TRENTON'S BIRTH STORY!

Trenton's Birth Story.. 

I woke up at 2am on Monday morning (Oct 22) with an odd pain. I waited to feel it again and low and behold it kept coming again and again... I was having contractions! It wasn't anything like i had felt before but my tummy would get tight and i had what felt like a horrible menstrual cramp. It had to be it. I didn't want to wake up Shaun quite yet until I was sure so I laid on the couch and started timing them with my contractions App. It was about 3am now and they were coming about every 2min 30sec and were lasting about 30-40 seconds. I decided i better shower and get comfy because it would be a long day. Shaun woke up and I told him I was in labor. He said, "Are you serious? what can I do?" I told him that a PB&J would be great :) Since I knew I wouldn't be able to eat after we checked into the hospital. I cleaned up, ate my sandwhich and called the Dr. The doc on call said that we should head to the hospital when i told her my stats from the App. Off to the hospital we went... not knowing what we were in for but excited the time had come. It was a surreal moment and we just kept looking at each other like HOLY COW,THIS IS IT!

We checked in, they started monitoring me and decided to admit me. The nurse said that I was having great, regular contractions and that we would definitely be having a baby that day. So hard to comprehend. They gave me the IV and told me to let them know when I wanted the epidural. They checked me and i was only about 1.5 cm dilated. I told them I would wait until the dr came. A couple hours later they checked me and I was a little further along and they said the doc would be coming to break my water and the contractions would get much worse so there was no point to wait and to be in more pain. So, I got the epidural (which wasn't bad at all!). It defiantly relieved the pain but I didn't love the feeling of being paralyzed and numb all day.. that was frustrating to me. Shaun had to lift my dead weight limbs every time I got uncomfortable. I guess it was still better than being in pain though. So I laid there laboring and eating ice chips all day. I was STARVING & so thirsty all day.. that sucked. Later that evening around 4 or 5 I was in the transition part of labor which made me shake uncontrollably. I was freezing and hot at the same time, I spiked a fever and got sick a couple times, it was very uncomfortable.. I was sooo tired, it had already been such a long uncomfortable day with no food in my stomach, I had NO energy by then but I still had to do the hardest part... push him out. 

Around 5:30 the doc came in and asked me to give him a couple of pushes so he could see what would happen. I was almost fully dilated and he wanted to check the position of the baby. The baby was face up, in OP position so he would need to be turned. He tried turning the baby then said that he would send in a nurse with me to start pushing. Well, a nurse didn't come.. for a long time. My mom and sis came in to comfort me with Shaun and check on what was going on. Still no nurse... We waited hours. There was shift changes going on and lots of woman coming in all in labor. The L&D floor was a little crazy... so there I was sitting there in transition with poor Trenton in the birth canal.. just waiting. Finally a couple hours later the nurse came in, set everything up and we started pushing. I could barely feel the pressure or contractions so Shaun was coaching me when to push when he saw them come on the monitor. After pushing for what seemed like forever, still no head. I couldn't believe it. I thought after laboring all day I would push this kid out in 3 pushes. That was not the case. An hour later, the doc came back in and said any progress? Let me see what you've got. I gave it all I had. He said we were progressing but that we needed to get this baby out. He decided to turn off the epidural to give me more feeling so that I would feel the contractions, pressure and get the urge to push. It worked but I was now on a time crunch. I didn't want to feel EVERYTHING so I had to get this baby out by the time it totally wore off. As the head started to appear, he started to turn as we had hoped. It was all going good, just taking FOREVER. Finally the head was out, and after 2 more pushes (and an episiotomy) he was out. It was incredible. Shaun was so pumped up and I think was equally exhausted from literally holding my limbs and pushing with me. In the middle of it I was getting so discouraged, I felt disgusting and was so  frustrated.. I was feeling like the baby would NEVER come out. I was praying that after all that I wouldn't have to get a C section. Shaun made me laugh and eased my nerves. He coached me through it all, watched everything, was so involved, kept my spirits up and even made me laugh in the midst of it all. Thank God I had/have him by my side. 

Trenton came out very quietly so they tried to "rattle his cage".. Shaun cut the cord, they collected the cordblood and Shaun ran to tell the family the good news. Trenton was cleaned up and placed on my chest for our miracle hour skin to skin just the three of us. We couldn't believe he was ours. Shaun's eyes were as big as could be and he had a huge smile plastered on his face. I just started crying but wasn't sure why. It was all over, the baby was beautiful and we were all so happy and healthy. After the miracle hour, all of the family came in to meet him and celebrate. I wasn't "all there"  at that point but it was a very special moment for everyone. My brother brought me In-N-out burger since I had been staving all day. I felt like a new woman after that meal! We are so thankful that everyone waited for so long and was there for us the whole time. Trenton is one spoiled baby to have such a wonderful, loving family! 

We were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. Life at home was a little challenging at first but we were SO happy to be home without nurses looking over our shoulder and telling us how to do everything. It was so hard letting them take Trenton away constantly to give him shots, assess/test/prod & poke him.  That said, all of our nurses were so wonderful. They were all so sweet, selfless and helpful. We were so amazed at all the paperwork that babies come with in the hospital too.. immunization forms, signatures needed left and right, brochures and info sheets to read, breast feeding and diaper change log that we had to keep up with.. it was unbelievable.  In the hospital and all week at home Shaun was SO busy taking care of me, taking care of Trenton, cooking, cleaning and all while also trying to work a little to not fall too far behind. He was so incredibly helpful, I couldn't have done it without him.  

We had our first pediatrician visit and my milk came in on Friday. Trenton now sleeps very well with a belly full of breast milk. He is in a coma after each feeding. The first few nights he would only sleep on me in the glider. The next couple of nights we got him to sleep between us in the bed. Then finally, last night we tucked him in tight in the cradle after his feedings and he did great. That allowed us to sleep much better rather than never totally falling asleep because we were so conscious about where he was in the bed at all times. He is sleeping in about 4 hour increments now with only one feeding.. usually he will feed at 10pm then he will sleep until 2am or 3am then we feed and change him,  then he will sleep until about 7am. We feel so lucky already. He is a great baby with a mellow disposition. 

6 Days Old

Overall, the birth of our first child was the most intense, incredible experience of our lives. Shaun was in awe of what had just happened and I had no idea what had just happened, haha. I was in my own world.. in a fog. This experience has brought us even closer together, made us fall more in love with each other and has definitely changed our life and perspective on life forever. Life is so good. We are SO in love with this little boy and the love keeps growing each day. We already can't imagine life without him. 

We want to thank you ALL for checking in constantly, sending love & prayers, goodies, flowers, offers to help etc. We love all of you and feel so special to have all of you in our lives and in Trenton's life. We can't wait for everyone to meet our precious boy. 

We will try to update the blog as he grows. It is amazing how much he changes each day/week. We should be getting the keys to our house this week and have his second dr visit! Big week!!

Thanks for going on this ride with us.

Lots of love..  

Tay