Verdon Family Blog: November 2013

You would think third time is a charm huh? That pregnancy would be a piece of cake after going through it two other times? Wrong! This was my pregnancy that gave me empathy for all of the women who say "Pregnancy is NOT my favorite thing!". After losing so much weight, it was difficult to see pounds come back on. Although I ate much healthier this time, and I craved salads and carrot sticks through the second trimester when I was not sick anymore, it was still hard to hide this third baby and the subsequent weight!

We found out in May we were expecting a boy. This time my hunch was right (my guess was wrong with the other two). I really sort of knew it was a boy based on how I was feeling. We were very excited as this means our princess will be THE princess of the house, and perhaps this will keep that middle child syndrome at bay. Hunter was excited to know he was going to have a brother, as much as he could anticipate the huge change coming his way!

About some time in August, Hunter decided that the baby's name was to be Airplane. Not Cody. He said "Cody is a stupid name! His name is Airplane!" and subsequently when showing people the baby's room in the house, he was sure to say it was "Airplane Cody's Room". So when it came time to decorate the new nursery, we decided that airplanes was the most appropriate way to go. (by the way- he is NOT allowed to say the word stupid... not sure why he said that!)

My due date was October 8th. This happened to be the same birthday as his Grandfather, John. (Jake's dad). Funny thing is that Abby was due on Jake's mom's birthday, and now Cody was due on his Dad's birthday! Abby came 11 days early and was 8 pounds... so my guess was we weren't going to make it to the 8th.

And my guess was right...

Days came and went, I thought I was going to go around mid September, but nothing was moving too quickly. I did have frequent contractions, but that was normal for me in late pregnancy. I would wake to strong contractions in the night, just to fall asleep and they would be gone the next morning. I lost my mucus plug a month early and that still meant nothing to any true labor.

On September 26th, I was pretty much done with everything. I was pretty miserable (like all hugely pregnant women!), so I decided to walk more that day. I walked a mile to Subway for lunch, and a mile back to work. At that point, my contractions were really picking up which was a good sign. I decided to go home around 1pm. I went home and got on the treadmill and walked another mile. I picked up Abby from Nana's and put her in the stroller and went for another mile walk. Hunter got home from school, I put him in the stroller also and went for ANOTHER walk! (imaging a 10 month pregnant woman pushing 80lbs of children in a stroller on a hot day!) At this point, my fitbit stated I had walked about 6 miles. When coming back with the two in the stroller, my contractions started fizzling out. I was tired and now frustrated that they had slowed. This was about 4pm. I went in the house with the kids, sat on the couch and was helping Hunter with the laptop when I felt a bit wet... I checked and YUP my water had broke! I went to the toilet and got prepared for the gushing that I always had with the other two. Jake got home at exactly that time and I had the biggest smile and excitement that it was finally time to start writing our birth story for Cody!

So this is where we were pros at this. As it was the same with my other two, my contractions were small if non-existent after my water broke. My providers all agree that if I was negative for Strep B (which I was) and my pain was tolerable, that laboring at home is just fine. This meant for me that I could probably get a good nights sleep before the next day. We brought the kids to Nana and Papa's and went home to sleep unless if things changed. They didn't over night so around 7am we started packing our bags for the hospital. We stopped and got breakfast and coffee on the way to the hospital while laughing about how calm we were!

When we got there, I was excited to know that my nurse was one of the same nurses from Abby's labor and the sister of one of my professors. I really enjoyed her and she made the day just amazing. She listened to me and trusted my instincts. My midwife was one that I hadn't worked with a lot in the past, but we got to know each other very quickly over the next hours since we had a long road ahead of us!

We got there around 9am. I was hooked up to Pitocin shortly thereafter to get the contractions going. It didn't take long and they were coming pretty regularly. By 1-2pm I was in active labor and things were getting more intense. At 3pm I asked for the epidural. (this is all the same as in my other labors... really... all of them were SO similar! which is strange since this is such a rare type of labor!). This was the worst part of the labor because it took him 3 times to get the epidural right. Note to other moms: Don't tell the anesthesiologist where you think center is... trust THEIR opinion first! But, once that epidural was it... it was a miracle! I was at 5cm around this time... and the baby was VERY high up... which was strange since he had been pretty low before. I knew he bounced up and down a lot when I was pregnant with him, so I knew how to get him back down. With the epidural I had, I was able to sit up and sit with my legs crossed and rock him down into my pelvis again. I was hoping this would get him in a better position for moving things along. After 2 hours, he moved back down, but I hadn't changed much. Around this time, my parents came by to play cards and pass the time. I was up for it since I was pretty comfortable and was up for taking my mind off from the waiting game. If I remember correctly... my mom and I won two rounds of 500. They left around 8pm. I was starting to get uncomfortable and my epidural needed to shift to my left side so I had laid on it so it would flood to that area. My midwife checked me around 9:30 and said I was at 7 still. She suggested moving to my right side and that sometimes that will help. After laying on my right side for five minutes, I started feeling pressure. I mentioned it to the nurse. After another five minutes I asked the nurse to call the midwife in. When she came in I told her I was feeling pressure but I couldn't be much further along, but wanted her in the room in case "something fell out". After about a half an hour and some conversation later, I asked her to check me, I felt something coming out... she did and her eyes got really big... she said "Don't push! We have to get ready and he is right there!" and quickly everyone jumped into motion. They were saying that some people who are usually there for delivery would not have time to get there that I was too close. She said I would only have to push once or twice. I moved to lay on my back but that did not feel right... after trying to push twice like that I moved back to my right side. That felt right and like I had control. At this point, I started pushing hard and the strangest thing was happening... although I had an epidural, I felt him moving through the entire birth canal. I was scared of feeling pain, but I felt everything BUT the pain. I felt his head through my hips. Crazy! I even said out loud I could feel everything because I wasn't expecting that! Two other babies and I never had this feeling... it was amazing and creepy all at the same time! With a few short pushes, some coaching on holding at the right time, my beautiful Cody John was born at 10:15pm on September 27th. He weighed in at 9 pounds even. He cried right away and he was my only baby that was delivered right up to my stomach for me to hold immediately. He did have a bit of a gurgle from a last second suck of mucus into his lungs, but he was doing well. He cried and I gushed over how amazing he was!

I didn't even get a tear from that little big baby, thank God! That made recovery much smoother. I did end up with a spinal headache, but after a week that went away. He has been my champion nurser. He latched on immediately and ate like he was starving. He still does that. Must be why he is so quick to grow!

I'll talk more about him as a baby in another blog... but I needed to pen his story. We all have our own birth story, we all went through the experience and I want my babies to have the ability to know their story when they are older. So I write it, while I remember it :)