We had initially planned to have a videographer come to film the birth and when the girls would meet him. But she was out of town when he made his early debut (9 days early.) So instead I pieced together clips and pictures that Jordan and I took while at the hospital. We don't have actual footage of him being born since Jordan was at my side literally holding me up at that point. But I am so grateful we have this video to remind us of this very special day. We love you Royal!
Saturday morning my neighbors and friends from church threw a “sprinkle” for me. So nice of them! We received cute outfits, diapers and wipes, and a few other necessities. Jordan took the girls golfing while I was gone. They were still golfing when I arrived home so I decided to start putting clothes and gifts away in baby’s room. When they arrived home, we had lunch and then took a nap while Lucy was napping and Quincy was watching a show. I woke up about 4:30 and started having some stronger contractions. They were pretty inconsistent and I had been having contractions like that the night before. So I tried not to think much of it. I decided to run to the store to get a few groceries and things we needed. I was about to leave to the store and felt like I might be in labor, but decided to go anyway. Quincy told me “Mom, if you are going to have the baby, you can go to the hospital and Dad can meet you there.” It’s as if she knew or something....
As I walked around Target I was very uncomfortable. Still unsure that I was in labor, but when I got back to my car I started getting very emotional and feeling anxious. I decided that I should just go to the hospital and get checked. I called Jordan to let him know that I was going to pick up the pizza and then be home. I felt like it was pretty pointless to be picking up pizza as I knew I wouldn’t eat it. But the girls needed to eat, so I bought it anyway. I then called Jordan again on my way home. I told him that I thought I was in labor and that was I going to call my mom to come sit with the girls so we could go to the hospital and I could get checked. (6:53) I called my mom to ask her to come. I also told her to just relax as I felt this was precautionary. But she drove to my house extra fast anyway. When I arrived home I packed my last minute items into my hospital bag and had two bites of pizza. My mom arrived and we said goodbye to the girls. They were so excited that they might be able to meet baby brother soon. It was definitely a bittersweet goodbye. I tried not to cry as we gave them kisses and hugs. We headed to the hospital about 7:30.
When we arrived to the hospital the nurse started asking questions. I explained my situation about how I typically go pretty fast (read Lucy's birth story here) and that my contractions were about 10-20 minutes apart. So I felt that I was there earlier than I normally would be. They checked me about 30 minutes after we got there and I was at a 7-8. The nurse said they would have the doctor come in and break my water to move things along. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. But the on call doctor came in and did it anyway. I guess my doctor decided to leave town for the holiday weekend after all. (I had asked her on Tuesday if she would be gone and she told me no.) I was really bummed that my doctor wouldn’t be there. We had hired a videographer who was also out of town, so double bummer.
Things went kind of slow for the next 3 hours. I spent my time sitting on and bouncing on a ball. The contractions slowly started getting closer. At one point I really needed to pee, which made us both a little nervous since that was the sure sign Lucy was coming. But it wasn't a baby this time! Jordan and I became pretty bored and I wished I would have brought a movie or game to entertain us. Jordan found Parent Trap on tv, so we started watching that. I cried at the emotional parts and finally told Jordan to just turn it off.
About 11 o’clock I asked the nurse to check me again because I was feeling more pressure. I sat on the bed and waited for her to come in. The contractions were becoming much more intense and I began to wonder how much longer I could do this. I looked at the clock and it was just after 11. I grabbed Jordan’s hand with each contraction. Trying to concentrate on breathing and not tensing up too much. I told baby that if he wanted to be born on the first like his daddy that he better hurry up!
The nurse came in to check I was still at an 8 but fully effaced. As soon as I sat up I said, “I think he’s coming” and so she laid me back down to check again. It was super uncomfortable to lay back down. I was cringing and couldn't stay still. As soon as she checked she said "yep your cervix is gone." Then said she would go get the doctor. As I tried to sit up my bed wasn’t working, it wouldn’t let me sit up. I told the nurse that he was coming right now. She said “okay, don’t push yet, let me get the doctor.” But I told her “he’s coming.” She called for backup in the hall and ran back over to my side as Jordan helped me up to squat on the bed because that was the only thing I could think of. I had my arm around Jordan and was trying not to push but that wasn’t happening. Through one intense contraction and a slight push, out he came. A nurse barely made it to the bed to catch him as other nurses were piling into the room and grabbing gloves. She laid him on the bed as I collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion. Another nurse tried to figure out why my bed wasn’t working (it had been unplugged and running on battery power.) I felt like I was slightly in shock and couldn’t do anything but breath and stare at him for about 30 seconds. He was purple and you could tell he wasn’t breathing very well. It was kind of a raspy cry. I asked if I could hold him. They tried to hand him to me but the cord wouldn’t pull long enough. So they had Jordan cut the cord and then I finally had my baby on my chest. The moment I had waited 9 months for.
He had a sweet little face and hair! I could tell he was about the same size as my girls had been. The nurse was still tending to baby because he still wasn’t breathing very well. She said it sounds like he has fluid in his lungs so she would have to make him cry more to see if they could get it to clear up. At this point I realized what a blessing it was that we were at the hospital where they could tend to him as he needed. I didn't want to think about what would have happened if he would have come at home like Lucy. Tender mercies.
The doctor finally made it in. She helped deliver the placenta while I held my baby. She told me that I had no tearing which was a relief. I didn’t tear with Lucy either and the recovery was so much better than when I did tear slightly with Quincy. After I delivered the placenta, the nurse took the baby over to monitor him a bit more and try to clear his lungs out. They had to put a tube down his throat and suck the fluid out a few times. Poor baby. I'm glad I didn't have to watch that. After about 30 minutes he finally started breathing better and they wanted me to try to nurse him. He took a minute to latch but nursed well and he wasn't having a hard time breathing anymore. Such a blessing. Royal weighed seven pounds and eight ounces and was 21 inches long. We feel beyond blessed to have him in our family and can't wait to watch him grow.
Lucy's Birth Story: http://peekatwoodsworld.blogspot.com/2015/12/lucys-birth-story.html
Quincy's Birth Story: http://peekatwoodsworld.blogspot.com/2013/04/our-birth-story.html
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