A Baby Story

I can't believe Colin is already 2 weeks old! Today would've been my due date.

Overall, he is a wonderful baby. He sleeps pretty good and only cries when he is hungry or cold (I hope this doesn't change). He did have jaundice and had to be on the lights for a week, but he is all better now.

Strapped to the Bili Bed. Since he was glowing Chris kept saying, "Take me to your leader." It was funny. Poor Colin. Luckily, he is too young to know what is going on.

I decided that I wanted to write a little bit about my experience starting a couple of weeks before he was born up to when he came into this world. I writing this so that I can look back later on and remember the details that I would otherwise forget. (I wish I would have done this with my other kids.)

I love this picture. It was taken pretty much right after I saw him for the first time. It is such an amazing experience seeing you baby for the first time. Chris and I both thought he looked like Logan.

I had a ton of Braxton-Hicks Contractions with this kiddo. They started to get pretty strong and painful the last couple of weeks. I thought I was in labor numerous times starting around 35 weeks pregnant. It got to where pretty much every time I was walking I would start having contractions. A lot of the times I would get shooting pains through my bladder (especially when I was at Wal-mart. No idea why.)

Starting Friday June 18th I began having regular contractions. I thought for sure I was in labor. I even laid down for awhile to see if they would go away and they didn't. We decided to go to Target to go for a walk to see if they would get stronger. They did, but on the drive home they went away. It was so frustrating.

Sunday June 20th I started having regular contractions again, for about 3 hours, but then they went away all of a sudden. I thought for sure these contractions must at least be dilating me or something.Wednesday June 23rd we finally went to the hospital at about 3 a.m. because I couldn't sleep and I was having regular, painful contractions. To my dismay I was only dilated to a 1! They sent me home after a couple of hours. I went to sleep for about 4 hours and when I woke up I was still having contractions. I had a doctor's appointment that day and was surprised to find out that I was dilated to a 3 when the doctor checked me! Finally my contractions were doing something. At this time I was 36 weeks and 6 weeks pregnant. The doctors told me to go home and when the contractions became more regular and painful to come back to the hospital. I thought for sure I was in labor and going to have the baby. That evening around 5 we decided to go back to the hospital, because my contractions were still regular and painful. To my dismay again I was still only dilated to a 3. (I had this problem with my other 2 pregnancies. I would be having regular painful contractions and not dilate at all). After a couple of hours the nurse sent me home saying that there was nothing they could do and that they couldn't induce me because I wasn't far enough along. I was pretty frustrated and cried for awhile that night. My contractions eventually went away. I decided that I wouldn't go back to the hospital unless my water had broken or the baby was practically coming out. It was so embarrassing to me to have to be sent home twice. After all, shouldn't I be a pro? This was my 3rd kid.

Well, I went throughout the week and weekend with still no sign of baby. I guess it was a good thing, because Ethan's birthday was on the 27th and I'm glad I was able to be there for his party.

I went to the doctor on June 30th thinking that I must be more dilated or effaced because of all of the painful contractions I had been having. At this time I was 37 weeks 6 days pregnant. Unfortunately I was still only a 3 and still pretty thick. I think the doctor felt bad for me though, because he decided to strip my membranes. He said that he wasn't sure if it would do anything, but he would do it anyways.

Well, pretty soon after the doctor's appointment I began having painful contractions. After a couple of hours they became very regular and more painful then I had had so far in this pregnancy. At around 5 I decided that I would take the chance and go back to the hospital. I had laid down for an hour and my contractions had continued. Chris' mom came and got the boys and we headed to the hospital.
Before being admitted I told Chris that I needed food. Once you are admitted they won't let you eat until the baby is born and from past experience of being in labor forever (Ethan 37 hours, Logan 25 hours) I wanted to make sure that I got something to eat. We decided to eat at the hospital cafeteria (Mckay Dee has yummy food and my contractions were getting more painful). I checked in at 6:00 p.m. and to my delight I had the same nurse, Lisa, who was working the first time I had gone to the hospital. She was so nice and I really did not like the nurse the second time I had gone to the hospital. She was rude and not sympathetic at all.


Anyways... Lisa checked me and I was dilated to a 4! I was so thrilled. I still wasn't effaced much though. After monitoring me for a while, the doctor decided to admit me. I was so excited. My doctor happened to be at the hospital, so once I was moved to a delivery room he came to check on me and break my water. Unfortunately, the baby was still really high up and so he didn't feel comfortable breaking my water at the moment. The nurse would come in and check me every couple of hours and I still wasn't dilating any more; even after being put on a heavy dose of pitocin. At midnight I decided to get an epidural. It was wonderful and helped me relax so much. At 2:30 a.m. I was finally dilated to a 5 and so a resident doctor came in and broke my water for me. Usually once my water is broken I begin to dilate faster.

I was excited to have my water broken, because I then knew for sure that they wouldn't be able to send me home without having the baby. Finally by about 6 a.m. I was dilated to a 6. Yep, it took about 3 1/2 hours for me to dilate one centimeter from when I had my water broken. How sad is that? Well, soon after I started to feel the urge to push. The nurse came back and I was a 7. She came back 15 minutes later and I was an 8. 15 minutes later and I was a 10. She told me not to push, while she called the doctor. He lives in North Ogden so I had to wait about 1/2 an hour for him to get there. I thought the baby would come out with one push, but his head was still up a little high and so I had to push for about 30 minutes.

But... finally Colin arrived at 8:22 a.m. ... after only 19 hours of regular labor. It's an improvement from my other two kids! :)

If any one needs an ob/gyn I would definitely recommend Dr. Arrington. He delivered all 3 of my babies and does such a good job!

Well, I guess that is all of my story. Sorry for the novel. I won't feel bad if you skipped most of it. It feels good to finally get it written down, though.

Colin- 2 weeks old

What a sweet face!

P.S. Has anyone struggled with the baby blues after having a baby? I think that I might have it. Hopefully it is just my hormones changing and will go away soon. Luckily, I have wonderful support from Chris and other family members. I would be lost without them.