Welcome Baylor!

Baylor's Birth Story

My brother put Baylor's birth on the birthday board at the Rough Riders game the night he was born!

On Tuesday, August 28, we went to family night at Moe's with the Boozers. After dinner, the guys took the kids home and Shelley and I were headed to Books A Million to look for a bible study book. On my way out of Moe's, I felt a quick pain that I'd felt many times in the last few weeks. I completely disregarded it. As we  got in the car, I told myself I should've gone to the bathroom while at Moe's but that I would just hold it and go at the bookstore. When we got the bookstore and I got out of the car, I realized I shouldn't have tried to hold it because I really had to go! I got the bathroom and went but kept feeling like I still had to go (or was going) while we were in the bookstore. I even told Shelley I felt like I was losing all bladder control during this pregnancy! We left and Shelley took me home. I still felt the urge to go to the bathroom and by the time we got to my house, it hit me that my water had broken!

Shelley came in with me and I ran upstairs to tell Doug what I thought was happening. He was hanging window valances in the nursery and almost didn't believe me. I called the doctor's office and my mom and he called his mom. We headed to the hospital by about 8pm after my mom got to our house to stay with Katie. We checked in at the hospital and I was placed in a labor and delivery room. The first check revealed I was about 2-3 cm dilated. I started my fluids to prepare me for the epidural. Contractions weren't too bad but my back was hurting.

Around 11pm, Doug went to the cafeteria for a late night snack and when he came back, they were ready to start my epidural. It was not pleasant! It did not go as well as Katie's at all. It took several times for the doctor to hit the right spot and I was in agony. It took about 10-15 minutes to finally go in and take effect. Not too bad in the grand scheme of things, but man - it felt horrendous at the time!

Both grandmas were in the waiting room (Marshall had come to stay with Katie so my mom could be with us). They came back to visit with us for a while and then went back into the waiting room around midnight so we could all rest. Around 2:30 am, I was about 5 cm dilated according to the nurse. I was glad things seemed to be progressing somewhat quickly.

Then around 5:30 am, the nurse checked me again. Her exact words were, "Now, you're a good 5 cm." WHAT? Three hours and I went from 5 to a "good" 5?! I was so frustrated. We sent our moms home to shower and the plan was for them to relieve Marshall and bring Katie up to the hospital so she could be there with us too.

I tried to drift back to sleep but was pretty uncomfortable and my mind was racing with anticipation for the pushing. I did doze off a little and around 6:40, I woke up feeling lots of pressure and discomfort. I called the nurse because I felt like something was potentially wrong with my pain meds for me to be feeling so much. She checked me again and now I was at 10 cm and ready to push! Again...WHAT? Now it had only been one hour and I progressed more in one hour than since we arrived at 9pm! I told Doug he should probably get himself dressed for the day and freshen up before the doctor got there. He also texted our moms to come on back to the hospital.

The doctor came in around 7:10 and it was showtime! I started pushing. I pushed a few times through one set of contractions. The pushing wasn't awful but not a walk in the park either. The contraction finished and the doctor told me to rest until the next contraction. I told Doug it felt like he was already halfway out and much to my amazement, Doug told me that he was! Whoa...that weirded me out. But there wasn't much time to be freaked out by it because another contraction was coming. I pushed once and then once more and he was out! Sweet Baylor was here. It was 7:20 am, August 29, 2012 (38 weeks, 1 day pregnant).

And then I began to freak out. Baylor's head was completely purple and his right arm was hanging limp. He wasn't crying at all. Time seemed to stand still. I was really confused and worried. I kept trying to read Doug's face for signs about what was happening. I asked several times why he was so purple - I was fearful he wasn't breathing at all. The doctor assured me it was just bruising. I didn't feel totally convinced and was still worried because his arm was limp and he wasn't making much noise. The doctor and the nurse proceeded to make guesstimates about his weight and wrapped him up and handed him to me. 

It felt so good to have my arms on him and feel him breathing. I still couldn't get over the bruising and somehow forgot about the arm. Doug and I got to spend about an hour with him together in our room. Our moms came in a for a little while and so did Katie. She seemed sort of oblivious to what was going on and was more excited to tell me that she was chewing gum (something I don't allow her to do yet). I got to try to nurse him and just soak up the first few moments of his life! I was immediately in love with him and threw my protective mama bear arms around him to try to comfort him and make his bruising go away.

The nurses eventually came and took him to get weighed, measured, and bathed. Doug went with them and after they weighed him, I got a text saying he weighed 9 pounds 4.4 ounces! WOW - no wonder I was so uncomfortable over the last few weeks! 

We got settled in our room and had some family and friends come and visit us. To say I felt much more relaxed and normal with this birth is a total understatement. I was able to enjoy the little moments as they came and went. All the stress and anxiety I had experienced the last few months of pregnancy were gone the instant I held him. I was actually excited that he was finally here and our family felt complete!

 

After the pediatrician saw Baylor for his first "check-up," she came to tell us that he had suffered an injury during delivery and had Erbs Palsy. This meant he had some nerve damage in his right shoulder that left his right arm without much function. During our hospital stay, we had a consult from a pediatric orthopedist who told us a little more about the condition and what were our next steps. He had done an xray to make sure there wasn't a clavicle fracture and there wasn't one. He wanted to see us in about three weeks in his office to do another xray and set us up for therapy depending on if he'd regained any function in the arm. Most cases of Erbs Palsy resolve themselves in 6 months to a year while some could require surgery and some children don't ever regain total function. Our prayers are certainly to be in the group that regain all movement with therapy.

Baylor dropped down to 8 pounds 10 ounces before we left the hospital and also started to become jaundiced. We got set up with a return trip the pediatrician's office the day after discharge to recheck his levels and possibly get set up for phototherapy for jaundice. We were told the jaundice was likely due to his bruising.

We left the hospital on Friday, August 31 and headed home to begin our new life as a family of four!

A little side note I want to remember...We had not packed any bags for the hospital and weren't prepared at all when my water broke. The only thing I had prepared was Katie's big sister outfit (which we really didn't get any pictures of). We rushed to pack bags for each of us and completely forgot anything for Baylor. I guess since he wasn't technically here, he wasn't on my mind to pack clothes for. We didn't even realize this until a few hours after he was born! Doug went home and got some clothes for him. One of the outfits was a little jungle animal onesie I had received at my work shower. It was absolutely nothing fancy and probably not your typical "coming home" outfit. But the neat thing about it was the person who gave it me was now Baylor's birthday buddy! He was born on her birthday. I thought that was fun and made the outfit special!

One other thing I definitely don't want to forget. When we got home from the hospital, I got teary eyed just watching Katie and thinking she must've grown a foot in the two days we'd been away. She looked so grown up. She asked me what was wrong and I said I was sad because she wasn't my little girl anymore - that she'd gotten so big. Her reply melted my heart. She said, "I'm still your guys's little girl. I'm just a big sister now."