Maddox's Birth Story

So I thought I would go ahead and tell the long version of our birth story since I haven't done that yet. It's more so for me to be able to look back and have a reminder of the birth of our first born child than anything else. Just a disclaimer...some of the info may be TMI for some so be aware. So here it is...the story of Maddox's birth...

On Sunday, June 28 at 8:30 pm we went into the hospital to start the induction process. Before going in we had dinner with both Collin and my families at Chili's across the street from the hospital because once I checked in I wouldn't be allowed to eat anything except ice chips and popsicles until after the birth. So, after dinner, Collin and I headed over to Sky Ridge to get checked in. Since it was after hours we had to check in through the emergency room. It was an easy process and before long we were headed up to labor and delivery to get things started.

Once we got up to the 2nd floor they showed us to our delivery room (Room #4). They had me change in to the lovely hospital gown and crawl in to bed. Then the nurse did my first of many cervix checks. It was actually pretty painful because my cervix was still very posterior but she said I was dilated to 1 cm. She then got my IV started with fluids gave me the first round of Prostin, which is a drug that is supposed to cause the cervix to dilate and efface. This medicine caused me to start having some pretty intense contractions. I was up most of the night because I was so uncomfortable. (This picture is pre-epidural)

I held out as long as possible before getting the epidural but finally decided I was done hurting and had the anesthesiologist called around 6 am. Dr. Fry came in shortly after and got my epidural started which was a lot less painful than I had expected and before long I was feeling great. (This picture is post-epidural :D)

At around 8 am, Monday morning Dr. G came in to check things out. He broke my water at that point and started me on Potosin, which is a drug that causes contractions. The epidural was still working great so I wasn't feeling the contractions at all. At around 11 am our families came up to the hospital and we pretty much just waited. My friends Jennifer and Danielle also came up to hang out. At this point not a lot was going on. The nurse would come in and check my cervix and vitals every once and a while but other than that we just waited. Sometime around 2-3 we noticed on the news that there was a car chase going on in Dallas (which is where all of us are from) so we started watching that...very exciting. A little after that the nurse came in to check my vitals and found that I had a fever of around 100.6 so she called Dr. G and he had me started on some antibiotics through my IV. I wasn't feeling bad at this point so I wasn't too concerned about it. She came back a few hours later and I still had the fever so she gave me another round of antibiotics. At around 4:30 or 5 I started to feel a little nausous probably because I hadn't eaten in a good while so I decided I needed to get some rest. Everyone headed to the waiting room, except Collin of course, and I tried to get some sleep.

A little after this I started to feel some pain from the contractions. I had the anesthesiology nurse come and check my epidural and she gave me a boost. That didn't seem to help and the pain was getting worse. It was the type of pain that takes your breath away. I was dilated to 8 cm or so at this time so I still had a little ways to go before the pushing started. The pain however wasn't going away. So we called the nurse back in and she gave me some medicine through my epidural and thankfully that helped some. Collin was great during this time. He sat by my bed and held my hand and helped me through the contractions.

Then at about 6:45 pm the nurse came in and checked my cervix and told me I was fully dilated at 10 cm and it was time to push. She explained to me how to push and we did a few practice pushes. She then called Dr. G to come in so that we could get started. Dr. G came in and we were on our way. Every time I had a contraction I would push 3 times for 10 seconds each time. It was seriously one of the hardest things I've ever done I think. That 3rd push was so hard because by then I was so out of breath and tired from the other two pushes. Everyone was being so encouraging and telling me that I was doing really great. Eventually, Dr. G realized that Maddox was coming out face up which was making it much harder on me than would typically be the case. He decided it would make it easier on me if he did a small episiotomy (I'll let you look that up yourself if you don't know what it is ;D). Once again thanks to the epidural I didn't feel it. After about an hour of pushing Dr. G asked how I felt about using suction to get Maddox out. By this point I was so exhausted that I was willing to do whatever needed to be done to be finished pushing. Once we did this, Maddox was out in about 15 minutes. Dr. G told me that if Maddox had been facing the right way it would have probably only taken about 20 minutes to get him out as opposed to the 1:15 it actually took. Collin cut the umbilical cord and they laid my sweet baby boy on my chest. He was perfect!!

They then moved him to his bed to check his vitals and get his weight and length. Maddox weighed in at 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. He was officially born at 7:59 pm. While they were doing this Dr. G stitched me up. I had the episiotomy and a 2nd degree tear (ouch) to be repaired. While Dr. G was working on me Collin got to hold his baby boy for the first time. It was a precious sight. After Dr. G was finished he congratulated us and headed out. The nurse then took my epidural out so that it could start wearing off and I could be moved to a postpartum room. Collin then went and told our families the great news and they were all able to come in and see our little guy. What a special time!!

After about an hour or so of recovering the nurse came in, helped me out of bed, helped me get changed and in to a wheel chair and pushed me down to my new room. Once down there, Collin went with Maddox and the nurse to get his first bath and do a more thorough check of his vitals. It was probably 11 pm by this time and I was pretty exhausted. Collin and I decided to let Maddox stay in the nursery at night and have him brought in for feedings so that we could get some sleep. This was a great decision.

We were in the hospital for 2 days after Maddox's birth. It was nice because we were able to get some rest and I was able to recover a little before going home. It was also good because I was able to get some help with breast feeding. We had a lactation specialist come in one day and that was very helpful. Our families came up both days to hang out as well as several people from church.

On Wednesday, July 1 we were discharged and able to go home. That has to be one of the strangest feelings in the whole world. I couldn't believe they were actually letting us take this tiny baby home with us. We had no idea what we were doing and yet we signed the papers, they checked our armbands to make sure we had the right baby, helped us wheel our cart down to our car, and off we went. And yes, I was that mom that rides in the back seat with her baby while dad drove us home looking like a taxi cab driver :D.

So that's it. Our birth story. It was probably the longest 24 hours of my life but worth every second. I now have the most precious gift I could have ever received. Even though he keeps me up at night, pees on me (yep it's already happened), spits up on me, and poops every time right after I change his diaper I still love him more than I even thought possible. As I type this, my baby boy is sitting here in my arms and I can't imagine life without him.

Thank you God for entrusting us with this precious gift!! Help us to bring him up in a home filled with your Spirit and to teach him your ways as he grows and matures each day.