Slade's Birth Story

December 6th started off like any other Saturday except I woke up with a feeling like something was just a little different...like it could potentially be baby day. I shot right out of bed and showered and got ready for the day "just in case" Slade decided to make his debut. We went about our morning, got Jaqs out of the house for a bit & met Rob's grandma for lunch, then came home for J's nap. I decided to lay down, too, and proceeded to sleep for TWO glorious hours which is definitely not my norm. I thought that was a little strange and joked with Rob that maybe my body was preparing itself.

I posted this to IG the day before I delivered remarking how much Slade had dropped.
He had been in my ribs the whole time, but was riding low by the end!

He's here!!!

We had plans with friends for dinner that night, (sound familiar?) so we got ready and headed over to their house and enjoyed a fun evening with our buddies. Jaqs got to play with her little friends and DID NOT want to leave! While we were there, I started noticing contractions coming more frequently, so I was roughly timing them in the back of my mind...about 20 minutes apart. I mentioned it to my girlfriends but didn't want to get too excited as I had been experiencing quite a few contractions for several weeks. They were definitely growing in intensity though, that was for sure. Rob and I decided we'd better go ahead and come home so we could attempt to get Jaqs to bed around 8:30. 

Rob said he shot out like a rocket, LOL

I started my contraction timer app on my phone at that point, and they were getting closer together. Rob was anxious to get to the hospital right away because Dr. T had been warning me that my labor would go quickly once it started, but I wanted to try to get Jaqs to bed one last time as our only child. This is kind of comical to look back on...there I was with my huge belly, contractions coming quickly, hoisting myself in & out of my 2 year old's bed for stories & songs all while trying to act like everything was fine so she wouldn't be worried. Ha! 

Daddy Duties: cutting the cord

Seconds after Slade was born...there's no feeling like holding your baby for the first time <3

My parents came over, and I continued to time until 9:15 when we decided this was definitely the real deal as my contractions were now coming 3-5 minutes apart. We drove to the hospital, and I was incredibly antsy...I could hardly sit & definitely got mad at Rob more than once for hitting bumps in the road too hard ;) We arrived in labor & delivery around 9:40 p.m.

Holding my minutes old baby boy...CLOUD NINE!

We got situated in the triage, and I told the nurse what my doctor had told me about the likelihood of my labor progressing quickly. She checked me, and I was at a 5. She went ahead and called my doctor then began the million questions for getting admitted. I had to stop several times to breathe through contractions, but thankfully we did get into a room pretty quickly.

Once we were in the delivery room, my nurse placed my IV, continued with the questions, and was going to order my epidural next. I stopped her at some point and told her that I had an intense urge to push; I could tell that she was kind of doubting me and gave me a "sure you do, honey" look ;) It was about 10:30 by this time, and she went ahead and checked me...I was at a NINE. A handful of people began scurrying around the room, and I realized that there was absolutely no way I was getting an epidural at this point. I definitely shed a couple tears, and told Rob that I did NOT want to do this. He reassured me the best he could, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little lot scared.

The nurse called my doctor immediately, then checked me again at 10:40 & I was complete. I was SO READY to get this boy out, but decided to wait the few minutes for Dr. T to arrive. He flew in the room at 10:45, got scrubbed up, broke my water, and I started pushing at 10:50. He told me I could rest between contractions, but I preferred to just keep on pushing. I can't even describe the pain, but I probably don't need to...you can just imagine. It was intense, and I'm so thankful that the pushing part was efficient & didn't last for long!

Then, the greatest relief of all, we heard Slade Robert cry for the first time at 11:00 p.m. on the dot!

He was here! And we were so incredibly happy, and of course, fell in love immediately.

 Jaqs has been slower to warm up, but she definitely loves her little brother now!

Being in the hospital was like a vacation this time ;)

 Unfortunately, at 5 days old, Slade had to be readmitted to the hospital due to elevated billirubin levels. We spent another 48 hours at the hospital, and it was not fun. He'd do well being under the lamps all day, but would grow restless by night & be up for all but 30 minutes here & there. We were SO THANKFUL to get back home once again!

 We had yet another scare several days later when his levels went back up, but thankfully all is well now, and we have a perfectly healthy, pink little babe! :)

We love you to the moon, Slade Robert, and we're so grateful you are part of our family!

the sweetest day...the birth of our Jaqs!

It's hard to find the words to express your emotions about a day where your life is forever changed. A day that your heart swells to an unknown capacity to love. A day when you love your husband more than you ever knew possible. A day where you really get an inkling of the love our Heavenly Father has for us, His children. A day when a miracle occurs.

That day for us was April 5, 2012.

Our baby girl made her way from my belly into my arms, and I don't want to forget anything about it! That day is engrained in my mind (and heart) forever.

So there's your warning, this post is quite wordy ;) Proceed with caution.

Leading up to that day, everyone at work had been joking about how I wouldn't make it through the week. My parents and I had decided that Thursday would be the perfect birth day for Jaqs because of the holiday weekend. Rob had a track meet, but other coaches had already stepped in and offered to run it. I had gone to the doctor Monday, and I was dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. He told me that first-timers could be that way for awhile, but that he still wouldn't be surprised to see me by the weekend. Throughout my pregnancy I had wanted so badly for Jaqs to be here for Easter, but we weren't going to induce early for that to be possible. We wanted her to have plenty of time to come on her own. At that point, I was feeling like we'd probably make it to our due date of April 10th. I had had some "signs" of impending labor, but they had been occurring for a solid week, so I didn't want to get my hopes up.

I went to work that Wednesday like any other day. I was feeling great and in such a happy mood because I knew the next day was my last day of work before baby. I even got off early, so I decided to wander (read:waddle) around Target with some popcorn and a drink before heading to the grocery store to get supplies for that night's Survivor party with friends. While I was at Target (around 4:00) I started having some tightness in my stomach. It wasn't anything super intense, but it felt different from the Braxton-Hicks I had felt before. The "tightness" continued while I grocery shopped, so I had started to monitor if there was a pattern. The contractions were coming about 20 minutes apart. Rob had a meeting for the track meet the following day that night, but I called him and told him to keep his phone close by because I just had a feeling something was going to happen. I also called my mom and dad to tell them not to be too far from their phones because they might be making a trip to Temple very soon. 

I went home, made a salad for the party, and rested for a bit before heading over to a friend's house for our weekly Survivor dinner and watch party. While I was there, the contractions continued, and my girlfriends started timing them for me. They still weren't painful at all, just uncomfortable in a I-can't-sit-normally kinda way. I was also extremely hot. It felt like my body temperature had gone up 10 degrees. The contractions were coming about 15 minutes apart.

After the party, I came home to my hubby, and we decided it'd be best if we tried to get some rest. I still wasn't completely convinced I was actually in labor. We laid down around 10:45, and the contractions were still coming about 15 minutes apart. I could not get comfortable, and it almost hurt to have to get up out of bed, so I decided to get up and walk around. All of the sudden, contractions went from being 15 minutes apart to 3-5 minutes apart. I continued to time them for an hour before waking Rob up at midnight. I updated him on what had happened during his nap, and he said we needed to go to the hospital. I told him I could wait a little longer and that I didn't want to go up there only to be sent home. He wasn't having it, so we packed up our bags in the car and headed out. That drive was really exciting for us. We were so anxious to meet our girl!

We arrived at the hospital just after 12:15 a.m. and began the paperwork to get checked in. Rob had to do it all because sitting was so uncomfortable for me. We waited for what felt like forever, but really it was just about 30 minutes before we were in our triage room. They hooked me up to the toco monitor to watch my contractions, and they were indeed coming quickly. I continued to breath through them, and my pain was definitely manageable. While I was laying there waiting to be checked Rob and I heard a loud POP and I felt a huge gush. Yep, my water broke while laying there! Rob ran out and told the nurse, and when he came back I just remember telling him "YAY! They can't send us home now!" Haha, they had to keep us until Jaqs was born now! :) Rob called my parents, and they hit the road at 2 a.m. to meet their sweet grand-girl. The OB came in and checked me, and I was dilated to a 5. 

I was then ushered to our labor and delivery room where they hooked me up to more monitors and got my IV going. While the nurse was setting everything up I got the urge to push. She told me to try not to and that we'd go ahead and get the epidural ordered so I'd have time to enjoy it and maybe even sneak a nap in. I felt like I could wait longer, but went ahead and decided to get it anyway. Might as well get some rest, right? Ha, so I thought. While we were waiting the nurse asked us what time we thought our baby girl would be born. Rob said he thought it'd be about 5:30 a.m. to which the nurse replied, "Well that's optimistic!" The anesthesiologist came in and got me all fixed up. Honestly this was the hardest part of the whole labor and delivery. Leaning over a big, round belly while having intense contractions and feeling like a baby may fall out at any moment is not easy! The actual procedure didn't hurt, but breathing through contractions while being still is kind of a task. At least, it was for me.

After the epi was in place, the OB on duty came by to check me, and we were all shocked to discover I was at a TEN! Holy cow! Thank goodness they gave me the epi first or I wouldn't have gotten it at all. At that point, everyone left our room to call my doctor and get things ready for delivery!

Rob and I took those last few moments of "just the two of us" to pray for God's protection and guidance as we begin this road to parenthood. We prayed for a safe delivery for both Jaqs and myself. That was one of the sweetest moments in our marriage to date. Ah, makes me tear up just to think back to it!

Dr. F arrived around 3:30 a.m., and I began to push at 3:45 a.m. This part was actually kind of funny because in between my contractions, we just chatted away about all kinds of things with my doctor. He's great like that! He made us so comfortable throughout my whole pregnancy and delivery was no different...how awesome that was! He and the nurses encouraged me and coached me through each push, and before we knew it Jaqs was born!!

She arrived at 4:14 a.m.

Hearing that first cry was amazing...a moment I'd waited for for so long! I can't describe how I felt, really. Unfortunately, Jaqs had poo-poo'd in her amniotic fluid, so she had to be checked out by the NICU team before I could have her. Those 15 minutes were like torture!! Thank goodness it was all done right in our room, so Rob was there with her, and I was close by, but all I wanted to do was hold my baby girl!

My heart almost burst out of my chest when I was finally able to get my hands and lips on her...she was (and is) a perfect blessing. I instantly fell in love with this little being! Rob felt the same way, of course. We could not be grateful for this tiny angel!

 Due to Jaqs' quick delivery and amniotic fluid issue, we had to stay 48 hours in the hospital to monitor for infection, and actually, staying that extra night was great because it allowed us some extra rest!

 We finally got to go home on Saturday afternoon and show Jaqs her new digs!

 Home sweet home for our family of three!

And so begins the rest of the story....