Griffin's Birth Story: Part 2

Part 2 of our birth story...

We got to the hospital around noon and they took me back to check me immediately. Now, as a side note, I had never been "checked" before. I know a lot of women like to start getting checked at their weekly appointments around week 36, but my personal philosophy was that it wouldn't make any difference to me one way or another how far along I was. If I had been dilated at all, I would have just been stressed about it. I had decided that if I went over my due date, I would let them check me at my next appointment. So when the nurse checked me-- OW. Not fun. I was really glad that I had never had them check and I'll absolutely be doing that with my next pregnancy. Ignorance is bliss, right?

As she was checking me, she said, "Wow. WOW. His head is really slammed down there!" Yes, that is a direct quote and she indeed used the word "slammed". NOT HELPFUL. She then said, "Hmmm, his head is so far down that I can't really feel how dilated you are! You're either a 2 or a 7, so I'm going to say that you're a 5. I've never had such a hard exam in all my years of nursing!" Okay, lady. A few things, if I may.

1. Did you just GUESS how far along I was? I could have done that myself at home. You went to nursing school, but I GUESS you aren't very good at your job! UGH.

2. The terminology "slammed down" is really not helping me feel better about being on hour 14 of labor. Please, choose your next words WISELY or else YOUR head might be slammed against a WALL.

3. I'm sorry this is so difficult for you. Maybe you'd like to switch places?

Actually, she was really nice other than that first little interaction. My mom asked very sweetly if there was someone who could come in to check me who would know exactly how dilated I was. I about died laughing at my mom's next question-- "Um... are you going to be her nurse?" Well, as much as one can die laughing while contracting something fierce. Luckily, she wasn't going to be (praise ye the Lord) and they sent the charge nurse in to check. She quickly was able to figure out that I was about a 6. I was so afraid I was going to be a 3 or some low number like that.

My water hadn't broken at this point, but I really wanted it to break on it's own. This was part of our birth plan. They told me that they could easily break my water but I really didn't want them to at that point. I decided to walk around the labor and delivery floor for an hour and see if that would help. I'm not sure why I felt like this was a good idea because walking while contracting? Not fun. Poor Tyler had to basically hold Big Momma up every time I had a contraction and they were coming every 3-4 minutes at this point. He gained some good strength that day. I also didn't have the foresight to think about how embarrassing it would be if my water broke in the hallway.

I didn't need to think about the embarrassing factor, though, because my water didn't break. After about an hour, I'd had it and Tyler and I decided to have them break my water. We said that if that was the only thing that didn't go according to our birth plan, we'd be happy. When the nurses called my doctor, he told them to wait and that he would come to the hospital to break my water himself. Have I mentioned that I LOVE MY DOCTOR? He came and double checked that this is what I wanted. He knew that it was a part of our birth plan and wanted to be very, very sure I was okay with the deviation. We were okay, so he proceeded. That was at 3:30 pm.

The next 3.5 hours were a blur. I had the best labor and delivery nurse named Cindy who was very on board with our plan. I distinctly remember begging for an epidural one time (see, I'm not so tough!) and she looked at me and said, "Nope. You don't need one!" I am so thankful that God gave us Cindy as our nurse because most nurses would have called the anesthesiologist right away. Again, no shame in having an epidural, but I really never wanted one. I am so glad that it all worked out the way it did.

Not gonna lie, transition labor was HORRIBLE. I still haven't forgotten how bad it was. It is all very fuzzy in my memory, but it's clear enough, let me tell you. Tyler told me I screamed a few times but then kind of buckled down and got very determined. During pregnancy, I really thought I would be all about changing positions while in labor. I was dead wrong. I laid on my right side pretty much the whole time. I was just in so much pain that I couldn't even think about moving. Even and measured breathing was what really saved me. Tyler and my mom were absolutely amazing.

Between 6:00 and 6:30, Cindy checked me again and said that I was nearing 10 cm. My doctor started back to the hospital. At 7:00, things really picked up. Cindy's shift ended which made me so sad. I wanted her to stay with me. Just before shift change, my labor changed BIG TIME. I felt a noticeable difference and all of a sudden, I had this incredible urge to push. I started pushing at 7:00 and my doctor got there shortly after. Cindy left and my new nurse, Shannon, came in and was there for the rest of the birth. She was wonderful as well! I remember watching the clock while I was pushing and every 15 minutes, I would think, "In the next 15 minutes, I will have him." At about 8:15, I just felt like I was totally done. Sure enough, Griffin was born at 8:33 PM!

The moment he was born was absolutely the most joyful and breathtaking moment of my entire life. I still tear up just thinking about the moment that my doctor put him on my chest and I saw him. He was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen with a head full of hair! I did not expect that. Tyler was up by my head and Griffin opened one eye and then the other. He didn't even cry that much! I love that the first thing he saw was his mommy and daddy together. I started telling him that I loved him and just cuddled him close. It was absolutely the best moment of my entire life!

The next few hours were a whirlwind. We spent some sweet time as a family before they took him next to my bed to clean him up. Our hospital has a tiny room connected to the labor and delivery suite where they clean up the baby and get them all cozy in their blanket. The whole "post-delivery" ordeal was very easy and I didn't think much about it. The first meal that I ate was a turkey sandwich and it was the best thing I've ever eaten. Seriously. Deprive a girl of food for almost 24 hours and make her labor through most of it and she'll eat just about anything.

We had a great hospital stay with lots of wonderful visitors and excellent medical care. I can't say enough about my nurses, especially my labor and delivery nurses. Griffin and I actually went back to visit Cindy when we had a follow-up appointment at the hospital when he was 6 weeks old (more on that another time). I could have stayed in the hospital FOREVER.

I obviously really, really, really loved my doctor. I felt like he went way above and beyond to make sure that we were as comfortable as possible and that our birth plan was followed as long as Griffin's safety wasn't compromised. If you're having a baby (especially a first baby), I would strongly recommend you find a doctor you're very comfortable with. I trusted him 100% and would have done just about anything he told me to do. My doctor was in a practice with only two physicians, and I felt this way about both of them! I asked them so many questions during my pregnancy and they always validated me and helped me to calm down. All in all, Griffin's labor and delivery and our hospital stay was fantastic. You know, minus the horrible pain that I still haven't forgotten.

And to those of you who were wondering, I did end up have a completely natural Bradley method birth. The only medication I got was some ibuprofen after they cut the umbilical cord. I didn't even need an IV (just a heplock in case of an emergency). This doesn't make me a he-woman or anything special; trust me, any woman could do this. It was just a personal choice that I am completely satisfied with. I wouldn't have done anything different and if we have any more children, we will do the same thing. When Griffin was born, he was SO alert and bright eyed and stayed that way for a few hours. It was just amazing! I'm planning on writing a post on the Bradley method and how it worked for us, but in the mean time, if you have ANY questions about it or would like to see our birth plan, just email me or comment and I'll contact you back. I'm super passionate about natural birth, but again, I would never make anyone feel bad for their preferred birth method. Different strokes for different folks, especially when there is medical issues involved for mom or for baby!

Right after Griffin was born! Tyler was an amazing support.

Our big boy!

His first bath

The picture on the left is the part of his personality that he gets from Tyler. The picture on the right  the part of his personality that he gets from me. Ha!

Grammy and Papa!

Grandpa and Grandma Haney

My precious little family!

Getting ready to go home!

In the end, we got our boy. I can't stop thanking God for a perfect and healthy baby! He is so precious and beautiful. Sometimes, I'm just overwhelmed with tears when I look at him because of how much I love him. The Lord has done GREAT things for us!!

Griffin :: 2 Months

Griffin, you are two months old!

May 6, 2011

What were you up to this month?

--You now wear all 0-3 month clothes. It was very sad for me when I packed away all your sweet newborn sleepers! You are also in a size 1 diaper.

--We finally figured out what is going on with your nursing problems. You had  posterior tongue tie. We had to travel to Dayton to get it taken care of, but we met with the most wonderful doctor who took very good care of you. Nursing has gotten easier, but we still struggle. Thankfully, we have an excellent lactation consultant who has worked with us several times and who has helped us immensely. We have been supplementing and Mommy has had to let go of some of her pride. It's been hard, but I'm very thankful that you are growing and healthy!

--You go back and forth between nursing and the bottle without ANY problems. That has been such a blessing! You eat every three hours almost on the dot.

--Your hair has fallen out in patches. It's not as thick all over but it's very fluffy and curly on the top! It is one of my favorite things about you!

-- You are sleeping in your crib at night now! This first few nights, I was a nervous wreck and I got up to check you about a billion times. You've taken to it very, very well. You also love to be swaddled when you are tired and ready to go to sleep; it calms you down very quickly.

--You only wake up once at night and you are sleeping through the night every few days. You are not a good napper, though. You eat and wake just fine, but sleeping during the day is another story!

--You are still the sweetest thing unless you're hungry. :) You also get extremely angry when we try to burp you during or after a feeding. You holler something awful until you burp, then you're fine!

--You still love your swing (most of the time) and you've been spending some time in your bouncy seat.

--You still love your pacifier! You have started using a WubbaNub pacifier and it has a monkey attached to it. People comment on it all the time and I think it is so cute.

--You have started to coo and smile a little bit. Every time you do it, my heart just melts into a big huge puddle. It is the best!

--You absolutely hate tummy time. You scream and scream until I pick you up and then you're as happy as a clam. It makes it hard to get any substantial tummy time in!

--We survived our first overnight without your dad. I was a little nervous, but we did great! We sure did miss him, though!

--You made your first trip to Michigan and you went to church for the first time! Everyone just loved you. You travel like a champ, which is a good thing because we're going to be driving a fair amount in your lifetime! You never have an issue with being in your car seat unless you're hot. You get hot very easily!

--You made your first trip to Momma's school. All your aunties just loved you and couldn't get enough of you. You are blessed with lots of women who love you!

--At your two month appointment, you weighed 11 lbs, 4 oz (50th percentile), measured 24 inches (90th percentile) and your head measured 15.75 inches. You had your first shots ever-- rotavirus and dTap. We both cried and then later we took a nap together to soothe our souls. You were very brave that day!

--We still can't believe you're our baby! You are the best.

Happy two month birthday, my sweet thing! I love you!



Griffin's Birth Story: Part 1

I am the worst blogger in the entire world.

No, seriously. I am.

But honestly? The last seven weeks have been so extremely different from anything I've ever experienced that blogging has been the furthest thing from my mind. However, now that things are settling down a bit, I remember my love for blogging and how much I want to remember this time of life. If pregnancy taught me anything it's that I can't trust my own brain anymore. I think I'll remember things, but let's be honest-- I won't. So, finally, I am sitting down to write Griffin's birth story. It is not the most exciting story and it is about a birth (which means it might be a little graphic at times, so men, read at your own risk), but it is our story and I get emotional any time I think about the night he was born. It was the hardest and best night of my life

Friday, March 4 was my due date. I didn't feel any different when I woke up and I just knew I wasn't going to have a baby that day. I went to work and taught. When the kids lined up to go home, I asked them to pray that I would have the baby that weekend (I teach at a Christian school). I had finally hit the point of being DONE with pregnancy and I knew that due to work, my dad would not be able to be at the hospital when he was born if I went another week. If I had the baby on Saturday or Sunday, my dad would be able to spend the whole week with us before he had to go back home.

Those third graders? They can PRAY. If you have anything you need, just ask them to specifically pray about it. They get things done.

That night, we went out for Mexican with friends and I ate the spicy salsa in hopes that I would smoke the baby out. No such luck. I went home and went to bed for what would be my last night of uninterrupted sleep. I don't remember if I enjoyed my rest, but looking back, I surely hope that I did. I had no idea what sleep deprivation would do to me. Worth it? Yes. Still hard? YES.

Our last night out. My word, the PUFFINESS and the quality of this picture-- both horrible!

On Saturday morning, I went to a gardening class with my friend Libby and then Tyler and I went walking at the mall. I didn't feel any different, but I could feel my belly tightening and then releasing all day long. I couldn't feel it inside, but my belly would feel like a rock on and off. Tyler and I hung out at home for the rest of the day. We watched a movie and ate homemade deep dish pizza and garlic knots. Around 10:30, we Skyped with my brother in Chicago and headed up to bed around 11:00. No sooner did we get into bed then I started feeling weird. The best way I can describe it is that I felt like I had a charlie horse cramp in my lower belly. I felt a few of these cramps before I thought, "Hmmm, could this be labor?"

I answered my own question pretty quickly

By 11:30, things were feeling more intense and my mind got sort of hazy. I kind of remember watching SNL while trying to fall asleep (HA!), but that didn't work. At 12:40, I got the bright idea to start writing down my contractions so that we could be sure that this was actually labor. Looking back, I'm not sure how I thought it could be anything else. First time mom, right here. My contractions were generally about 7 minutes apart and lasted for 40-50 seconds. At 1:30 AM, we decided it was time to call my parents. I called my mom's cell phone and she answered like she'd just been sitting around waiting for my call. It was actually kind of funny, except I wasn't in a very funny mood. I told her that I thought this was it and I started crying because I was so terrified that it was a false alarm and that they would drive all the way here and have to go back home when I stopped my false labor. Again, there was NO way this was a false alarm, but how could I know?

The notebook where we recorded my contractions

I labored through the night and the contractions definitely got closer together and stronger. Bless his heart, Tyler tried to stay awake, but he definitely started falling asleep between contractions. I would gently wake him up by hitting him every time a contraction started. At about 5:30 AM, he took over recording the contractions because they were too painful for me to think about anything else. That was when I called my doctor-- he is the most PRECIOUS man. He was fully aware of and in support of our birth plan and our decision to have the baby naturally. He knew it was my desire to labor at home for as long as possible. He asked me a few questions and told me I could stay at home if I wanted to. Call me crazy, but I wanted to. Again, personal choice.

Labor progressed very normally and my parents got to our house at 8:30 AM. It was then that I got the bright idea to take a shower and do my hair. Yes, you read that right. I really was under the impression that doing my hair would ensure that it would hold up during labor. HA. My mom and Tyler both let me do what I wanted and I showered and blew my hair out. I'm sure they were discussing how insane I was while I was getting ready, but they made the right choice by letting me do my thing. Don't cross a contracting woman. It will never be a good choice.

I did many different tricks (shower, birth ball, walking, etc.) to help ease my labor. I ended up calling my doctor back around 11:30 AM and it was at this point that he suggested we go to the hospital. One thing I want to mention is that between 5:30 AM and 11:30 AM, my doctor called me THREE TIMES to check on me. He is wonderful. I honestly can't believe that he cared that much, but he really did and it eased my worry about the whole thing. Anyway, we packed up at 11:30 and were on our way to the hospital around noon. 

 

My last pregnancy pictures. Bless my heart, I look so pitiful, but I had been in labor for nearly 13 hours at this point, so I think I have a right to look a little worn out! Ha!

You can read part 2 of his birth story here. 

Meet Griffin!

Griffin Tyler David Haney

Born on March 6, 2011 at 8:33 PM

 

8 pounds, 6 ounces and 21 inches long

He is perfect!

We are SO blessed!

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." 

1 Samuel 1:27

(I fully realize that this post is seven weeks late, but we've had quite the adjustment in our family! Thanks for cutting me some slack!)

Griffin :: 1 Month

Griffin, you are one month old!

April 6, 2011

What were you up to this month?

--You are wearing mostly newborn clothes and a few 0-3 month things. You are so long but so skinny!

--You are in newborn diapers but we're close to moving you up to size 1.

-- You've already been to the doctor's office 4 times. We had some struggles when you were first born with nursing and you lost more weight than you should have. You just had your one month doctor visit and you've gained enough weight now to make them happy! Someone gave us a baby scale so that has been helpful to ease my mind.

--We are still struggling with nursing. Most of the time I am pumping and feeding you that way. It's very exhausting and I don't know how long we'll continue to do this. My priority is keeping you full and healthy!

--You sleep a lot during the day and you do pretty well at night! Usually you're up just once, sometimes twice. You are still sleeping in our room in a cradle. I like having you close, but you are a VERY loud sleeper! During the day, you take naps all over the place.

--You like your swing a lot. It calms you down and puts you to sleep almost every time we place you in it!

--You are a very sweet and content baby. Your personality is just precious!

--You love your paci and it really calms you if you're fussy. This makes me very happy!

--You do the sweetest thing where your purse your lips and look like you're giving us kisses. It is so darling.

--Usually, the first thing people comment on is your hair! You have lots of soft, dark hair. It's very silky and fine!

--I'm absolutely obsessed with you. Sometimes I look at you and I just cry and cry because I can't believe how lucky I am to have you. Your daddy and I are positively nuts about you!

--At your one month appointment, you weighed 10 lbs, 6.5 oz (50th percentile), measured 22 inches (50th percentile) and your head measured 15.5 inches.

Happy One Month Birthday, precious boy! I love you!



38 Weeks

 

I am actually nearing the end of my 39th week, but I wanted to get this update on the blog before I actually update about being 39 weeks pregnant. Bless my heart, I look so tired in this picture.

 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 38 Weeks

Size of Baby: He should weigh about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long. He measures to be about the length of a leek.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained a pound at my last doctor appointment. I am not going to tell you what that puts me at. My blog, my choice.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants (other than yoga/sweat pants) and a mix of maternity/ non-maternity shirts. I pretty much wear the same thing all the time. It's very, very attractive.

Gender: Boy!

Movement: He is still moving but it's less frequent and much slower. Boy child has run out of room. I feel him the most at night.

Sleep: I've been waking up for about 30-45 minutes in the middle of the night, no matter how tired I am or what time I went to bed. I guess that's pretty normal when you're very pregnant.

What I Miss: Bending over without groaning, putting on my socks with ease, and not being flat out physically exhausted all the time. I feel like I ran a marathon most days when I clearly did nothing of the sort. I also took it upon myself to pain my own toenails. It took me about 35 minutes and I have never made such noises. I think I permanently scarred my husband. He kept asking if he could help, but NO, Pregnant Girl had to do it herself. They actually don't look that bad.

Cravings: Sweet things and corn dogs. Stop judging me.

Symptoms: Pelvic pain and being exhausted 24/7.

Best Moment This Week: My sweet and precious students threw me a surprise baby shower (with the obvious help of their parents). It was BEAUTIFUL. I was overwhelmed by gifts and we played some fun games. One of the moms made a cake out of different Little Debbie snack cakes and it was SO cute; I can't wait to show pictures. The layer of Swiss Cake Rolls were my favorite. I could put down a box of those right now. These kids are actually really good secret keepers because I had no idea. They were so excited and when I asked them how they kept a secret, they told me that "they just whispered about it at their tables a lot". That made me laugh! It was so touching and made me teary. I will miss them a lot!

 

 

I have been asked a few times to write a post on our decision to have a natural birth using the Bradley Method. I am absolutely going to do this because I've become very passionate about it, but after some thought, I am going to wait until after the baby is born to write it. My reason for doing that is because... drum roll, please... I have never given birth. I know. Shocking. I want to wait until I can add an element of experience and real advice to the post. The only thing that I know for sure at this point is that it will be hard and painful, but there is no medical reason for me to have an epidural. I underlined the word "me" because I want people to know that there is NO JUDGEMENT from me if you have had an epidural, want one, or had/ are having a planned or unplanned C-section. There are both medical and personal reasons for why I will not be getting an epidural, but everyone is different! There are healthy babies born naturally, with epidurals, and by C-section every single day and I truly believe that it is the mother's choice.

 

I have quickly learned that no matter what type of birth you're planning, there are people who love to make you feel bad about it. I'm not one of those people. I will talk to you all you want about why I feel natural birth is best for our family and our baby, but I won't cast stones at you if it's not what you want for your family. I also want to be clear with the fact that if my doctor looks at me and says that we need to get this baby out now for any reason, I trust him and will tell him to cut that boy out as fast as he can. There is no amount of desire for a natural birth that would take the place of my desire for a healthy baby. None.

 

Someone wrote to me the other day that they hoped I'd have my perfect birth. I'm not really sure what to make of that statement other than the fact that I'd like to clarify that I'm not really looking for a "perfect" birth. Yes, we took the Bradley classes. No, I won't be having an epidural. Yes, I feel prepared to have this baby naturally. No, the fact that it's natural does not mean that it will be a painless and picture perfect birth. I know that I'm going to look HEINOUS after pushing out a huge baby. I know I'll probably feel that way, too. All in all, I'm looking and praying for a healthy child at the end of the birthing process. Maybe I've been bad about expressing that, but before he is born, I want to be clear that the ultimate goal is to have a birth that produces a healthy baby who grows up to love Jesus and follow passionately after Him-- not to have a perfect, natural birth. I hope you all can see my heart in this! I'm just so excited to meet my sweet guy.

 

Happy Tuesday!

37 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 37 Weeks-- he is considered full term now!

Size of Baby: He should be about 6 1/3 pounds (haha, I'm SURE he's bigger) and a little bit over 19 inches. He is approximately the size of a stalk of Swiss chard.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: OH MY WORD. At my appointment on Tuesday, I about fell off the scale because I'd actually LOST THREE POUNDS. This puts me back into a weight gain that is in the 20 pound range. I don't know how that happened or why, but they didn't say it was bad. Who am I to question a doctor?

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants (other than yoga/sweat pants) and a mix of maternity/ non-maternity shirts. I'll be honest, I've exhausted my options of maternity clothes. I feel like I'm wearing the same thing all the time and I've lost my will to care. 

Gender: Boy! People ask me his name all the time, but since he truly doesn't have one yet, it's easy not to tell.

Movement: I love it when he moves! He picks different times of the day to go crazy. Last night, I tried to get a video on my phone but of course he stopped as soon as I tried to capture the moment.

Sleep: Most of the time, I sleep very, very well. Third trimester pregnancy insomnia hasn't really been an issue.

What I Miss: Sleeping on my back? I have really been enjoying pregnancy, other than the hellish morning sickness that I had. If not for that, I'd have had a picture perfect pregnancy. I will miss the closeness and just the whole experience.

Cravings: I crave something sweet after every meal. I have always loved the mini Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and thankfully, the stores have put them out very early this year. I'm not going to tell you how many bags we've (I've) gone through in the last few weeks.

Symptoms: Still some pelvic pain and some back pain, but my doctor taught me some good ways to manage the pain. It's definitely helped. My hips crack and pop a lot which is semi-comical but mostly painful. I feel like I need a hip transplant at the tender age of 25.

Best Moment This Week: Some of my very favorite people in Cincinnati threw me a gorgeous shower this weekend! It was such a sweet time with friends who have made this city another home for me. Every detail was absolutely perfect and I got to celebrate the baby with so many people that I love. My mom and MIL got to come as well, which worked out so well! It was fun to sort through tons of baby clothes with them on Saturday evening. I am telling you-- friends have been SO generous in giving me baby clothes. This baby is set for a really long time in the clothes department and he has some really beautiful, quality items! On Sunday, my mom, Tyler, and I finally got the nursery into shape. Nothing like your mom to light a fire under your rear end! Everything in his room is pretty close to being ready for his arrival and we are now just putting things away that he won't need anymore! I was so, so thankful for the time with my mom in his nursery. I always dreamed of my momma helping me get ready for my little one and it has been a blessing to see how much she's enjoyed it, too!