I decided that I needed to write down our son’s birth story because as the days go by and the long nights drift into sleepy mornings, things are getting a little fuzzy. This post will undoubtedly be ramble-y and not grammatically correct (read: passive voice). It’s not like I’m an English teacher or anything…
The Story of Sweet Baby Grant
I had my 39 week doctor’s appointment on March 3rd where I met with a midwife. My blood pressure was up (as it always is when I walk into a doctor’s office) and the midwife I met with was concerned (as she always is). We agreed that I should be admitted for some blood pressure monitoring. Throughout my pregnancy, I was admitted for blood pressure monitoring four times and within ten minutes of being hooked up to the monitor, it thankfully returns to normal. However, upon meeting the doctor on call, Dr. Anderson, she suggested that we go ahead and induce.
An induction was definitely not my plan, but my plans and preferences went out the window at the thought that baby G could become stressed. Jim and I prayed about it and before we knew it… an induction was on the books.
I spent the night in the hospital on March 3rd with plans that my induction would began at 8 AM on March 4th. I was feeling apprehensive but excited. At around 11 AM and after a few hours of pitocin, things began happening. My contractions gradually began and became pretty intense within an hour of starting. I had already planned on saying heck yes to an epidural, but I was told that I could not receive an epidural until I was 5 centimeters dilated. Just when I was thinking that the contractions were bad but not the theatrical screaming-intensity I was expecting… things got real. Like real real. I remember my Mom arriving when things were… uh, unpleasant (poor Mom) and both Mom and Jim were doing everything in their power to comfort and distract me. I asked for what ever pain meds I could have and my sweet nurse, Sara, was on the ball. She injected something into my IV that instantly made me sleepy. Jim said that I was really out of it, swaying like a drunk, and asking him strange questions like “Did you enjoy the movie.” Now, the pain meds did not help very much, but definitely caused me to experience everything to come in the next few hours through a haze.
Because I had back labor, Saint Jim massaged my lower back for HOURS. I know his arms were so tired but he kept at it. Sadly, it was the only thing that offered some relief to me at the time (thanks Jim!). Mom fed me ice, rubbed my back some, and talked about all kinds of things to distract me, like Maltipoos and ChiPoms. I was so grateful that she was there.
Once I had dilated to 5 centimeters, the nurse asked if I wanted the epidural. Uh, did you even need to ask that!? Mom and Jim were asked to leave the room and Dr. Chicken (!) preformed my “sterile procedure.” Unfortunately, when you receive an epidural you have to be completely still through your contractions. It was tough and I think I soaked my nurse’s shoulder in tears, but within one minute, I was feeling goooooood.
From about 5 PM to 10 PM, I felt nothing. I could tell I was having contractions based on the monitor, but like I said, I felt NOTHING. From the waist down, I was completely numb. I couldn’t even move my legs an inch… which, truthfully, was A-okay with me. While Mom and Jim watched “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,” I slept on and off for the next few hours. Every thirty minutes or so, the nurses kept asking me if I felt any pressure at all. When I answered “not a thing,” they seemed surprised. Dr. Chicken did me right, y’all.
At around 10 PM, I was 10 centimeters dilated. It was time to push! Two of the sweetest nurses guided me through the process. When baby G was crowning and about to make his début, one of the nurses left to get the on-call doctor, Dr. Wolf, to come “catch.” When the nurse returned and said the “Dr. Wolf has been called into the OR but we just paged the on-call midwife and she should be here in fifteen minutes or so…” I went nuts. I’ll blame the meds for this one, but I definitely wasn’t the most understanding patient. This baby was coming and if I needed to play doctor, I was willing. I think my desperation made its way to Dr. Wolf and after about two minutes of waiting for someone… anyone… to come deliver the baby, she popped in. She put her mask on and scrub jacket and in exactly two more pushes, with my mom and Jim right next to me and the soft drone of “Jeopardy” playing in the background, Grant Asher Bales entered our world.
At that point, Ms. Watts, the midwife who left her warm bed at home to come help a sister out, arrived. She is the mother of a student, so it was slightly awkward but ya know, all modesty goes out the window when you’re birthing a human. She handled the afterbirth (let’s not go into that one).
After about an hour with our baby, he was whisked off to the nursery where Jim assisted the nurse in giving Grant his first bath. About an hour later, it was time to be moved to the postpartum room. Once we got there, I inhaled a turkey sandwich in about four bites, something I think my mom was slightly shocked and/or disgusted by. Baby G came back to our room, Mom drove home to get some sleep after being awake for 22 hours, and Jim and I were officially parents.
Grant Asher means “Great Blessing” and my goodness, is he ever. I could not love this child more. I feel like he is the reason that I am living on this earth. God is good, guys. God is good.
Grant Asher Bales
March 4, 2014, 11:07 PM
22.5 inches long
8 lbs, 11 oz
