Ruth LaRue Hanks was born on February 15th, 2013 at 1:48am. She was 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 21 inches long (technically my biggest baby, but not by much).
I'll write the birth story below for those that are interested (and for my benefit) but don't read it if you don't want to! The gist is that contractions started getting a little more serious around 8pm on the 14th, we got to the hospital around 9:20pm and she was born at 1:48am on the 15th.
On with the story...
The story starts on February 14th - Valentine's Day. This is the one day that I kept saying over and over to everyone that I did not want to have my baby. I love celebrating holidays and making them special for my family. Same with birthdays. I didn't want my baby girl to have to share her day with a holiday. However, I decided that if she chose to come on Valentine's Day, that would be her choice and I'm sure she'd be fine with it.
On the 14th, I had been counting down the hours until the day was over and I was "in the clear". Earlier in the morning, I went to my 39-week midwifery appointment and baby girl was measuring 37.5cm, but the midwife assured me she was at least a 7 pound baby. After our day of Valentine's activities, the babysitter arrived at 6:00pm and Brian and I left to go to dinner. We were driving down to BofA to deposit some money and I said to Brian, "I had a really busy week and I got everything I needed to done and I realized I have nothing I need to do tomorrow." He responded with, "You're totally going to have the baby tomorrow. Your subconscious cleared your schedule for Friday so you can have the baby."
After BofA, we went to Texas Roadhouse to eat. However, the wait was an hour and a half to two hours and the food isn't that good. So, we drove around the corner to Goodwood and their wait was only 45 minutes so we put our name on the list. We then walked across the parking lot to Deseret Book to look around. I was noticing I was having some contractions - which wasn't unusual as I've been having them for a couple of months - and figured I was just getting hungry and dehydrated and figured they'd go away after we ate dinner.
We were eventually seated and we ordered and ate and I drank glass after glass of water and the contractions continued. They started becoming kind of distracting and annoying because they were coming frequently, but weren't super strong. Brian obviously noticed and knew that I was having contractions and asked, "Are you in labor?" I said, "No, they're not strong enough contractions. But, if I were in labor, I'd probably be in denial anyway."
As we were getting done with dinner, Brian kept trying to tell me I was in labor and I just told him I would go home and take a bath and then see how I felt. However, I was noticing the contractions were starting to move to my back and get a bit stronger, but I was still in denial. Brian decided to look for a Redbox movie to rent since there was a free Valentine's code that day. In my mind I was thinking, "I'm not going to be able to watch a movie tonight; I just want to go home." Right before we left, one of the servers refilled my water and told us that his wife was due with their 6th in a couple of weeks and they already had two sets of twins! Wow! I was happy not to be his wife. :)
We left the restaurant and I was breaking down a bit and told Brian that maybe I was in labor. It was hard to know since my water hadn't broken! Brian said he'd call his cousin, Marsha, to tell her we were probably going to bring the kids over. I told him not to because I still wasn't sure it was labor. When we got home around 8:15pm, the kids were still awake, so I sent them upstairs to get pajamas on and get ready for bed while Brian took the babysitter home. Brian started to tell our babysitter that I was in labor and I said, "No, I'm not...don't say that."
I walked upstairs with the kids to help them get ready for bed and then just didn't feel like I could stay still so I walked downstairs and started my bath. As the bath filled, I walked back to check on them and then was just waiting for Brian to come home so he could take over with them. Finally (what felt like a lot longer than normal), he got back and I sent him up to put the kids in bed and I got in the bath. I tried to time my contractions, but it's just such a hassle! I sat in the bath through three or four contractions and then I got out. Brian came in and said, "You're out already?" And I said, "Okay, I think we're doing this."
Brian told me he'd take the kids over to Marsha's house (whom he had already called even though I told him not to). I got a bad side pain that didn't go away when a contraction did, so I laid down on my bed. Brian brought the kids down and told them to come in and tell me goodbye and good luck since I was going to the hospital to have the baby. They were super cute when they came in. Sydney wasn't entirely sure what to say but was telling me things like, "I really liked the breakfast this morning and I really liked my heart plate. It was my favorite plate." Wes came in and said, "I'm sorry it's on Valentine's Day." I told him it was okay. It was all very cute.
After they left, I started to get dressed and put a couple of final things in the hospital bag. When Brian got home I said, "So I guess we're going to the hospital then?" He was more like, "Yeah, duh," without actually saying the "duh" part but I was still concerned I'd show up and they'd send me home!
We got in the car and headed to the hospital. I called to let them know I was on my way so they could pull my charts. I then texted my parents and sisters to let them know I was on my way to the hospital. This was my text at 9:08pm: "So I may be in labor...we're heading to the hospital. I'm not sure I'll make it 3 more hours to not have a Valentine baby, but we'll see. My water hasn't broken so that may buy me some time."
When we got to the hospital, the nurse Michelle (who was awesome) took us to a room right away (no triage!). She said, "So what's going on?" I said, "Just having contractions." She asked if I thought I was in labor and I finally admitted that it was very likely labor. She asked what number baby and I told her number three (I think this gave me credibility in knowing whether or not I was in labor).
Michelle then checked me and I was dilated to about a 4 and a half so she said she'd call my midwife. I was a little concerned because I went from a 5 to a 10 in about 45 minutes with Sydney. However, I kept working through the contractions while Michelle asked me all of the admitting questions. I was getting very tired by this point since it was now getting past my bedtime (10pm) and I had been up since 6am and of course hadn't gotten a great night's sleep the last week or so. Between each contraction, I seriously felt like I could fall asleep.
My midwife, Jo, came around 10:30pm and checked me again and I was at a 7. Michelle said she had been second guessing herself when she checked me because I had been so quiet through all of my contractions. I'm tellin' ya' I was so tired! I think because I was so relaxed, it made my contractions more manageable. Jo said she was going to change into her scrubs because she thought we might be having a baby before midnight.
I continued to relax through most of my contractions. However, I did have to get up and use the bathroom a number of times since I had had glass after glass after glass of water at dinner. It was trickier to get through the contractions when I was up than when I was relaxing on the bed. Although, it was nice to get a change occasionally. Definitely laying on my side in the bed was the most relaxing for me though.
Michelle continued to be in and out to monitor my contractions and the baby at certain points and then to ask me more admitting questions. At one point the lady came to put in my IV port, which was a surprise to me because I'd never had it before (probably because I was never in the hospital as long as I was this time). I asked if it was required and they said it was their policy in case of an emergency. So I persisted and asked if I really had to have it. Michelle told me I could sign a waiver form and I opted for that. I figured I wouldn't need a sudden transfusion or an emergency C-section since all had been looking normal so far. As I continued to labor, I was glad not to have to worry about a port in my arm.
Brian and I kept watching the clock and as it got closer and closer to midnight, I kept saying, "I can make it another hour and a half, right? I can make it another hour, right?" and on and on. Poor Brian though! I'm sure he was so bored. I basically just laid on the bed in silence as I worked through each contraction. He kept offering to help - and I had him get me water and chapstick a couple of times - but I didn't feel like there was much he could do to help. I felt like I was in pretty good control of the contractions as they came.
Finally, midnight arrived and it was officially February 15th! (Actually the time didn't go as slowly for me as it did for Brian, I know.)
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| The official change from February 14th to February 15th (mountain time). |
I worked through some more contractions for about a half hour and then I just started thinking, "Let's get this show on the road!" Interestingly, I was still plesant and happy and didn't really ever get super serious and businessy like I usually have during transition. I kept thinking I must not be transitioning because I can still smile!
About 12:30am, I had Brian get Jo to see if she would break my water. We all thought that if she broke my water, the baby would come quickly. When she broke my water, I had a tiny bit more dilation to do, but we figured after a couple of contractions I'd feel the urge to push. The bummer about expectations is that when things don't pan out the way you think it should, it's kind of disappointing.
The nurse, midwife and Brian were all ready and waiting for that baby to jump right out. However, after multiple contractions, that wasn't happening. I felt like everyone was watching me and waiting for something to happen. I felt like the contractions were coming really slowly. Really, they were coming every two to three minutes, it just felt slow since everyone was so focused on me.
After about a half hour, the midwife suggested turning to my side instead of my back to see if that helped the baby work her way down. I said out loud, "I just think I'm too relaxed." The nurse responded with, "I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that at this stage of labor."
After a while, I finally started to feel a greater urge to push. Then my back really started hurting during contractions. I kept thinking, "I don't remember it being like this!" Of course, it really wasn't like that with Sydney because she came out in one push.
Since my back was hurting so much the midwife suggested I turn around and get on my knees and prop my arms against the bed. I went through three contractions this way and I honestly almost cried. It was hurting more than I had remembered with either of my other two. After I went back to my back, I was starting to get frustrated that it was taking so long! I became the most vocal I had been all night and with any of my pregnancies. I started doing the tennis player type noises during the contractions and saying things like, "Come on baby! Let's get this done! I'm starting to get mad!" It was also really painful so I just wanted to get it all over with.
Through more contractions, I felt like she was making progress and I was really focusing my pushes downward and I knew that was making a difference. I kept my legs back and kept on pushing downward. Finally, she was crowning and her head worked its way through the "ring of fire" (yike!) and I was done with it. I let go of my legs and just wanted them to pull the rest of her out. However, Brian and the nurse each grabbed a leg and pulled them back and I knew I had do a little more work. I pushed again and I felt her shoulders and finally the rest of her little body come through.
Apparently she had her little hand up by her face which is likely why it was harder for her to come down and out (and probably what made it more painful for me). Also, her umbilical cord was twisted some way (I'm still not sure how) that made it shorter which may have also contributed to the slowdown (but thankfully not in a way that was harmful to the baby).
They delivered her to my chest but she was looking a little blue. I could even tell when I looked at her. She also wasn't taking full breaths and she wasn't really crying so they took her to give her some oxygen. She had a little too much amniotic fluid still in her tummy that she couldn't really work out. They got her measurements and wrapped her up.
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| Ruth getting oxygen. |
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| Ruth still trying to figure out what's going on. |
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| Weight and the goopy eyes. |
They gave her back to me and said, "Try to get her to cry." So, how does one make a newborn cry? Poke her in the eye? Obviously that wasn't going to work. I just held her and said, "Cry!" Shockingly, it didn't work.
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| You can tell she looks a little bluish-purple. She also had some bruising that contributed to her color. |
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| Me holding her thinking..."How am I going to make her cry?" |
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| She'd make these puckering faces, but still wouldn't cry. She was breathing, but again, just not getting great breaths. |
They took her to the oxygen table again and tried to check her saturation levels. Then the nurse said that she wanted to call down the NICU nurse just to check. I wasn't super worried because I knew she was breathing and the nurse didn't seem overly concerned. Plus, there was no sense of rush or panic either.
The NICU nurse came down and checked her out and listened to her for a bit. After a few minutes she said that she wanted to take her up to the NICU just to monitor her. The NICU nurse said that sometimes babies just need to go up for a few minutes and then they are just fine.
Since it'd been only about a half hour since I had delivered, I wasn't quite ready to head up to the NICU, so Brian went with her.
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| Ruth being monitored in the NICU triage. |
Apparently, she wasn't actually admitted to the NICU, but they just checked her out in the triage area. She seemed to be doing well and breathing more normally once they were up there so they checked her glucose levels and gave her a bath. About an hour later (I think), Brian came down to get me so I could go up and breast feed her and then they would check her glucose levels again. If she was fine after that, then we could take her back down with us.
So, I fed her and then we topped her off with a bit of formula just to make sure she got enough sugars and then they checked her levels and we were good to go back down to our room! I think Brian and I finally went to sleep around 4am.
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| The next morning she got her footprints taken...she has really long feet and toes! |
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| Then, later on the 15th I got some one-on-one time with my new baby girl. I had realized that because of the oxygen and NICU thing, I didn't really get to check out all of her fingers and toes, so it was nice to get some time with her on my own. |
