the cord was wrapped around his neck so they paged the doctor who was working in a c-section surgery. Our parents had stepped out for a few moments to let us rest but when they found out the news, they were told to come back in and they had given me the oxygen mask to give oxygen to the baby which scared everyone. Their daughter, wife, friend shouldn't need oxygen while going into labor so they all got very concerned and hovered. I was going to stay calm, no need to get worked up and everything was in God's hands.

My husband and I had discussed what we would do if we had to get a cesarean once before but it was very brief and to the point because we were told not to have a birth plan. We agreed that if it came to the fact that it would save me or the baby, we would do it. The doctor came in around 1:30pm, checked my cervix, I was dilated to about 7 1/2cm and 90% effaced and then advised me that she was concerned with what they were seeing on the monitor. She said we had two options, one of which would be to take me off the pitocin and try to naturally contract him but that could be another 8-10 hours or her suggestion, to have the c-section. I asked her what the risks were and she explained that the risks were greater trying naturally because we don't know what was going on while his heart rate decelerated, so we agreed to the surgery.

Within 5 minutes of agreeing to a cesarean surgery, the anesthesiologist was back in the room, the nurses were prepping my husband with a white cover up, hat, booties and gave me the blue hat. I had to take a shot of a fluid antacid that tasted like a grape sour warhead. About 10 minutes later they were wheeling me to my surgery room. My husband freaking out, was asked where his phone was, he thought he couldn't bring it into the sterile room, the nurse told him to go get it as he was about to have a baby!!! I still had my composure but deep down I was scared for my babies life as well as mine but I knew I had the mercy of my doctor and God so it would all be okay!!

The doctor's had me cut open on the table when they brought my husband in. He said he saw 6 doctors, hovering over me and the nurse could tell he was about to pass out so she told him to look over to the right and follow the line on the floor to his chair next to me, behind the curtain. I was so happy to see him....this was the point where I was scared and needed him. I could feel the doctors pulling and tugging at my insides, the pressure of them moving my baby around inside of me. THE MOST AWKWARD FEELING IN THE WORLD! We were sitting for probably 2 minutes, then we hear the doctor say she saw the baby's head, and 30 seconds later we heard him...the gasping air of my baby boy and the first cry. My husband and I looked at each other in the eyes and started crying. Even though we didn't see him the second he came out, we knew he was beautiful, no matter what! He was then taken for his assessment tests.

The nurses took our baby over to the scale, 7lbs 1oz, then measured him, 20 inches long. They asked my husband to cut the cord but he has a weak stomach and refused. He will do it for future children since he now knows what to expect! Gavin was then checked for the APGAR test which checks the baby's heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response, and color. 10 being perfect (no baby is ever scored perfect), Gavin was mostly 9's and a couple 8's on the ratings. We had delivered a perfect baby boy at 2:07pm!

An hour after surgery, I was sent to recovery where I could hold my baby for the first time! I was in complete bliss, filled with the most love I've ever had for anyone in my life. Extremely exhausted, I reached out for Gavin and ready to do what mothers do best, nurture and protect! The lactation consultant was there in the recovery room with me to help me get him to latch on for breastfeeding. All I wanted to do was cuddle and take it all in but he needed me, he needed me to feed him. Finally after about an hour, he had latched on enough to eat for his cherry size belly and we were being moved to the newborn room where we would be the next two and a half days.

Nurse after nurse, shift after shift, they were all so great with helping us get settled in and feeling comfortable. Gavin slept majority of the time but wanted to eat every two hours. I would admire him for hours, when we didn't have visitors. He must have had over 20 people come to see him while we were there. He is one loved boy already and exactly a month after he's been born, he is still having people come to see him and bring him goodies!

I love him with every inch of my body and cannot wait to see him grow, but hopefully not too fast! I stare at his pretty deep blue eyes that he got from daddy, the tiny button nose and heart shaped lips he got from me. The LONG golden blonde hair and his long, luscious lashes always astonishes me. His perfect 10 fingers and 10 toes, and the fuzz hair on his shoulders and ears that one day, will turn to a young man's innocence. I know every inch of my son's anatomy and it continues to change so as a mother who struggled to get here, I will cherish and admire every single moment I have with him!

Here he is, one month old....