On Tuesday (January 13) morning I woke up around 5:00am with some pains that I assumed were contractions. I've never had any false/early contractions (with Grayson or Bowen) . Never felt any Braxton Hicks or anything. I know Grayson is only 2 years old, but I didn't really remember what contractions should feel like. I was uncomfortable enough that I got up and went to the couch and slept there until about 7:00 when Grayson woke up.
I had contractions off and on all day. Sometimes they would be 5 minutes apart and sometimes they would be 30 minutes apart... but I had them throughout the day. I would kind of have to stop what I was doing, and maybe bend over or something, but they were bearable. I had a doctors appointment at 3:15 that afternoon and I thought I would just wait and be checked then.
Thinking that this might potentially be labor and that they would tell me to head on to the hospital from my doctors appointment, I spent most of Tuesday getting stuff ready around the house. I finished packing our bags, making sure Grayson's stuff was all taken care of, I made dinner and cleaned a bit, hung out with a friend. I felt ready.
I went to the doctor at 3:15 and it took them forever to see me. I usually never have to wait. I didn't see the doctor until about 4:30. I had about 7 contractions while sitting at the doctors. He finally came in and saw me, said I was still 3 cm (which is what I had been the week before) and that I should go home. He said my contractions would either taper off or intensify. I left disappointed.
I had a contraction driving on the way home (that's probably not very safe), and by the time I got home around 5:00 my contractions felt even more painful. I downloaded a contractions app and they were about 4-5 minutes apart. Within 30 minutes they were about 3-4 minutes apart. I googled "how long does a contraction last" and realized these really were lining up with what I read was labor/real contractions. It might sound crazy that I was having contractions 3-4 minutes apart. But I had JUST left the doctors office where they had sent me home and so I felt crazy driving to the hospital. It's a 45 minute drive and to have to get someone to stay with Grayson... I didn't want to go if it was nothing.
We pretty quickly decided we needed to head on to the hospital. We called our friend Krystal at 6:00 to come stay with Grayson and we quickly started getting everything loaded in the car. Krystal arrived shortly after (thank you Krystal!) and we pretty quickly hit the road for Greenville.
I continued to have contractions pretty close together (about 3-4 minutes) the whole way. Ouch, that's a fun drive. And we had to stop for gas :)
Chad dropped me off outside the hospital and I found my way up to the 4th floor while he parked the car. I had to stand in line behind some people at the desk and I was doubled over while standing there. Chad got upstairs and we got up to the desk and they're asking us to fill out some paper work and some questions while my contractions are still coming. One of the ladies behind the desk finally yelled "get that info later and get that girl in a room!"
I got placed in a triage room so they could assess me and see if I needed to be admitted. I had been saying over and over I just hoped they didn't send me home. They checked me and all of a sudden people jumped into action. She looked at me and said "you're at 8 or 9 cm!" I was shocked but so thankful I wasn't going to be sent home without a baby.
They quickly wheeled me to a labor and delivery room and nurses started whirling around getting IV's in me, asking lots of questions and prepping the room. It was all a little surreal to me because things were happening so fast.
Soon after they got me all prepped, they asked if I wanted to try to push. I was trying hard to wrap my mind around doing this without an epidural as the window seemed to have passed. I was about 9.5 cm, they broke my water and I pushed a few times through my contractions and they decided I better wait to push anymore until I got to the full 10 centimeters.
At this point they asked if I wanted to get the epidural and I was a little surprised because I thought it was too late. I was in crazy pain and having contractions even closer together because they had broken my water. I decided to go ahead and get it and they had the anesthesiologist in there very quickly. It was amazing to me how quickly the epidural brought relief to my body and I was able to rest pretty comfortably and let my body reach the time where I was ready to push. This epidural was very different from Grayson's. I really could hardly feel a thing and thought they were crazy to tell me to push because I couldn't feel anything. Chad and I were able to talk, I ate a ton of ice and we were able to text and call people and tell them the baby was coming.
Soon after midnight they decided it was time and I pushed twice through the contractions with the labor and delivery nurse. On the third push, she quickly told me to stop and called for the doctor to get in there. The team of people started arriving and quickly realized the baby was coming soon. The doctor walked in, looked at me and was like "woah!" and started getting suited up quickly. She barely got her face mask tied on when I said something like "I think he's slipping out" and she caught him. SO different from my delivery of pushing for 3 hours with Grayson.
Bowen John Ferrell
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
12:40am
7 pounds, 15 ounces
22 inches long
We were able to see and snuggle Bowen right away (again different from Grayson). Bowen was very unsettled, so they took him to look at him and realized he had lots of fluid in his belly (they said from coming out so fast). They did this crazy suction thing down his throat and pulled out a bunch of fluid and gave him about twenty minutes of breathing treatments and said he was good to go.
We stayed 2 nights after that in the hospital recovering and getting to know Bowen. It was really a sweet time. It still blows my mind how different my deliveries were with both of my boys. So, so thankful for two healthy boys.
Bowen has been nursing great from the start (again, so different from Grayson). He is the most efficient eater and only nurses 5-8 minutes every couple of hours. I was concerned about this, but we have been to the doctor twice already and he has far surpassed weight goals. Bowen left the hospital weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces. and at his first check up (3 days later) he weighed 8.3. He's been sleeping great at night as well and hasn't kept us up at all. We've been home for one week now and he wakes up twice, eats for a few minutes and goes right back to sleep. He has been a very easy, chill baby so far and we can't wait to watch him grow and learn.
And now, a bunch of pictures from our time in the hospital...
We pretty quickly decided we needed to head on to the hospital. We called our friend Krystal at 6:00 to come stay with Grayson and we quickly started getting everything loaded in the car. Krystal arrived shortly after (thank you Krystal!) and we pretty quickly hit the road for Greenville.
I continued to have contractions pretty close together (about 3-4 minutes) the whole way. Ouch, that's a fun drive. And we had to stop for gas :)
Chad dropped me off outside the hospital and I found my way up to the 4th floor while he parked the car. I had to stand in line behind some people at the desk and I was doubled over while standing there. Chad got upstairs and we got up to the desk and they're asking us to fill out some paper work and some questions while my contractions are still coming. One of the ladies behind the desk finally yelled "get that info later and get that girl in a room!"
I got placed in a triage room so they could assess me and see if I needed to be admitted. I had been saying over and over I just hoped they didn't send me home. They checked me and all of a sudden people jumped into action. She looked at me and said "you're at 8 or 9 cm!" I was shocked but so thankful I wasn't going to be sent home without a baby.
They quickly wheeled me to a labor and delivery room and nurses started whirling around getting IV's in me, asking lots of questions and prepping the room. It was all a little surreal to me because things were happening so fast.
Soon after they got me all prepped, they asked if I wanted to try to push. I was trying hard to wrap my mind around doing this without an epidural as the window seemed to have passed. I was about 9.5 cm, they broke my water and I pushed a few times through my contractions and they decided I better wait to push anymore until I got to the full 10 centimeters.
At this point they asked if I wanted to get the epidural and I was a little surprised because I thought it was too late. I was in crazy pain and having contractions even closer together because they had broken my water. I decided to go ahead and get it and they had the anesthesiologist in there very quickly. It was amazing to me how quickly the epidural brought relief to my body and I was able to rest pretty comfortably and let my body reach the time where I was ready to push. This epidural was very different from Grayson's. I really could hardly feel a thing and thought they were crazy to tell me to push because I couldn't feel anything. Chad and I were able to talk, I ate a ton of ice and we were able to text and call people and tell them the baby was coming.
Soon after midnight they decided it was time and I pushed twice through the contractions with the labor and delivery nurse. On the third push, she quickly told me to stop and called for the doctor to get in there. The team of people started arriving and quickly realized the baby was coming soon. The doctor walked in, looked at me and was like "woah!" and started getting suited up quickly. She barely got her face mask tied on when I said something like "I think he's slipping out" and she caught him. SO different from my delivery of pushing for 3 hours with Grayson.
Bowen John Ferrell
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
12:40am
7 pounds, 15 ounces
22 inches long
We were able to see and snuggle Bowen right away (again different from Grayson). Bowen was very unsettled, so they took him to look at him and realized he had lots of fluid in his belly (they said from coming out so fast). They did this crazy suction thing down his throat and pulled out a bunch of fluid and gave him about twenty minutes of breathing treatments and said he was good to go.
We stayed 2 nights after that in the hospital recovering and getting to know Bowen. It was really a sweet time. It still blows my mind how different my deliveries were with both of my boys. So, so thankful for two healthy boys.
Bowen has been nursing great from the start (again, so different from Grayson). He is the most efficient eater and only nurses 5-8 minutes every couple of hours. I was concerned about this, but we have been to the doctor twice already and he has far surpassed weight goals. Bowen left the hospital weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces. and at his first check up (3 days later) he weighed 8.3. He's been sleeping great at night as well and hasn't kept us up at all. We've been home for one week now and he wakes up twice, eats for a few minutes and goes right back to sleep. He has been a very easy, chill baby so far and we can't wait to watch him grow and learn.
And now, a bunch of pictures from our time in the hospital...
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Krystal took Grayson to Starbucks for cake pops and "coffee" to celebrate :)
It was so special and sweet that all of our parents made the 4 hr drive (both ways) to Greenville to meet him on his birthday.
Cindy came to stay with Grayson while we were in the hospital and she brought him up there to meet him on Thursday.
Grayson paid a little attention to "baby brother" and then moved on to more exciting things... like all of the buttons on Mommy's cool bed.
Hospital dinner date :)
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Friday, January 16
2 comments:
Love this! That's crazy how much quicker Bowen came out (and I am also amazed they still let you get the epidural at 9.5!). So thankful he is here and healthy!
Haha: "I think he's slipping out." :) I'm amazed he's eater so quickly and eating so well. That's awesome! Congrats yall! He is adorable. Thanks for sharing the birth story. :)
-Erin
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