Kolton's Birth Story

I really want to write down Kolton's story before I forget anything!

I can't believe it's already been 2 weeks!

Even though having a newborn is so hard, it goes by way quicker than pregnancy!

Ok, so May 8th was Mother's Day.

(And I had an induction scheduled the morning of May 10, which would be 41 weeks.)

We all went to church like any other Sunday.

My mom and I left a little early so I could make brunch for her, my sister and nieces, who came over to eat.

After brunch my mom went to church with my sister and we put Kameron down for his nap.

Alex put together my new glider chair and we just hung out until it was time to head over to my sister in law's house.

Alex's mom was in town...so we got to spend Mother's Day with both of our moms, which was kind of fun!

We had dinner over there, Kam played with his cousins, and we had some good family time.

At their house, everyone gets together to say what they love about each of the mothers in the room.

So that felt nice...who doesn't love compliments? ;)

We headed out around 8:30 to get home and put Kameron to bed.

Alex and I were watching the OKC playoff game and around 10pm I started feeling some numb pain.

I couldn't really tell what it was for awhile.

I wasn't sure if it was just pregnancy aches, him sitting weird in there, gas pain, etc.

I told Alex my lower back was getting really achy.

Which should've been my biggest clue since I had back labor with Kameron.

BUT...it wasn't...I kept thinking it was gas or something.

I had Alex rub my back for a bit.

Then just for kicks I decided to start seeing if the pains would get worse in timed increments.

And sure enough...they were.  About every 10-12 minutes the pain in my back and belly would get much more noticeable.

And gas pain (as far as I'm aware) doesn't come in waves like that.

We started getting ready for bed at 11 and I mentioned that I perhaps was in early labor.

Alex asked if I needed to go to the hospital and I said no.  I knew they'd send me home.

So I decided to just get in bed and try to sleep.

Yeah.  Sleep was not happening.

As soon as I'd start to drift off, another contraction would hit.

They weren't so bad at first, but they definitely kept me up.

I just kept watching the clock.

11:30, 11:55, 12:15, 12:40.

The contractions started to amp up and were now coming every 8 minutes.

1:00, 1:25, 1:50.

At 2 I called the hospital.

I told them they were coming every 7-8 minutes and they were painful, but manageable.

The nurse told me to keep laboring at home unless anything started to change or if the pain started to be too much.

2:10, 2:25.

The contractions started getting really bad.

I was walking around, laying on my side, up, down, up, down...and breathing loudly and groaning.

Alex was now up too.

2:35, 2:50.

At 3 I told Alex to call his mom and have her come over so we didn't have to wake up Kameron.

3:15, 3:30.

I called the hospital to let them know we were going to be heading over.

My contractions were now about 5-6 minutes apart and were really hard to get through.

Alex's mom got there and we left a little before 4.

That hospital commute is usually 25 minutes, but Alex got us there in about 18 minutes.

We got checked in to triage and had to be monitored for awhile.

My mom got there shortly after I was admitted.

When the nurse checked me I was only at a 3!

A THREE?!

Seriously?  I'd been laboring all night!  How was I only at a 3!

I got stuck at a 3 (until I got the epidural) with Kameron so I was a little nervous.

I didn't want them to send me home.

So for the next 2.5 hours I got to have contractions every 4-5 minutes and listen to the women all around me have contractions too!  haha.

Then hallelujah, I got to a 4!

Before I was admitted to a labor and delivery room they put my IV in and then we were on our way.

The overnight nurse was still there and got all my paperwork and such done.

I labored on a birthing ball for another hour and a half.

And then I was done.

I'd been laboring for almost 10 hours.

I told the nurse I was ready for the epidural.

She got it all set up so I just had to wait for the anesthesiologist.

The nurses had a shift change, which I was happy about.

I then got Gina, who I LOVED having as my nurse...she was awesome.

And ahhhh....finally!  The anesthesiologist walked in!

Alex had to leave (as he had to with Kameron) so my mom stayed to help me keep breathing and stay hunched over while he worked his magic.

And then yes....relief.

Sweet relief!

20 minutes later I couldn't feel a thing.

This is how I felt about it....

My doctor came in shortly after to see how I was doing.

He said he'd be back in an hour or so and if I hadn't progressed, he'd break my water.

We all just hung out, watched TV, I was in and out of sleep.

But when the doctor came back I was still at a 4 so he broke my water.

It's now around 10am.

From 10-12ish I finally got to a 5.

Then I took a pretty good nap.

I woke up a little before 2 and told the nurse I was feeling pressure.

She checked me and said I was at an 8 and that the baby was really low.

She said I'd probably be pushing in an hour.

Well 10 minutes rolls by and I start feeling A LOT of pressure.

Thankfully she was an awesome nurse who listened to me so she checked me again.

Welp...I was at a 10 and he was REALLY low.

She said she'd call my doctor.

Thankfully he was on the floor in triage checking on another patient!

But that few minutes while waiting I had to concentrate SO hard on not pushing.

The nurses got everything ready to go, my mom left the room, and we were ready!

Alex was on my left and the nurse on my right.

Poor Alex.  This labor and delivery stuff is a little hard on his tender heart.

He can't look at me when I'm having bad contractions and he definitely can't look at me while I'm pushing.

He just holds my leg and stares at the wall.

So thankfully it was over really quick!

5 minutes later the squishiest, sweetest baby was here!

On May 9, 2016 at 2:35pm, our Kolton Henry was born.

 As soon as he came out, the doctor said he was a big boy and the nurse commented on his delicious chubby cheeks!

My doctor asked how big Kameron was.  I said 8 lbs 1 oz and he goes "yeahhh...this one's bigger."

Haha!

At my hospital, they do skin to skin for an hour before they do anything to the baby so we weren't sure yet just how big he was.

It was an awesome hour.

He cried a lot, which was good so he could get the leftover fluid out of his lungs.

Once that was done, he just laid on my chest so quiet and still and it was pure heaven.

While I was still snuggling him, Alex went and got my mom and also called his mom.

Once our hour of skin to skin was over, the nurse did all of his vitals and such.

He topped in at 9 lbs 8 oz and was 21" long.

I still can't believe that came out of me!

Alex finally got to hold him and helped the nurse.

Before I was taken up to recovery, my MIL got there with Kameron.

I will never forget Kam's face seeing his baby brother for the first time.

Or hearing him exclaim "Mama!  Is dat baby brudder?!"

And just like that we became a family of 4.

Our little Kolton is such a dream.

He's more fussy than Kameron was, but he's easily consolable and melts your heart with his little faces and dimples.

He's been quite the addition to our home.

We're all still trying to figure out our new normal.

I'm trying hard to just enjoy this stage since I know it goes by so quickly.

Re-learning how to be patient with myself has been difficult.

But I don't want to wish away any of these days.

He's an angel baby and we love him so much.