Colin's Birth Story

I have been meaning to fininsh getting this down for months now...but the fact of the matter is that life is BUSY with 3 kiddos! And I am so so SO behind on my blogging. Vowing to get caught up here in the week few days!

Looking back on Colin's birth, it was interesting how everything played out.  The night before my good friend Nancy came over and watched Gray and Nora for us so Chris and I could go to his work gathering.  We ate some good food and had a beer and joked about how it could be our last time out before having the baby.  Some people commented about me being out and about and almost ready to have a baby. It was also a really pretty snowy evening!  We enjoyed ourselves.

The morning of Colin's birthday started out well.  We got up, and all got ready for the day. I took a shower and got completely ready, hair, makeup and all..."just in case."   I had an OB appointment that day at 1 PM and knew that my doc was going to try and strip my membranes, so I wanted to be prepared.  We had lunch, and got to the appointment.  Chris took a late lunch that day and met me in the parking lot, so he could sit in the van with Graydon and Nora. I was feeling big, and sore, and did not want them in the room with me while all that was happening.  Nora also ended up dozing off because that is her normal nap time anyway, so it worked out well.  I got up to my appointment and was still at the same dilation and effacement as the week before, so no progress. Which made me even more doubtful that the membrane stripping would work! I had warned my OB that I had had it down TWICE with Nora and nothing ever happened. I was leery to do it again because of the pain and cramping that followed, with no results.  Anyways, I think she took that warning as her own personal mission to put me into labor....haha! Because let me tell you, did she EVER strip them.  I was pretty much in instant labor, just did not know it yet.  When I left the appointment, I got into the van, said goodbye to Chris and told him I was already feeling really crampy. I had intentions of take the kids to Costco, getting a smoothie for a treat and picking up a few last minute items before the baby came.

I started driving there and got about halfway, when I decided that I was insane. I was in a lot of pain and knew there was NO way I was going to be walking all around Costco with the kids, pushing a cart etc. I got off on 28th Street and ended up at Arby's....for some reason a shake sounded good to me, and they had the new Creme Brulee flavor so I decided to try it. Little did I know it would be the last thing I would have until after Colin arrived!  I drank like half of it and felt a bit nauseous.  We got home and I was exhausted and in a ton of pain.  All I wanted to do was pass out, so I laid on the couch and turned on a movie for the kids. I dozed in and out of it, while they ran around, watched tv and played.

 I think it was around 4:00 when I talked to my good friend Nancy, who is like a mom and grandma to the kids, about what was going on.  She asked me if I wanted her to come over and I said no...I was still in denial and disbelief that I could actually be in labor, and didn't want to "inconvenience" anyone!  Shortly after that I realized that this was the real deal and needed to get things going. I texted Chris and found out he was on his way to Sparta to see a client and started freaking out....he said he would be quick and he couldn't turn around yet--he needed to get this person their medication. In the meantime I ended up calling Nancy back and left her a a few texts and a voice mail to come over to watch the kids if she could.  She was out walking her dog at first and didn't see my texts or phone call. I called Chris's parents to get them on their way over here for the night, since they are about 45 minutes away. I also called my good friend Lyn, who is like another Mom to me! She came over as quick and she could and picked up up to go to the hospital. Nancy wasn't to our house yet, so we got one of the twins across the street (Diana) who watch the kids for us occasionally to come over until Nancy got here.  When we got into Lyn's CRV we prayed, and then left for the hospital. My contractions were coming every 2-4 minutes or so! I couldn't believe that I was finally in labor!
Of course it was rush hour, so the traffic was awful. We decided to skip over 131 and take Division, which had construction. Just seemed like we couldn't get there fast enough...and I just could not believe how fast my contractions were coming! When we go there, Chris was waiting for us. It was a huge relief. My biggest fear was always that I would start to deliver and he would miss it for some reason!

Once we got into the triage room, the nurse checked me and I was only 4 centimeters. I was like WHAT!? I was convinced I was going to be at least 6-7.  Over the next hour things started getting way more painful, and I had decided that I wanted an epidural, and wanted to enjoy the delivery.  They moved me up to our delivery room and things continued to progress. It seemed like everything was sort of going slow motion and the anesthesiologist was taking forever. So much paperwork to sign. My contractions were getting worse, especially on my left side. It turns out that Colin was turned funny and I think he had been for a while because of the pains I had felt for a few months when I had braxton hicks. When I finally got my epidural I felt relief...accept for that spot on my left side because of the pressure he was creating. The pain actually felt magnified in that spot.  Finally they had me get on my hands and knees and doing some moving around which helped a bit.  When I flipped back onto my back they checked me again the water bag was bulging so they popped it and shortly after I started to push.  It was around 8:30 pm...I told them I wanted Colin to be born by 8:45 at the latest and they all sort of laughed. The OB said OK, well then we have some work to do! He was born at 8:39.  It's a BOY!  Chris was not surprised at all, and I wasn't really either...I was just thankful he was here and healthy! It was November 14th, 2014 at 8:39 pm.  He was 8 lbs. 10 oz. and 20.5 inches long! Big and healthy. I really believe it would have been like 8 lbs. 11 oz. but we do not know for sure. They took a really long time to weigh him...a couple hours. And by then he had a huge poop all over me and himself while we were doing skin to skin. He nursed pretty well right away and seemed bright eyed and content. I was thankful it was all over. I remember the OB telling me that we should have 10 more kinds because my body was made to do this! Haha!! Chris and I laughed about that... anyways. Happy to finally have this birth story finished. I only took almost 8 months to get it done!