The anticipation for Jonathan was electric. Hannah and Paige asked daily when he was about to arrive. His birth was a whirlwind, as he was born minutes after we got to the hospital. It was a short labor and quick birth!
We had quite a few visitors over the course of the first weeks. Grandma and Grandpa, Nana, Allie, Hanley, Nolan, Rosalie, Hunter, Cade Mastaler, Lindsey Patten and Megan Long, and several local friends.
Adding a new member to the family isn't always easy on everyone, but the kids have been very patient with Jonathan and with Mommy. Luckily, we've had so much help and support that a lot of the burden was lightened, and its been a smooth transition. We've even managed a few outings to the park, the library, and Daddy even took the girls to a baseball game. There is nothing like a support system, and we are all very grateful.
{Jonathan's Birth Story}
The night of Wednesday, April 13th started
like every other night for the past ten days. Around 8:00 I started
experiencing contractions. I'd had false labor every night since April 3rd,
so I didn’t think much of it. The day before I’d had a checkup with Doctor
Brill who told me I was dialated to a “loose four to a five” and 70% effaced.
He stripped my membranes, asked me if I wanted to move my induction up (which I
declined) and sent me on my way, saying that unless I went into labor
naturally, Jonathan would be born on Friday the 15th following an
induction.
I didn't want to get my hopes up once the labor started,
after all the false starts, but the contractions were around three minutes
apart and I sensed a subtle change in strength, though they weren't painful at
all. Adam was at scouts, and came home around 8:45. Mom and I were watching TV
and around 9:00 I decided I should probably go to bed. I went upstairs to go to
sleep, but I thought that I might as well take one more walk around the block
to encourage labor—just in case. The contractions still weren’t painful, but I
could tell something was happening. At one point during my walk I actually
started to jog to see if I could get my water to break. Thankfully, it did not.
I went back inside where Adam was lounging on the bed and I told him this might
be it for real, that if by 10:00-10:30 the contractions were still there we
could go to the hospital. My thinking was, if I go to the hospital they won't
turn me away, they'll just give me Pitocin or break my water, since I was so
progressed at my appointment the day before. Adam was nervous. We had a plan to
induce, and that was more comfortable for him to deal with. Every time I’d have
a contraction he’d jokingly say, “Stop doing that! You are making me nervous.”
I told him to try to sleep, and he just laughed at that thought. Around 10 I
could tell the strength of the contractions was intensifying. I took a shower. By
10:30 Adam asked what we were going to do and I told him I wasn't sure yet, but
a minute later I had my first fairly painful contraction and I told him we
could head to the hospital, I still wasn’t sure it wasn’t false labor and they
wouldn't send me home. I took my time to make our bed, kiss our kids goodbye,
and straighten up (my contractions still weren't that bad, but they were two
minutes apart).
We drove to the hospital at 10:40 with steady
contractions. Both of us were joking around, there was definitely some excitement
in the air. We talked about how we were actually doing this, and that
Jonathan’s birthday would be 4/14/16 as it was almost 11pm and we didn't think
there was any way he'd be born before midnight. We pulled into the parking lot at
10:52 (I sent a text to my family as we were parking) and walked in through the
ER because the main entrance was closed. A man asked if I needed a wheelchair
and I declined, because I didn't want to seem overly dramatic. He called his
congratulations to us as we walked down the hall. I had another fairly painful
contraction in the elevator, and leaned on Adam for support.
While we were waiting for the nursing staff to buzz us in
to the locked floor, I told Adam I needed to run to the bathroom, because I
felt a slight leak and didn’t know if it was my water or my bladder. I went
into the bathroom but couldn’t tell, so I just went to the bathroom anyway.
We were admitted into the labor and delivery wing, and a nurse
approached us and asked if I was there for an induction and I said, "No,
I'm in labor." She didn't look like she believed me and asked, has your
water broken?" Without having time to say no, I suddenly I felt a huge
gush of fluid. Adam and I looked down in shock as my water had broken all over
the hall. I said, "Ummm yeah?" Adam said, "That has never
happened to her before." Adam grabbed a “Wet Floor” sign and the nurse
grabbed a towel for me, and said, “Well I’ll never look at anyone and ask if
their water has broken again.”
We walked over to check in and I experienced my first
"Oh crap" moment, because I felt him lower into my pelvis and my
contractions immediately became unbearable. Adam wrote down my info while I
tried to hold myself up against the counter and they told me to breathe, and
directed me down the hall to room 2. At that point I was ready for my
wheelchair, but they didn't offer one--haha.
I made it to the room somehow and kind of doubled over on
the back of a chair. I felt a strange sensation, and my initial thought was
that I needed to go to the bathroom, and I had my second “oh crap” moment when
I realized it was Jonathan’s head causing the pressure and urge to push, which
is what I told them. I had my eyes closed shut and they asked, "Is this
your first baby, hon?" Adam said, "It’s her fourth." And FINALLY
there was urgency in the room and they started saying, "She feels like she
needs to push, this is baby number four." I didn't realize, but Adam told
me after that there wasn't a bed in the room (they had the wrong kind of bed,
not a delivery bed). Adam and the nurses helped me get undressed and put a gown
on me. Somehow I walked over to the bed they’d just wheeled in to lay down. (I
thought I was going to pass out/throw up and I still had my eyes closed).
I kept saying in my head "I can't do this. I have to
do this." I was terrified. It was a horrible realization to know that
there would be no epidural, and up until two minutes before I’d been counting
on one. I got on the bed and told them "He's coming out of me." There
were three nurses in the room. I don’t know their names, but one looked just
like Emily Blunt (she’s the one who initially asked if my water had broken) a
Hispanic nurse, and a tall, black man. Emily Blunt checked to see where the
baby was and said "Yep, baby is at station 3.” I didn’t know what that
meant until I looked it up later, and basically Jonathan was crowning. I don’t
remember if they told me to push or not, or if I waited for any instructions.
With the other three births, Adam was there supporting my leg, but I was surrounded
by Emily Blunt and Tall Black nurse. I was pretty out of it, but Adam told me I
was holding onto the bed with both hands, and then I was looking for Adam and I
reached out for him to hold onto.
Nature kind of took over. I definitely remember the pressure
and the “ring of fire” that people describe. I remember feeling and being aware
of Jonathan’s head leaving my body and having an overwhelming sense of relief
and joy. I also remember feeling the rest of him slip out of me and knowing
that he was here. I could hear Adam say
something to the effect of "What the heck!" And it was all over. From
the minute I got to the hospital to delivery was 14 minutes. About 7 minutes
from the time my water broke. In total I experienced about 30 minutes of painful
labor to delivery.
They said he had a bit of deer in headlights syndrome,
(me too) and he was pretty bruised. When he came out I remember seeing him kind
of limp and I watched the nurse kind of handling his body, though I don’t quite
remember what she was doing (I was in shock) I remember hearing him cry, and
Hispanic nurse exchanged relieved looks with Emily Blunt. Someone cut the cord
and took him over to the warmer to wipe him down and check him out. He received
an Apgar score of 7, because he was slightly traumatized. Doctor Brill came in
and delivered my placenta around 11:23. It was not painful but it was
unpleasant. Then he checked my uterus and stitched me up, which WAS painful.
Finally, after my placenta had been delivered and I was stitched up and hooked
up to an IV for fluids and Pitocin to help my uterus contract back I got to
hold and nurse Jonathan. His skin color was way off, and he seemed pretty
bruised, but he was an expert at nursing from the beginning. He latched on like
a pro and I could sense his immediate relief.
