Jakob Elijah's Birth

Fair warning... this post contains a birth story. I don't think that it contains anything inappropriate for any audience (including the brotherly type), but just in case anyone dislikes hearing birth stories, this is your warning.

Jakob is 11 days old now, and I have some quiet time (for the moment, at least), so here is the story of Jakob's birth.

It was a busy week leading up to the Thursday morning that I would be going to the hospital for the attempt to turn Jakob head down, and then an induction. I had never been induced before, and so had never experienced the feeling of knowing what day our baby's birthday would be. Being able to count down the days really made me want to be ready. I wanted to get as much done, and get the house as clean as I could before going to the hospital. I wanted to make sure there was plenty of food in the house and that everyone had clean clothes to wear, and just do my best to ensure that things would go smoothly for my family while I was in the hospital, and after we came home. So I exhausted myself for the few days leading up to the induction date. I knew I should be resting up, but it felt more important to be prepared. Plus, I knew that I would actually get to start this labor in the morning, after a night of sleep, which was a benefit I'd never had before. With the other three kids, I went into labor right before going to sleep for the night, so by the time they were born, I'd already been awake for more than 24 hours. On Wednesday night, Mike and I went out to dinner together, knowing that this would be the last time we'd be going out, just the two of us, for a long time. We went to Chili's on Ramstein Air Base and discussed baby names. We still hadn't decided what we were going to name this baby. We had a nice time together, and I thought it was funny because we were sitting between two other pregnant women and their husbands. It was strange to know that the next day, I probably would be holding our baby in my arms instead of my belly. When we got home that night, before the kids went to bed, we all gathered in our bedroom and Mike gave me a blessing. It was a great comfort to me and I'm thankful he could do that. The kids were all so excited that they would probably be meeting their baby brother tomorrow! I didn't sleep great that night before, but I still got some good rest.

I woke up early the next morning and showered, got ready, and packed a hospital bag for the baby boy and I. I woke Mike before I called the hospital to find out when I should come in. The doctor had told me to call at 6 a.m., and that they'd probably want me there around 6:30. They said to come at 8, so that gave us a little extra time. We decided to leave at 7, so that we could find a good parking place (parking there is always a challenge if you get there after 7:30) and that also left us some time for Mike to get some breakfast at the hospital. There is a little food court there that has a Burger King, Anthony's Pizza, and Subway (where Grammy worked before she got her job in mammo). Mike got a Whopper Jr., no cheese or mayo for breakfast (I know, weird breakfast) and we chatted with the Burger King manager who happens to be Mike's buddy now... Mike has a tendency to quickly get to be on a first name basis with people who work in fast food places wherever we live. I didn't eat anything because I wasn't supposed to in case there were complications during the ECV and they had to do an emergency cesarean section.

Anyway, after Mike ate and it was almost 8, we headed up to labor and delivery. The nurse, Kara, took us to a small room (I think the same one I was in at 37 weeks when they were going to do an ECV the first time) and got me all hooked up to the monitors and everything. I could feel his head on the right side of my belly next to my belly button, and the nurse said she thought that was his head too, but even if it was his bum, he was transverse. Two nurse midwives came in a short time later to do the ECV. One of them has over 30 years of experience in labor and delivery, and it was great to have her there that day. She felt my belly to see what position he was in, and then they did an ultrasound to make sure. He was laying sideways, face up, with his head on the right side of my belly. She explained to me that they would give me a medication to relax my belly and then try to turn him. Then she started to trying to turn him a little bit, just to see how easily he moved, and he started moving easily, so she and the other midwife just went ahead and worked with him for a few minutes and got him turned. No need for the medication, afterall. It was easy, and that was a relief! The midwife said that they would take me to a bigger labor and delivery room and get the pitocin going. I asked her if she thought that was the best thing to do, instead of just waiting, and she said that she thought it was because he would likely turn again. I agreed, so at that point, I knew that I would soon be holding our baby boy!

The midwife asked the nurse to go get a sheet to wrap around my belly to keep baby from turning again. Apparently they didn't think they had any belly bands. So they brought in the sheet, and they wrapped it around and tied it like a bow on top of my belly. I couldn't help but laugh because I felt like a big birthday present. Plus, the look on Mike's face was hilarious. It looked like he was thinking, "Seriously?!" I guess because he works in Resource Management, he was wondering why Labor and Delivery didn't just request some funding for a few bands, rather than having to resort to using a sheet. The money that would require is a drop in the bucket compared to what many of the other units in the hospital are always asking for. Anyway, once they got that sheet as tight as they could (it seemed pretty pointless, actually, because it wasn't tight at all), they wheeled the bed to another room. Again, I had to laugh, because I felt so silly riding down the hall on a bed, when I was perfectly capable of walking, but I guess it was just easier that way. Once we were in the new room, they got things set up, and then we waited for the midwife to come in and start the induction. Along with Pitocin, she was going to use a Foley catheter that helps move things along more quickly at the beginning. By the time she came in and got things started it was about 10 o' clock.

For the next couple of hours I had contractions that got stronger, but never that bad. We turned on the t.v. and watched the news for a distraction. The O'Reilly Factor was on. We also chatted with Kara, the nurse. She was such a great nurse. I'm really thankful that she was there that day. A couple hours later, the catheter came out and I was dilated to a 5. After that, the contractions became weaker, and I was wondering if I was going to be in labor forever. I'd never been that far along with so little pain before. It was nice, but I was just hoping that the contractions were still doing their job.The midwife broke my water by making a little hole in it, so that it would come out gradually. I think that was safer for the baby since I wasn't that far along yet. They also gradually turned up the Pitocin. I tried standing up for a while, but that seemed to slow things down even more, and with all the stuff I was hooked up to, it was just more trouble that it was worth, so I stayed in bed after that. A few hours later, the midwife came in and checked me and I was only dilated to a 6. I was glad that I had made some progress, but bummed that it was only 1 centimeter in such a long time. At that rate, I still had a long time to go.

Well, in the next little while, the contractions started hurting a lot more, and I could no longer talk to Mike or Mom (who had been able to come during her lunch break, and then had come back after work), and I didn't want to be miserable for so many more hours during this special time (I figured I still had at least a few more hours to go). So I told the nurse I wanted an epidural. She checked to see how much I'd progressed and said I was at a 7, almost 8. Well, based on how I was feeling, and having been through this before, I should have known at that point that I was almost done, but because this was an induction and had been a little different than my previous labors, I just couldn't get over that feeling that things were going to take a lot longer. So the nurse anesthetist was called in, and he got to work. I had to sit up while he tried to find the right place on my back for the epidural. The nurse took off the belly band (she had found a real one earlier, so I hadn't been wearing the birthday present bow all day) and asked Mike to stand there and hold my belly (I don't think that baby would be moving at this point, but I guess she just wanted to make sure). Poor Mike had to stand that way forever! The nurse anesthetist was taking a long time, and just kept saying that I had really soft ligaments so he was having a hard time finding the right place. At one point, I could feel Mike shaking because his muscles were about to give out, so I asked him if he was okay, and he said, "Yeah... are you okay?!" By this point, I had a feeling that things had progressed really quickly, and I really should have just said forget the epidural... I think it's time to push, but I was afraid that it wasn't time yet, and then we'd have to start the whole process all over again. Anyway, finally the nurse anesthetist said I could lie down and he would put in the test dose. Well, as soon as I was on my back, I really felt like it was time to push. I told them so, and they checked, and sure enough, it was time. The nurse anesthetist quickly gave me the test dose and "a little extra just to get her comfy," Mom wiped sweat off my forehead with a towel, the doctor came in, and I pushed. After a few pushes, our baby boy was born! It was 5:40 p.m. They put him on my belly, and Mike got to cut the cord. A few minutes later, my legs started going numb. I feel bad for totally wasting the nurse anesthetist's time, and it would have been nice to be able to get out of bed sooner, rather than waiting to be able to feel my legs again, but all that mattered was we could hold our baby boy and that he was safe! We were so happy! And we still are! 

Grammy went home and got Grandpa and the kids and they all came back to meet Jakob. We were pretty sure at that point that his name would be Jakob, but we hadn't decided on a middle name yet. The kids got to rub his head and examine his little face, and got to watch him have his first sponge bath. Jakob got his first really taste of what id would be like to live with a two year old when Will squeezed his foot really hard. Jakob cried, and we all felt bad, but we also had to laugh a little bit about it. Will has since learned to be gentle with Jakob, and it's sweet to see how attentive he wants to be when Jakob starts to cry. It was so nice to all be together. After awhile, Grammy and Grandpa took the boys home. Avary had cried when we told her it was time to go... she wanted to stay so much, so she stayed with me and Mike until after I had been moved to a room on the Mother Baby unit, and then went home with Mike that night. It was fun to have her there with us. They left around 11 p.m. and then it was just me and Jakob and the nurses who came in to check on us throughout the night. I was looking forward to the next day when Jakob and I could be with our family again, but it was also nice to have some quiet time with our sweet new baby boy.

Mom visiting us on a break from work.

She was able to come a few times throughout the day, and then come and stay until his birth at the end of her workday. It was so nice that she was working right there in the same hospital. Dad was a trooper and stayed home with the kids all day. The kids called us during the day and it was so fun to be able to talk to them. They all asked if Belly Baby was born yet, and Will asked, in his sweet toddler voice if I was bringing Belly Baby home yet.

The Pitocin and IV fluids.

The monitor.

Jakob getting cleaned up after spending a few minutes in my arms after his birth.

Lots of dark hair. Just like Avary when she was born.

On the scale.
4202 grams = 9 lbs. 4 oz.
20 inches
A big boy!

Jakob with his family.

A happy daddy with his baby.

We love those cheeks.

Time for his sponge bath!

The kids had fun watching him get washed.

Grandpa and his new Grandson.

Grammy and her new Grandson.

Avary watching her new baby brother.

Nice and cozy.

Waiting for Mommy to finish showering so we can go to our new room.

Mama and baby in our new room.

Avary was a little friend in the hospital. She stayed late that night with Mike, and then hung out at the hospital quite a bit for the next couple of days. The boys would get bored pretty fast when they came to visit, but Avary always wanted to stay longer.

Our sweet boy!