Hey there,
I know I've disappeared for a little bit, but I am back and with a new baby! It took me a couple of days, but I finally got this done before everything became a blur.
Here goes Jason's Birth Story:
At
38 weeks pregnant, I began to have contractions. I knew they weren’t Braxton
Hicks because they were a bit strong, and frequent but not consistent. On
Thursday of Week 38 I was having contractions 5-7 minutes apart. We decided to head
to the hospital. I called my Mother-in-law and she came to our apartment to pick up
Benjamin. He was very excited to be going over to his grandma’s house. We hugged and kissed him, and our hearts were
at peace as he left us. At this point I was pretty calm and collected, just breathing
through the pain. As I walked into the hospital I had to stop a couple of times
because of the contractions. As it turns
out though, once we were in triage with all the monitors connected,
all pain disappeared. Well not completely, I had like one contraction while I was there. The nurse simply said
I was 1 cm dilated, and sent us home. The contractions did not completely stop however, they were just very far apart. So far apart that we didn’t even bother to time them.
I was fine being sent home, but I did not know that I would basically spend 10
days contracting. 10 DAYS!!
It
was a tough week, and honestly I do not know how I managed. God definitely helped me through it. The next week, on Wednesday I made my way to doctor’s office
for an appointment. I was now 39 weeks pregnant. I explained to my doctor
everything that had occurred and how I had been in pain since the day I went to
the hospital. My doctor suggested a cervical
stretch to see if that would help with the process, and I agreed. I knew this would mean that my baby would
probably be born on Halloween day, but to be quite honest, I just wanted the
baby to born already! Mother’s will understand the desperation. The "stretch and sweep" did not hurt to me,
although I heard other women say it was quite painful for them. I felt nothing after my
appointment. I headed home and everything was perfectly fine, until about an hour later.
About
an hour later I began to feel pain.
My whole body was in pain. I felt pain in my lower back and weakness in my legs. The
contractions began to be more frequent and slightly stronger each time. This time it
felt more real. Once again we called my In-laws to come and get Benjamin. This time we left Benji with a heavy heart. As we kissed him we said our goodbye’s, and
he seemed as though he was ready to start crying. Something that we rarely see in our son, and it broke our hearts. We headed to the hospital, and there I was
told I was 4 cm dilated, which apparently is not enough to get admitted. So they sent me to walk for an hour. A LONG brutal hour. We walked the halls, and went up and down the
stairs, and when the hour was over I was still at 4 cm. The doctor gave us a choice of staying in the nurse’s triage for 4
hours to see if anything would change or to go home and come back when we felt
it was time. Triage is not a room and it is a very uncomfortable place, so we decided to go home, and
wait it out. In our minds we thought we
would be back the same night, but we were so wrong.
Thursday
came and I was still contracting about 8 to 11 minutes apart and getting
stronger each time. Friday came and
still the same thing. I asked my sister
to come and stay with me. I was certain
the baby would be born that weekend and I could not bear to send Benji away
again.
My
sister came the next morning, Saturday. She began
to time my contractions, Just like last time.
When Ruben came home from work they were 5-7 minutes apart. He asked if I wanted to head for the
hospital, but I was fearful of being sent home again. My exact words to him were “I am
not going to the hospital until my water breaks or I am dying from the pain.” I managed to convince him to go to church service, and I stayed home with my sister. When Ruben
arrived back from service my contractions began to get closer about 3-5 minutes apart and they were strong. Even so, I still did not want to go to the hospital. So, we figured we would try and get some rest. So we kissed our baby boy good night, and headed to bed.
Around midnight I felt a contraction that literally made me get up and cry from
the pain, and that is when I knew it was time to go to the hospital. I let my sister know, while Ruben
gathered our stuff. I was not calm and collected this time. The hospital is only 15 minutes away but It honestly felt like the
longest ride of life. I just stared at the raindrops falling on the windshield thinking it would distract me, and I wouldn't realize how "long" the drive was. Ruben was trying to get there as fast as he could while still driving carefully and holding my hand as I breathed through every painful contraction. We finally arrived, and then the walk toward the birthing center seemed to also take forever.
When the nurse checked me she said “You are 5 cm dilated, I will order your
blood work and get things going.” It was a bittersweet moment because I knew what was to come, but I also knew this meant we would meet our baby soon.
After the blood work, I changed into the hospital gown and we were taken to our room. I was asked if I would
like the epidural. Originally, and since
everyone had said the 2nd child is born faster, I had plan to go all
natural, but after so many days of pain I changed my mind. I just wanted to rest and I accepted the epidural. The anesthesiologist took about an hour to arrive
in our room. Let me tell you, an hour feels like an eternity when you are feeling extreme labor pains every 3 minutes. I held my husband's hand through every contraction, as he and the nurse coached me through the pain. I looked over to husband and vowed never to have children, and then I blamed Eve for having eaten the fruit... But once the epidural took effect (it worked well this time), I was able to get some good ol' rest.
The
doctor came in around 7 am, to break my water.
Unlike my first pregnancy, my water did not break on its own. An hour later, around 8 am I was checked again
and had dilated 9 cm. The doctor came in,
and he was informed this by my nurse. The doctor stated that he had to
go because the lady next door was ready to start pushing. As soon as he walked
out, I got another strong contractions which brought on extreme pressure, and an strong urge to push. I knew it was time because I felt this with my first child. I looked over at the nurse and said “I really have the urge to push now". She checked and indeed it was time. Right away, she sent for the doctor to come back. However, she did not wait for the doctor to make his appearance, she quickly got everything ready and began to coach me through the pushing process. The doctor came in shortly after and he was surprised of the progressed I had made in such a a short time, and in a moment the room flooded with hospital people. The nurse coached me through 3 big pushes and just the like that the baby was
out.
Ruben was at my side the whole time, like an amazing supportive husband, and It
was 8:21 am on Sunday that Jason was finally born. As I saw him in the doctor’s hands, my eyes
filled with tears. He was finally born.
I saw the nurses quickly take him across the room to clean him up, and I heard
him cry. I extended my whole body to watch as they examined him, across the room with Ruben by his side. I simply watched while
the tears streamed down my face. I could
not believe that I was finally going to hold my baby boy. When they handed him to
me, I held him so tight and close to my body, examining all his features. I wanted him to feel all the love I had for him. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever
seen. I looked up at Ruben and he was just looking at our baby, with daddy eyes. The room cleared just as fast as it had been filled, and all that was left was the three of us. There we were
just staring at our baby. Our baby was
beautiful and perfect. Just like my Benji when he was born.
In
a couple of hours Benjamin walked into the room with his auntie, Mary. As he
walked in I said to him as he looked at his brother “Do you know who this is?”
and he responded with “It’s Jason. He’s out of your belly!", and he kissed his brother.
God had given us another amazing gift. Yes I was in pain for a while, but overall everything went well. The doctor and nurses said I did very well breathing and pushing. There was no need for extra care and we even got to go home early. The baby is very healthy, and I owe it all to God! I am grateful to Him for making us a family of four. I love my
boys, all of them.
Born on November 1st, 2015 at 8:21 a.m.
Weighing 7lbs 10oz, and 20.5 inches long
Most beautiful baby I have ever seen.
