Ethan's "Birth" Day Story

Sit back...this is going to be a long post! I wanted to record the story of Ethan's arrival before I start forgetting things and I may have gone a little overboard with the details. In any event, here's my narrative of the events leading up to and the day of the arrival of our precious little boy.

On Friday, July 23 I noticed that I wasn’t feeling well at all. I woke up around 4:30 am with some mild contractions and an overall yucky feeling. Since the contractions were not regular and were not getting stronger, I got out of bed and went to lay on the couch in the living room instead of calling the doctor or rushing out the door to the hospital. Patrick woke up for work at 5:30 am and when he saw that I wasn’t in bed he came out to the living room to see if I was okay. I looked up at him and my eyes filled with tears as I told him my contractions hurt, I didn’t feel good, and I just wanted my mom. I continued to cry because I was so fearful about the labor process and giving birth, which I suddenly realized was going to happen in the not too distant future. Patrick did his best to reassure me that it would all be okay, but I was a lost cause in that moment in time. By mid-afternoon the irregular contractions ceased and when I woke up for the day on Saturday I felt totally normal again so order was restored in my universe.

When I woke up on Sunday, July 25 I noticed that the overall yucky feeling was back. I found comfort in the fact that at least I wasn’t having contractions this time. My good friend Rebecca came over and spent a couple of hours hanging out at my house with me and I felt much better not focusing on the overall blahs that I was feeling. I really appreciated her willingness to come and just sit around the house with me while Patrick was at his softball game and later that night we went over to our neighbor Cliff’s house to hang out and visit with our neighbors. We were all sitting on the front porch when I started to really not feel too well. I went home for a few minutes to grab a popsicle in hopes that it would make me feel better and Patrick and I headed home around 10:30 that night. Since I still didn’t feel well, I went upstairs to watch some TV and finally made it to bed around 12:30 on the morning of Monday, July 26.

Around 3:00 am I woke up and noticed that I was having some mild contractions again. I started to think, “Ugh, not again. This is such a pain!” when I realized that the contractions seemed to be coming pretty regularly. They were totally manageable on the pain scale though, so I was not sure that I could actually be in labor. Just to be on the safe side, I started putting a few last minute items into my hospital bag. As I was doing this, Patrick woke up and immediately started worrying. I told him to calm down and go back to sleep because I probably wasn’t in actual labor but I was just getting prepared. He told me to start writing down each time I felt a contraction and as soon as I started doing that I saw that my contractions were coming every 4 to 5 minutes. Yikes! We promptly called my doctor’s office after hours line and we had a nurse call me back and the advice was for me to wait and see if the contractions continued in this pattern for a full hour. They did continue for the full hour so I called back with the news. She indicated that she would have the doctor on call give me a call as soon as possible since it sounded as if this could be the real thing and to sit tight. That did not go over as well with my increasingly anxious husband who had managed to pack the entire car before even getting the confirmation from me that this might actually be real labor! We agreed to start heading towards the hospital, so around 4:15 am we hopped in the car.

We spoke to the doctor as we were pulling into the parking lot and when I told him about the closeness of my contractions (although still not very intense so I was still unsure if I was just overreacting) he told us to come on in. I was so happy that Dr. James was the doctor on call at that time, because he is who I saw the most at all of my doctor’s appointments and for some reason I just had it in my head that he would be there when the time came. Patrick and I walked into the front doors of the hospital and the front desk personnel immediately put me in a wheelchair – it was pretty cool getting wheeled around! When we arrived in the maternity center I spoke briefly with a nurse and told her that I wasn’t sure if this was the real thing and if it was a false alarm I was really sorry. Yes, I apologized up front – what is wrong with me?!

The nurses took me back to a labor and delivery room (these rooms are huge and quite comfortable!) where the monitors were promptly strapped across my belly and they could begin monitoring my contractions and Ethan’s heartbeat. You guessed it – this was real labor! I was dilated 4 cm and my contractions were 2 – 3 minutes apart but still not overwhelming. I was able to just concentrate on breathing and keep up a conversation with Patrick the whole time (initially…there is much more to this story!) Since I’ve heard that walking can help labor along, Patrick and I decided to venture down the hospital corridors, with me wearing my fuzzy slippers from my dear friend Jennifer. We were doing pretty well until I started to panic about the thought of my water breaking in the hallway (although the nurses assured me it would not be a problem and happened all the time.) We made it back to our room just after I had a contraction that had enough intensity to make me grab onto the guard rails that line the halls of the hospital. (I’ve always wondered why those are there – now I know!!)

I’ve been very nervous about actually receiving an epidural, although I kept saying that I wanted one so I was still undecided about whether or not I was going to get one. I think after seeing me really concentrate and breathe my way through the last couple of contractions Patrick didn’t want to see me uncomfortable any longer and told me that it was time for me to get an epidural. Since I didn’t particularly enjoy the last couple of contractions I happily agreed and the nurse put out the call for the anesthesiologist to come to my room. When she arrived she was very nice and I never looked at any of the needles or anything that she was using (Patrick said it looked pretty scary, so I’m glad I never saw anything) and within minutes I was back to feeling totally normal again. It’s actually a pretty cool process – the nurse swabs a cold cotton ball of sorts on your arm and then on your leg to see if it still feels cold. While you can feel the cotton on your leg (you don’t totally lose feeling, which I thought that you would!) it does not feel cold anymore. They continue this process on your belly so they can see how far up the epidural reaches. I was still able to move my legs (which for some reason I thought I would not be able to and that totally freaked me out) and even though the read out from my belly monitor indicated I was still having contractions 2 minutes apart and they were reaching a plateau for awhile at the top instead of just peaking I was feeling no pain. I’m so glad Patrick encouraged me to go ahead and get the epidural because I was totally relaxed and enjoying the time I was getting to spend with my mother and father-in-law who had arrived from Burlington and my mom and sister who drove in from Raleigh. We were all chatting and having a pretty nice time when all of a sudden my blood pressure cuff (it was programmed to take my blood pressure every 15 minutes) sounded a scary alarm. When the nurse came in I asked her if I was dying – perhaps I was a little dramatic?!

I was evidently laying on a nerve or something, so in order to bring my blood pressure back down I was just moved to lie on my side for awhile. This was totally not a big deal until after a little while I started feeling some pressure, and then pain, during each contraction. It started to get stronger and stronger, so the nurse had me push the pain button on my epidural to pump out some more medicine. No dice…it did not help. I was flipped onto my other side, to see if it helped, but alas it did not. They finally called the anesthesiologist who came in to check my line and determined that it had somehow come out and so my epidural was wearing off and I would need another one. I will pause right now to say this much – I did not feel the full force of these contractions (I was in transition labor at about 7 cm at this time) but it was still strong enough that my hat is off to any woman who elects to give birth naturally. I cannot imagine choosing to go this route because I am evidently a wimp and was looking for relief the second I started to feel anything close to real labor. Our family members who were present were asked to leave the room while the epidural was administered and the second that new line was in I was back to feeling just like myself again. The nurse decided to check my progress a few minutes after I was back to feeling good again and told me it was time to push. I was kind of shocked and said, “What?!?!” to which my nurse laughed that her perky little patient just found her attitude. It was funny! I felt badly for our family members though, because they were anticipating coming right back into the room and now they were being exiled to the waiting room without getting any real updates as to what was going on.

I pushed for about two hours total, although it could have been a lot shorter had our little guy not decided to come out with his cord wrapped around his neck twice. Yes, you read that correctly…a double wrapped cord! I guess our little overachiever decided that if I needed two epidurals he was going to wrap his cord around his neck an extra time. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Pushing wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t realize that they would have me change positions every so often. I had a hard time getting the breathing down (bear down for 10 seconds, breathe in out and get right back on top of the bearing down for another 10 seconds – I kept trying to take more breaths in between pushes) but after about 30 minutes of what I would call not my best work (I was kind of nauseated for a bit) I found my second wind, my adrenaline kicked in, and I was ready to work. Patrick commented that you could see a huge difference in me after that first little bit.

Everything was going pretty well until he got to the point that the nurses were ready for the doctor to come in since he was “parked” in the correct position. When Dr. Termin took a look it was decided that since Ethan wasn’t making too much progress with the last several pushes they were going to go ahead and give me an episiotomy. Fortunately with my epidural I was still feeling no pain. I pushed through a few more contractions but there still wasn’t much progress so Dr. Termin decided that using a vacuum extractor was probably the way to go. He sent for the equipment and it arrived within a few minutes. Now I was unaware of what was going on with our families at this time, but evidently they were at the door of the labor room with their ears pressed up against it and then they saw the vacuum extractor come in and since my mother-in-law is a nurse she was able to explain what was going on to everybody else.

The vacuum extractor must have done the trick, because as I was resting in between pushes I heard the doctor say something about a double and Patrick was really quiet. I had no idea what was going on, but in these few minutes Ethan emerged with his cord wrapped around his neck twice. The doctor very calmly told Patrick (again, somehow I was completely unaware that any of this was going on) “I know you want to cut the cord, Dad, but I’m going to take it from here.” Dr. Termin took care of the cord situation and Ethan was placed on my belly. I STILL didn’t know that he was out (Patrick cannot believe that I was oblivious to all of this) but I guess I felt something on my stomach because my hand brushed down and felt something wet. I opened my eyes and to my utter astonishment and amazement there was our son laying right there on me. I then proceeded to say, “Oh my God!” about 15 times before Ethan was whisked away into what we deemed the “baby closet” to be examined and cleaned up.

During this time Patrick went over to the “baby closet” and got pictures of Ethan on the scale, being examined by the doctors, and several other really great shots of his first few minutes of life. In the interim, Dr. Termin was delivering the placenta (which, no, I did not look at although I did catch an ever so brief look at the cord and the color was enough to make me squish my eyes shut so I wouldn’t see anything more) and stitching me back up. I remember calling across the room to Patrick and asking if our baby was okay and then if he was indeed a boy. We found out at his ultrasound appointment that we were expecting a boy, but mistakes can happen and I wanted to ensure that Ethan was indeed an Ethan and not an Olivia. I got the all clear and confirmation that we had a son, and then they brought him over to me all swaddled up in hospital blankets wearing a pink and blue striped hat. The picture that Patrick took of my reaction to getting to hold Ethan in my arms for the first time is priceless – there is a joy on my face and in my eyes that I’ve never seen before. Having Ethan in our lives is truly a miracle and a gift from God, and we are so blessed to have been called to be his parents.

Ethan Burgess Strain

So obviously I am way behind on this blog, but in my defense I have a very good reason. Last Monday, July 26 at 4:29 pm Patrick and I welcomed our beautiful son, Ethan Burgess Strain, into the world. I am working on writing out the story of my labor and our first week together as a family now (I'm on page four already!) so that I can post it here and put a copy of it in his baby book. Perhaps I am being a little too detailed, but I really want to write everything down before this all becomes a distant memory.

Ethan at 3 days old preparing to come home from the hospital

Life with Ethan has been fantastic and although it sounds like a cliche, I cannot imagine that life can get any better than this. We are so in love with our boy and so happy together as a family right now that truly my life has been blessed. I'm sure that there are many challenges that lie ahead, but I know that being a mommy to this precious little boy is exactly where I am supposed to be in life. He is such a good baby so I am going to take advantage of the fact that he sleeps all the time to adjust to life as a full time mom. I'm sorry that this post is so short, but I am working on a massive update and have tons of pictures I can share with anybody interested. (I just don't want to overwhelm everybody with all of my baby pictures, but if you want to see any let me know and this proud mama would be happy to send you the links to all of the pics I've uploaded into Snapfish.)

I don't look at all happy, huh?! This was taken right after delivery once he was examined by the doctors and brought back to me for our formal introduction

One very happy (and tired!) Daddy - watching Patrick take care of Ethan is the most incredible thing!

Week 40

Well, here we are at week 40 and still no sign of Ethan...sigh. I guess starting tomorrow we are officially "overdue." I honestly thought he was going to be born early so I'm surprised that we're at this point (although this is not at all uncommon with first babies so perhaps I should have adjusted my expectations awhile ago!) I'm really scared about the whole induction process since it requires more medical interventions than I had initially been planning on (again, perhaps I shouldn't have had quite so many expectations of this process since I very clearly am not in control of this situation!) but I know that my doctors are doing everything they can to help me and take excellent care of Ethan. While I wait for him to arrive, I am walking miles a day and employing every recommendation I can get my hands on to bring on the labor process.

We had our doctor's appointment this afternoon, and should Ethan decide not to attempt to greet the world on his terms he will be induced on August 3. If we get to that point I will check into the hospital on August 2 and we will have him in our arms sometime the following day. They'll start the process that evening and then wake me up really early on the third to start the Pitocin, break my water, administer an epidural, etc. The doctor indicated this is usually a pretty long day but generally within 12 hours or so the baby is born. Hopefully we won't get to this point, but I am at peace with the fact that this may be the route we have to take to meet our stubborn little guy.

Ethan's heartbeat is still strong and my belly measurements and blood pressure are both still well within the normal ranges. I gained almost 2 pounds this week (I'm packing it in here at the end evidently!) so I am now up almost 24 pounds total. This is right where I am supposed to be so hopefully that means Ethan is growing and thriving as well. If I am still pregnant next week we will go in on Tuesday for an ultrasound to ensure that everything is still functioning well and that Ethan is doing okay in there and then again on Thursday for a non-stress test (again, to ensure that Ethan is still doing well) and then we'll check into the hospital the following Monday night. Hopefully we won't need all of these appointments, but it's good to know that there is an end in sight.

We celebrated Patrick's 35th birthday this past Tuesday. While overall it was a fairly low key day, I made sure to have an ice cream cake from Cold Stone (yummy - this may be why I continue to gain weight at warp speed here at the end!) and a few surprises for Patrick to help make it a special day. We finished the day with our Tuesday night trivia at the local pizza place with our neighbors and we all had a good time. We'll have to have a big birthday celebration for Patrick next year though since this year was fairly uneventful.

Patrick with his Oreo ice cream cake - it was sooooo good!!

Patrick's birthday present from me - new running shoes (we're an exciting couple, aren't we?!)

A common sight in our house these days - I've heard that bouncing on an exercise ball can help bring on labor so I've been sitting on this thing almost exclusively while watching TV to help jump start the labor process (which Patrick thinks is hilarious!)

Caddy is scared of the exercise ball and I caught her giving it her best "look of death"

Spot loves the upstairs baby swing - I'm not really even sure how she managed to get into this one but she settled in for a nice nap here

Spot & Holly usually take turns sleeping on the changing table (this is their FAVORITE new item!) but yesterday I found them cuddled together up there

I know I'm biased, but how cute are they?!

And not to be left out, here's Rocky who is just so tired...he can't take it anymore (and yes, I brushed him when I noticed how messy his fur was in this picture!)

Here's the official word on week 40: "It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little cone-headish after birth. Rest assured - it's normal and temporary."

Week 39

This week can be summed up in one word - frustrated. Everything went fairly well at our doctor's appointment this afternoon, but Ethan has once again given no indication that he is at all ready to come out and greet the world. His heartbeat was strong and my blood pressure was normal which are both good, and my belly measurements are right on target. I gained a whopping three pounds this week, so I'm right back on track with weight gain as well. (I'm up a total of 22 pounds which is right where I should be. However, if I continue this trend I'll be in trouble the other direction so I think I should curb some of the junk food this week!) Our doctor was able to tell that I've had no further dilation and Ethan hasn't really dropped at all (I almost feel like he was further down a week or two ago if that makes any sense) and he indicated that there's a pretty good chance we'll make it to our next appointment still pregnant. Ugh! I have gotten increasingly uncomfortable this week and have definitely reached the point where I am ready to go ahead and give birth and meet this little guy already.

The most frustrating part of the appointment was the discussion we had after the exam. If we make it to our next appointment (and Ethan has given every indication that we will) we will have to go ahead and schedule an induction. I am trying not to think about that and panic too much, but I REALLY do not want to have to go that route for several reasons. I won't get into everything involved with an induction right now since I'm still hoping we won't have to do that, but suffice it to say that it would involve a much longer, more painful labor with a much higher chance of ending up with a c-section anyway. My little sister is flying in from San Diego on July 31 to meet her new nephew and I would be heartbroken if he decides not to arrive until sometime during her visit. She's making a special trip just to meet him so I would so much rather be home from the hospital and not worrying about labor while she's here! I need everybody to think very positive thoughts that I will just go into labor naturally sometime in the next two weeks!!! In the interim, I am going to be enlisting the aid of every suggestion I can get my hands on to help bring on labor. I'm really terrified of a lot of the procedures involved with getting induced so for my peace of mind I really need this to happen on its own. I was almost in tears when Patrick and I had lunch after the appointment :(

My birthday was this past Tuesday and overall it was a pretty enjoyable day. I went and met a friend for lunch which was a lot of fun and then had a small adventure on my hands when I got home. Our house felt really warm, and over the course of the next 20 - 30 minutes I watched the thermostat climb three degrees (even though I could hear that the air was on.) I called Patrick who called one of the members he knows pretty well who just so happens to own a heating and air business. He had a service tech at our house looking at the problem within 20 minutes - it was incredible! Long story short, a bug had climbed into the unit outside and fried himself which shut down the outside unit. The guy was able to remove the electrocuted bug and everything came right back on. He checked everything else and determined that the system was in good working order so we were back in business. I hated having to pay for such a simple fix, but compared to the thousands of dollars a new air conditioning unit would have costed us I feel grateful that we escaped with only a $100 bill. Later that night we went out to our local pizza place for trivia with our neighbors (a Tuesday night tradition) and Patrick surprised me with a cake and necklace at home before we left.

Holly inspecting the cake

Me at 31 years old and very pregnant

Here's the official word on week 39: "Your baby is waiting to greet the world. He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath."

Catching Up

So as you've probably been able to figure out from my less than stellar recent blog posts, I have not been feeling quite like myself in the most recent weeks and therefore have become that stereotypical, hormonal pregnant woman that most people dread meeting. Most of my crabbiness can be attributed to my sleeping patterns (or should I say, lack of sleeping patterns?!) but last night was a true gift since I slept for almost 7 hours straight and so I am trying to take advantage of my newfound energy to catch up on the many things that I have been neglecting as of late. (You should see my email inbox - it is overflowing with messages and I have no excuse in being so behind in my responses!!) Overall I've been feeling pretty good, but I've been averaging somewhere between 4 - 5 hours of sleep at night which has left me feeling pretty depleted during the day. (Of course, I realize that this situation is not going to improve anytime soon and this is good practice for the day that Ethan arrives so I'm trying to stay positive and learn to function with a lot less energy...but since he's not here yet getting a few more hours of rest would be ideal!) His kicks have gotten progressively harder too, and even Patrick noticed that Ethan must have been growing a lot lately because now instead of fluttery movements he actually feels like a real baby in there. My legs still feel like I've been doing workouts with the Rockettes, but I haven't had much energy to do anything besides take an occasional walk so I think my body is just preparing itself for the whole birth process.

There hasn't been too much going on around here to catch you up on, but I'll try to think of something slightly more positive than the last couple of posts in an effort to get myself out of the funk that I've been living in for the past two weeks. My mom came to visit for the fourth of July and we had a good visit. She brought my sister's dog with her (since my sister and her husband were out of town spending the holiday with her in-laws and Abby has a standing reservation at Nana camp anytime Carolyn and Brian are away) and we determined that this was Abby's best holiday ever since she got to come out to our cul-de-sac party and receive tummy rubs from a ton of people. This past Thursday my in-laws came for the afternoon so that we could have one last visit before Ethan's arrival. It was nice getting to go out to lunch and relax since I'm sure our house will be in chaos here in the not too distant future. Last night I went with Patrick to his softball game and although Ethan decided to have a dance party throughout the game (seriously, my stomach was bumping all night!) I was determined to go and support Patrick. I try to make it to at least one game a session and since last night started their new session I have officially fulfilled my obligation for awhile.

We spent the afternoon at the pool yesterday afternoon which may have been just what the doctor ordered. I was so relaxed! I was hoping to be able to make it over to the pool again this afternoon, but the weather does not seem to be cooperating so it might just be a lazy day spent inside with my book. Speaking of books, does anybody have any recommendations for some good reads? I'm almost out of new books, and would love to swing by the library to pick up some more before this little guy arrives.

I don't have too much planned this week, so the waiting game has begun. Our doctor indicated that the last month can definitely feel like the longest month, and I think I see what he was talking about! I'll keep you posted if there is any news, but I think we still have several weeks before Ethan will be ready to greet the world. In the interim, cross your fingers that I can keep the negative feelings of being so ready for all of this to be over away - there will come a day in the not too distant future that I will miss all of this and wish that I had taken the time to enjoy it (or so I've been told anyway!)

38 weeks pregnant - the countdown is on!

Week 38

We've reached week 38 and Ethan has given no indication that he is ready to come out anytime soon. Our doctor's appointment this morning went well and the doctor indicated that I'm about 1 cm dialated and he feels fairly confident that Ethan is going to stay put for awhile. His heartbeat is strong and my blood pressure is still normal. I lost a pound since last week (what????) but the doctor did not seem concerned and indicated that this can happen towards the end when your weight can sometimes plateau. As long as he's not worried I'm going to try not to worry either, but it does seem a little backwards. I'm going to indulge in all things junk food this week (the joys of pregnancy!) and hopefully next week I'll at least be back to where I was. So the official weight gain currently is 19.6 pounds - I want to make it to at least the recommended 25 so I guess it's a good thing that Ethan seems content to stay put. I'll probably regret this line of thinking here in a few weeks when I am struggling to drop all the excess pounds, but I want to ensure that I'm doing everything possible to take the best care of Ethan right now.

Here's the official word on week 38: "Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek.) He has a firm grasp, which you'll be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time. His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? If he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he's born with steel grey or dark blue eyes, they may stay grey or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he's 9 months old."

Week 37

Week 37...hard to believe! Ethan is officially a full term baby and all of his major development is essentially now complete. We had a doctor's appointment this morning and everything went well. Ethan's heartbeat is strong (which is a relief considering he decided to nap for the majority of the day yesterday and freak me out since he wasn't moving as much as usual) and he's measuring right on target. My blood pressure is normal and I gained another .6 pounds since last week (so the total gain is now 20.6 according to the doctor. I love their scale because it is quite a few more according to the home scale!) The doctor opted not to check my progress this week since I haven't had too many painful contractions (and even if I've begun dialating they aren't going to induce me this early.) They'll check at my appointment next Friday, and fingers crossed, there will be something to report then. My group b strep test came back negative so that is one less thing to worry about. All in all everything looks like it is going really well and we're right on schedule.

My mom is coming to visit for the weekend and I'm looking forward to celebrating the fourth with our neighbors and our annual cul-de-sac party. I have a few miscellaneous baby items to pick up but otherwise I don't have too many plans.

Here's the official word on week 37: "Your baby is now considered full term even though your due date is 3 weeks away. If you go into labor now his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time though.) Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard.) Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from a 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours."