On February 1, 2012 I had a regular appointment. I was told that I was now 3cm dilated and his head was right there. The dr said that if I went into labor or my water broke, I was to hurry to the hospital. He also said that if I made it until Monday without a baby he wanted me to go up to the hospital and get checked and as long as I was at least 4-5cm he would admit me if I wanted. We decided on this because of how fast my last labor progressed once I hit 4cm and I live an hour away from the hospital.
The next morning, February 2, 2012, I decided to text my nurse and as her if I was supposed to call if I was having stronger contractions even if they weren't regular. She told me to come in and I responded with saying that I wasn't coming in because I wasn't having many at all and I highly doubted I was progressing any. We then played phone tag for part of the afternoon while I was at work (trying to move things along by keeping busy). A little after 2:00 we finally got in touch again and I said that I didn't want to drive up there because I did not want to be sent home when I was still 3cm. She said that she had already talked to my doctor and he would not send me home if I went. We went over the pro's and con's and decided that it would be better to just go because a few days wouldn't make a big difference development-wise and this way I wasn't going to get stuck in the expected blizzard over the weekend.
I really didn't expect the phone call to go like that. I was convinced I hadn't changed and was worried that I'd end up being induced but tried staying as calm as I could while I got the few things I needed in my bags that had already been packed for a couple of weeks. I also text my friend Melissa and updated her on what was going on since she was coming along to take pictures of the labor. We decided to let her make arrangements for her daughter and I'd let her know the plan when we got to the hospital.
When we left I made Toad drive me to Kohls because I had planned on getting Jaxton and Bentley big brother shirts that weekend so I needed them! That stressed me out because they didn't have Bentley's size so we had to get him the next size up but luckily it wasn't a problem.
The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. I think I felt one or two contractions that were somewhat strong the whole way. That made me nervous because it wasn't any different than normal and I had just worked my butt off running around and lifting what I could at work earlier. I was still convinced nothing had changed since my appointment. It was really just setting in that I was going to have another baby soon.
We got to the hospital about 4:00pm and went through admissions. The nurses had been told that I was already at 4cm and were instructed to hook me up to the monitors and wait for Dr Gabrielson to come and check me. When they got the monitors in place I was somewhat surprised to see how many contractions I was having because I didn't feel many at all.
At 4:45pm he made it over and checked my cervix. I was about 5cm and 70% effaced. We went over the options of staying and letting things happen on their own since he didn't think it'd take more than a day or two, or letting him break my water to help speed things up. We decided that there was no harm in helping things along. I text Melissa and said she should definitely start heading over! Luckily she was already in Humboldt and told me to hold him in at least until she got there. I assured her this wouldn't be a problem. I got the epidural at 5:30pm and let it kick in for a bit. Around this time they came around with the meal cart and it was absolute torture not to be able to eat! I hadn't eaten since 8am and was beyond hungry. I told Toad he was allowed to have the food and so he hid in the corner and ate like a little kid who was eating candy they aren't supposed to have.
Things were somewhat calm for a little bit after my water was broke at 6:20. There was a short period of time where the nurses were concerned over baby's heartrate because it wasn't recovering after a contraction as quickly as it was supposed to. Nobody told me until I noticed the nurse kept coming and checking the monitor frequently and she made a funny face one time and so I finally asked. They said it was better not long after I found out it was even happening though. About 7:30pm my doctor came back and checked me again. I was still only about 5-6cm but very thin and his head was ready to come down. They told me that the nurse would come back again around 9:00pm to see how things were going.
Around 8:30pm, when the nurse stopped in to check my monitors, I told her I thought I should be checked again because I was starting to feel a lot of pressure. She hesitated but checked and I was up to 8cm and she didn't think it would be long at all, but said she would come back at 9:00pm. Melissa had left to go and get something to eat since she hadn't had supper yet, so I text her and said she might want to hurry and get back or she might miss it! Luckily she had just been eating in the parking lot and so she came right back in.
Right before 9:00pm I told her that he wasn't staying in much longer at all. She checked me and I was fully dilated and he was ready. She literally ran down the hall to get everything for the delivery and to try and call my doctor. The few nurses that were there rushed around bringing everything into the room.
Within five minutes I told her that my body was pushing him out and I couldn't hold him in any longer. It was the strangest feeling, but I literally couldn't stop it from happening! She looked and he was starting to crown. She hollered for someone to see if the other doctor that can deliver was there yet and he quickly came into the room. He sat at the edge of the bed and told me to push. He was just in time because it only took one contraction and 3 pushes to get him out! Korbin Lincoln James Jones was born at 9:10pm. Since he was earlier than full term they took him to check him before I was able to hold him. I had been warned this would happen so it didn't worry me immediately but I was still upset I didn't get those first moments with my baby on my chest.
Then things got worrisome quickly. Baby wasn't moving or breathing like he should have been. They kept listening to his heart and trying to keep him breathing. He was extremely purple and wasn't crying or moving at first. Of course at this time another nurse came in saying that the girl next door was ready to push so the doctor was needed over there. Thankfully my doctor walked in about the same time and took over. Everyone was still tending to the baby and the put a monitor on to watch his heartrate and oxygen levels. He slowly started getting color to him but his heartrate kept retracting. They told me they were going to take him and give him oxygen and keep an eye on him. If things didn't get better shortly they were going to talk about sending him to Des Moines. By this point all I wanted was to hold my baby and be told everything was going to be ok.
My doctor came over to me again and began putting in one stitch since I'd torn. They ended up having to get lidocaine since I felt everything and the epidural wasn't working well enough anymore. I wasn't focused on anything he was doing though. I told my husband to just go watch and make sure Korbin was doing fine.
Within the next 15 minutes or so the nurse came back in and said that right before they had to give him oxygen his body steadied itself. His heartrate was much better and his oxygen levels were staying up so he was going to be able to come back to my room sooner than we thought. I don't think I've ever been so relieved before.
They brought him into the room shortly after and I was thankful when they handed him to me. I of course cried a little and didn't want to let him go. I was able to put him to the breast for a few minutes but he didn't really latch on well. They had given him sugar water in a bottle before bringing him in (to try and get his levels up) and that may have been part of why. This upset me slightly since I really wanted to breastfeed but I tried not to let it stress me out, I had a healthy baby in my arms. After letting me hold him for a while the nurse took him back to the nursery to be weighed and measured. He was 6lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long.
He ended up having to be hooked up to the foot monitor until the next morning just to make sure that nothing changed again. The nurses told me I could leave him in the nursery to get some rest.They promised to bring him in to eat every couple of hours if I did. After holding him for a few hours I caved since they had given me medicine and I didn't want to fall asleep with him in my arms because they frown on that. I ended up waking up an hour later and bringing him back in the room though. He was breathing loudly all night (they said his lungs were fine though) and it was comforting to me to be able to hear that he was doing ok and was with me instead of down the hall.
The next obstacle for me was breastfeeding. We had tried after I had been able to hold him but he was tired and didn't latch well. The nurse explained that could be normal and they supplemented him with formula through a special little cup to make sure he wasn't hungry. I didn't know better at the time so I let this happen because I wanted my baby to be eating something at least. I had told myself I really wanted to breastfeed this time though so I told my nurse the next morning I would really like some help. Luckily she was one of the better nurses in support of breastfeeding (not very many were for some reason) and she was a huge help to us. When we left the hospital we were still having a little bit of a hard time because my milk didn't come in right away but after a few days and a lot of mixed feelings on whether or not I should keep trying, he finally just caught on and we have been great ever since!
The next morning, February 2, 2012, I decided to text my nurse and as her if I was supposed to call if I was having stronger contractions even if they weren't regular. She told me to come in and I responded with saying that I wasn't coming in because I wasn't having many at all and I highly doubted I was progressing any. We then played phone tag for part of the afternoon while I was at work (trying to move things along by keeping busy). A little after 2:00 we finally got in touch again and I said that I didn't want to drive up there because I did not want to be sent home when I was still 3cm. She said that she had already talked to my doctor and he would not send me home if I went. We went over the pro's and con's and decided that it would be better to just go because a few days wouldn't make a big difference development-wise and this way I wasn't going to get stuck in the expected blizzard over the weekend.
I really didn't expect the phone call to go like that. I was convinced I hadn't changed and was worried that I'd end up being induced but tried staying as calm as I could while I got the few things I needed in my bags that had already been packed for a couple of weeks. I also text my friend Melissa and updated her on what was going on since she was coming along to take pictures of the labor. We decided to let her make arrangements for her daughter and I'd let her know the plan when we got to the hospital.
When we left I made Toad drive me to Kohls because I had planned on getting Jaxton and Bentley big brother shirts that weekend so I needed them! That stressed me out because they didn't have Bentley's size so we had to get him the next size up but luckily it wasn't a problem.
The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. I think I felt one or two contractions that were somewhat strong the whole way. That made me nervous because it wasn't any different than normal and I had just worked my butt off running around and lifting what I could at work earlier. I was still convinced nothing had changed since my appointment. It was really just setting in that I was going to have another baby soon.
We got to the hospital about 4:00pm and went through admissions. The nurses had been told that I was already at 4cm and were instructed to hook me up to the monitors and wait for Dr Gabrielson to come and check me. When they got the monitors in place I was somewhat surprised to see how many contractions I was having because I didn't feel many at all.
At 4:45pm he made it over and checked my cervix. I was about 5cm and 70% effaced. We went over the options of staying and letting things happen on their own since he didn't think it'd take more than a day or two, or letting him break my water to help speed things up. We decided that there was no harm in helping things along. I text Melissa and said she should definitely start heading over! Luckily she was already in Humboldt and told me to hold him in at least until she got there. I assured her this wouldn't be a problem. I got the epidural at 5:30pm and let it kick in for a bit. Around this time they came around with the meal cart and it was absolute torture not to be able to eat! I hadn't eaten since 8am and was beyond hungry. I told Toad he was allowed to have the food and so he hid in the corner and ate like a little kid who was eating candy they aren't supposed to have.
Things were somewhat calm for a little bit after my water was broke at 6:20. There was a short period of time where the nurses were concerned over baby's heartrate because it wasn't recovering after a contraction as quickly as it was supposed to. Nobody told me until I noticed the nurse kept coming and checking the monitor frequently and she made a funny face one time and so I finally asked. They said it was better not long after I found out it was even happening though. About 7:30pm my doctor came back and checked me again. I was still only about 5-6cm but very thin and his head was ready to come down. They told me that the nurse would come back again around 9:00pm to see how things were going.
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| Patiently waiting... |
Around 8:30pm, when the nurse stopped in to check my monitors, I told her I thought I should be checked again because I was starting to feel a lot of pressure. She hesitated but checked and I was up to 8cm and she didn't think it would be long at all, but said she would come back at 9:00pm. Melissa had left to go and get something to eat since she hadn't had supper yet, so I text her and said she might want to hurry and get back or she might miss it! Luckily she had just been eating in the parking lot and so she came right back in.
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| We are about to have another baby! |
Right before 9:00pm I told her that he wasn't staying in much longer at all. She checked me and I was fully dilated and he was ready. She literally ran down the hall to get everything for the delivery and to try and call my doctor. The few nurses that were there rushed around bringing everything into the room.
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| Hurrying to get everything ready! |
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| Trying not to focus on the pain |
Within five minutes I told her that my body was pushing him out and I couldn't hold him in any longer. It was the strangest feeling, but I literally couldn't stop it from happening! She looked and he was starting to crown. She hollered for someone to see if the other doctor that can deliver was there yet and he quickly came into the room. He sat at the edge of the bed and told me to push. He was just in time because it only took one contraction and 3 pushes to get him out! Korbin Lincoln James Jones was born at 9:10pm. Since he was earlier than full term they took him to check him before I was able to hold him. I had been warned this would happen so it didn't worry me immediately but I was still upset I didn't get those first moments with my baby on my chest.
Then things got worrisome quickly. Baby wasn't moving or breathing like he should have been. They kept listening to his heart and trying to keep him breathing. He was extremely purple and wasn't crying or moving at first. Of course at this time another nurse came in saying that the girl next door was ready to push so the doctor was needed over there. Thankfully my doctor walked in about the same time and took over. Everyone was still tending to the baby and the put a monitor on to watch his heartrate and oxygen levels. He slowly started getting color to him but his heartrate kept retracting. They told me they were going to take him and give him oxygen and keep an eye on him. If things didn't get better shortly they were going to talk about sending him to Des Moines. By this point all I wanted was to hold my baby and be told everything was going to be ok.
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| Showing me my baby before taking him away:( |
My doctor came over to me again and began putting in one stitch since I'd torn. They ended up having to get lidocaine since I felt everything and the epidural wasn't working well enough anymore. I wasn't focused on anything he was doing though. I told my husband to just go watch and make sure Korbin was doing fine.
Within the next 15 minutes or so the nurse came back in and said that right before they had to give him oxygen his body steadied itself. His heartrate was much better and his oxygen levels were staying up so he was going to be able to come back to my room sooner than we thought. I don't think I've ever been so relieved before.
They brought him into the room shortly after and I was thankful when they handed him to me. I of course cried a little and didn't want to let him go. I was able to put him to the breast for a few minutes but he didn't really latch on well. They had given him sugar water in a bottle before bringing him in (to try and get his levels up) and that may have been part of why. This upset me slightly since I really wanted to breastfeed but I tried not to let it stress me out, I had a healthy baby in my arms. After letting me hold him for a while the nurse took him back to the nursery to be weighed and measured. He was 6lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long.
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| Meeting Korbinf or the first time |
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| <3 |
He ended up having to be hooked up to the foot monitor until the next morning just to make sure that nothing changed again. The nurses told me I could leave him in the nursery to get some rest.They promised to bring him in to eat every couple of hours if I did. After holding him for a few hours I caved since they had given me medicine and I didn't want to fall asleep with him in my arms because they frown on that. I ended up waking up an hour later and bringing him back in the room though. He was breathing loudly all night (they said his lungs were fine though) and it was comforting to me to be able to hear that he was doing ok and was with me instead of down the hall.
The next obstacle for me was breastfeeding. We had tried after I had been able to hold him but he was tired and didn't latch well. The nurse explained that could be normal and they supplemented him with formula through a special little cup to make sure he wasn't hungry. I didn't know better at the time so I let this happen because I wanted my baby to be eating something at least. I had told myself I really wanted to breastfeed this time though so I told my nurse the next morning I would really like some help. Luckily she was one of the better nurses in support of breastfeeding (not very many were for some reason) and she was a huge help to us. When we left the hospital we were still having a little bit of a hard time because my milk didn't come in right away but after a few days and a lot of mixed feelings on whether or not I should keep trying, he finally just caught on and we have been great ever since!
