At 38 weeks and 1 day (barely), my little belly buddy decided he was ready to meet his parents! I had been bouncing back in forth in my head about being ready to be "done" and wanting more time with the little being in my belly so it actually caught me a little off guard that I was going into labor early. Both of our kids were right on time around 40 weeks and I felt like I had mentally prepared to lose the bump before hand. I hadn't really done that officially with this round but none the less, it was go time!
Around 4:30am I started to have contractions. Because we were all concerned about baby coming very quickly, I tracked maybe 3-4 contractions before waking Mike up. After a few quick phone calls to the IP's (who answered on the first ring! They must have sensed it.), my parents and our case manager, the contractions started to pick up as we gathered up our last minute stuff and paced the house. My mom showed up about 20 minutes after my call and out the door we went. I was pretty thrilled to be in labor so early in the morning since the drive to the hospital was very quick and we saw maybe 3 cars on the road. We arrived at Stanford and waddled up to labor and delivery and got checked in right away. I was so impressed with how prepared my nurse was with my birth plan and our situation, especially because I was told I didn't need to call L&D when we were on our way. Our IP's beat us there and were waiting in the waiting room for updates, which made me feel at ease knowing they were close by. Labor progressed quickly, despite me feeling like things were taking forever, and soon I couldn't stop my body from starting to push during contractions. Unfortunately I was not fully dilated so I had to fight every urge in my body and prevent lots of damage. I asked the doctor to pop my water, since it was still fully intact, and instantly baby dropped and I dilated to 10. Mike ran to get the IP's while shift change was starting so a swarm of new nurses and doctors were entering the room. I remember opening my eyes in between contractions and seeing, what felt like, 100 people in the room. As soon as the IP's arrived and I felt another contraction coming I asked if I was ok to push, to which they said yes, so I just pushed and pushed until baby's head was out. I opened my eyes and watched him come out - which I didn't get to do with my own kids due to my positioning. The doctor held him up and called out, who's announcing the gender? Now I'm a little fuzzy but I believe I actually got to call out that he was a boy (I keep forgetting to ask if I in fact was the first to do so!). Either way, SO incredible!! He got put on my stomach while they did a quick once over of him and both IP's came over to give me a huge hug. Dad got to cut the cord and soon baby was in moms arms for a long overdue first meeting.
Maverick James was born at 7:32am on March 13th 2018 after about 3 hours of labor and weighed in at 6 pounds 8 oz. He was measured at 19" long but was remeasured at this well check at 20" - which makes way more sense. He was little but not that little! He's a healthy, perfect little nugget that is being very good for his parents. I was able to express colostrum as soon as he was born and have been hand expressing, and now pumping, ever since to keep him full and happy. More on that later though...
Mike got some pretty amazing birth photos per my request. Even though I'm fully covered I won't share the actual baby being born on here but I think the ones I did post speak volumes. I feel so unbelievably fortunate to have gotten to go through this journey with this wonderful family. Helping them grow their little boy was as much as a gift for me as it was for them. Even with the hiccups, I have really loved every part. I have learned more about myself and my own family through this process than I could have imagined. And the best part? It's not over! We get to talk to and see the IPs and baby Maverick often. We felt a connection with them before Maverick was born but it's even stronger now. Again, we really are just so lucky! More to come later...
Around 4:30am I started to have contractions. Because we were all concerned about baby coming very quickly, I tracked maybe 3-4 contractions before waking Mike up. After a few quick phone calls to the IP's (who answered on the first ring! They must have sensed it.), my parents and our case manager, the contractions started to pick up as we gathered up our last minute stuff and paced the house. My mom showed up about 20 minutes after my call and out the door we went. I was pretty thrilled to be in labor so early in the morning since the drive to the hospital was very quick and we saw maybe 3 cars on the road. We arrived at Stanford and waddled up to labor and delivery and got checked in right away. I was so impressed with how prepared my nurse was with my birth plan and our situation, especially because I was told I didn't need to call L&D when we were on our way. Our IP's beat us there and were waiting in the waiting room for updates, which made me feel at ease knowing they were close by. Labor progressed quickly, despite me feeling like things were taking forever, and soon I couldn't stop my body from starting to push during contractions. Unfortunately I was not fully dilated so I had to fight every urge in my body and prevent lots of damage. I asked the doctor to pop my water, since it was still fully intact, and instantly baby dropped and I dilated to 10. Mike ran to get the IP's while shift change was starting so a swarm of new nurses and doctors were entering the room. I remember opening my eyes in between contractions and seeing, what felt like, 100 people in the room. As soon as the IP's arrived and I felt another contraction coming I asked if I was ok to push, to which they said yes, so I just pushed and pushed until baby's head was out. I opened my eyes and watched him come out - which I didn't get to do with my own kids due to my positioning. The doctor held him up and called out, who's announcing the gender? Now I'm a little fuzzy but I believe I actually got to call out that he was a boy (I keep forgetting to ask if I in fact was the first to do so!). Either way, SO incredible!! He got put on my stomach while they did a quick once over of him and both IP's came over to give me a huge hug. Dad got to cut the cord and soon baby was in moms arms for a long overdue first meeting.
Maverick James was born at 7:32am on March 13th 2018 after about 3 hours of labor and weighed in at 6 pounds 8 oz. He was measured at 19" long but was remeasured at this well check at 20" - which makes way more sense. He was little but not that little! He's a healthy, perfect little nugget that is being very good for his parents. I was able to express colostrum as soon as he was born and have been hand expressing, and now pumping, ever since to keep him full and happy. More on that later though...
Mike got some pretty amazing birth photos per my request. Even though I'm fully covered I won't share the actual baby being born on here but I think the ones I did post speak volumes. I feel so unbelievably fortunate to have gotten to go through this journey with this wonderful family. Helping them grow their little boy was as much as a gift for me as it was for them. Even with the hiccups, I have really loved every part. I have learned more about myself and my own family through this process than I could have imagined. And the best part? It's not over! We get to talk to and see the IPs and baby Maverick often. We felt a connection with them before Maverick was born but it's even stronger now. Again, we really are just so lucky! More to come later...
38 weeks and my last belly picture
Cutting to the moment Maverick was born... so much happiness!!
These pictures make me teary eyed. Their brand new baby is right there but they choose to give me a hug and thank me :)
Amazing how you can go from agonizing pane to smiles and laugher in moments
Have you seen a more beautiful family!?
First feeding
He's so little!!!
Such long fingers :)
Moments after being moved into a recovery room I received these beautiful flowers from my IP's friends!
Little Miss Kendall got to come to the hospital and meet the baby. I think she smiled for days after!
Comments
Post a Comment