Well, this is how it started....
Just a simple Non-Stress Test for the baby. Nathan left just before 8am for work, and I left for my appointment at the hospital for the test. Because I was five days overdue, the test was a requirement by my doctor to make sure that everything was still going well inside there in babyland. I left the boys with Jenn (thankfully she agreed to go in late for work that morning), and fully intended to be back home in an hour.
As I was saying bye to Nathan he teased that it was pointless for him to be heading to the office since he'd be getting a call telling him to come back home to have a baby shortly after my appointment finished up. I teased back that there would be no such luck, but that I'd call him anyway when I was finished to let him know how things went. I was so sure in fact, that there would be nothing abnormal about the stress test, that I didn't bring anything to the hospital. No paperwork, no hospital bag. Nothing. Denial? Perhaps.
So, I arrived at the hospital, they checked me in for my appointment and off to be hooked up to a bunch of monitors I went! (If you're one of the lucky ones whose body thinks that the regular 40 weeks is acceptable for a pregnancy and have never had a non-stress test, then one...I hate you. And two, during a stress test, they hook you up to monitor contractions, fetal heart rate, etc. and then they give you a little clicky that you press each time you feel the baby move. I think the goal is to monitor you for twenty minutes or so. Well, I got through maybe ten minutes before the nurse looked over at me and said "Hun, I think you may be having this baby today. I'll call your doctor.". I'd been having contractions here and there all morning, so I figured I'd likely go into labor sometime that afternoon or the next day anyway, but for some reason her news came as sort of a shock to me.
Turns out, when I was having contractions, most were normal, but there was one that occurred where the baby's heart rate dropped after the contraction had ended, causing concern. My doctor later described it as a symptom of an aging placenta (T.M.I.?). When the placenta starts getting old (which mine was), it can calcify. When contractions occur, all of the blood gets squeezed out of the placenta and then should return quickly once the contraction is over. This may cause the baby's heart rate to drop just a smidge during a contraction, but should come right back up. Because my placenta wasn't functioning the way it was supposed to, the blood supply likely wasn't immediately returning, causing the dip in heart rate after the contraction ended. It only happened once, but because I was overdue and already having contractions for the morning, they decided to admit me. The plan was to allow my contractions to continue on their own until noon and then break my water if things hadn't progressed far enough alone. I, of course, asked them if I could just go home until noon, to which they responded that I had already been officially admitted. We were on track for having this baby.
So I texted Nathan and got ready to eat my big fat slice of humble pie. Of course he had been right. Oooooooof course he had. "Hey, might want to get ready to leave. Think they're admitting me, call you in a bit when I know for sure".
So, seriously like 10 minutes later (I don't even want to know how fast that boy was driving)....Nathan shows up next to me at the hospital. We spent a good deal of the morning in the recliner in the NST room before we were transferred to this luxurious room over at labor and delivery:
Yep. You read that right. "Hallway 1". As in the hallway. Apparently October 12th was a happening day to go into labor because the hospital was so packed with women having babies that they had set up 4 or 5 makeshift rooms down the hallways of the labor and delivery wing.
Glamorous, no? That red line on the floor to the left is the door clearance line for the operating room for the C-sections. The same O.R. in fact, that I eventually ended up in.
Shortly after being moved to my room with a view, I got this cute text from Jenn, with the exclamation, "We're going to be big brothers today!" I'm still curious how she got them both to smile at the same time (teach me your ways oh wise one!).
Well because it took forever for an actual delivery room to open up, noon came and went without my water being broken. No one wants a baby being born in the hallway, so they decided it'd be best to wait to push things along until we actually had a room. Couldn't agree more. My contractions were definitely still there, but weren't anything too terribly miserable (thankfully). The only bum part in all of this was that they told me to stay on a liquid diet (broth, jello, water, etc) from the point they admitted me in the NST area on. Boo. Nathan's sandwich and lunch smelled delish (although hindsight, I'm thankful they gave me restrictions on eating considering I actually fell into the category for reasons they make those rules in labor).
Finally, finally (!!) at 2:05 we were given an actual labor and delivery room. Hooray! Let's get this show on the road! Fifteen minutes later, my doctor came in to break my water....and then things went haywire. (It's weird to write this all out because it comes off sounding so dramatic. Trust me, I'm not trying to be a drama queen here, but in all honesty, there was a lot going on from this point forward). Breaking my water almost instantly started "real" contractions and the first big one that I had dropped Tanner's heart rate in half, from 140 beats to 70. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I didn't realize what was happening until everyone around me started to panic. The nurse quickly asked me to flip onto my side. When I asked her which one, and she snapped back..."Doesn't matter, just MOVE". I moved to one side, then she moved me to the other, then up to my hands and knees. In the meantime, she asked Nathan to press the call button to the nurse's station and when he did she yelled that she needed another pair of hands in our room now. Ok, I wasn't panicky when she asked me to flip over quickly, but the tone in her voice and the four (yes four!) nurses, plus my doctor that rushed into our room after her call definitely made me panic. I had actually assumed that the reason his heart rate had dropped originally was because he had rolled off the monitor on my stomach, not because there was an actual problem. Well, I was wrong. They attached an internal heart rate monitor to Tanner (didn't even know they had those!) and to make a fairly long story short, eventually got Tanner's heart rate stable again. Because of what had just happened though, I was told that we'd be heading over for a C-section, um now. They tossed Nathan a set of surgical scrubs and started getting me ready for surgery about two seconds after that. I'm leaving out a lot of details here, but like I said, written out it all sounds very dramatic. Know that it was stressful and that there were plenty of emotions involved, but in the end it came down to making sure we had a healthy baby delivered that day. That's all that mattered to me and Nathan. A healthy baby.
Nurse Nathan! Make note of the time on that clock, 2:35.
Things went fast after this. They told Nathan to get ready and wait in our room. He couldn't go into the operating room until I was actually on the operating table--super hard for me to not have him there while I was stressing and scared. They prepped me with these awesome and super attractive stockings that also compressed my legs throughout surgery and recovery to prevent blood clots, wheeled me into surgery (it was cold!), the anesthesiologist did my spinal (which immediately made my whole body from my chest down go warm and numb, like a waterfall....top to bottom...strange feeling!), and on went the drapes, etc. The doctor looked at me and said, "Ready to have a baby? Five minutes..."
Because everything was sterile and set at this point, they told Nathan he could come in. Huge relief for me just having him there. I couldn't see anything other than Nathan at that point due to the drape between me and the doctors, but when Nathan came in he said I was already cut open. About two seconds after that, Dr. Dan said he saw an ear, and then Tanner came into our world. That first cry was seriously the sweetest sound I've ever heard! I hadn't realized just how scared I had been until hearing him cry. I wasn't sure what exactly I had expected upon his arrival, but I know that hearing that little cry brought relief, in large doses.
Well it turned out Dr. Dan wasn't kidding about that 5 minute thing he'd mentioned in the beginning. This whole thing went so fast! Remember the clock behind Nathan that said 2:35 pm? Tanner arrived at 3:23 pm. So different than a regular delivery. Funny because I distinctly remember thinking when they were breaking my water (much later than originally planned) that Tanner might not even be born on the 12th, it could be the 13th depending on how quickly my contractions got things moving. God has a sense of humor with my little Type A, plan everything, personality.
My doctor, Renee, bringing Tanner around so that I could see him. I really, really missed having a brand new baby placed on my chest and getting to meet him that way, but again, I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't about how Tanner got here, it was that he was here.
Our beautiful baby boy!
After surgery, Tanner was handed to Nathan and I was wheeled off to recovery. Again, hard for me to not have this brand new baby I had just had with me, but I took a lot of comfort in the fact that during that hour, Tanner never left Nathan's arms. I'm so thankful for that and the bonding time the two of them got together.
They kept me in recovery for a full hour while the feeling started to come back in my lower half. When I was transferred over to labor and delivery recovery wing I still didn't have all of my feeling back, but what I did have, was a private room, which was so nice and a highlight to a semi-rough day for me. The nurse told me that although Tanner had to make a pretty dramatic entrance, he had earned me the right to the one private room that had opened up (just remember, the hospital was so packed with Mommies that we had been in the hallway earlier that afternoon!). Most rooms at the hospital are shared recovery rooms and up until this baby, I have always recovered in one of those. The perk to this private room? Nathan was allowed to spend the night! I needed him to stay this time around, not only for the physical help (C-section recovery is a bear!) but definitely for the emotional side of just having him there.
Because we had a C-section, visitors weren't able to come visit until we were over in the recovery wing (another strange thing and different than our other labors). Usually we have had an inundation of family shortly after having our kids, but this time it was just Nathan and I for the first two, if not three hours after having Tanner. Eventually though, we were cleared to have visitors.
Cousin A.J. meeting Tanner
Auntie Yvette
And shortly after, the boys. I couldn't wait to see them and they were so cute and excited to be meeting "their baby". I love these pictures of the three of them together. Warms my heart. :)
Auntie Jenn Jenn meeting Baby T. She obviously never made it in to work that day. Thank goodness for Auntie Jenn! The boys had a fun day and loved their time playing with her and I loved that I didn't have to worry about them. I'm thankful Jenn and Burkie live so close to all our boys.
Uncle Burkie
And in the morning, who came around the corner and into my room? These smiling faces!! I can't emphasize enough just how excited I was to see them. There's something about your Mom coming to take care of you when you're sick or hurt that just makes everything better. I realize that the pull to come down from Oregon was likely Tanner, but I'd like to think it was to take care of me too ;)
Lala meeting her third baby. My parents weren't supposed to be down until the end of the month, so I made sure to ask that this trip wasn't in exchange for the month I was supposed to get with her here through Thanksgiving. It wasn't. It was just an added bonus. It still makes me tear up with gratitude (I know, I know, these post baby hormones make me super emotional!). It was so unexpected to have them there but so, so needed!
Auntie Christi and Uncle Ty Ty came to meet Tanner in the morning too!
Brother lovin'
Our friends Laura and Aaron (they're Noah and Nathan's parents and are due with their third in April....can't wait to be on the other side of this holding their new little one!)
Meeting Auntie Sarah
Morning 2 in the hospital
Do we look exhausted? After two nights of sleeping in the hospital, we felt exhausted!
My battle wound! 22 staples...
Headed home. Yep. Even in the hospital, drugged up and sleep deprived, we're self-portrait dorks.
When we got home that night, Auntie Sarah came by with Hope. If I have never mentioned this before, Sarah's kids love babies. Tanner was no exception!
Grandma and Grandpa were out of town for business when we went into labor, so on Monday morning Grandma got to meet Tanner. So thankful for the grandparents in my boys' lives. We love you Grandma!
And since coming home, the boys have been getting in plenty of Tanner loving as they get to know their new brother.
So sweet!
So that's it. Slightly high drama for the last one to arrive in this world, but he's here! And healthy! Nathan's been home this week from work, Christi stayed in town, and Jenn and Burke have been over nightly to cook dinner and help out. I'm so thankful for all of the help we've had as I've been recovering (I never, ever want to have another C-section again!) and as we adjust to being a family of five. My heart is full!
