Our Birth Story

It has taken forever for me to actually sit down at the computer and actually write out what happened. Firstly, I need to do this for posterity sake, and secondly, because I have already started to forget the details.

So here it is: (I'm pretty sure it's going to be super long. BRACE YOURSELF)

Pre-Devin:

PGP is the worst WORST worst 'ailment' ever. The last month of my pregnancy I was getting around 1 hour of sleep every night. I didn't get any rest during the day either, because my two little tyrants would make our clean house into a war zone. And being not able to actually bend down in any fashion, cleaning was a horrible torture.
  So I was hoping to get this baby out ASAP.

So, at around 32 weeks when they asked me to make my induction date, I chose my due date. The main reason was because I didn't want to have to wait any longer than necessary, however I did want to go full term (they offered me to be induced four weeks early.....??!! CRAZY!!). And for an added bonus, my due date - according to the doctors and all my ultrasounds (no, I was not buttering up...) - was March 23rd. My mom's birthday.

In my previous pregnancies, I would have my last doctor's appointment (40wk) on my due date. At this they would 'strip' me and around 12 hours later, I would go into labor. So, this time, I made my appointment on the 22nd, hoping that I would deliver on the 23rd, my due date.

When I went to my last appointment, one of my Dr.'s said that I was sitting 'posterior' and that he would strip me, as per request.

Yeah... about that last part... not to be graphic or inappropriate... ok, I'm sitting here trying to think of a way to describe what he did... in any way, it was pitiful.. It's like when you clean out a cup in a hurry because you're thirsty and you just kind of swipe, and call it dry.... it was like that. Does that make sense?
TO GET to the point... nothing he did would start any sort of labor.

I was a little disappointed. I think he was looking out for his buddy on-call that night.

However, I did start having contractions, but nothing major OR consistent.

Rolls around 12:30 pm March 23rd Timpanogos Regional Hospital, Orem UTAH.

My induction appointment.

Let me premise this 'induction' with a little disclosure. I was so ANTI induction for Reese and Everett, I thought it was inappropriate and unnatural to force a baby out of the womb. 

Then came sister's night. (it's a night where Kurt's aunts and cousins get together)
Horror stories of stillborns and dead placentas due to the fact that they waited too long to get the baby out - because the mother wouldn't go into labor. 
It was then that my mind started to change about being induced. 

Then came my church friend's stories of how they didn't make it to the hospital, and how each of their children came quicker than the last....
So, I was getting nervous because several times we drove down to Orem/Provo it took FOREVER. Traffic is terrible and the hospital is supposed to be only 15 minutes away and it took us 30 + minutes. So I was getting worried that I wouldn't make it in time due to the fact that Everett came in 45 minutes. FLAT. and I was NOT delivering in the CAR!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I chose an induction date. My due date... and here we are. 

Kurt was starting to become increasingly disappointed that I was not crying out in pain and having the rush of the onset labor. I'm not sure if I should be worried that my husband enjoys me being in pain or not....

On the other hand, I was almost giddy with the fact that I was not in pain, waltzing up to the hospital, and knowing that I'm going to get an Epidural this time around.

Once we got into the room, and all checked in, the nurse came in and asked me a thousand questions, and then she got me started on Pitocin/Oxytocin and fluids. And after she stabbed my wrist several times, she said that this was her first day here at this hospital...      great!

When we talked to her about how long it was going to take, she was saying that every hour I should dilate 1-2 cm (I was currently at 3cm). I  got everything hooked up around, well, I can't remember what time exactly at this point, but I remember thinking it was going to be around 9:00 pm when I delivered.

Then came in the devil himself, guised as an anesthesiologist with a large needle. (cue bluegrass music)

I was pretty sure I wanted an Epidural all along, I was just debating back and forth whether or not the drug grogginess was worth it. Then my nurse's scare tactics worked when she opened the door to ask me about the Epidural and there was a woman literally HOWLING. LITERALLY HOWLING LIKE A WOLF.  Down the hall. She looked at me, asked me if I heard that noise, and then asked me if I wanted an Epidural.

I agreed immediately.

Well played Nurse, well played.

ANYWAY, the devil with the blue [scrubs] walked in (cue Mitch Ryder music), all happy with that stupid grin, and said that he will be explaining everything that is going on, since I can't see for myself.

He then proceeded to ask me to go on my side, curl up like a ball, and arch my back like a cat. "LIKE A CAT" (he kept saying over and over again.. I almost slapped him). SO long story short, I couldn't arch my back enough for some strange reason... maybe, and just maybe, it was due to the fact that I HAD A GIGANTIC BELLY. And he kept saying that he couldn't get the needle/tube in the right spinal 'pocket' so he was pretty much stabbing me in the back over and over again, and I was literally praying that he would not make me paralyzed. Also, his initial 'bee sting' anesthetic was not working.

Since he took forever, and kept stabbing me over and over again, my right leg was completely numb and I couldn't move it, feel it for the rest of the labor/delivery. Kurt was having fun moving my leg around and seeing my reaction - or lack thereof. So I was freaking out that I would have to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life because this idiot paralyzed me.

So that last part wasn't the case, only by God's good graces and answered prayers.

So a couple of hours go by, my mom calls for an update, and Kurt says nothing is happening and it's going to take forever. At this point, due to lack of exciting events, I have lost Kurt to his iPad, ignoring the fact that the nurse keeps coming in to check and saying that I'm moving right along.

Around 5pm, she comes in with a concerned look on her face. I knew exactly what she was thinking because I had been listening to the baby's heartbeat this whole time, and I had noticed it as well. When I was having a contraction, his heartbeat would slow down - not a problem if you are going into labor almost immediately, but last time she checked me I was only a 6, so she was 'a little' concerned.

When she checked me again, she was relieved and a little shocked that I was already at a 9/10. She said to get ready that I'll probably deliver within the hour. (Hooray!)...

Kurt still was doubtful.

She called the doctor, he was already on his way..

So everything was really casual, my doctor came in with the nurses, laughing and joking around, one of my other doctors called him, cracked a little joke.. everyone was laughing. He came over, got all prepped, and then he gave me the go ahead to push.

So I did.

Dr. Ollerton and Kurt were a little stunned to see a little head so soon.

Lauging, he asked me to push one more time, if I could.

So I did.

And then POP... out came Devin.

Kurt looked at me beaming and said "Shashy...he has brown hair!". To which I may or may not have reacted with a Napoleon Dynamite fist pump and 'yessss' to.

Kurt, Dr. Ollerton, the nurses, were all a little stunned that it only took "one push".

I remember one nurse coming over, hugging me/patting me on the shoulder saying, "You were born to do this!" "That was amazing!". I remember my doctor congratulating me and expressing his surprise and almost oddly placed pride that I did it in one push.
 oh the irony...

And I remember Kurt's stunned face. Priceless.

(It's pretty funny to see Kurt's impression of me giving birth. I guess I was a little too non-chalant to his liking...)

Anyway, the nurses placed Devin on me and he made the cutest pouty face, and I started to cry. He was handsome and healthy and It was great.

He had the cutest little cry.. it sounded just like a piglet. In our little video, you can hear the nurse comment "he sounds just like a little piglet!".  It was true.

After that, nursing was a breeze and I started to heal quickly, and I was not groggy or disgusting like I was with Reese. Kurt actually slept pretty much the whole time we were there at the hospital, and I just hung out with Baby D.

He has been a perfect little angel ever since.

Well, except for his nightly 'colicky' stage.. not really colic, but same time every night he gets a little upset and cries a lot!

As for sleeping, I have been actually catching up on lost sleep from the last trimester of my pregnancy, to which I got 1-2 hours of good sleep a night.. now I get to sleep 3-5 hours at a time.. It's actually pretty fantastic. He already knows that night time is sleepy time. EXCELLENT.

Well, hope this wasn't too boring for you.

Thank you to everyone who have stopped by and given little gifts and love.

Thank you to Rachel for throwing an unexpected baby shower, and to Nana LaDeane and all our aunts/cousins who came to see baby d. Your gifts were wonderful, and if I can ever get my life together again, I will send out your thank you cards..

And here's a video of the little munchkin meeting the littlest munchkin: