The birth story of Roland John - PART ONE
When we found out we were expecting our third child, we were surprised and very excited. With the exception of some morning sickness in the first trimester, the pregnancy went very well. Originally I thought I was having another girl, since my symptoms were so similar to my last pregnancy, but the closer I got to my ultrasound date, I started having dreams about a baby boy, so I was not surprised when we were told we were having another sweet baby boy. :)
I worked at my waitressing job throughout the entire pregnancy, which was physically difficult, but I stayed active, and tried to eat healthy (most of the time). Baby Boy was healthy and thriving, and I loved watching my belly getting bigger and rounder each week.
I had a feeling that this baby would be born a little early, but not quite as early as my last baby (who came at 37 weeks 3 days). For some reason, I kept thinking he would come on July 15th or 18th.....however the 15th came and went. I started feeling a little discouraged. Maybe this baby was not going to be early after all? Maybe I would be pregnant FOREVER?! (Of course I knew that wasn't true, but at 9 months pregnant, a day can feel like an eternity.)
This was my last belly picture, taken at 38 weeks 5 days - the day before he was born!
The same night this photo was taken, 7/16/13, I started having contractions. They were pretty mild, but spaced pretty close together. I didn't think much of it, since my body likes to go into prodromal labor (AKA false labor) for a week or two leading up to birth. I timed a few contractions just for fun, but I wasn't really concerned that this was the real deal yet. I decided to go to bed. I knew that if it WAS labor, contractions would get stronger and I'd wake up. Either way, I should try to get some rest.
I didn't sleep very well that night. I woke up several times and noticed I was still contracting, but again, they were not very strong and I wasn't concerned. The next morning, the contractions had slowed down to about every 5-10 minutes. I had a midwife appointment at 11:00 AM, and I was kind of excited to tell them what was happening and see what they thought.
Jacob had worked all night, and he stayed awake to go with me to my appointment. We saw Katie, the newest midwife in the practice. She's very sweet. I told her about the contractions, and she looked through my chart and noticed that both of my other babies had been early, and seemed excited that I could be in early labor. However, when she checked my cervix, it was still the same as it had been at my last appointment: 2-3 cm and 75% effaced. Since no progress had been made there, I chalked the contractions up to prodromal labor and figured I would have to wait a bit longer to meet my baby boy.
When Katie measured my fundus, she said I was only measuring 34 weeks, which was odd since I'd been measuring ahead most of the pregnancy. This could be because baby had dropped down so low into my pelvis, or it could mean that the baby was small. Given the fact that Lennon was only 5 lbs 12 oz at 39 weeks 5 days, Katie was a little concerned about this. She said that with Lennon, it was likely that I had undiagnosed interuterine growth restriction. I told her how we'd been told that he had lost weight prior to his birth and nobody knew why. Given this information, Katie thought it might be a good idea to send me for a growth ultrasound to see how baby was measuring. If he was measuring very small for his gestational age, they might decide to induce my labor right away. I wasn't too worried about the baby being tiny. I actually thought he seemed like my biggest baby yet. But I liked the idea of having an ultrasound just to check on him and make sure he was doing OK in there.
They sent us to ultrasound right away. I watched as she took all the measurements. Most of them were in the 37 week range. I wasn't sure if that would be considered so small that they would want to induce me? Turns out they were not concerned. He was measuring in the 35th percentile for weight, so he'd likely be a smaller baby, but not dangerously small. They estimated his weight to be 7 lbs 2 oz, which sounded about right to me. I went home, pretty convinced that I was not in labor.
The contractions continued throughout the afternoon. I started to feel sort of nauseous and sick. I decided to run to Shopko to pick up Jacob's prescription, and also get a few things I needed for my hospital bag (travel sized shampoos, etc). While I was there, I was suddenly struck with stomach cramps and had to run to the bathroom, where I had diarrhea and a bunch of strong contractions. Now I was starting to become convinced that I could actually be in labor, since I'd felt sick and had diarrhea in early labor with Juliette.
I went home, and started working on getting things together for my hospital bag. If this really was actually labor, I figured I'd better pack. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! LOL! Contractions were starting to pick up by mid-afternoon, but were still not incredibly strong. I figured I had a lot of time. My previous labors had dragged out for days, and I was sure this one would follow suit.
Juliette was begging for macaroni and cheese, so I made some for her, and tried to eat a little bit myself. Eating is the last thing I want to do when I am in labor, but I thought I should at least try to eat something. I felt very nauseous, but I was able to get a little bit of food down. I was drinking tons of water all day, trying to stay hydrated.
I was by myself all afternoon with the kids. Jacob had stayed up until about 2:00 pm, after working all night, so he needed to sleep. I wanted to let him sleep until at least 8:00 pm, which I didn't think would be a problem since surely my labor (if that's even what this was) wouldn't progress that quickly. More than likely, if things did pick up, it'd be during the night, and maybe the baby would be born the next day sometime (which would be the 18th - my second birth date prediction).
Throughout the day, I was chatting with my friends in private groups on facebook. I'm in a group of local mamas who are all having babies this summer, so I was talking to them and keeping them updated on everything. I felt kind of bad since two of these mamas were VERY overdue, and I hoped they would have their babies before me. But it did kind of seem like maybe my baby was going to come sooner rather than later...
All of a sudden, my contractions were becoming VERY intense. I went from being able to sit down at the computer and type, to needing to get up and move and breathe through the contractions. I decided to heat up my heating pad thingy that straps around my hips. That felt pretty nice. I was buzzing around the house, packing my bags. I had the baby's bag packed already, but was struggling with mine. Some of the things I needed were in the bedroom where Jacob was sleeping, and I still did not want to wake him up. I was determined to handle everything on my own until at least 8:00 pm.
Lennon had asked if the neighbor kid could come in to play. I said OK, thinking that if they stayed in Lennon's room, at least he would be out of my hair for awhile. But once Dontae was over, I started to feel a little overwhelmed with having another person, not a family member, in my house while I was laboring. Yes, I was clearly in labor now....no denying it. I was feeling a little irrational and annoyed. I knew Lennon had told all the neighbors that I might be having my baby today, yet nobody had offered to help. Why couldn't Lennon go to Dontae's house? Why did I have to have a house full of kids while I was in labor? Geez! I remembered during my labor with Juliette, how I'd gotten annoyed with Dontae when the kids were playing outside, and it struck me as funny. Apparently this was a pattern. I go into labor, Dontae annoys me, and that's when I realize I'm truly in labor. LOL
The contractions were getting very close together, and incredibly intense. I was starting to vocalize during the contractions, but trying to hide this from the kids. I went back to the facebook group and told my friends that things were getting intense and I was not doing well. Looking back, I realized I'd had typos left and right, which is not like me at all. I mentioned that my hips felt like they were splitting apart with each contraction. Someone commented that it sounded like I was in transition already. Surely that couldn't be right!
I was really overwhelmed. I could not think straight. I was sweaty and hot and nauseous. The contractions were ridiculous. One on top of each other with practically no breaks in between. I felt them all in my lower back and hips. I needed to finish packing. I needed to wake up Jacob. I needed to call my mom to come over. We needed to LEAVE. ASAP.
I went into the bedroom. Usually Jacob wakes up immediately when that door opens, but this time he didn't, which made me feel annoyed (not his fault!) I didn't want to actually WAKE him up myself, because I felt guilty that it was before the 8:00 pm wake-up time that I had made up in my head. So I started gathering up clothes and throwing them in my hospital bag. I couldn't think of what I needed, so I was just grabbing random things. Underwear, sweatpants, a few different shirts. Nothing would match, but who cares? I had to stop to lean against the dresser and moan through another terrible contraction, then I woke up Jacob. He shot up in bed, asking "what's wrong?!" I told him we were going to have a baby. He sprang into action. He said maybe we could go to my mom's house and labor there before going to the hospital. I said no, we need to go straight to the hospital. NOW.
Jacob realized that Dontae was still over, and asked him to leave. He asked me if my mom was on her way, and I realized that I had started chatting with her on facebook but had walked away without actually asking her to come. Oops. So we called her and told her to come immediately. She asked if she should stop for gas and I said no, just come. NOW.