As I look around and contemplate all that has happened in
the past year, I’m so grateful that we are at this point in our lives. This is
not what I imagined for us for our first year here in Oregon
Just like my other pregnancies, I was blessed with an
irritable uterus and as such contractions and preterm labor started again at
around 18 weeks. At 20 weeks I found myself being monitored at the hospital for
contractions. They were mild but still there. For the rest of the pregnancy,
they were always there but I tried not to pay too much attention to them until
they started to hurt. Well at 35 weeks, they did. I was grateful we had made it
this far and was sure he would be arriving pretty soon. It also just happened
that 35 weeks marked the very beginning of this horrible thing called prodromal
labor. It is where you are in labor but not dilating. I could time these
contractions, they were intense, lasting anywhere from 1-2 minutes and about
4-7 minutes apart. This happened every night like clockwork.
I spent many nights on the couch drinking water, counting
contractions and then thinking. I’ll go to bed and if I can’t sleep through
them, I’ll go to the hospital. Well, every night I would go to sleep and wake
up in the morning feeling great, tired, but with no contractions.
When I first talked to my doctor about this, he checked my
cervix and I was closed and high. After about a week I had gone to 1cm and 30%
effaced. I stayed at 1cm for over 2 weeks, feeling frustrated, very tired and
ready to be done with this pregnancy.
I didn’t understand what was going on and why. I’d had minor
contractions with my other babies but nothing like this and nothing that would
go on for so long. So frustrating.
On Tuesday May 28, hubby and I took the kids to the park. I
was swinging on the swings, doing squats, anything to get past 1cm dilated. The
kids wanted to go on the donut round about thingy and needed me to help them
stay on. Well, with my huge new weight and center of balance completely off, we
spun around on the toy and promptly all fell off. I landed on my right side
with the kids on me. It really hurt and I was worried about baby so I called my
doctor. They wanted me to go into L&D for monitoring and they found my
little guys heart beat had a few decelerations so they kept me overnight. This
is when I went from 1cm to 3-4cms dilated. Early the next morning I was allowed
to go home and they were sure I’d be back later that day to deliver our little
guy. Well, little guy had other plans!!
He was happy where he was and wasn’t going anywhere. Hubby
had to go back to work on Thursday and we were still without our baby!! We had
officially turned 38 weeks, 2 weeks longer than I was sure we’d be pregnant!! I
had contractions all day Thursday and that night I lost my huge mucous plug,
grosse! I also had a lot of bloody show. Contractions picked up that night and
I spent the night breathing through them. I had a doctors appointment the next
day and I was determined to make it to it. I went to the appointment in pain
and contracting every 4 minutes and I was not happy. They checked me again and
I had not budged from the 4 cms that I was told I was earlier in the week. Not
happy!! The doctor warned me to go to the hospital if anything picks up in
frequency or intensity. He didn’t want me to try and be a super mom and wait it
out at home in case I end up delivering at home. Being that I have already had
2 other babies, I could go fast.
I was not a happy camper still being a 4 cm so I went home
and rested. At lunch time I realized I had no food in the house and I needed to
go shopping. I took the kids and we walked really slowly around the grocery
store. The contractions finally died down and just like before I was sure this
baby would never come. I was so frustrated. That night I went to bed and felt
deflated. I was sure this baby would never come.
Saturday June 1st marked the day that I had
officially been pregnant longer with this little guy than with any of the other
pregnancies. Hubby had also taken time off work so we were determined to get
this baby out. We took the other two kids and went for a long walk around the
park. We walked for about 4 miles before stopping and letting the kids play at
the park. While we were walking we were having some good contractions but again
they died down while I wasn’t walking. Again, feeling frustrated, we walked
back to the car and packed everything up. I started contracting again.
Remembering back to my daughters birth, we realized that greasy food got her
labor going so we headed up to Wendy’s and got some lunch. We brought it home
and enjoyed lunch. All of a sudden, the contractions picked up quickly and were
fierce. They started coming on top of each other and were killing my back. They
lasted a long time and were not giving me any breaks. I started shaking and
thought, we have to get to the hospital now. My neighbor came over while we
waiting for my babysitter to watch the other kids and we took off for the
hospital. The doctor actually watched me try to walk up to the elevator and he
knew he wouldn’t be sending me home without a baby. But, once again, we got to
the room and were checked, I was still a 4cm. How could this seriously be
happening?? This kid was holding on tight and was not coming out. We decided to
walk the L&D floor to see if this was really going to happen today or not.
We walked and walked and walked. A sweet nurse came up to me and helped me to
get baby into a good position. He was super posterior and that was making it
difficult to dilate, along with other things. She told me to stand up straight
during contractions, not to bend over and to tuck my pelvis in a little while
swaying. It helped so much with the pain and with the babies descent into my
pelvis. I was checked again a while later. I was 5cm and the baby’s head was
down a little more. The doctor said he would admit me and we’d be having a baby
that night.
Being a seasoned mom, I was sure I’d dilate fast. I don’t
know why I keep expecting things of myself, they never come through. Slowly we
made it to 6cm after more walking. The contractions were picking up in
intensity again and were coming on top of each other with no break in between.
We decided at that point we would get the epidural and rest for this little
guy’s arrival.
The epidural was amazing. I love the doctor that
administered it!! He was nice and came to check on me throughout the labor and
the following morning. I slowly progressed after my water was broken. I started
to feel some pressure in my bottom and called the nurse in. I was finally 9cm
with a tiny bit of cervix left. They got me prepped for delivery and away we
went. 6 contractions later, we had the head out of my precious baby boy. And
there we realized the reason for all this horrible prodromal labor. My baby boy
had the cord wrapped around his neck super tightly, twice. He showed no signs
of distress or anything until he started coming out when it was pulling on the
cord. We stopped everything so the doctor could cut the cord before we pushed
any more. The doctor had a hard time trying to get the cord but finally our
little guy was free and I could push one more time.
Our little Tyler Eric Leavitt was born at 11:43pm on June 1st,
2013 and weighed 7lbs 8oz. My biggest baby and the longest cooked of all my
babies. He looked just like his brother and was really chill. He just looked
around and admired everything. I got to hold him right away and we snuggled for
a good hour before they took him to monitor things. He was beautiful and he was
mine and I love him!!
He was very sleepy for the first 24 hours but after that,
he’s become more of a baby and we love him so much. He has his days and nights
mixed around and he loves to eat. His big sister loves him so much and
constantly asks to hold him. Big brother loves to point at him and say baby. We
are happily adjusting to our Party of Five Family!!
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