How We Started With a Sprout, and Ended Up With a Liam

Hello, all!

I am finally back to post all about D-day....delivery day, that is. Here is the tale of how our little Sprout-nugget came into this world.....the day that changed our lives forever. : )

TUESDAY, MAY 19

(WARNING: If tales of labor and delivery gross you out, you may want to skip past this! I'll try to be as kind as possible with the details. )

10:00 am- I was at home (having taken the day off from work to prep for my scheduled induction the next day) and sleeping in when my friend Deb called during her work break to check in and see how everything was going. I informed her that no progress towards labor had been made, and that this baby was probably going to hang out in my womb until it was time for him to head to preschool. After hanging up, I got up to head to the bathroom. I noticed that I was (sorry, TMI) bleeding quite a bit. Feeling startled and a bit panicked, I called my OB's office and spoke with a nurse. After conferring with my doctor, she confirmed that the bleeding could very well be a sign of early labor, and that if it got heavier (or if I saw clots) I should head to the hospital/labor & delivery. Ten minutes later, both of these signs occurred. Meanwhile, Jeff was downstairs in the office working from home (how convenient!), so I waddled down to inform him that I was pretty sure that I was starting labor. It was like I had flipped a switch; instantly, he popped out of his chair and rushed around to get everything in order so that we could leave. I was a little more relaxed....the car had been packed for two weeks, so I just got dress and puttered around a bit as Jeff darted back and forth. I think the fact that my water hadn't broken and that I wasn't feeling any pain/contractions made it easier for me to remain relatively calm. I say "relatively", because I was also feeling a little anxious about what was to come, as well as excited. We were on our way!

11:45 am - After a ride across the metro to the hospital that resembled a car chase scene from a movie (whoa....slow down, honey!), we pulled into the hospital parking ramp just as I started to feel a slow trickle of fluid. As I tried to stand up and get out of the car (warning: TMI alert), the "trickle" became a flood as what felt like a river of warm amniotic fluid shot down my left pant leg and all over my flip-flop clad foot. It was a seriously gross feeling! There was NO way that I was going to walk into that hospital and leave a trail behind me, so I sent Jeff off to find a wheelchair. Minutes later he returned, unsuccessful. At precisely the same moment, an ER nurse walked by and asked if we needed a hand. He found us a wheelchair and moments later escorted us into the maternity assessment area. I was quickly checked in, and after determining that I was 4cm dilated, they shipped me down the hall to our new quarters in labor and delivery.

12:30 pm - Almost immediately after arriving in our room (216) and meeting our awesome L&D nurse (Denise), I started to feel intense pressure in my lower back. As this started to come and go in a pattern and also become very painful, we realized that what I was experiencing was back labor. This was odd, considering that most women who experience back labor do so because their baby is facing forward (rather than facing backwards, as Sprout was), causing their baby's head to place pressure on their spine. Regardless, I was stuck with these back contractions for the next four hours. For the first half hour, Jeff and I walked the halls, stopping as each contraction hit to breathe through it. Very soon, however, the contractions quickly ramped up in intensity and frequency, and it got to the point where I only had about 30 seconds to a minute in between each contraction to recover. I tried sitting on the birthing ball to work through them (all the while leaking more and more amniotic fluid!), but nothing seemed to help. I literally could barely catch my breath in between each one, and poor Jeff could do nothing except apply pressure to my back, hold my hand and offer words of encouragement. Eventually, I decided to hop in the shower and run hot water over my back to relieve some of the pain. This didn't help either, and after Jeff helped me out of the shower we decided our birth plan might need some altering.

4:30 pm - Initially, I had intended to try some lighter pain management once the time came when I could no longer handle the pain, but that plan was based on the assumption that my contractions would slowly ramp up (the opposite was true). I hadn't really wanted to get an epidural, since I wanted the freedom to get up and move around (impossible to do when you are numb from the waist down!). But I always kept it at the back of my mind as a possibility. And after Nurse Denise examined me and told us my Plan A option of receiving meds intrathecally was no longer an option by this point (as I was now dilated to 7 cm), I was ready to reconsider the epidural. I was exhausted by the non-stop contractions, and I was worried that I wouldn't have the strength left for delivery if I kept up this pace. So, shortly after my sister Laura arrived to offer her support (THANK YOU!), I received my epidural. In that moment, I (the needle-phobe) didn't care that they were sticking a freaking long needle into my spine. I no longer cared that I wouldn't be able to get up for many hours, or that I now required a catheter (since bathroom breaks were no longer an option). Because twenty minutes later, I was feeling gooooood.
I will NEVER be one of those women who insists on giving soon-to-be-moms the advice that they HAVE TO get an epidural....but man, it was one of the best decisions I made that day. It allowed me time to relax and gear up for delivery a couple of hours later, and I was able to actually talk to Jeff, Laura, his parents and sister Kari (who also came to visit) instead of being balled up in pain. In hindsight, though, I would never have given up those four hours of labor pain.....it was uncomfortable, yet rewarding to actually be able to experience that part of the process. I also probably sound like a big wimp for only lasting through four hours of pain before I gave in to drugs.....but I don't care! Every labor experience is different, after all. 6:45 pm - After hanging out with our families for a while, Nurse Denise came in along with Dr. Gosen (Dr. Arnhold wasn't on call that day, though Dr. Gosen was a great replacement) to inform us that I was now dilated to 10 (WOW!) and it was time to start delivery. Laura and Jeff's family headed to the waiting room, and we quickly got down to business. Initially, Jeff had planned to offer moral support and hold my hand, while staying up by my head......but recent thoughts of reconsideration over the previous couple of weeks led him to wind up holding one of my legs (while Nurse Denise held the other) and be up close and personal for the birth of our son. (He later said he was SO glad that he chose that experience over the "safer" option!) Denise wheeled in a big mirror and placed it so that I was able to also watch everything, which I was SO grateful for. Initially, I thought I would be too squeamish, but it was AMAZING! It also helped me to witness myself making progress through those pushes, which was difficult to do when I couldn't actually feel myself pushing. As we all started to see Sprout's head emerge (with whisps of pale blonde hair, which the doctor and nurse couldn't stop cooing over!), we knew we were only moments away. After a mere half hour of pushing (which I was told is pretty impressive for a first-time mom!), we heard those first little cries.......

7:23 pm - ....and our beautiful baby boy entered the world! As I mentioned previously, Liam Asher was born weighing 8 lbs. 10 oz., and measuring 20.5 inches long. It was truly the happiest and most blessed moment of our lives!


Jeff was such an amazing support through all of this.....seriously, I don't know how I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. I couldn't have done it without him (other than for the obvious reasons)!

Everyone always says how incredible and unending the love you have for your children is, but we definitely never fully appreciated or understood that until now. Our little Liam is the light of our lives...and we can't to continue sharing that light with all of you!

Coming soon.....photos from Day #2 through three weeks old (can you believe he is already three weeks old today? Wow!)

Love,
Farrah, Jeff & Liam