Due date

August 4th was my due date. Instead of still being pregnant, I spent the day holding my cute little baby. Today Joshua is 2 weeks old and I can't believe how fast it is going by. Since I use this blog as a journal (I have it printed out in a book so we have a hard copy of it) I thought I should give the quick version of the day Joshua was born.

Wednesday (July 20) I had an appointment with the doctor to discuss a c-section. After talking with him we decided we did not want to have a c-section and that we would still try for a natural delivery. At that time my contractions were still regular so the doctor decided to strip my membranes. That night I went to a surprise baby shower for my friend Katie, and after her shower my friends kidnapped me and took me out for a surprise shower of my own. We went downtown and had treats and went to see Midnight in Paris at Cyndy's theater. I remember texting Seth during the movie because my contractions were pretty strong and I wasn't sure I could make it through the rest of my shower. 

Thursday night (July 21)  I was having some very strong contractions, but they went away with rest like they always do. Friday my contractions continued all day, but were not getting any worse. I could tell Joshua was still in an angled position, so my friend John, who is also my chiropractor, offered to let me come to his house to adjust me and hopefully put Joshua into a straight position.It worked...for a few hours...and Friday evening I started getting really sharp lower stomach pains/contractions. I called my midwife and the doctor on call advised me to take a warm bath and see if that helped. As I was getting ready to take a bath, I thought my water broke. So, Seth and I headed into the hospital around 11:15 pm to get checked.

Turns out my water did not break, but I was having consistent contractions so the triage nurse checked to see if I was dilated. At the doctor on Wednesday I was a 3 and when she checked me Friday night I had progressed to a 5. She said to me "the bad news is, your water did not break...the good news is, you are dilated to a 5 and we are admitting you:)"

At 1 am I was all checked in and Seth went home to get our stuff, we didn't bring anything because we were expecting to be sent home. They were monitoring my contractions and although they were consistent, they were not painful. The nurse said the doctor on call would be by in the morning and if things weren't progressing she would break my water. Seth told me to get some sleep, and he quickly fell asleep. I tried to get some sleep, but was pretty anxious and was only able to get in a short 45 minute nap before the doctor came in at 4 am. She decided since I wasn't progressing she would break my water.

Boy am I glad she did. After that my contractions started getting stronger and closer together. I have to say, it was PAINFUL!!! They were not your typical contractions, some were lasting as long as 4 minutes!!! It was long and painful and I was beginning to think I couldn't do it without pain medicine. I called my nurse in to talk to her and she decided to check me again. I was finally dilated to an 8 and was starting to feel the need to push so I decided I could continue without any pain medicine.

Unfortunately, Joshua was still not in a good straight down position, he was angled to the side. Shortly after checking me, things started getting more intense and the doctor was called in. I was almost fully dilated, and ready to start pushing, but we had to do some maneuvering to get him into position before he would be able to come out. That was extremely intense and painful and I will spare you the details!

Finally he was in position and the fun started.

Seth thinks it's funny to take pictures of me in between pushes. I only put this on here so I can document that I was smiling during labor:)

I started pushing at 6:30 am. It was a very rough, painful and sometimes scary pushing experience. His head is very large and was difficult to get out. But, his shoulders are almost 2 inches larger than his head and proved to be even more difficult. His shoulders did get stuck, but because of the great doctor and nurse he was only stuck for less than a minute and they were able to get him out without hurting him and only slightly hurting me (the nurse had to climb onto me and push my stomach, while I pushed, to help get him out). It was a little chaotic, and scary, but the doctor and nurse remained so calm which helped us not to worry too much.  He was only stuck for less than a minute, so there is no worry about any loss of oxygen. They did have to do an x-ray of his collar bone to make sure nothing was fractured, and it all looked great!

AT 6:59 am he was out and man he was big, but adorable!!! They placed him on my chest and all I could see were his cute, chubby cheeks! Everyone in the room was anxious to see how much he weighed, so they started placing guesses. When they announced his weight the whole room gasped! 10 lbs 9 oz! I couldn't believe it. He was the hit of the hospital, everyone was talking about him:)

Finally out and I got to hold him:)

Seth took him after they cleaned him up. Right away he was trying to nurse and when I tried to feed him for the first time he had no problem, he was a pro! 

Seth holding Joshua for the first time:)

We did experience a little miracle that night. My midwife was not on call, and for some reason neither was the other office midwife, that NEVER happens, I know it was Divine intervention. So, Dr. Barrett (who I had never met before) was there to deliver Joshua. She was AMAZING!! When his shoulders got stuck it was very scary for me, and she stayed so calm and that helped me to relax. She knew exactly what to do, and did it great. I do not think my midwife would have handled the situation as great as Dr. Barrett did. Dr. Barrett was really pushing for me not have a c-section, and I am so grateful for that. What a blessing it was to have her there that night. 

The amazing Dr. Barrett

I lost a lot of blood during the delivery, and after, so they had to keep me in labor and delivery longer than expected. 

I lost a lot of blood during and after delivery, so they kept me in labor and delivery longer than expected and were monitoring me closely. I had to have some meds to help stop the bleeding and that helped me to feel a lot better. They gave me 2 bags of Pitocin through my IV and a shot to help control the bleeding. Around 11 am Saturday I was finally moved up to my new room in recovery. Seth went home to get Kimmie and David and then we had visitors throughout the whole day. I was exhausted, but so happy to have our big boy with us. He is such a great boy. All he wants to do is eat and sleep, typical Davenport:)

We only stayed in the hospital Saturday night and were discharged Sunday evening. I really wanted to get home and settled into our own bed and routine. Last night he went to sleep around 10 pm and slept until 2 am. I fed him and then he went back to sleep until 8. What a great boy!!!

 

finally moved to recovery and able to hold/feed Joshua (his sugar levels were low so we had to give him formula to help boost them)

Seth went home and picked up the kids so they could come meet their new baby brother! Kimmie holding Joshua for the first time David was so excited to hold his baby brother!
He is really such an amazing baby. He eats every two hours during the day, and every 4-6 hours during the night. He loves to eat, sleep, and poop! He is already growing and changing so much. He is awake more during the day now and loves to look around.