Simple Suburbia: Mason's Birth Story

Tuesday April 15th I had my 39 week appointment at the OB (I was 38w5d). I had been having some contractions for a couple weeks, but never anything I could time. I had been dilated for about a month already and at my appointment the week before I was "3+" centimeters and 70% effaced. I was anxious to see if I had progressed at all since I had an induction scheduled for Friday 4/18. (The induction was schedule due to Mason's heart rate spiking and decelerating during my contractions. I was monitored weekly by NST.) At my appointment I found out I was 4cm and still 70%. I was excited and figured I would be ready for my induction in a few days. My doctor asked if I minded if she stripped my membranes. She said she prefers patients to go into labor naturally if possible. I had my membranes stripped with Carson and it didn't do anything so I said why not. Dr. G said she would be working that evening at the hospital and she really hoped she would see me. Like I said, the membrane stripping in my last pregnancy did nothing so I didn't take her seriously. When I left the office she said "I bet I'll see you tonight!" I laughed and said "See you Friday!" Fast forward to a few hours later and I was timing contractions and calling Nick to come home from work!

Last bump picture - 38w5d at the doctor!

Timing contractions - 4/15!

After my appointment I went home to Carson and did a few things around the house. I had a little to-do list in my head of things I wanted to get done before the induction on Friday. I decided we should run to Target to pick up a few essentials like a nursing tank I had been eyeing. Being a mom is so fashionable! :) While at Target with Carson I had some contractions. I started to realize we hadn't been there long and I'd had quite a few. I started to time them in my phone and then headed home. On the way home I called my mom to fill her in on my appointment and my contractions. She asked if I wanted her to come up "just in case". I told her I probably didn't need her but I wouldn't mind the company. Once we got home, I started getting a little nervous so I was running around cleaning up and getting things ready. My mom arrived and I continued to time contractions and hang out with her and Carson. My contractions were pretty sporadic. For example, I'd have one and have another in 3 minutes, but then I would wait 14 minutes for another. I called the OB for advice and the nurse said that I should wait until they're about 5-7 minutes apart on a regular basis. She said she wasn't concerned since I was able to talk and walk through my contractions as well. Soon after my contractions started becoming more regular and I called Nick to see if he could work from home for the afternoon. Nick got home and I'm pretty sure he thought this was a false alarm. He said I didn't look pained at all so he didn't think it was the real deal. Quickly after he got home my contractions were coming quicker, about 2-3 minutes apart! I decided it was definitely time to head to the hospital. We packed up the car and gave Carson a million kisses before heading out the door. Once we hit the road we were looking at my notepad I was using to track my contractions. Nick asked how long it had been since my last one and it had been 11 minutes. I asked if we should turn around and go back home or at least pull over and wait to see if this was a false alarm. He insisted we keep going. We got to the hospital around 4pm and they got us right into a triage room. The resident checked me and I was 4cm, "almost 5". My contractions were about every 3-5 minutes according to their monitor. I was admitted to my own room around 5:15pm - yay!

Excited to be admitted!

Once I got into my room they told me I could get the epidural any time. That's when it became real to me, I was going to meet Mason....SOON! I chose to wait and the nurse kept commenting on my pain threshold. She said the other nurses were laughing that I walked from triage to my room at 5cm while contracting and I was joking and laughing. She said many women are moaning and even request wheel chairs. She made me feel pretty tough, haha! I went to the bathroom before they hooked me up to everything and realized I was bleeding quite a bit. I panicked but she said it was probably just from getting checked. After that I got hooked up to the IV and monitors. My doctor was working to train residents at the hospital that night from 7p-7a so they decided to wait until she arrived at 7p to break my water. They advised me that some staff from the NICU would be attending the birth due to Mason's fetal heart arrhythmia. It made me nervous for a split second but then I realized that we were lucky to have everyone we needed there just in case something were to go wrong. They also told me that I should let them know about wanting an epidural with 30-45 minutes notice. They were really busy that night and one of the anesthesiologists was in a surgery with a c-section patient. It felt like forever waiting for 7p. The nurse came in a few times to check on us but we mainly just chatted and texted updates to friends/family. At one point the nurse came in and said "Are you okay!?" I was so confused. She said she saw some really strong contractions on the monitor and thought she was going to come in and find a baby on the bed, haha! My contractions had definitely intensified but they weren't anything I couldn't handle. Dr. G arrived at 7 and got into our room around 7:10p. She checked me and I was "5+" centimeters. I was expecting her to break my water but she suggested I get my epidural first because I would probably progress very quickly once my water broke. I had to get a bunch of fluid in me before getting the epidural so I couldn't get the epidural until 7:45p. As soon as that was over at 8p, the nurse started prepping the delivery table. Mason would be here soon, I was so excited! Around 8:45p I felt light headed so I had a popsicle. I felt like I was just hanging out, it didn't feel like labor at all! The nurse said Dr. G would come in soon to break my water so she started prepping the bed with some extra pads. When she went to put them under me, she said "Did your water break?!" I was totally numb from the epidural (which I hated) so I had no idea. I told her "I don't know, did it?!" Haha! Dr. G came in and said it looked like my bag had partially broken. She finished it and checked me and said I was at 6cm and 90% effaced. Mason's head was at -1 station. At 9:10p I got nauseous and light headed again so I had another popsicle. I felt so relaxed from the epidural I even took a little cat nap! Around 9:45p I moved around and felt like I was leaking a bit (sorry TMI). They called the doctor in to check me. Dr. G got in at 10p and I was 10cm! They turned on the warmer for Mason. I was so shocked how different this birth was from Carson's birth. With Carson when I found out I was 10cm they had me "labor down" for a while and I just sat around at 10cm waiting. Totally different this time! Once everything in the room was ready and Dr. G was scrubbed up, they said I could start pushing. With Carson, my epidural wasn't too strong so I knew when I was contracting and I knew when to push. This time my epidural had me completely numb and I had no clue when to push. I also couldn't move my right leg AT ALL. They had to lift it up into the stirrup for me! Before my first push I glanced at the clock, i twas 10:20pm. With Carson I pushed for 59 minutes so I wanted to mentally prepare myself. I pushed through TWO CONTRACTIONS and Mason was born 4 minutes later at 10:24pm! I was in shock. During my last push I saw Dr. G reach for the nasal aspirator bulb and I was thinking "What is she going to do with that?" Then I heard her sucking something out and I looked down and there was my beautiful baby boy! It was seriously SO fast I think my jaw dropped! I even said "Whoa, that was so easy!"

They made me sit up for a while and it was really uncomfortable being so straight up!

Mason was born on April 15, 2014 at 10:24pm. He weighed 6lbs 12 oz. and was 19" long. He received an initial apgar score of 8 and a second score of 9. The NICU wasn't in to attend the birth since it went so fast but they arrived shortly after and listened to his heart for 5 straight minutes. Talk about nerve wracking. In those 5 minutes his heart only skipped a beat twice! That was a big improvement from our NSTs. The nurses checked later in our post-partum room and only one nurse heard it skip a beat once. Since then, nobody has heart his heart skip a beat. <3