Birth Story

Wow, I'm getting around to this much sooner than I expected. My baby boy is sleeping in his bouncer right in front of me. I can't believe he's already a week old. Here is his birth story.

I was induced on July 20th. We got to the hospital around 6:15am and the doctor broke my water and started the pitocin drip around 8:15. The contractions started shortly thereafter. I managed them for a couple of hours so I could experience the labor process. They weren't too bad, but it was a full house that day in labor and delivery and I didn't want to get stuck waiting for the epidural for longer than expected. I'm glad I asked for it when I did because it still took about 45 min to get situated. I got the epidural around 11am. My mom thought my contraction faces were funny because I didn't make a big deal about them. I'd be mid sentence and say, "Hold on", make a face for about a minute, and continue my conversation.



Holt's heart rate was dropping on an off throughout the day depending on the contraction. Around lunch time they put me on oxygen until he made his debut!



I was progressing exactly how I should for a first timer, 1 cm an hour, and the doctor was ecstatic with our progress. This went on until about 6:30 when they determined I was fully effaced and 10cm. Ready to start pushing! The doctor had her doubts all along that Holt would arrive vaginally, but honored my wishes and let me try as long as we were both doing well. Unfortunately, it was not progressing as well as she hoped. His heart rate would drop drastically when I pushed and come back up again with my intense breathing methods once it was over. It was a well coached "Deep breath in, slow breath out" between each contraction. This was proving to be exhausting for both of us. They could see his head, but it was not crowning like they hoped it would have after an hour. Dr. Westerholm made the final call and rushed us to an emergency C Section about 7:30. I was prepared for this all along so I was able to remain calm. Kyle did too. Within minutes they had thrown him some scrubs and started me on the right meds. Although I could not feel anything, the pressure of what they were doing was INTENSE. I couldn't believe it. Kyle said the table was shaking violently as they tried to get Holt out. I kept hearing the doctor say, "This is a big baby, this is a big baby." At one point Kyle said she was on the table pushing down and pulling with her other hand while another doctor also pushed down. All I could think was, "This is going to suck tomorrow!" Haha. He was out at 7:55pm and it took them another 20 minutes or so to put me back together again. The medicine made me so sleepy after his birth that I barely got to experience his first moments. I heard him cry and tears just started flowing. It was one of the most emotional experiences I have ever felt. To see and hear your baby cry is indescribable. The doctor was right about his size, he weighed in at 8lbs and 20.5inches long. That is a big baby, but an especially big baby for me. Kyle got to cut the cord and hold him right away. I was a little out of it, but so happy to have him here.




The first time he recognized my voice, I'm a Mommy!

So he was finally here! I didn't know but after the C Section they take out the epidural. A little too soon if you ask me! They gave me some morphine but I could feel the pain immediately. This forced us to wait on inviting in the anxious visitors in the waiting room! They were going crazy. I kept telling Kyle, "It's ok, I can do it. They can come in." He was adament and said, "No, this is about you, not them. They will get to see him, you need to feel good first." About 30 minutes later I started feeling better. This was about 9:30 and they were going nuts! I was shivering from the medication which was not helping my soreness. Who knew how swollen I would be!

Mommy to the rescue

Grampy and G

Grandma and Grampa

Uncle Trent

First Family Photo

We were discharged on Friday. All of his initial visits with the pediatrician went perfect! We have our 2 week appt next Tuesday.


We're adjusting to our new life. He's waking up once in the middle of the night, and having a hard time going to sleep again. We'll get through it. My mom left today and I am still not sure how we'll get by! She was such a big help. It was harder saying goodbye to her this time than it was when I left for college. I'm nursing him and that is going well too. I turned into Heidi Montag overnight! That is our story and we are so very happy to be home with him. The entire experience has been so surreal. I'm looking forward to seeing my expecting friends and family members go through the same thing over the coming weeks!

What they don't tell you...

Yes, being pregnant is such a joy and a miracle. For some reason, people who have done this before fail to tell you EVERYTHING. Well I'm going to. I'll do it again after I give birth to really scare those of you preggies into wanting to keep that bundle inside you forever. Now I'm sure not all of this happens to everyone, I will call you people freaks. Here are just a few things I've noticed in the last weeks of pregnancy. Holt will join us, for sure, on Tuesday when I get induced. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that he wants to come tomorrow or Friday. Again because we're picky and want to make his arrival convenient for everyone. And for some more TMI, I was 70% effaced and 1 cm dilated at my last appt on Thursday.

-You will run out of clothes that fit, even those maternity pants that you started wearing before you needed too and they were huge. Good luck getting some of them over your buttocks at the end. Your husbands T-shirts have never been more appealing. Sometimes it's 3pm before I realize I'm still lounging in it.
-You'll look in the mirror and not recognize your face because it is so "fat". Goodbye cheekbones, goodbye chin, hello double chin and puffy eyes (oh go ahead and roll that de-puffing syrum on there...there's not enough in the world)
-It's a miracle! That stretch mark cream really works! What a relief to not see any stretch marks on my belly, boobs, thighs, and hips. HOLY! What is that? Did I sit on something too long, nope, it's stretch marks on the one place I didn't think to put the cream...my butt.
-I cherish every movement my son makes, I really do. But they go from sweet somersaults to pinching and poking. I really think he is pinching my uterine wall sometimes with those tiny, although I'm sure adorable, fingers. Oh and the protruding foot on my right side, love it. And yes son, those are my kidneys and bladder you love so much.
-The term "lightening" for when your baby drops, is perhaps the worst oxy moron I've ever heard. There is nothing light about when your baby drops from below your boobs down to your knees in less than 24 hours. There is so much pressure, I literally feel that when I stand up, he's going to fall out. If only it were that easy. I am finding it hard to walk these days, or at least look like what I'm doing is walking.
-When people tell you to start walking to speed up labor, good luck. The people that do this are amazing. I cannot even fathom walking around the cul-de-sac, much less the neighborhood right now. It hurts bad enough walking from the couch to the bathroom. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to attempt this...at some point.
-Don't be surprised when you gain 10lbs, or more...ahem...in one month. And when people say "It's just water retention or water weight." or "I'm sure it's just the blood volume." Believe them because you too will believe this just disappears once your baby is here. I'll let you know how that goes.

We're just a few days away from welcoming our baby boy, hopefully a few hours, but it doesn't look promising for today. I have a doctor's appt on Friday and I'm hoping we've progressed so much she sends us to the hospital. I'll be sure to post after he is here and let you know ALL about that experience.

Almost there...

I didn't keep my promise of keeping these posts short. Too much time goes by before I sit down to update my blog! Most of you probably know about these updates, but just in case here goes.

The beginning of June I started to experience the dreaded swollen legs and feet. I thought this was very normal and made fun of the fact that I had one "cankle", my right foot. It was so much more swollen than my left you literally could not see a bone in my entire foot. I went to the doctor on June 7th and pointed this out, what I thought was humorous, concerned her quite a bit. After my appointment she sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound on my right leg to check for blood clots. She was fairly certain I did not have them, but because the swelling was more severe on the right side, this was a symptom she did not want to risk. Luckily it came back negative however I was ordered to wear compression hose the remainder of the pregnancy. I at least bought the thigh high kind so they are much more manageable to wear. They are soooo HOT in this weather. There is no air circulation, but within hours of wearing them, I could see my ankle bones again. The best part is that Kyle has to help me in and out of them everyday because they are way too tight for me to put on myself. And I have a huge belly in the way. As miserable as they are, I highly recommend them if you are pregnant and experiencing severe swelling. They get me through the day and I am actually able to walk.

I have had 2 amazing baby showers since my last post and I am still amazed by my friends and family and their generosity to my family! I am so blessed to have all of them in my life. My Houston shower was hosted by my sister in law, Amy, my sister, Ashley, and my cousin Tammi. It was a fun shower because I got to see people from my past (the kiddos I used to babysit who are all grown up now!), present, and people I know will be in my future. It's always great to see my friends from High School! I'm lucky to be close to them still. The second shower was hosted by my friend from elementary school, Missy, and 2 friends from college, Katie and Becca. This was a couples shower. Kyle was very happy to be part of this shower and share this fun time with his friends. Although I felt huge, he was happy and proud to show off my growing belly knowing his baby boy was inside.

My mom was also in town for the shower and she helped finish the nursery. Kyle and my mom were very hard at work on this all weekend long. It looks fantastic! He is one lucky little boy to have such a unique room.



This same weekend, we were told that Holt was now breech. Silly boy was in the perfect position at 29 weeks! If he did not flip, we were looking at a scheduled C Section. I had mixed emotions about this. It would very nice for us to tell our families a date to be in town and not have to rush in the middle of the night or another time of day. However, I think all Moms to Be have this vision of telling their husbands, "It's TIME!" Although this is equally as frightening as being cut open on a table, it's how I've always pictured it. We have since learned that he is not breech, and I have my doubts now that he ever was. I feel his movements and body parts in the same places, so he might be taking after his Mommy and have a bony butt! His feet stay very busy poking me on the right side and sometimes I think he's doing push ups on my hip bones. We were told at our 37 week appt sonogram this past Friday, that he is approximately 7lbs give or take a half pound. The sonographer said if I go another 2 weeks he could be a 9pounder! The doctor already told me this is not possible for me, so I am anxious to see what she says at our next appt. I'm hoping to be induced next week sometime, ideally the 16th. We're being very picky about his birthday. Trent's birthday, Kyle's brother, is on July 13th and my Stepmom Leslie's birthday is on July 14th. We're hoping to get past these 2 days although they have both kindly told us it would be just fine if he came on their birthday!

Our first child, Bentley, has been acting very strange poor guy. He is constantly sniffing me, especially my belly. He follows me everywhere, like he's just making sure I'm ok. If I'm sitting, he wants to be nearby or touching me. I know he senses that his world is about to change. He's also had an upset tummy the past 2 days which I am hoping is from something he ate, although I don't know what because he has only had dog food, and not because he senses something I don't know! I've heard dogs can sense oncoming labor!



This could be my last post before I become a Mommy! I am very ready to see this lil guy that has been so busy in there the past few months. We love him so much already, and I can't wait to show him! We're also looking forward to seeing all of our family members when we welcome him in the hospital! God is great!