Gunner Has Arrived!

Well, after 9 months of waiting, Gunner is here! He is the cutest thing I have ever seen and can do no wrong in my eyes.

The following is a general recap of his birth...I wasn't too graphic, but I wanted to share the story since I have been so open in sharing with the whole pregnancy.


It was a long day but all went fairly well. It started out on Friday around 5am. I woke up with some cramping contractions, and after three of them decided I needed to go to the ladies room. As I got up, I realized I was leaking and it wasn't pee. So I calmly woke Daniel up and said "Don't freak out, but I think some thing is happening...." And for some reason he didn't freak out! We decided to time my contractions, and they were around 6-8 minutes apart. After an hour or two of this, we decided it was time to finish gathering our things. I called my mom to see what she thought and she agreed, I was in the early stages of labor. So we finished packing, and I told Daniel to go to a meeting he had scheduled at work at 10am. I had planned the whole time (if possible) to stay home during the first part of labor considering it was the longest part and I didn't want to be stuck in the hospital that long. So he went, and not long after that my mom arrived. The contractions were getting stronger and closer together, so I texted him to let him know we thought we should head to the hospital. I had called the doctor's office and the nurse agreed since I was leaking fluid it was best to go ahead and go. So, off we went and we arrived around noon! For some dumb reason I had decided not to eat lunch before we got there....bad move. My next meal would be at 2am the next morning.....



We arrived, got checked in and into a room and the exciting moment arrived: they were going to see how dilated I was! We were all anxious. But alas, I was only at 3 and around 85% efaced. Bummer. They also had a hard time confirming that what I was leaking was indeed amniotic fluid. So we waited and waited, and waited some more and FINALLY the doctor on call arrived. From here my memory isn't for sure on every detail that happened so I may be off on times, but he confirmed that it was amniotic fluid, and I think ended up breaking my water completely after that. The contractions really started getting strong at that point and from here I started having the shakes pretty badly. I was really having to breathe through the contractions and concentrate. We had alerted the family by this point and I think some of them were starting to stop by.



I progressed very slowly and got to the point where I was having a hard time with the pain. I had asked when we could do the epidural and Daniel said "Shouldn't we wait? I mean we're only at three and a half, we can wait" He claims that my response was "OH REALLY? We can wait?! You think so?!" with a mean look on my face.... I'm pretty sure I was in the middle of a contraction so I cannot be responsible for the things I said during this time. They decided to give me Pitocin to speed things up since I had been leaking fluid since 5am. So once I reached 4 or so, we got the epidural! It wasn't that bad at all. I was shaking uncontrollably most of the time so I was scared it was going to cause a problem, but it went well. After that, my left side went numb while my right was still able to feel things. This was NOT good, so they started turning me on my side to get gravity going so it would work. We found the side to turn on and it started working everywhere.



After this I really progressed slowly. I was trying to rest a lot and turn often to keep helping the baby move down. At one point his heart rate started to drop during the contractions and they were a little concerned. They ended up giving me oxygen and connecting an electronic monitor under his scalp which really scared me because I didn't want it to hurt him. They also had to use an internal monitor to check the intensity of the contractions. I was hooked up to tons of machines in that hospital. Since I was progressing so slowly they upped the Pitocin and I guess that did the trick because they checked me before they turned it up and I was still around 5 or so. About an hour later the nurse checked me and said "GIRL you are at nine and a half!" It was go time!

So they started prepping for the baby and getting everything ready. Once I was at a ten the nurse decided she wanted me to try and push through a contraction. They were concerned that he wasn't far enough down and that I would be pushing too long, but through that contraction he moved enough for us to go ahead and page the doctor. So the doctor came in and we started pushing! I say we because I could not hold my own legs up since they were totally numb, so Daniel and my mom helped out. The nurse explained that it's not uncommon for a first time mom to push for an hour or two and to not be surprised if that happens. So here we went, and it was exhausting. I was focusing everything I had and doing exactly what they told me to. During some of the contractions, the baby's heart rate started dropping, so the doctor told me they may have to do an episiotomy or use a vacuum. I told him I didn't want to do either if we didn't have to, and he understood...but they were still concerned with his heart rate dropping that I decided it was best to go with option A. I did not want them using a vacuum on him! The thought of that hurt my heart. After only 30 minutes of pushing, Gunner was born! However, once his head came out, they discovered that the cord was around his neck, causing the drop in heart rate. I didn't realize this until well after he was born, but it scared everyone. So he got it loosened up and plopped him right on me! Gunner just stared at me and it was amazing. They took him to the warmer and got him suctioned out, and he really started to cry! I'm so glad Mom got that on film.

The next several hours (days really) are a blur. I had been up since 5am on Friday, and got little to no sleep that night. I took a couple of short naps Saturday and slept about 4 hours on Saturday night. Sunday I took an hour nap once we got home, but that night was awful... it was our first night at home and I am SO thankful my mom was there to help. We were sleep deprived beyond belief. Once we got past the first night or two at home though, life got a little easier! Gunner started eating and sleeping better, we started sleeping more and it seemed like we might have a chance!! Those days feel like months ago now.

Daniel starts back to work on Monday and so my mom will be staying with us all week. Since I will be staying at home with Gunner, I want her to help me figure out what my daily routine will be like, so I'm looking forward to that. Daniel is calling it "Stay At Home Mom Training".

That's pretty much all I have for now! I love my little boy and couldn't be happier. He is so worth it!

Not Much Change...

My appointment today went well, she said I was doing great but the fact is that not much has changed with the progression. Still pretty much where I was last week. She is still convinced that I will go into labor before my due date though, so that makes me feel better. I plan to walk my face off over the next few days, maybe I can find some stairs and spend an afternoon walking up and down them.

She wanted to induce me next Wednesday. She is on call that day, and if I go into labor and she's not on call, the doctor who is on call will be doing the delivering. As nice as that sounds to have the guarantee for her to be there, I would much rather risk having another doctor be on call and me go into labor on my own. Convenience is not a good enough excuse for me right now. The thought of it being a week away was TERRIFYING! I think I might seriously freak out when I do go into labor though...it's really scary thinking about it!

So that's basically it. We're waiting to see what happens. Gunner is pretty low right now though, so maybe he's almost ready and he will come before my due date. I'm praying that God will make him come on his own before then. It can happen! It might not hurt if you pray with me! =)

Getting Closer...

Well I am at 38 weeks today. It is INSANE to think that we are this close to being parents. When we finally got to announce that we were pregnant, I thought to myself, "week 40 is so far away, it will be forever till we get to that point..." Well, here we are. We're pretty much prepared, as far as preparing goes anyway, for Gunner to arrive. We've got just about everything we need really, so I feel like we're "ready". (although, how ready can you be for your entire life to change.....)

The last two doctors appointments have been good, the first one I was dilated to 1 and 20% effaced, and the second one I was dilated between 1 and 2 and 50% effaced. My doctor was pleased and said I was really progressing well for where I was in the pregnancy, so her positive response made me feel like things are going well! My next appointment is Wednesday, so we will see what has happened in the last week. I've been having pretty regular contractions, nothing too intense but they happen throughout the day, and more at night. We've been going on walks every day and when I get done walking, I have lots of harder contractions, then they slow down.

Everyone was hoping today was the day, because 10/10/10 would have been a cool birthday! But alas, nothing. Oh well, he will come when he's ready! Apparently there is a front coming in, and the pressure changes have been known to cause labor to begin. Also, there is a full moon on the 22nd or 23rd which could cause it as well...and many other things I have heard that could cause labor! Every time I tell Daniel one of these theories, he just says, "Oh really? What about if you watch Star Wars: Return of the Jedi while singing the Star Spangled Banner during a rain storm on a Thursday?? Will that cause you to go into labor too?!" lol I can see his point, but it IS interesting the things that have caused some people to go into labor! You never know...

That's about all that has been going on in our lives currently, we're just playing the waiting game now. People are giving their predictions and it's pretty fun to hear every one's thoughts! I personally think that I've got at least another full week, if not more...but I always think negatively so I don't get my hopes up...