Monday 14 July 2014

He's here! MacBoy's Birth Story



Well clearly a lot has changed since my last post! We are now a family of 4! Little JD joined us on Sunday, June 29th, 2014 at 5:57pm weighing in at 7lbs 7oz and 20" long. He was born at 37 weeks, 5 days gestation following a very fast and furious labour and delivery. I'm fairly certain he is perfect in every way, although I am totally biased. 

Little did I know when I was taking the photo on the left that it would be my last bump photo and the sweet little face on the right would be joining us approximately 24 hours later. 

On Saturday, June 28th J and I had a wedding to attend. J was in the wedding party so we kept joking as long as we made it through the wedding, our little man could make his appearance any day after that (I was getting fairly uncomfortable at this point in my pregnancy an the hot, humid southern Ontario summer was not helping). Apparently he took this quite literally. The wedding was wonderful and I had no signs of impending labor at this point... No cramping, nothing. When I woke up on Sunday I was exhausted and a little nauseous but I figured it was due to our very late evening the night before and being a little dehydrated so I headed to the barn for morning milking and carried on as per usual. T was at my in laws and they kindly offered to keep her for a couple more hours so I could take a nap... In hindsight, thank goodness I did! 

After I woke up from my nap I got ready for my friend's daughter's baptism that afternoon. The service started at 1pm and throughout the hour long baptism I noticed a few cramps but they were so sporadic and all over the place I figured it was due to being dehydrated. It was about a billion degrees that day and I knew I hadn't been drinking enough water. After the service I headed home to change for the BBQ that was to follow the baptism and to pick up T. The cramps were still there, but totally manageable and I really, truly thought they were Braxton Hicks. 

We arrived at the BBQ around 3pm. This is when I started to realize these cramps were definitely becoming timeable and lasting longer than before. At this point they were probably 4-5 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. My friend noticed I wasn't acting like myself and after consulting with her and another guest at the BBQ who happened to be a doula it was decided I should probably head to the hospital to get checked out, just in case. The lovely doula made the comment that I would be "having this baby before dark." At the time I thought no way. I didn't even really think I was in active labour! Haha, jokes on me. 

I texted J around 4pm and told him that we should probably head in to the hospital and that I would drop T at his parents and head home to take a shower, pack a bag (so unprepared!) and see what the contractions did after that. As he was baling hay, I told him not to rush and to aim to be home between 5 and 5:30pm. 

I kinda figured that after a hot shower the contractions would fizzle out and that would be that. Boy, was I wrong! As soon as I got out, it's like they doubled in intensity and were now coming every 2 minutes and lasting about 45 seconds to 1 minute long. At this point I finally clued in that this was the real deal. As soon as J got home he had a quick shower and we left for the hospital around 5:15pm. 

The car ride to the hospital was fairly unbearable as the contractions were one on top of the other and by the time we pulled into the parking lot all I could think about was pushing. I wasn't even sure if I was capable of making it to the second floor to labour and delivery but I did. The nurses were waiting when we arrived as I had called ahead and after spending about 30 seconds in the early labour/triage room I was wheeled to a delivery room where the nurse announced I was fully dilated and he was ready to arrive... And there was no time for an epidural (cue small panic attack). A few seconds later my water basically exploded across the room and one of the poor nurses and then it took all my strength and concentration not to just push him out while we waited for the OB to show up. I swear it took him 5 hours to get there when in reality it was more like 10 minutes. 

Once the OB arrived, I pushed for approximately 3 minutes and JD was born! 

We had arrived at the hospital around 530pm and he was born at 557pm. If I had to do it without drugs at least it was quick!

As much as I was terrified for a natural delivery, the recovery has been amazing! 

So far, JD is an absolutely wonderful baby. He rarely fusses and sleeps like a champ. T is fairly smitten with her "baby brother" and has been a wonderful big sister (although a little over zealous with the snuggles and kisses... I find myself mindlessly saying "gentle" every time she gets within 3 feet of him). 



We are settling into life as a family as 4 and slowly but surely finding our rhythm. Thank goodness my mom joined us for 5 days after he was born... We ate like kings and T had the best time with her GeeGee. J has been a great support with T as well, taking her for tractor rides to give me a break and making sure I get enough sleep. It truly does take a village to raise a child. 


And these two are never very from each other... He is the best bodyguard around. 

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations! How quick was that!? He is gorgeous x

    ReplyDelete
  2. congratulations for your sweet little boy!

    ReplyDelete

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