Carter's Birth Story

I went in for my 37 week check up on Tuesday afternoon. I was dilated to a 3 already and still 50% effaced. My doc made the comment that I was VERY induceable if it was necessary, which at the time, I thought was such a funny statement. Everything was looking good and right on track, seemingly, but since Carter's heartrate was a little on the slow side, my OB decided to do an NST just to make sure everything was okay. Carter reacted just like they wanted and looked great, happy and healthy. Since I was there and hooked up to everything, they decided to do a quick ultrasound to check on my amniotic fluid levels. I wasn't worried at all because the ultrasound from a few weeks earlier showed that I had plenty of fluid. Well then my OB changed from being chatty to quiet and serious. So I asked him what he was seeing, and he said that he was only finding one area of fluid that was measurable and it was borderline for an emergency. He asked me how much water I had had that day, and I said that I had had at least 20 oz. since lunch, which evidently should have meant that I would have had more than enough fluid. I asked him what all this meant, and he said that I had a one way ticket to labor and delivery. I laughed. It was just so unexpected, I couldn't even be worried at that point. With all that was happening, I totally forgot to ask if I was GBS+, which I was... So Cary and I went home and grabbed my things, dropped the boys off with my dad, and my mom and Cary and I headed for the hospital. I was sure they would just monitor me for a while longer and send me home. I was certain this would all be a waste of time, so we didn't even bother calling anyone! Well, they get me checked in for monitoring. The nurse takes all of my info in case we are admitted and goes to get the doctor's okay to start monitoring. Just a few minutes later she comes back and tells me that we could have just gone straight to a room, because they don't even want to monitor me any longer, they are just going to go ahead and induce! Then she tells me that because we are only 37 weeks 2 days that Carter may have some minor breathing issues and may need to be monitored in the NICU. That made me a little nervous. But everything was going so fast, it was hard to think to long about anything. Since I was GBS+ and have a history of fast labors, they said I would have to have the IV antibiotics in for 4 hours before we could do anything, but that they would start low dose pitocin to hopefully help me move along slowly. In hindsight, I would have asked them to just let me sleep and then break my water once the antibiotics were in, but it went fine anyway. So we all talked (my mom, Cary and I) and played scrabble on my iPhone, watched TV and such and then Cary and Mom napped for a bit while I waited and waited. Finally at 2 a.m., they said we could break my water. Since they were worried about the low levels, they didn't want to break it until after the antibiotics were in so that infection would be less likely and we wouldn't have any cord crimping issues. Well, then things really got going. Thankfully they reduced the pitocin by half, or I really would have been miserable. By 4 a.m., I was sure I had made major progress because I had been having crazy contractions. When the nurse checked me, I was only at a 4, and felt SO defeated! Then Cary and Mom reminded me that this is how my body does. I take forever to get to a 4, and then go fast. Well, sure enough. At around 5, she checked me again, and said I was 7-8 cm! I was SO worried she was going to say I was still a 4. If she had, I might have cried. :) She called the nurses station for them to set up my room, about 2 contractions later, she checked me because I was feeling more pushy, and said I was a 9, but she didn't think I could push through it yet. She then called the doctor who came right away, thankfully! As Dr. Berga (the doc on call, who was super nice) came in the door, my nurse told her that I was still at a 9, but she didn't think I would make it through another contraction, so she started getting gowned. Well while she was doing that, I had another contraction, and instantly my body started baring down without me. So I start doing the panting breathing trying desperately not to push because they haven't said that I could and I knew they weren't ready yet, and I start telling the doctor that Carter is coming and she needs to get her gloves on. It's really funny on the video, because I just keep saying that... "You've got to get your gloves on!! Really! He's coming right now! You've got to get your gloves on!" Well sure enough, he came right out, and she caught his head with one hand while the nurse was putting her other glove on. It was just crazy fast! As soon as Carter was out, he was screaming his head off, and I just remember Dr. Berga saying to him, "You're not supposed to cry until we cut your cord!" It was really funny. He was just perfect and pink and scored an 8 and 9 on his apgars. He was born at 5:29 a.m., so my actual labor was only 3 and a half hours! It makes me a little relieved that it started in the hospital. Carter weighed 6 lbs, 9.8 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. He has lots of dark brown hair and looks a lot like Caden when he was first born. He's such a sweet baby. He sleeps CONSTANTLY, which I'm sure is part of him being a little early, but the nurses said he's acting much more like a full term baby, than an early baby. He's nursing well, and we're now going in 3 hour spurts during the night, which is really nice. We had to stay a full 48 hours in the hospital because of me being GBS+, but it was actually really nice. :) I got to rest a lot, so I felt much better even my first day home. The boys, Carson and Caden, have done so much better than I had even hoped! Carson is so proud of Carter and just adores him. He constantly wants to hold him and show him to everyone. When he first held him in the hospital, the first thing he did was cock his head to one side and grin at Carter and say "He's bootiful!" He's pronounced it at least once a day since Carter's birth! Very sweet. Caden adores him most of the time, and has been content to play the rest of the time. He gets so excited about Carter and loves helping me by throwing away dirty diapers. Both boys have been gentle and great big brothers. I must say I am pleasantly surprised! Cary has been such a huge help with the boys, and I think our family of 5 is adjusting nicely. We are all so in love with our little peanut, and I'm so glad he's here!