I'm just so glad that our little bundle of joy is finally here!
My due date was September 23rd and since I've always gone overdue with the other boys, I was just really hoping that he would come before October. I was planning on an induction even though I really wanted to go on my own, and was anxious to get it scheduled for September 30th - I just had to have him before October!!
I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for months, but knew they would never amount to anything. At about 37-38 weeks I started having contractions that seemed real - but I would only have one or two a day. I figured we were in for the long haul!! I was huge, uncomfortable and so ready to be done...but kept on waiting.
On Sunday, Sept. 15th (one day shy of 39 weeks) we went to church as usual. When we came home we took it pretty easy and I made dinner and an extra for a freezer meal. I was feeling a few more contractions, but nothing too painful so I wasn't getting too excited. We went for a walk in the evening and I was feeling a bit more pressure than normal, but that just made me hopeful that maybe my body would go on its own. I figured over the next few days and weeks I'd be doing a lot of walking to get my body going!
That night after going to bed, I was only able to sleep until about 3:00a.m. Then I woke up having painful contractions about every ten minutes. At that point I was figuring this baby was on his way because the contractions weren't going away. I couldn't sleep and was super annoyed. I was just hoping to make it to morning - I didn't want to have to call anyone in the middle of the night to come stay with the boys. I wanted to be able to get showered and get some things done before this sweet baby made his appearance. I figured I would call mom in the morning so she could be on her way to help and then head off to the hospital. After watching the clock for hours, I finally fell asleep around 5:30. When I woke up to get Dylan off to school just before 7, the contractions had stopped so I figured we were in the clear and would be waiting for a few more days. I still called mom to give her a heads up and to "pack a bag" just in case.
I was able to get up and tackle my to-do list. Mopping floors, laundry, bathrooms - helping me feel much more ready. The contractions were back by mid morning but nothing too painful. After showering and feeling like my to-do list was getting smaller, we got Easton off to school and Gavin and I ran to Walmart. I was moving really slow - feeling obnoxious as I waddled through Walmart. I was tracking contractions with an app on my phone and they were 4-5 minutes apart, but since they weren't as bad as I thought they should be I kept plugging along. Mom was on stand-by ready to head down when I told her to, but as it got later in the day we decided that she would at least wait until morning so that she wasn't driving by herself late into the night.
Dylan and Easton had soccer practice that night and I figured I could either sit home and have contractions or go sit at the soccer field and get the boys out for some exercise. I was hurting and was in no mood for crazy boy antics. I changed my mind back and forth a few times on whether or not we were going to practice. I was hurting bad enough that I didn't want to run up and down the stairs trying to find all of the boys soccer gear and sadly they weren't being very cooperative. I was also trying to get a poster done for Gavin that he needed for preschool the next day (yes, I'm a procrastinator). It was an "All About Me" poster that luckily I had printed up the pictures for, but hadn't done anything else. So I told the boys we were skipping soccer. They were sad. I felt bad and decided we were going after all.
Tim was planning to meet us at the soccer fields after work. I had basically been standing all day trying to get everything in order, but when I finally sat down in the car on the way to soccer practice the contractions were really getting painful. I figured it was because of sitting down which was hurting way more than when I had been standing up around the house. I was hurting really bad by the time we got to the soccer fields, really wishing we had stayed home. Tim was a few minutes behind me and called me as he was pulling into the fields. I told him that I had to head back home once he was there and that we should probably head to the hospital after he got home when practice was over. He asked me if I thought we should just go right then, and after another contractions as I was about in tears, I said yes. I'm so glad he asked because my mind obviously wasn't working well. He followed me home and I was seriously scared he was going to rear end me a few times as I had to basically stop to go over dips and bumps. Ouch!
I called one of my best friends as we were leaving the soccer fields, Jennilyn, who I had kept in touch with throughout the day filling her in on my progress. She was planning to step in and help with the boys whenever needed which was such a relief! When I called her, I told her we needed to head to the hospital, we just needed to swing past the house and grab my bag for the hospital (which I hadn't packed yet), and stuff for the boys for their sleep-over. The boys were so excited that I don't think they even gave us a hug goodbye when we dropped them off. It was nice to know they'd be taken care of and they wouldn't be missing us - just having fun. I'm definitely grateful for amazing friends!!
During this pregnancy I had tried to entertain the thought of delivering without an epidural. With Dylan and Gavin, they hadn't worked completely anyway, so I wondered if I could do it. Plus there was the benefit of the cost savings! By the time we got to the Saunders house I was hurting so much that I had changed my mind. I figured I would still have hours and hours ahead of me at the hospital and I didn't want to endure the pain anymore. All day having labor pains had drained me. I was exhausted and sore (for lack of a better word) so an epidural was in the plan.
We got to the hospital and I knew it was time, but I didn't feel like we were in any hurry. From past experience, I knew that labor went really slow for me. It took a while to get through admissions and then we headed up to labor and delivery.
After settling into a hospital bed, we were told that it was about time for a shift change. Because of that, they were going to wait to check me until the new staff was there. I was really grateful for the nurse that was about to go off shift. She taught me how to breathe through the contractions, and that was so helpful! I'm not sure I would have been able to handle them as well as I did without her advice. It actually helped a lot!
After the night shift got going, my new nurse finally checked to see how far along I was. Tim and I were both very shocked when she said I was a 7-8. What a wonderful surprise! And I was doing ok with the contractions. I asked her about an epidural and she told me that I might be too far along, but she would do her best to get me one if that is what I wanted. She did say that I was doing so well though that she thought I would be able to make it without one. So that was how we proceeded. I figured if I could survive the contractions then I'd make it.
Things progressed very quickly. It wasn't long before my doctor was there and they were breaking my water. They told me the contractions would get stronger after that. The first one wasn't bad at all, but then they really kicked up. I was having a very hard time staying calm and breathing through them . . . and was starting to regret not having an epidural! Within no time they were telling me it was time to push. That was the WORST THING EVER! A contraction would come and I was supposed to curl up in a ball and push which was opposite of everything I could think of to make the contraction feel bearable! What they wanted me to do made everything feel so much worse! I was in so much pain! I always thought movies showing women in labor and screaming was an over-dramatization. Nope. As I was in the moment with my eyes tightly shut trying to survive, I could hear myself screaming too. Not in my plan! Tim said that the pushing maybe lasted five minutes but it seemed like forever. I felt so out of it. When our baby was finally out, Relief! In the moment, I was glad I had survived without an epidural, but wasn't sure I would ever do it again. Luckily I wouldn't have to be faced with that decision ever again. But now looking back, I think I would choose to do it natural again. I would know what to expect and know that the contractions aren't the hardest part - it's the pushing!
He cried nice and clear right as he came out - just before 9pm which was about 2 hours from when we arrived at the hospital. The nurses were all commenting that he had huge feet, but they looked pretty tiny to me! He was 8 pounds 4.5 ounces and 20 inches long. We still had no idea what we were going to name our little guy. I was still just shocked that he had come early. Exactly one week early. What an absolute dream!!
This experience was different in that they wanted me to switch to a recovery room right away - and I walked there. In the past my legs were always numb, so that wasn't an option. When they took him to give him a bath, I got to come. Tim has always gone by himself with the other boys. I was waddling slowly and I my body felt so strange, but it was nice to be up and around!
We had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours since I was positive for GBS. I was supposed to have two doses of antibiotics before delivery but he came so fast that it didn't happen. So they wanted him to stay for 2 days to be monitored.
The boys came the next morning to meet their new little brother and were so smitten by him from the first second they saw him. It was adorable!
It was so hard for us to decide on a name! We finally had it narrowed down to Grayson or Miles and decided whichever one we didn't use as his first name would become his middle name. After Tim took the older boys to school, he brought Gavin back to the hospital with him. As we continued to discuss baby names, Gavin said, "he wants to be called Grayson, so we should name him Grayson." That worked for us, so Grayson he became.
