The Birth of Greyson Henry Jasper

On Thursday August 7 I went to work as usual. It was an extremely slow day so taking it easy was definitely not a challenge, but I noticed my usual contractions were getting stronger as the day went on. I told my husband that I didn’t think I would last until Tuesday (when I was expected to deliver) and I joked with my coworkers about having him on Friday because of the date being 08/08. Jaxton’s due date was 09/09, Bentley’s due date was 07/07, and Korbin was born on 02/02, so I thought it would be funny. Little did I know what I was in for! Around 7 I decided to try taking my medication a little early since it is supposed to help slow the contractions and I was getting uncomfortable.  It didn’t do much at all and when customers decided to stay and eat 5 minutes before close I was not very amused.

When I finally made it home around 8:30 I snuggled with the kids for a bit before tucking them in for bed. I didn’t waste any time running a hot bath to try and get my body to relax once they were down for the night. When they didn’t slow down I decided I should probably start timing them, just in case. Well, they ended up being between 5 and 10 minutes apart consistently. After a little over half an hour of this I figured I should shower quick and probably head to the hospital. I still wasn’t convinced I was in labor necessarily, but wanted to be checked and monitored just in case, especially since I live an hour away from the hospital. I called my doctor’s on call number to let them know I would be coming in and wasn’t sure if I was in labor or not. I was so sure I wasn't going to be having a baby right away that I didn't even grab my camera or main hospital bag. Then I argued with my husband when he said he would call his parents to come and stay with the boys and told him I would call when I knew what was going on. It’s a good thing he is as stubborn as I am and called them over anyway, even though I was not exactly pleased to have to wait even longer to leave. 

During the first part of the drive I felt like the contractions might be slowing down a bit and that I would just end up being monitored. We talked about the chances of being sent to Des Moines since I was still before the hospital cutoff of when they are supposed to deliver. This all scared the crap out of me for the past couple of weeks and being reality made it ten times worse. The whole idea of having a tiny baby that needed to be in a NICU has been a huge fear for the past 9 weeks. Anyway, once we hit Highway 3 (the most bumpy road I have ever been on), the contractions started coming more often again. They were often enough I didn’t even feel the need to time them and it hit me that I really was in labor. The contractions were getting strong enough that I had to focus on relaxing and breathing through them. I was thankful I had at least started reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, which explained how important relaxing really is, because in the past I know I was horrible at tensing up! There is definitely a huge difference!

Once we hit the hospital they didn’t waste much time hooking me up to the monitors and they started some fluids right away, which kind of surprised me since I was still slightly in denial. It was 11:20pm I was contracting every 4 minutes at this point and getting increasingly uncomfortable. Now the major fear of being sent to Des Moines hit again, because I was only 34 weeks 4 days. The nurses couldn’t tell me anything for sure right away without talking to the doctor so the fear just lingered for a bit. I also needed to know what was going on because I had a friend coming to photograph the birth for me and she was over an hour and a half away, so I had to tell her to get moving if I was staying. They checked me and noted I was at 5cm and very thin. They asked if I planned on anything for pain and I said that I didn’t plan on it, but would just see how things went.  After calling the doctor and finally letting me know I was able to stay in Clarion, they brought I all of the consents for me to sign in between contractions. I called and text my photographer, who didn’t answer right away, but called me back fairly quickly after saying she would head out fast. Dr. Hill was here by midnight and by then I was already at a good 6cm dilated, 100% effaced, and +1 station. She announced we were definitely having a baby! She went on to ask if I was still doing ok without any pain medication and said that if I did want it that it would probably have to be done soon. I said I was still doing fine and if I made it that far I felt I could go the rest of the way too. Of course she was fine with this and said I was doing great without it and she definitely thought I could make it without. The nurses were all great about complimenting how calm and relaxed I was staying, even during the contractions that were going off the monitor. They were really good at finding the space between watching me and making sure I didn’t need anything, but also staying out of the room so I could have it quiet and relax as much as possible.

At 1:05am they asked if I wanted to get up and walk around. That sounded great, but I was worried about the increasing pressure and asked to be checked first. I was told I was up to 8cm and was allowed to go to the bathroom but told to not try and push! I didn’t feel like walking much by the time I got back to the bed anyway, so I concentrated on getting through the contractions that were coming one on top of another at this point. At this point my water still hadn’t broken and Dr. Hill asked if I would like her to just break it. I told her not quite yet because there was still a slight chance my photographer could make it in time if he held out just a little longer (even though she was still about 45 minutes away). She was completely fine with anything, which I really appreciated. The doctor on call to take care of the baby came in and made sure that we had been warned of the potential problems related to having a preemie and the possibility of him being sent to Des Moines if anything happened. The nurses were starting to move a little faster at getting everything ready in the room for the delivery and by 1:20am I was at 9cm with just a lip of cervix left around the head. After everything was ready and Dr. Hill was sitting at the bottom of the bed she checked again and I was complete. She asked if I wanted my water broke now, which I agreed to, since he was obviously coming regardless. It was 1:39am when the bag was broken and I was told I could push whenever I felt ready. It was so nice not having anyone at all telling me what to do and just being able to follow what my body was doing. I tried to relax as much as possible before the first contraction hit. I really didn’t want to push with the pain, but knew at the same time that was the only way he was coming. After the first two attempts at pushing I felt the burn that they talk about when the baby’s head is starting to come through and I knew he was almost here. Two more pushes and at 1:43am on August 8, 2014 Greyson Henry Jasper Jones was born sunny side up and with a full head of dark hair.

He was placed right on my chest and started crying right away. I was basically in shock at this point. I actually made it delivering this baby without pain medications and he looked way bigger than I expected. He started turning pink right away and just kept on crying. It was such an amazing sound to hear. They waited to cut the cord until it had finished pulsating and once I was ready took him across the room to check him over quick, while I delivered the placenta. While trying to focus and help get it out all I was really waiting for was any word on how my baby boy was doing. It came out fairly quickly and she told me I didn’t tear at all. Within minutes we were told all of his vitals were perfect, but they would still be cautious over the next hour. Next I was informed that he weighed 6lbs 14oz. I had to have them repeat it because I definitely didn’t believe that this 34 week old baby could possibly be my biggest. He was also 19 inches long. Apgars were 8 at 1 minute and 9 at 5 minutes.

Around this time my photographer made it to the hospital and started capturing what she could. They brought him back to me and asked if I was breastfeeding, to which I replied I was. I was told I could try it at any time, but that preemie boys seemed to have the hardest time latching, so I may need help. After snuggling for a few minutes and just taking everything in, we gave it a try. He had absolutely no problems latching. This was a huge relief, as it was the last potential problem we had to test out and once again he was perfect.

I definitely didn’t sleep the rest of the night. My husband left a little after 4 and the photographer shortly after. It took a long time to sink in that he really has nothing wrong at all and how lucky we were for this. He is a super laid back little guy so far, but definitely makes it known when he isn’t happy. I can honestly say that everything went perfect and the only thing I would have changed if possible was to be able to have the photographer here for the whole thing, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned so I will take what I got!

Big brothers were able to come and visit not long after waking up. Jaxton was so excited and eager to hold him. He loved just watching Grey. I can tell he is going to be a great helper when we go home. Bentley on the other hand was excited to see him and hold him, but the excitement seemed to wear off fast for him. Korbin just kept saying "he so little" and "he so cute!" It was adorable. He was super happy we let him hold his baby brother but still informed us he is a baby too.

After the boys took off for home I went back to the nursery where they did footprints and his first bath. He was not exactly pleased with either! We will just say he was super happy when it was over and we were back in our room snuggling <3