Tate's birth story

Being pregnant this time around has made me think a lot about my pregnancy with Tate and his birth. The story of his birth is not written down anywhere so I figured it's about time to do that! 

I guess we'll start at the beginning. We found out we were pregnant on Saturday morning, Dec. 19, 2009 (wow that's a long time ago!). We were in total shock the whole weekend. I called my best friend, Ashley, and told her, but we decided to wait to tell our families until after Christmas. The morning sickness started almost immediately and it was kinda rough trying to hide that through Christmas at 2 houses. 

Pregnancy was not particularly fun, but let's focus on the positives. When I went for my dating ultrasound I thought I was 8 weeks 4 days along, but turns out I was 11 weeks. Fast forward a LONG time. Despite my best efforts to have him a week early, Tate hung on until his due date. Now for the actual birth story.

On the morning of August 10, 2010, I went to the OBGYN and begged to be induced. The doctor said that the hospital was too full and they weren't allowing inductions that day. I was devastated! She offered to strip my membranes and see if that would send me into labor on my own, but that it would only work if I was really ready. I agreed and that was a pretty painful procedure- let's just say she kinda has man hands and is not exactly a gentle person. That appointment was at 8 or 8:30 am. 

By 9:30 am, I was in labor. I had back labor and after several false alarms, I was determined to stay at home until I was absolutely positive that this was the real deal. Well, around noon, AJ finally convinced me it was time to go to the hospital and have a baby. I had thrown up and the contractions were so painful that I was on my hands and knees with AJ rubbing my back through each one. So, we grabbed some pillows and my bag, called my mom, and headed out. 

When we arrived at the hospital I sat in the lobby while AJ went to the bathroom and then we headed to labor and delivery. It's a secure area, so you have to pick up a phone and call the L&D front desk and then they buzz you in. On previous (false alarm) trips, we always had to call and explain why we were there. This time, we had our bags and pillows and I was leaning on the wall moaning. They have a camera and watch the entrance and they buzzed us in before we even picked up the phone. That made me chuckle. I spent a while in the triage area to make sure I was really in labor- I just laid in the bed and moaned the whole time while AJ answered questions. 

At some point, they finally moved me into my room and a bit later my mom arrived. From 9:30-5:30 is really hazy because I was so focused on dealing with the contractions. At 5:30 pm, I finally received my epidural- HALLELUJAH! That was the best decision ever. Things were much better after that and I was able to talk to my mom and then my dad and brother when they arrived. 

I think I started pushing around 10:30 pm (again, I was a little busy!). The whole pregnancy I was so scared of labor. I seriously have like a negative pain tolerance and I wasn't sure how the heck I was going to do this, but I was prepared for the absolute worst pain I could imagine and it really wasn't THAT bad. Don't get me wrong, it certainly wasn't fun, but the epidural held and I knew that baby wasn't coming out unless I did the work. I threw up the whole time I was pushing so that was interesting. 

Then, FINALLY, at 1:13 am on Wed 8/11/10 (his due date), by beautiful baby boy came into the world. He weighed 9 lbs 14 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. He was so perfect! 

My mom slept at the hospital with me and held him that whole first night (well, I guess it was only a few hours by the time we were all settled in). He was breathing really fast and she had to pat him the whole night to keep his breathing regular. His rapid breathing was labeled as TTN (transient tachypnia of the newborn) which basically just means that he had a rough transition to the real world. Tate was admitted to the Level 2 nursery Wed around lunch (for the breathing and then not digesting his food) and stayed there until Saturday when he was finally able to come room in with me. I was SO lucky that I got to stay at the hospital with him the whole time and my mom was able to stay as well. We came home on Sunday (I think) and started adjusting to life with a newborn.