The Birth Story

It all started with my 38 week appointment. It was Wednesday, August 10th. I was going for the usual weekly appointment. Little did I know it was going to be an interesting appointment.

Dr. Sharp was really busy that day so I saw his PA Erin, whom I've been seeing on and off throughout my pregnancy. Let me just quickly add... I absolutely adore Erin and Dr. Sharp, they make a great team! Back to the appointment, so Erin begins measuring my stomach and she has this strange look on her face. She looks at me and says hmmm... let me remeasure. She measures again and has the same face. She then looked at me and said you are measuring small. I thought to myself WHAT!! This entire pregnancy I have been either 1-2cm big or right on track. So this was a first. Erin said you should be measuring at 38cm and you are measuring at 34cm. WOW, that was a big difference. Now I understood the face she gave, but what did that mean. She said the baby could be laying on an angle, my uterus could be tilted, I could be loosing fluid, etc. Well I knew I wasn't loosing fluid so Erin scheduled me to have a ultra sound Friday, August 12th. She told me not to worry and reassured me Crew's heart rate sounded great and she just wants to make sure he has enough fluid. So I didn't worry about it.

Well the next day wasn't any easier because my Grandpa, my Mom's dad, passed away. He was 89 years old. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer disease a year and a half ago, and he had been in and out of the hospital the past few months were they found out he was only receiving 30 of blood flow to his brain. I was very close to my Grandpa and it was hard to know he was gone, but a relief that he wasn't suffering anymore.
A few weeks before he passed, my Mom and I went out to see him. He was fortunate to be at home for the last days of his life were hospice came in and helped my Grandma and Uncle take care of him. I wanted my Grandpa to see me pregnant and "meet" Crew because I knew he wouldn't be around to officially meet him in person on Earth. It was an amazing experience to say the least. I got to take my 3D picture of Crew and share them with him. He even got to fill Crew move and kick around inside me. It brought a smile to his face and a tear to my eye. My Mom then said, "see dad, you got to see me as a Grandma!" My Grandpa always gave Ryan, myself and my Mom a hard time by saying, "when am I going to see you as a Grandam??" It was a touching moment that I will always treasure. I love you Grandpa Buddy, and miss you so much already.

Friday came around and it was time for my ultra sound. So I went in and they started doing all the necessary measurements and checking Crew's heart beat and blood flow. It was so fun to see him again, and wow had he filled up that space in my uterus. I hadn't seen him since my 26 week appointment.
The radiologist said everything looked fine and that there seemed to be enough fluid for Crew. Well that was a relief. She said he's just going to be a small baby... probably around 5 lbs 9 oz. I thought to my self wow, that is small. Then again, I was only 6 lbs 7oz and Ryan was 5 lbs 13oz. So I wasn't expecting to have a 7 or 8 lbs baby.
She left the room to take the pictures and info to the doctor. Ten minutes later she came back and asked me if I was delivering at the U of U. I told her yes. Then she walked out and was gone for another 10 minutes. She came back and said is your doctor here? I said well yes, my doctor is Dr. Sharp down in clinic 4. She said ok, meet me out in the lobby after you get cleaned up. Now I was really concerned! I go out and she said would you be ready to deliver today or tomorrow? I said in a slow and concerned voice/look... yes. She said ok, please have a seat in the waiting room while I contact Dr. Sharp. I immediately got on the phone with Ryan and told him what was going on. I told him I would call him as soon as I had more information. I then called my Mom and told her to be on standby. I waited for about 20 minutes and she came back and said ok, we are going to do a none stress test on you. I thought to myself, this day is getting longer and longer.
So I go in get strapped up for the test. Of course Crew was sound asleep and not moving much so they had to put a buzzer up to my stomach and freak Crew out to show that his heart rate would go up with movement. I sat there for 30 minutes. The test came back fine and they said everything looked great. They said we will wait until your appointment next Wednesday to do anything. I was a little disappointed because they had gotten me so excited about having Crew that day if not the next day, which would have been perfect because Ryan would have had Friday-Monday off... oh well! So I went back to work... boo!
A few hours later I got a phone call from Dr. Sharp saying this morning appointment sounded a little crazy and to give him a call if I had questions. Boy did I ever have questions. So I called him and he explained to me that they are thinking my placenta is small and Crew may not be getting enough nutrients. He told me not to worry because the fluid levels were fine and the NST came back fine. He than said he wanted to see me next Tuesday, August 16th rather than Wednesday, August 17th. He also hinted at the idea of starting my labor Tuesday, but it was never confirmed. He mentioned possibly doing another NST Tuesday.

Well next Tuesday came, and Erin came in to measure me. I was still measuring small. She then asked if I wanted her to scrape my membrane. I had heard about this from a friend, it's suppose to help start labor so I said sure. WOW did that hurt! I swear her entire hand was up me twisting around Crew's head... oh wait... that's exactly what was happening. Then she looked at my chart and said why are we doing another stress test? I told her I was going to ask you the same question. So she steps out and I over hear her talking with Dr. Sharp. That's when I hear Dr. Sharp say, "I have her scheduled to come in at 8 o'clock tonight to be induced." Music to my ears! I felt like crying, passing out, screaming with excitement, etc. All these emotions ran through my body. Then Dr. Sharp walked in the room and said how would you like to get started tonight on having this baby. I said I would love to!
After leaving the office I called Ryan and told him the story. It was perfect because Ryan could wrap up things at work and have time to come home help me pack and go. We we even had time to hit up Jimmy Johns for our favorite subs!

We checked in at 8:00p and by 9:00p I was hooked up and they had started the labor process. The first few hours weren't bad accept I could not sleep with the heart monitor beeping, the blood pressure cuff inflating every hour and not to mention the excitement and anticipation on our little boy joining our family!! Ryan got a little shut eye here and there. He was so sweet and pulled the couch...aka his bed for the night, right next to my bed. Oh I love my hubby!

Around 2a the nurses came in and put "balloon" like devise inside of me to help get me dilating. That wasn't fun at all! Then they went a way and a few more hours went by and that's when I began to feel what a contraction was and all I can say is WOW...contractions hurt! I could handle the pain for awhile, Ryan held my hand and I would breathe through them.

Between 4-5a I was dilated to a 6 I looked at Ryan and said I NEED that epidural. So the nurse came in and told me the anesthesiologist just went to the ER to help someone else, and after that there was one woman ahead of me. She told me it would be an hour and a half. I wanted to die! At one point during my contractions I would stand, sit, walk and hunch over my bed. I could not get comfortable and Ryan just held me! Not more than 30 minutes went by and to my surprise the anesthesiologist came walking in my room and said I'm here early. Music to my ears!! The epidural wasn't bad at all. I am not afraid of needles, that is if I can watch them. So I was a little nerves about this one, but everything went perfectly. Didn't hurt one bit!

After getting the epidural I noticed it was only working on my left side. I could feel everything on my left side. It was painful, but not near as painful as feeling the pain on both sides. At least this way I could "relax" and Ryan could get a little more shut eye. So I continued watching What Not To Wear on TLC and the nurses kept bringing me Tiger's Blood flavored ice chips, they were so good! That's all I could eat since I requested the epidural.

Around 10a Dr. Sharp was there, such a relief, and I was dilated at an 8. Wow I was getting close. He said another hour or two and we will be there, and he was right. Just after 12 noon, I told Ryan we need to get Dr. Sharp in here because I feel like I need to push. Sure enough I was ready to push. I could feel Crew's head on my right side pushing down...craziest feeling ever. I had two contractions and his head was out. Dr. Sharp told me to reach down to fill his head. What an amazing experience! Then two more contractions and Crew was in my arms! Yep, I pushed him out in four contractions...15 minutes! It was an amazing experience. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't tear too much, just enough for one stitch! The first thing I did after they took Crew off my chest was looked down my gown to see if my pregnant belly was gone. LOL It was still there, but deflated.

Ryan ran over and started getting pictures of the nurses measuring and weighing Crew. He also got pictures of me, and the funny thing is...I don't remember him taking the pictures. Then I requested a picture of Ryan, Crew, Dr. Sharp and I. The whole experience was magical and I hope our next baby is just as magical!

I waited in the delivery room for an hour. Ryan and I were getting to know our little bean and texting family and friends to let them know Crew had arrived! I could not stop staring at him and thinking...We are parents! I still think that to this day and Crew is 2 1/2 months old.

I was then transferred into the postpartum section of the hospital. Our room was great! It had an awesome view of Rice Eccles Stadium, and we could see the U of U helicopter take off and land. Around 5p we had my family come and meet their grandson and nephew. The look on their face was priceless. Shortly after we had Ryan's mom, sister, Grace, Megan and Will come meet their grandson, nephew and cousin. It was a great night!

They had us stay at the hospital for two days. Those two days are somewhat of a blur because there really was no sleeping with nurses walking in and out every two hours and then Crew waking up to feed. I only had Crew go to the nursery for one night, well 3 hours, but it was worth getting 3 hours of shut eye.

Then it was time to take Crew home!!! I was so excited and nervous to take him home. I kept thinking really...we can take him home?! Yep, we are parents now! :)