Birth Story

*Attention male readers- may be too much information for you so please skip to following post*

Several of you have been asking for the details from little Nolan's arrival and I am finally getting around to putting it all together (a month later!!). This is long but I am thankful to get it written down somewhere as I don't want to forget a single detail!

I was scheduled to be induced on June 15th (the day he arrived). Both sets of parents were there by Monday evening and we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cracker Barrel (ate my last full plate of french toast, eggs, and bacon, and all without guilt!) and then got to bed, as 5am would come early. Of course Jon and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep as we were nervous and anxious for what was to come.

We got to the hospital shortly after 5am and the nurses had our room ready to go. After answering lots of questions and getting to know us and our wishes for a natural delivery, our nurse (who was great) said we could check to see how dilated I was and possibly not have to start pitocin (the induction drug). Sure enough- the past few days of intermittent contractions and uncomfortableness had proved to be productive- I was dilated to a 4 and 95% effaced.

The nurse said she would call the doctor and ask her to come break my water as soon as she could so we could get things moving. She also said she would move us to a room with a jacuzzi, as I wanted to try it for managing the labor pain. We decided to get out and walk and keep things moving and by 7:30, we had changed rooms and one of my physician's partners came and broke my water. Yeah- that was weird and it made it a bit more uncomfortable for staying up and walking- but they've seen it all around there- so they made me feel really comfortable! When they broke my water, they saw that there was meconium in the sac, so they educated us on the change in procedures for birth (RT and NICU nurse would be there and I would get him on my chest, only if he cried right away). This was concerning, but we just had such a peace, knowing that he was in God's hands!

My physician came in an hour later to check in and was happy to see us walking around but surprised to see me looking as comfortable as I was. She suggested we try nipple stimulation again to get things moving, and sure enough, not even 5 minutes after trying it, the contractions were coming full force. The thing that seemed to be most helpful for getting through the contractions was to alternate my methods of coping. I changed from the birthing ball, to walking, to laying, to massage, to whatever we could think of, and it really helped! About 5 cm (I'm guessing), I got in the jacuzzi and that was a God send! The jets and warm water with Jon there to massage my neck through contractions was really, really helpful! I must say- my husband was amazing! This period of the birth was honestly my favorite because it is such an intimate experience and there is no one else in the world I would have wanted to experience that with. Jon was right there with me for every pain and talking to me and holding me as I needed. We laughed and talked and really treasured our last few hours as us. Probably my all time favorite moment in life to be honest!

The family had arrived by this point and they would walk with us here and there but mostly hung out in the lobby. Izabel brought walkie talkies so we could check in with each other. :) So sweet! She was pretty worried about me! My contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart around 1pm and were really picking up on the monitor so my nurse decided to check me. I was a 6.5 now! I was happy with this- but not happy enough b/c that was 3-4 hours for 2.5 cm. In my mind, there was no way I could go 3.5 more or 3 or 4 hours more with the contractions coming every 2 minutes! The contractions were never soooo painful that I couldn't take it- it was just that mentally and physically I was getting soo tired! After much discussion I thankfully opted away from the narcotics and just decided to get the epidural. It's crazy how once that word comes out of your mouth, you're done! You want that pain to stop now! :) The doc was in really quickly though and the epidural was very easy.

We had enough time to let our family know where we were measuring and that I was getting an epidural, but that was our last free moment before Nolan arrived. Within 5 minutes of getting the epidural, Nolan's heart rate started to drop. Pretty low a few times but with oxygen and laying on my side, it got better. The bad thing was- with having to be on one side, the medicine from the epidural was not having it's effect on the other side. The doc came back in once to attempt to help that, and it did! The wonderful nurse who labored with us all day ended up having to leave an hour before Nolan was born, but the new nurse was great as well. A nurse was constantly in the room at this point as things were moving fast! They checked me again about 20 min after the epidural and I was a 9! After 10-20 more minutes, they called my physician and I was complete!

It was pretty exciting but also a bit scary! :) We started pushing with the nurse at that point. It was so weird, b/c you imagine what that point is going to be like your whole life and then- you're there! :) It was great!! Jon's face at the start was pretty priceless! :) I just kept listening to his voice b/c I knew he would be honest about my efforts and if they were really working or not! :) I pushed for about 30 min and then the nurse called my doctor. Everyone arrived and everything was set up fairly quickly! I believe I pushed 3 times once my doctor was ready and then he was here!! 5:07 pm! Praise God! He cried right away and they put him on my chest. I cannot even describe how I felt, but it was a mix of pure joy and amazement! I just kept thinking- ooo he's so cute! :)

They took him to the warmer and gave him oxygen for a few seconds and got him checked out. Poor Jon looked happy but did not have the expression of joy I expected. He later told me he just felt so confused about wether to stay with me or stay with him and it was so hard to see the two people he loved the most being worked on. :) Nolan decided to come out with his hand on his head, so he did some damage on the way out! I had two deep tears and then an outer tear as well. So there was a significant amount of sewing up to be completed. Once everything was finished and cleaned up, we asked our doctor to go and tell our family that baby was here and we were all doing fine- and that was it! :)

Things calmed quickly and the nurse helped me attempt to feed Nolan right away. He took less than 5 minutes of instruction and he was going strong!! :) At this point, Jon and I just looked at each other and the tears began to flow. He had been holding it in and now we were both a mess! :) So precious! After feeding Nolan, we had all the grandparents and Izabel come in. They first screamed when they saw him, then they screamed when we said HIS name. :) What a special moment to introduce your son to your family! We named him Nolan after my mom's dad who passed away when she was in her twenties. I never got to meet him, but I feel like I did because so many people loved him and share openly about how amazing he was. William (Nolan's middle name) is for his dad's middle name, and his grandpa and great grandpa's first name. And- I guess you know where Hughes comes from! :)

My dad got a good squeeze right away as he had to leave to travel for business. He was just smitten to have his first grandson! We were quickly moved to the post-pardum floor next. It was so fun to carry him and be wheeled up to our new room as the new family! At this point we attempted to send the news on facebook and via text. It was so fun to hear from everyone! :) The rest of that day was a blur- literally. I remember that I was so tired my vision was getting blurry! :) That night, Nolan got his first bath and had his footprints done. After all of this, the nurses said they were having concerns about his continued high respiratory rates (noticed by his nose flaring). At about 2 am they took him and said they'd be back in 20 min after checking him again and we waited and waited and he didn't come back. As tired as you are.... you just don't feel right when your baby is not where he's supposed to be. I went down and saw him laying under the warmer with multiple people around, someone taking his blood, and Nolan not reacting at all. This really concerned me!! The nurse said he probably wasn't feeling too hot but that he had vomited up some fluid, so they expected he'd feel better soon. They took labs to be sure he didn't not have an infection and also did a chest x-ray to check for fluid on the lungs. The rest of the night, Jon and I rotated staying with him in the nursery as he had to be under observation.

The next morning, the majority of the labs and the x-ray came back normal, so they let us have our baby back! Obviously, we didn't get a whole lot of sleep, and neither did he! The next two days were full of visitors and lots of snuggles from everyone! I LOVED being in the hospital and it might sound weird, but I often wish we could go back!! :) It was great to order food when we wanted, have people all around, and just not be responsible for anything but loving each other!! On the 17th, they cleared me to be released. I was feeling really pretty good but our pediatrician did not want Nolan to leave until the next day- when all the labs would be back. We begged for them to let us stay one more night but insurance would not cover it. Therefore, Nolan had to be admitted to the NICU for one night and we stayed there with him. Boy was it fun sleeping in a recliner and having to use a one stall public restroom 2 days after giving birth!! :) The stay was long but Nolan continued to do well, so around noon on the 18th we were on our way home!!

My mom and Izabel welcomed us home as the rest of the family had to get back to the real world (they hated it though!). My mom and Iz ended up staying for 2 weeks and there is no way we could have done it without them!! So many people brought us meals and took care of us! We are soo thankful!

So- that was really long, but like I said- I know I will love being able to read through this years from now! Nolan is such a blessing from God! I cannot wait for #2!! :)