Grant Samuel Thompson

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Grant Samuel Thompson
1:32pm
7lb 1oz
19.5 inches long
Proud Parents: Matt & Katie
Proud Big Sister: Norah Kate



Once again I was blessed with a wonderful labor and delivery.  I was much more anxious leading up to this delivery, I guess because I knew how bad the pain could be and of course their was the nagging worry of the things that could go wrong.  I actually almost backed out of my induction I was that nervous!  I prayed for God to let me make the right choice about being induced and to not let me be hasty.  The strange thing though, when we were on the way to the hospital I felt so much peace and by the time they got the process started I was so EXCITED.

 

I went to the doctor on Tuesday March 18 for a check and an ultrasound.  I was 1cm and 50% effaced.  Grant looked great on the ultrasound and they estimated his weight at 7lbs and 4oz.  I was a little shocked by this because Norah Kate had always measured so big, so I still was expecting an 8lb baby.

 

I was to be admitted to the hospital Wednesday night at midnight for the Cytotec.  My progress was VERY similar to Norah Kate's.  I actually labored for almost exactly the same time.  With Norah Kate I got the first dose of Cytotec at 11pm and delivered at 10:40 am and with Grant I got the first dose at 1am and delivered at 13:22pm. 

 

Anyways...

 

When they hooked me up to the monitor and started my IV I was already 2cm (progress from even the day before) and already contracting regularly (every 3-4 minutes).  I knew I had been contracting for a while!!  They weren't painful contractions though, I could barely feel them.  I got my first dose of Cytotec at 1am.  The first dose of Cytotec didn't make me hurt, but continued making me have regular contractions.  Grant's heart rate looked great :)

 

At 3:25am I started having back labor, but it wasn't unbearable.  I was just hoping it meant I was dilating more.  Needless to say though, I got ZERO sleep!  Between the excitement and the contractions and being hooked up to everything and having to pee every 30 minutes... I just watched the second hand tick on by.  Matt slept though!

 

I got the second dose of Cytotec at 5:10 and just like with NK, I started feeling the contractions almost immediately!  This time though I had lots of back labor.  Let me just tell you something about back labor, that mess hurts!  It wasn't unbearable though and I wanted to wait on my epidural until I was more dilated.  I also decided against any IV pain medicine this time because the Demerol I received with Norah Kate made me terribly sick... and drunk... and miserable.  I was only 3cm, but at least I was progressing.  Since I was starting to hurt and really feeling the contractions, and because of my history of fast progression, we went ahead and called our mamas and sisters in at about 6:30 (we told everyone to just stay home until we called, there was no sense in nobody getting sleep that night).

 

Around 8:00 I stood up at bedside and started to rock back and forth, trying to move him on down the birth canal.  It also helped tremendously with my back labor.  For a while I couldn't feel the contractions as much when I was standing up.... but the story changed shortly.  Because I was contracting so frequently (2 minutes apart now) they decided to hold off on the Cytotec.  I started considering the epidural around 9:30 because I was getting pretty uncomfortable and I didn't want to get in unbearable pain before the epidural...but I kinda wanted to be dilated a little more.

 



 

Dr. Asbury broke my water at 9:40 and I was still 3cm.  I was getting nervous then because I was hurting but not progressing a lot.  I went ahead and asked for my epidural.  My mistake- I should have gotten the epidural BEFORE they broke my water.  The actual "breaking the water" doesn't hurt... no.. it's those contractions AFTER.  I didn't realize how much all the fluid helped cushion the pain.  Oh. my. goodness.  The next hour and twenty minutes was torture.

 

I do not tolerate pain and I am a wimp.  There.  I said it.  I am not even going to pretend I am tough.  There was no pictures taken during my intense labor pain.  I think my family was afraid to even talk around me.  I also became angry towards my husband during this time... he was catching cat naps during my discomfort.  I may or may not have threatened him bodily harm through gritted teeth ;)

 

I was hurting very bad.  I wanted to get up and walk or do something, but I could barely move for the pain.  I just kept breathing while my fluid boluses were going in.  I kept watching that bag of LR wishing they could have pressure bagged it in!  When it finished, then I had to wait on my anesthesiologist to get out of a surgery so he could come in.  I have never been so glad to see someone walk in my room!!  Man, oh, man.

 

I got my epidural at 11 and was dilated 4-5 cm.  At 11:15 I started feeling very nauseated and I couldn't feel my face.  My blood pressure had bottomed out despite the boluses and Grant's heart rate started dropping.  I wasn't worried too much about my blood pressure, because as an ICU nurse I have seen patient's bounce back from extremely low blood pressures, but seeing his heart rate drop was VERY scary and I started panicking a little.  They gave me ephedrine and reglan for my blood pressure and nausea and I felt better within minutes.  They checked me again at 11:25 and I was 5-6 cm.  After all the excitement and now that I was finally relaxed, I had the best 30 minute nap a girl could ask for!  I fell asleep before the nurses could even walk out of the room.

 

Woo hoo for Epidurals!!

 



 

I woke up at 11:50 and was feeling a LOT of pressure.  8cm!  By 12:15 I was 9cm.  My poor nurses were in a delivery next door and the pressure was getting intense.  I felt like he was coming out whether I wanted him to or not!

 

I was complete at 1:22 pm and Dr. Asbury came in and told me to show her if it was gonna be quick or take a while.  I gave a good push and she laughed and went ahead and put on her gown.  It was gonna be quick. 

 

I pushed for a total of 10 minutes and my sweet baby boy was here! 

 

I hate the movies, when they show three pushes and the baby is here... because its hard work.  Much harder than three pushes.  Even though I only pushed for 10 minutes, it was still harder than 3 pushes!

 



 

When Grant got here the cord was wrapped around his neck and it seemed like an eternity before he had that first good cry and pinked up. But he did. 

(This is when it sucks being a nurse... I saw the cord around his neck, I panicked when he didn't pink up right away... I remember that gut sinking feeling when Dr Asbury asked for some oxygen -which he ended up not needing- I remember frantically looking at the nursery nurse saying "he is still blue, he is still blue, what's wrong?". I remember wanting to get up and run to the warmer to check on my baby.  Wanting him to be okay.  Wanting to help but feeling helpless.  Hearing that "tone" in the doctors in nurses voice... the one I am familiar with because we use it in the Unit.  The tone where you appear calm as to not worry the family, but there is a sense of urgency under your tone.  Feeling like it lasted an eternity when it was only seconds.)

Thank you Jesus.  Thank you Lord for a healthy baby boy!  Thank you Lord for allowing me to get him out quickly before something happened.  Thank you Lord for telling me to go a head and get induced.  And Thank you Lord for letting him only be 7lbs so that I could push him out in 10 minutes instead of an hour.

 

Grant nursed IMMEDIATELY after he was born.  They tried to put him on my chest right from the start but because he was a little blue still I was panicking and they took him to the warmer for just a second.  He pinked right up and they brought him to me.  He was sucking his hand and latched to me right away.  He was perfect.  One of the most beautiful things I had ever seen (comparable only to Norah Kate).

 

Norah Kate had to really check out Baby Brother and Mama.  She was curious about my IV, name bracelet, Grant's umbilical cord, and all the machines in the room.  She wanted to look at his ears, his hands, feet, and belly.  It was precious.  She also kept looking at my belly.  She learned her first lesson about Mommy's Milk too, and how Grant drank only Mommy's Milk.



 

I am forever grateful that I got a second blessing from God and got to witness this miracle of life and be a part of it.  Thank  you Jesus for my sweet family!

 



Pregnancy & Labor

Easter day, April 24, 2011 I found out I was four weeks pregnant.  Happy tears still come to my eyes thinking about that day.  Matt & I were not trying necessarily... we just weren't really being careful anymore.   I had been off birth control since December.  I wanted a honeymoon baby.  I have always wanted children, but Matt wanted to wait a year or two.  Like most couples though, we thought it would take a while since I had been on the pill for so long.  Ummm, nope.  Apparently we are pretty fertile.
I can remember like it was yesterday...  I remember my boobs being soooo sore, and I should have started my period that morning.  My period came like clock work every month, so for it to be late afternoon and me still not have started was kinda wierd.  For fun, I took a pregnancy test.  I didn't tell Matt ahead of time, because I didn't want him to freak for no reason.  I remember looking down at the strip and seeing  the tiniest shade of pink for the second line.  Two lines mean pregnant.  What if one of the lines is light pink, so light you can barely see it though??  What does that mean?  Sorta pregnant?  Really hormonal??  My heart was racing, my stomach was flopping.  Yeah, I wanted a baby, but this soon??  What is Matt going to say?  So I Google it.  Yes, I Google what a light pink line meant on a pregnancy test.  You are pregnant.  Yay!!  Immediately, I fell in love with my baby.

Of course, Matt was dilly dallying on the farm that afternoon, we were visting family into late that afternoon, so it was late that night before we had time alone.  I put a little piece of paper in a plastic easter egg that said,

"In January we will be hatching our own little egg!  We are pregnant!"

Talk about nerves!  I was shaking when I gave him the egg.  I don't know why I felt so unsure of his reaction.  He laughed and said, "Really?"  Well, I went into this long expaination about how the strip wasn't pink-pink, just light pink...yadayada, and showed it too him and asked what he thought.  He was grinning from ear to ear and said, "I think your pregnant."  He wanted to call everyone right away and tell them.  I told him to wait a little bit, that I would take another test in the morning and see what it looked like.  There was no jumping up and down, no tears, but that's not my hubby.  That smile meant everything to me though, that was his way of jumping of and down and shouting to the rooftops.  Three tests later, and a RED second line on the test, it finally sank in:  We were gonna have a baby!!

I can't keep secrets, so I couldn't wait to tell my mama.  After about a week, I took a picture on my phone of the tests.  I told her to look at what I took a picture of today, tell me if she could help me figure out what it was.  She sputtered and stuttered..."Is this... are  you.. does this mean...oh my goodness...are you...eekkk... (loud scream and the tears come on)  I am going to be a grandma!!!"  Priceless.  I wish I coulda recorded it.

Looking back, I really had a wonderful pregnancy.  The first trimester I was really exhausted.  It didn't matter if I got 12 hours of sleep.  I was a zombie.  I sleep constantly.  To my defense, I was working nights full time, 12 hour shifts, and taking a summer Master's class- Pathophysiology.  I was nauseated some, and only threw up a handful of times... Mostly a night.  I would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and run to the toilet.  And the heat... ugh... Matt said I kept the house like a meat cooler.  I only gained about 30 pounds, and was all baby.  I kinda miss being pregnant.  I miss feeling her move inside me.  I miss my preggo tummy.  I miss maternity jeans!  Nothing beats elastic waist bands :)  I really didn't swell to bad, only a little at the end of a 12 hour shift.  I mowed grass, walked, planted flowers, ran (at the beginning), cleaned house, worked nights, and even moved to a new house, all while pregnant.  I tried not to let it slow me down, and I think it helped with my delivery.  I had minimal back pain, but I contribute it to working 12 hour shifts.  After the first trimester, food tasted so much better while pregnant... maybe it was the guiltfree-ness of it.

 

one big preggo mama

My delivery was wonderful also.  I kept thinking she was going to come early, on her own.  Nope, too much like her Daddy... I had to be induced.  I walked, had sex, ate spicy foods, took hot baths, EVERYTHING to try to induce labor naturally.  The day I went in to be induced I was only fingertip and soft.  Not very much cervical change.  My OB told me to plan on being in labor for a day to a day and a half.  They did an ultrasound for weight estimation on the baby, 8lbs 4 oz.  Now, being 115lbs pre-pregnancy and 5'1" I was thinking "oh crap, c-section." 

Matt and I get ready and I am admitted to the hospital at 8pm, December 28th.  They give me the first dose of cytotec at about 10pm. 

At 2am, when they checked me and before the second dose of cytotec I was only 1cm, 50% effaced... dadgum.  Slow progress.

At 3:30, I was hurting BAD.  I was so frustrated with myself for being wimpy.  My nurse checked me and I was only 2cm.  Are you kidding me??  Me being a nurse, I wanted to be a good patient and not complain, but man those contractions were kicking.  They gave me Demerol and phenergan.  Yuck.  Never again.  I was so drunk, so sleepy, so nauseated and still hurting!  I threw up, I could still feel every contraction and would just fall asleep for the minute or so between them.  I couldn't talk straight or think straight.

I suffered, and cried, and screamed (yes, I am embarassed to say it) until about 6am.  They came in to give me the 3rd dose of cytotec and I almost refused it!  I told the nurse I thought I was going to have to get my epidural or something because I was dying ( and yep, I really thought I was dying.  I said I was never doing this again. (get pregnant that is)) it was horrible.  I am still so embarassed.  During those last few weeks, I thought I might be having contractions... um no, they did not even compare to the contractions I was having in the hospital.  It felt like someone was cutting me open with a jagged blade. Worst. Pain. Ever.  I will never forget it.  I truly admire people who can do it naturally.  I don't think I could have focused enough through the pain to push my baby out!  Too, the demerol had me so dopey that I couldn't focus enough to really breath through my contractions.  The nurse told me she didn't think I had dilated far enough to get my epidural, but she would check me anyways.  Six centimeters!!  What?!?  This whole time I thought I was just being wimpy and I was making progress.  Dang!  Why didn't I ask for them to check me sooner?!  Oh yeah, because I had NO IDEA what to expect.  Please, dear Lord, give me my epidural!!!

Now, because we thought I would be in labor for so long, we told our moms to stay home and rest.  My sister couldn't stand it though, she came to the hospital at about 3am.  (Later, I was glad she came while she was holding my hair through the puking).  While they were setting up for the epidural my waterbroke.  In my drunkenness, I thought the baby had came out., then I thought to myself if I could just sit in the warm amniotic fluid because it kinda helped with the contractions (ew?)..haha. Immediately Matt and my sister were on the phone telling everyone to get to the hospital.  My sister had called my mom a few minutes sooner when I was hurting so bad.  In the mean time I was about to panic because I thought I was going to have to have my baby naturally!   My nurses were awesome though.... they pressure bagged my fluid bolus in (which you have to get IV before you get an epidural to prevent low blood pressure which an epidural can sometimes cause), and my anesthesiolgist was awesome.  One stick and 15 minutes later I was a different woman, in labor and delivery heaven!  Thank the good Lord for fentanyl.  I apologized to my nurse for my outbursts and pain intolerance, and thanked her for good work.

post epi-dural, one happy pregnant lady :)

Anywho... my labor progressed right on.  My mom, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law all arrived in record time.  The epidural didn't slow me down a bit.  Maybe it was because I was already in very active labor when I got it.  I only felt pressure for the contractions.  My OB was very suprised.  At 9:05am I was complete and started pushing at 9:40.  At 10:40 my baby was here!  Now let me just say this, that pushing is no joke.  It's not like the movies, three pushes and baby is out.  I pushed, and pushed, and panted, and pushed.  Kudos to my nurses though... my delivery was very laid back.  I would push during a contraction, then we would all chit-chat until the next one.  My L&D nurse did a lot of the work.  My doctor didn't show up until about 30 minutes into pushing.  I started to get worried that I might not be able to get her out, but they assured me I was doing good.  I also asked for the mirror, yes that might be strange and gross, but it helped.  Ecspecially when she started crowning, it gave me the extra motivation I needed to really push!  They kept telling me to get mad and push... how could I get mad during such a happy time!  I was about to meet my angel!

Words cannot describe the feeling when she was born.  Talk about happy tears :)  Everyone cried.

Everyone was in shock about how big she was!  And the blonde hair!  Oh my.  She shocked us for s

ure.  Throughout my pregnancy I had pictured a petite, brown haired, little girl.  Life is full of suprises.  She was the  most beautiful thing I had ever seen.  It was love at first sight.  It was so overwhelming.  I felt suffocated with emotion and nothing else in the world mattered.  She was perfect.  Ten perfect fingers, ten perfect toes, chubby little cheeks, absolutely precious.  How can you not believe in God after something like that?

Norah Kate

12/29/2011

 8lbs 11.8ounces, 20 3/4 inches long

She was the biggest baby in the nursery!!

After she was born, I don't remember if I felt any pain while they were stitching me up.  I had a third degree tear. Every thing I had experienced... all of the pain and discomfort, the labor, it was all worth it.  Oh yeah, and I decided that I just might go through it all again... one day :)

Our First Family Pic!