Fischer's Birth Story {7.20-7.22.13}

Friday the 19th my mom drove me to my doctors appointment with Jill Dawson in hopes that she'd strip my membranes.  She checked me and I was still at a 3-3.5 & 3 days short of 38 weeks, so she wouldn't strip me.  (Policy, I guess).  I was bummed, but mom & I made the most of the afternoon & had lunch at Johnny Carino's.  She had heard that eggplant Parmesan induces labor, so we were trying it out.  It was delicious-even though I could only eat half.  We stopped at Costco & headed home.

Saturday {20th} I stayed ultra busy with projects.  The boys & I scrubbed their little pool & filled it with water, T&T helped me hang a shelf & I worked on decorating a few places in the house. T&T had planned on going to Idaho Falls for the weekend, but decided to stay home on the off chance I went into labor.  I felt bad since it was still over 2 weeks till my due date & didn't want them to miss out if I didn't have him.  And, Zac was supposed to be in Nashville for TSFL National Convention and ended up staying home.  We got a refund for the actual conference, but the airline wouldn't refund the ticket, so we'll use that for another trip.

As the day went on, I had more consistent contractions, but wasn't sure if I should go over or not.  Around 8 Zac called his mom and asked her to come over til t&t could be there.  They ended up coming while we were still there.  The boys were kind of nervous about me being gone, so I wanted to put them to bed.  It was crazy thinking it might be my last night with just the two littles.  Bex fell asleep quickly and I just loved on him for a bit-he has been my baby for 3.5 years and a complete joy the entire time.  Then I moved to Grayson and the contractions were pretty strong at this point.  He kept asking why the doctor couldn't just come deliver baby boy at our house....um, no thanks!  I rubbed his arm and then realized we better go and talon came in to lay by him.  He was thrilled to tell him all about the Indiana Jones movie he'd watched earlier.  He gave me an extra big and long hug and kiss & hugged/kissed my belly.  Love him so much.  

I felt kind of dumb on the way over since I wasn't having as consistent of contractions (of course), but Zac reassured me it was better to be safe than sorry and that it was an excuse to have some time alone if nothing else.  We got in there a little after 11, the nurse, Ainsley, checked me and I was at a 4, so only a little progressed since my appointment the day before.  She had us walk the halls for an hour and then she'd check me again.  We walked and reminisced about doing that with Grayson, looked at all the cute babies in the nursery, laughed and talked about how hungry we were, and couldn't believe we'd soon have THREE boys!  After an hour it was time to be checked and I was still at a 4.  She sent us home and I felt so embarrassed and defeated.  I knew it was good we'd come over just in case, but still.  

Since we were being sent home at 1 am, Zac thought it was wise to just stay the night in Boise and drive home first thing in time for church.  Our boys were being cared for & t&t were asleep anyway.  We were still hungry, so we drove to Denny's which was about our only choice, and both ordered the French slam.  We ate and talked (and realized how thankful we were not to regularly eat at places like that at 1 am since the people there and conversations we heard were very strange!)  We ordered chocolate shakes to go and drove to the hotel just across the street from the hospital where we were going to sleep.  Zac ran in to pay, grab our keys, and get checked in, and then came out and drove around back to park.  As I opened my door, I said, "I think my water just broke." (Thankfully Zac had the foresight to bring a towel for me to sit on!).  He asked if I was sure and I thought about it-decided that I definitely hadn't wet my pants-and said yep, it was definitely water breakage...and still going.  So we hurried to the front door and he ran in to tell the guy who'd checked us in that we were having a baby!  The guy was hilarious and shocked and told Zac there was a hospital across the street and not to worry about the room.  Haha!  We got up to the desk and I was pretty much soaked from the waist down.  They were laughing that they'd just seen us and we joked it was the Denny's food + shake.  

They were going to check me, saw the water, decided to just check us in, and got us in our birthing room.  I felt pretty good at this point and was only at a 5, so it took a while.  They did my iv (tried right arm first and the vein burst--ouch! So then did the left), and told us we could just rest and take it easy for a while.  We did!  Zac actually slept pretty hard for about 4 hours which was previously unheard of for him because he worries so much about me.  I was so thankful he got that sleep.  I slept off and on through contractions + getting up to use the bathroom for that 4 hours.  As they were getting more intense I was amazed that Zac could sleep through my heavy breathing (I'm not a screamer or big drama person-more concerned about him staying asleep, but also wanting his comfort, wanting the best of both worlds, ha!).  Of course we had the best nurses-we love St. Luke's so much!

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Zac woke up and chilled by me for a bit, my mom came over sometime between 6&7, 

I asked for an epidural around 8am, and Zac got to sit on a chair in front of me while I curled up into a ball {much better than him holding me and looking behind me at the needle}.  It was a much smoother & less painful experience than with Beckham and I felt great.  It was a different kind of epidural than I'd had with G&B, I could control the dosing and feel much more pressure & a bit more pain with this.  I liked it because I was numb, but not totally so and not all the way worthless.  Plus, it didn't affect my head at all, which I'm grateful for.  I wasn't progressing too quickly, so they started pitocin in the tiniest dose and then things started getting going more.  I kept getting very dizzy and nauseous every time I'd change positions at all, threw up a few times, started getting labor shakes pretty intensely and felt freezing.  My blood pressure always drops MAJORLY about this time and I feel really awful.  I had a shot in the butt for that, some stuff in my iv to get me feeling better, and although he was right there and ready they thought he was high in the birth canal and couldn't get down for some reason.  The nurse asked if I was up to trying something a bit weird.  I told her I was up for anything {I'm a total people pleaser even in the midst of labor & pain-don't want to put anyone out for any reason}.  So she said they wanted me on my hands and knees and to lean my head on my hands {think downward dog yoga position on knees instead of legs straight} and I said as long as Zac turned away I was good with it.  Haha!  They got me in that position and I stayed there for 3 pretty intense and painful contractions and then turned me back around and had me sit criss cross on my butt.  I felt him slam down in the birth canal and immediately needed to push.  They called for the doctor on call {Dr. Kopperud-she was awesome & sweet}, I pushed about 3 times {less than 5 minutes} and Fischer was born at 10:50 am {Sunday July 21st}.  It was much more intense pushing this time than with G&B because of the lessened epidural and my hat is off to those who go natural.  I still like my drugs for childbirth! (;  Zac was an absolute rockstar the entire time-rooting for me and holding my hand-and it's always comforting having my mom there. 

When they set him on me immediately I just bawled.  He was so perfect and amazing and loved and waited for and hoped for.  I loved his little noises and his little features.  They let me bond with him skin to skin for an hour before they cleaned him up and I adored that. He weighed 7.5 pounds & was 20 inches long.  My smallest boy by half a pound & he felt itty bitty!

 

T&T brought the boys over and Fischer had a gift for them {xbox game, super hero costume, food}, and Beckham ran the halls as a superhero which everyone loved.  Dad came over after church, Doll & Mason came.  The guys all went to get lunch and left the girls + Grayson with me and Fischer.  The nurses + doctors + visitors loved their little M&M treats.  Fischer was a great little nurser right away and super sweet & calm.  The boys loved him immediately and I am so thankful for these strong little boys spirits that bless our lives and our home.

 

 

 

We had a steady stream of visitors all day {My entire fam + Zac's parents, Chels & Chris, Em & Layne, Ryan & Alicia, Stephanie Hillman, Lou & Diana} and Zac crashed on the cot around 6 pm.  I just soaked Fischer up and then Zac cuddled up with us in the twin bed till we walked him down to the nursery around 11 & loved watching him.  We both slept great-they had to wake him to eat around 4 am and then again around 8.  Sweet boy.

We spent Monday chilling, had the boys visit again with Taylor and my mom {then my dad came with MORE krispy kreme donuts-yum!-and they all took the boys to Build a Bear where Bex made a super hero bear and Grayson did a dog-no outfit-for his new baby Fischer, so sweet!} and Matt came by and took Zac to lunch.  They brought me back sushi-one of my favorite yummy baby traditions.  Tony, Brenda, and Carly came to visit-so fun, and then Zac left to go home and take night number 2 with the boys.  I got to stay with Fischer and love him all by myself which was wonderful.  It was also a blessing I stayed and extra night because my pain was the worst it was the entire time that second night.  I felt like I was in labor again with no epidural.  The doc said that each child that comes makes the uterus shrinking more painful because it's harder.  Yuck!  It was definitely painful, but after a few hours I was okay and got some more good sleep and middle of the night feedings + cuddles + netflix shows.  Zac came to pick us up Tuesday morning and we were ready to go.  Fischer and I slept in the car on the way home and were so ready to get home to our big boys and be a family of FIVE!  So thankful for your safe journey and arrival Fischer Alan.  You are going to change the world.  Love you more than you know already baby boy.