Peter's Birth Story

Peter was born late Tuesday this last week and I wanted to document everything while it was still fresh in my mind, so here is Peter's birth story.

I started getting contractions much earlier in this pregnancy probably due in part to the physical and emotional stresses of moving. On Sunday, Doug and I were asked to speak at a Q&A session for a group of young adults going to a competition in Abu Dhabi. We had fun recounting our experience abroad and sharing what we learned with a group. When we got back home I was feeling dizzy, sick, and I thought I felt a few contractions. I decided to crash on the couch for a few hours and I hope up feeling MUCH better, but I was still having the occasional contraction. On Monday, I continued to have irregular contractions and decided to go ahead and finally pack my hospital bag. Monday night I was woken up a few times by contractions, but once again they weren't regular at all. On Tuesday morning, I woke up feeling a real urgency to get things done. My contractions may have not been regular at that point, but after two days of having them I knew that the end was near! I took Leah to Pre-K first thing in the morning and warned her that Peter would probably be coming soon. I then got home and immediately got to work washing and putting away two loads of laundry and switching over Leah's summer wardrobe to her fall one. At around noon, I messaged Doug telling him that I thought I was in active labor after having a few contractions seven minutes apart. I continued to monitor them with an app on my phone while hurrying to get everything ready. I went ahead and picked up Leah from preschool, filled up the car with gasoline, and went on a quick shopping trip to Aldi... All while having contractions every 7-8 minutes!

When we got home, I texted my mom that I was in labor and needed to talk to her about care for Leah while we were going to be at the hospital. I called the doctor's office and left a message to let them know that I thought I was in active labor and wanted to know if I should head to the hospital yet. I took a quick shower and had Doug pack his stuff into our bag. The doctor's office called me back and told me that there weren't any doctors in office, but to go ahead and check in at the hospital in triage. Leah's labor had been very slow and they didn't have me go to the hospital until my contractions were 5 minutes apart, so I decided I would take my time and blow-dry my hair.

As we were leaving, I decided to get one last picture with Leah with my pregnant belly and then she ran off happily to spend time with her cousins. During the hour long car ride to the hospital, my contractions slowed so they were 10+ minutes apart, but getting much stronger. We checked into triage around 5pm and for some reason they took me back first over another pregnant woman saying that they had been waiting for me. I changed into a gown and got the monitors on my belly. The triage nurse started asking me the standard questions and I could tell that she didn't think I was in active labor. She asked me when my due date was and when I responded the 16th, she said, "Of October?"

A hospital doctor came in to check me since none of the doctors at my practice were available. She continued with the questioning and treated me like I wasn't in labor either. When she finally got around to checking me, she said, "Wow! You're actually a 4! Let's get you checked in and get this baby out."

We were moved to labor and delivery, but it took some time to get my blood work done and to find a vein to start antibiotics since I was strep b positive. The doctor from my practice came in and told me that she didn't even want to check me for fear of breaking my water and the baby coming before I was finished with my two rounds of antibiotics. It was around 7pm at this point and she said she would be back at 10:30 to break my water so I would be ready to deliver by 11:15 or so when my second dose of antibiotics would be completed.

The contractions were getting pretty painful at that point and I was waiting impatiently to get the epidural. It took a bit more time to take than my last epidural, but once it did... Oh sweet relief! The doctor told me to take a nap in the meantime, but I was about to have a baby and I couldn't get to sleep! I laid around impatiently waiting, counting down the minutes with Doug until the doctor would get back. Once I was on the epidural, they started giving me Pitocin and increasing the dosage every 30 minutes. I mentioned to my labor nurse that I was feeling a bit of pressure (which usually means you're ready to push) and she was like, "Okay." and didn't really make a big deal out of it.

We waited a while longer and my doctor finally got there a little before 11pm to break my water. She wasn't even trying to break my water... She just checked me and my water sac suddenly burst everywhere. Doug exclaimed, "Woah!! The first one wasn't like that!" The doctor then checked me and said, "Wow! She's COMPLETE! ...and a +2! Ooookay! This baby wants to come!" Doug and I looked at each other in surprise, we had thought it was going to be a much longer process and that Peter would not be here until the 13th. The labor and delivery nurse asked the doctor if there was "An average amount of fluid?" And the doctor was like, "No, that was definitely HIGHER than average. Now excuse me while I go to the sink to clean up." I confirmed with them that there was no meconium like with Leah's birth which was good news. While cleaning up she explained to me that she wanted to wait for me to push because I needed to get the second dose of antibiotics or they were going to have to do a lot more work on Peter once he was here.

The labor and delivery nurse started me with some little pushes which were much harder to do than I ever remembered with Leah. The doctor then came back as soon as the antibiotics were complete and had me start the "real" pushing. They set up a mirror for me to see everything which made a huge difference. I had no clue what was going on with Leah's delivery and felt so much more control and awareness for Peter's delivery. Pushing was difficult and they got me some oxygen, but the mirror really helped me focus. While I was pushing, he was actively kicking while still inside me which the doctor and nurses thought was rather entertaining.

I only actively pushed for maybe 30 minutes and then he was here! He was facing upwards through the birth canal which is apparently harder to deliver that way. He didn't really cry like you hear babies on TV. They did a quick suction of his mouth and nose and he breathed right away. Then they laid him right on my chest immediately after delivery without cleaning him off or anything. (Leah had to be taken away and suctioned from the meconium and was cleaned and prepped before I ever got to hold her.)

It was surreal to have him REALLY there and just laying on my chest. Doug cut the umbilical cord this time and examined the placenta with the doctor while I enjoyed skin-to-skin with Peter. They let me nurse him (which he picked up right away) and spend as much time as I wanted with him before they weighed him and did the eye goop and vitamin K shot. It was such a different experience than with Leah. Everyone in the delivery room made predictions as to how much he would weigh exclaiming how big he was. I guessed an even 8 pounds, but he came in at 9 pounds and was 21.5 inches long!

We are so glad that Peter is here now. He is the perfect addition to our family!

Peter was born with a cephalohematoma on his head from being in the birth canal for an extended period of time. You can see it somewhat in this picture. (upper left side)

The proud big sister

Peter in his car seat ready to go home!

I texted Leah a picture of Peter and I "breaking out of the hospital."

Starting Up The Blog Again!

We've had lots of ups and downs in our lives since Abu Dhabi when I last blogged. I'll go ahead try to summarize them here, so I can be caught up. Warning: This is basically a book.

Abu Dhabi was a great adventure for our family, but it did not last. We found out the contract Doug was working on was ending the beginning of February. Doug was offered a very nice job in Abu Dhabi and we had the option of staying, but there was an even better offer made by a company back in the US, so we packed everything up and returned in March just about a year after we arrived. It was crazy leaving so quickly. I was barely able to leave my two weeks notice at the nursery.

Leah and I taking pictures during a desert safari on our last weekend in Abu Dhabi

Last Day at Friend's Nursery

Our shipping crate packed up and ready to go!

Once we were back in the US, we decided to start house shopping immediately so that our shipping crate when it arrived in 6 or so weeks could just be unpacked into a new house. It also gave our house sitter a little bit more time to find a place to live since everything ended so abruptly. We stayed with my parents for a few weeks in the transition. We found a house that we loved and signed a contract on it. Before the seller had the chance to even sign it, Doug got a phone call saying that the job that we came all the way back home to the states for was not going to work out.

We were suddenly without employment and health insurance and the home that we wanted to purchase was no longer an option. It was a stressful time, but fortunately we had plenty of savings which allowed us time to figure everything out. We were still trying to jump through hoops to get the original job we came home for, but nothing was working out and we were left with more questions than answers. In the meantime, we moved back into our home and Doug went ahead and started applying for several jobs. Unfortunately, the same problem came up with all of the government jobs that he applied for, so he decided to look in the private sector.

After six months of unemployment and still no answer in sight for his government job issue, he decided to take a private sector job that he wasn't all that thrilled with. We were tired of our terribly expensive health insurance plan from the government marketplace and he was just plain bored. He started his new job in August 2016. The job came with a good salary and benefits, was work from home, but also required more than 50% travel... And it was only domestic travel which Doug finds rather boring.

Leah turned 4 in April and I was concerned about how long it would take to get pregnant again, so we decided to start trying once he had started the new job. I had a lot of anxiety that it wouldn't work out and started out very proactive fastidiously tracking everything with an app.. even purchasing OPKs online to help track my cycle even better. After three months of trying and tracking I was concerned that my cycles were too short. (Side note: I was training for a half marathon and had been running about 5 miles a day which probably was affecting this.) I scheduled a doctor's appointment to discuss my concerns and was told by my doctor after she barely looked at my chart, "You're young and healthy. I think you can get pregnant!" And left it at that. I fumed. I was SOOO upset... Aaaand I got pregnant the next month. Stupid doctor. I'm just glad she ended up being right!

My pregnancy was for the most part uneventful. I decided that I wanted to continue to run through my pregnancy. Leah and I took a month long vacation to Hawaii to visit my sister and we ran a few races including the 8 mile Great Aloha Run. When we got back, I had my 12 week ultrasound and when I asked, the tech told me that she thought we were having a boy. Leah wanted a baby sister, so we started preparing her then that it might be a boy. It was confirmed later at the 20 week scan that we were indeed going to have a boy!

It was around this time, that Doug finally made the decision after hating his job for nine months to leave. It paid well and had good benefits, but he had no passion for the work. He started working at a small start up company that he had done 1099 work for in the past. I was initially hesitant of him working for such a small company, but it has worked out very well. He feels valued and appreciated and he is able to do some work that he is passionate about. The company has also tripled in size since he began and has a promising future. The new job is work from home as well and we were finding our existing home to be too small for all of us to be there 100% of the time. Doug needed space. Leah and I needed space.

I've always kept my eye on the housing market. I have several real estate apps on my phone and I regularly check out properties in our area. It all started with a home in our price range that had a detached garage with an office above it on an acre of land. I talked Doug into coming and looking at the property with me (which had issues unfortunately) and then we were somehow officially looking at homes. I knew that the market was in a good place for us to get a return value on selling our current home, but we were staying uncommitted until we found THE home. All of the homes that we had been looking at ended up having age related issues so I decided to start looking at new builds. There was a community that I drove by frequently that I didn't think we could afford, but when I looked closer I found that the floorplan I liked was in our price range. I decided on a whim one Friday morning to visit and found that there was only one lot left in the neighborhood and it was already spec'ed out and permitted with a floorplan (the one I liked). Time was going to be an issue though if we wanted to be able to pick other features on the house though.

To my surprise, Doug was willing to come and look that next day on Saturday morning. We looked. He seemed interested and then we left and got home and he was like. It would be NICE, but nope... We're not doing it. We'd have to sell our current home quickly for $__ and you're 7/8 months pregnant. I however was not to be swayed and made an appointment with a listing realtor to come to our current home and tell us what we could sell for. To both mine and Doug's absolute surprise, we were told that we could potentially sell our house for $45k more than we had originally thought. We were using Redfin which was not commission-based so we felt confident in their estimate of the market value.

We signed a listing agreement with Redfin and the next day we were over at the model home signing a contract on a new build. It was all rather exciting and stressful at the same time. The new build would not be completed until December which meant that we would need to live with my parents after our current home sold and while our future home was being built... And I was supposed to have a BABY during all of that!

Also to add to the stressful situation, we had a beach trip planned with Doug's family who were flying all the way out from Utah. We were supposed to leave for the beach the week before our house was to be put on the market. That meant we had 10 days (TEN DAYS PEOPLE!!!) to prep and stage our current home to be sold. Also, during the time I would need to choose all of the design options for the new house. My family stepped in and helped us paint, clean, and repair as well as move any clutter into a storage unit for staging purposes. We got it all done and were able to enjoy a few days at the beach.

The day we drove back from the beach was the day our house went "live" on the market. The unsurity of finding a buyer was very stressful on Doug and I especially knowing that our contract on the new build which would be ready in December was not contingent. That basically meant that if we didn't sell our home by then, we would be saddled with TWO mortgages in December. Merry Christmas.

We decided to boldly drop our asking price 10k and include closing costs since we had wiggle room. We were able to find a buyer in under a month on market that was willing to abide by our terms as well as do a quick 21 day closing... Which meant that we would be able to close on the house before my due date. We hurried and packed everything into a storage unit (very uh.. interesting.. when you're 36 weeks pregnant and not supposed to lift anything) and moved what we would need for the next few months into my parents' house. With Doug working for a small company, he could not really take time off (which I completely understood), so I had a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. 

Fortunately, my family stepped in and really saved us. Local friends in the neighborhood came and took Leah for multiple hours without being asked. My ward's Relief Society came and helped me deep clean. We were VERY blessed.

The selling process was not without its own set of stressful problems. (We even had a scare that the deal would not go through less than 24 hours before signing papers), but in the end it all worked out. Whew!

Now I have a newborn and plenty of time to document everything on my blog during the tons of nursing sessions I have with Peter.

If you made it through that book, you're basically all caught up. Hah.