A Birth Story: Jacob Paul Calder

I apologize now for the length of this post.

I just really want to have this written down for my records.

So if you just want to see cute baby pictures just scroll down to the bottom.

On Friday April 19th (only 3 days late) I had come to embrace the fact that this boy was never going to come.

I had adjusted to the fact that a natural birth may not be an option and that I would have to be induced.

I was ready to make the most of my last week or so without a baby.

That morning Ryan and I slept in.

We tried to get working on stuff in the office but had no motivation.

So we got out of the house and hit the gym.

It felt really good to get some exercise and I feel really blessed to have been able to be so active throughout the pregnancy.

That afternoon I cleaned the apartment while Ryan went to his research seminar.

At this point there still wasn't any sign of a baby coming.

I made dinner and we ate and then went out.

We went grocery shopping and browsing for bedding at Target.

That night went rented "The Hobbit" which meant we didn't get to sleep until 1:00 am.

At 3:00 am on Saturday morning I had to get up for my usual bathroom run.

When I got back to bed things felt different.

I was having some pretty painful cramps and wasn't able to fall back asleep.

By 3:45 am the cramps turned to contractions which were 10 minutes apart lasting for 1 minute.

At this point I woke Ryan to let him know.

We laid in bed for thirty minutes before I was pretty convinced I was in labor.

We got up and started getting things ready.

I made myself eat some food and we started packing the last few items in our hospital bag.

By 5:30 am the contractions were under 5 minutes and lasting about 1 minute.

I was having pretty bad back labor and Ryan was such a trooper to apply counter pressure for every contraction.

He also walked laps with me around our apartment to keep things moving.

Around 7 am I decided to get in the shower and boy did that help.

I think that was the only time during my labor that I smiled!

By 8 am I was still having regular contractions so we called the hospital and they told us to come in.

We loaded the car and drove to the hospital.

That was the longest 15 minutes of my life.

That seat was the worst position I could possible be in for back labor.

 After an eternity we made it to the hospital.

Since it was Saturday they didn't have valet parking so we had to park in the garage and walk in to stay together.

Finally we made it and we were checked in to triage.

I changed and got situated on those awful beds.

The nurse came in and hooked up the monitor for contractions and the babies heart beat.

Time moved so slowly.

I just wanted those monitors off so that I could get in a more comfortable position.

At 8:53 am in the middle of a contraction I was pretty sure my water had broken.

The nurse wanted to be sure so she went to get the test kit (despite the smell of saline and the fact that more water came with each contraction).

The test was miserable.

I had to lie on my back while she sampled the fluid.

Then we had to wait 20 minutes for the indicator to change.

Thankfully during that time she checked me and I was dilated to a 4 with the baby's head at a +2.

So they were confident that I was in active labor.

I just wish it hadn't taken them so long to realize what I had known for a long time.

They notified my doctor (who was on call even though it wasn't her usual day because she traded with the other doctor she works with).

At that point the resident doctor came in to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby was head down.

By this point I was fed up with all these tests.

I needed to get off that bed and walk around but yet here I was laying on my back to double check something everyone already knew!

Since the head was so low they couldn't see it on the ultrasound and decided to check to see if the baby's feet were up high.

At around 9:30 am I was moved to the labor and delivery room.

By this point the pain was excruiating.

My back hurt so much even when I wasn't having a contraction.

I was starting to wonder if I was going to have a natural birth like I planned.

I had to keep telling myself that it was just 1 minute and I could do anything for 1 minute.

Because of all the tests that needed to be done in triage and the speed at which I was progressing I still hadn't signed the form to release my medical records.

So here I am having intense contractions and signing paperwork.

Hopefully my signature didn't need to be legible because it wasn't!

After finally getting all the information in the computer my nurse goes to start a bath for me.

I was hoping the heat would help relieve some of the pain.

Suddenly, during my next contraction at around 10 am I felt the need to push.

I let my nurse know.

She was shocked but when she checked me I was dilated to a 10.

Then things got crazy.

The nurse called my doctor to see if she could get there in time and called in all the on call doctors.

She kept telling me not to push.

It was so hard to fight that urge.

10 minutes later my doctor arrived.

She was awesome!

She calmed me right down and explained why I needed to wait.

A piece of cervix hadn't thinned all the way and they needed to wait to let it stretch so I didn't tear.

She talked me through how to breathe through the contractions without pushing and went to change into her scrubs.

By 10:45 am I was given the ok to start pushing.

By this point I couldn't feel contractions any more.

All I felt was the burning "ring of fire" pain.

So I pushed as long as a could and then rested until I was ready to push again.

Thankfully I was able to completely relax between pushing times to build up energy again.

At 11:33 am our beautiful baby boy was born.

He was quickly brought to my chest and I will never forget looking at him for the first time.

I was given a small shot of pitocin to help my uterus contract to stop the bleeding.

I only had one small tear and they gave me one stitch to help it heal.

Our little boy is perfect!

He weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and was 20 inches long.

He had some mucous in his lungs that they vacuumed out to help him breath easier.

Then it was back to snuggling with our little angel.

We named him Jacob Paul.

Jacob after Ryan's middle name and great-great-great grandpa

Paul after his grandpa and great-grandpa.