Lucy's Birth Story {04.27.15}

Good morning lovelies! I'm excited to have the wonderful Ruthie Hart here today guest posting and sharing her sweet little daughter Lucy's birth story! Ruthie was sweet enough to share her first born, Ford's, birth story a while back and am honored she has returned! It's crazy to me how different two birth stories can be for one mama! So sit back, enjoy, and grab some tissues {anyone else cry every time they read a birth story?}

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 I am Ruthie Hart, stay at home mama to 2 under 2 (Ford and Lucy), wife to Jon, blogger, crafter, and lover of all things mommy related. I had two very different birth stories and am excited to share my daughter Lucy Joy's with you! You can read my son Ford's birth story here: Ford's Birth Story.

 Phew. It is almost surreal that I am sitting down to write the birth story of my second child, my daughter, Lucy Joy. It's still hard for me to believe that I am a mother, let alone a mother of 2! My second pregnancy has come and gone and the Hart family is now a family of 4. I know I've written many times that second pregnancies are so much different than your first. My belly grew and I knew I was pregnant but all of the sudden it is the night before my C section and it hit me, this is real! I didn't spend as much time prepping emotionally because Ford kept me quite busy but what a blessing it was to spend 9 months growing Lucy inside of me. I assumed that I wouldn't have a lot to share about her birth since it was a scheduled C section but what would a birth story be without a little bit of drama? I will probably over share and go into a lot of detail but that is for my own sake. Her birth was crazy, beautiful, emotional, and something I never want to forget so I want to write down everything (writing this 4 days after her birth).

We spent the weekend before her birth like we would any other weekend. A few chores, big Saturday morning breakfast, a birthday party, church, naps. We wanted the weekend to be as normal as possible and it was perfect. I felt so calm and relaxed and happy! Sunday April 26th my sister and Embry drove in from Dallas for the birth and stayed with us that night so my parents, brother, and his girlfriend came over for dinner and just to hang out. Ford and Embry are getting along so well these days and it is a lot of fun to watch them play. Babies are such good entertainment! Jon and I put Ford to bed together and it was the first time all weekend that I got emotional. We prayed over our big boy and plopped him into his crib, knowing the next time we saw him we would have Lucy. At 9pm Jon and I said goodnight to my sister and got in bed. Our favorite show is Food Factory on FYI so we put on an episode and shut out the lights. 2 hours later I still hadn't fallen asleep and I looked at my phone. Jon was still awake too and neither of us could fall asleep. I don't think I was nervous, just excited and couldn't shut my brain off. We had a 4am wake up call in order to get to the hospital by 5am and I don't think we got more than 1-2 hours that night. Adrenaline got us right out of bed and we were both really excited and energetic! Jon showered and I packed last minute things and we were off. No one was on the road and we jammed out to Bruno Mars and Meghan Trainor (reminding us of Ford because his favorite song is All About That Bass).

The next 2 hours were kind of slow... we checked into L&D and went straight to triage where I changed into the paper gown, got my IV, answered questions, and was hooked up to the fetal monitor. The week prior, my blood platelets were at 117 (normal is 130-over 400) but my doctor told me that we were golden with anything over 100. I wasn't worried one bit because what were the chances of such a drastic drop which is why I was absolutely shocked and devastated when the nurse came in at 7am, just 30 minutes before my surgery, and said they were 93. My happy and relaxed demeanor immediately changed and I started bawling. The nurse told me that they like to run a tight ship in surgery and we'd walk to the OR right at 7:30am so it was very overwhelming not knowing if I would be awake or asleep in just a half hour. I assumed the anesthesiologist would come in and give me the prognosis but it made things a lot harder when he told us it was up to us to make the decision since my numbers weren't too far below 100. He gave us the risks and benefits of choosing a spinal (being awake) and general (asleep, what I had to be with Ford). All I really wanted was someone to tell me "This is what we are doing!" and not leave the decision up to me. We didn't have time to fervently pray about it and receive an answer (although we prayed a lot in those few minutes) and I still hadn't seen my doctor yet. The risks were low but still risks. I would hate to be the one responsible for my own life long neural damage or paralysis just because I wanted to be awake but I was devastated the thought of being put under. Jon wouldn't be with me and the recovery is a lot harder. Like I said, the nurses were adamant about walking right at 7:30am so when I finally saw my doctor at 7:20am, I was relieved. I am really close with her and knew she would guide me in the right direction and the second she saw me (I was crying pretty hard at this moment), she said "We are doing it Ruthie, you are going to be awake!". I wiped away my tears, kissed my parents, and 10 minutes later we were walking to the OR! One other thing I want to add (just so I don't forget) is that my blood sugar happened to be really low that morning so I was given an extra IV bag to boost it. Funny how I had gestational diabetes and normally my sugars were too high, yet on the day of my C section they were low. What are the odds.

It is the weirdest thing to walk back to the OR minutes before you are in surgery. Husbands aren't allowed in the OR while you receive your spinal so I was lucky that the team of nurses and doctors were so nice and kept me calm and collected while we were separated. The OR was so bright and white and sterile, very different from the romantic seeming OR on Grey's Anatomy and I immediately started shivering. I was set up on the table while I got my spinal and honestly it was not bad at all! I had been worried all along that it would be super painful but it was nothing more than a  bee sting. I was laid down and covered with heated blankets while they continued to prep the room. I know it was probably no more than 10 minutes but I kept asking when Jon was going to come in, afraid that they would forget and he would miss it! I also kept the nurses and anesthesiologist in the loop about every minute, announcing that I could still feel my toe, etc. It was such a weird sensation to lose all feeling below your chest. They did lots of trial runs, pinching me in different areas to make sure the drugs were working. Jon was called back and I remember having the biggest smile on my face! My doctor and her partner (who was my doctor with Ford and I love too!) came in and the party started. I felt at ease and so relaxed, right when they started I said "So everyone what should we talk about?". I kept my mind off of what was happening below the drapes and was shocked by how little pressure I felt. I guess I expected the worst and was pleasantly surprised by how little pressure I felt. It was light tugging here and there but I didn't let my mind go there. Within minutes they said "Okay she is almost out!" and my heart was racing. Lucy girl ended up having a rather large head (like her brother) so they ran into a speed bump when they couldn't get her out of my little incision and had to press down HARD on my chest. I felt a lot of this pressure and just took deep breaths. Jon looked during this time and said it was so surreal. I cried when he said "She has so much hair!" and knew I was about to meet my daughter. I felt them pull her out of me and could hear her little gurgles. They held her over the drapes and I saw Lucy for the first time and it was in that moment that God expanded my heart and I instantly felt so much love for her. It was THAT moment I had been worried about my whole pregnancy. How could I ever love her as much as I loved Ford? And now I knew. I got a good look at her for about a minute and then they took her over to the warming bed to clean her up and weigh her. I was so overcome with emotions and couldn't stop crying tears of joy. She was a few feet away from me and I watched the whole thing. Jon was right by her and took tons of pictures. They announced her weight, 7lbs 6oz, and that she was 20.25in long with a head the size of a 10lb baby (14.5cm). Our beautiful baby girl was wrapped up and brought over to my head and we got our first pictures with her. She looked exactly like her big brother!

In addition to my C section I had to get a post umbilical hernia repaired that I got from my 1st pregnancy so we agreed that Jon would take Lucy back to the nursery to get cleaned up while I finished my surgery. My parents got to watch Jon and Lucy in the nursery and took lots of pictures for me. I kind of liked being alone while they sewed me up because my eyes were closed and I was able to rest and pray. I laugh because the whole time I felt SO good and even thought, I can probably walk right out of the OR! What a different experience than Ford's birth! Lucy Joy was born at 8:21am and by 9am I was wheeled into recovery. By this time I started to feel very sleepy and super nauseous. I was glad to have time on my own to rest and unfortunately threw up a few times. A side effect of some of the meds is itching and I felt like my body was covered in bugs, yuck. About a half hour later Jon wheeled our beautiful daughter back to me and I was able to nurse her right away. It is so crazy how quickly breastfeeding came back to me. My entire hospital stay with Ford I had to have at least 2 people help me get started and this time she latched right on. Since only 1 adult could be back there with me at a time, my parents and Jon took turns being with me before we were released to our postpartum room. The rest of the day was just wonderful. I dozed off, nursed my daughter, and got really excited to introduce her to her big brother! I still can't believe I was able to be awake while she was born, that moment I saw her for the first time is just indescribable. For the sake of this post going on and on and on, I am going to share photos and details of the rest of our stay (and most importantly big brother meeting Lucy!) in another post.

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If you would like to share your birth story, please email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Natalie's Birth Day {08.27.14}

Today I am so excited that my real life friend, Katie, is here to share her daughter Natalie's birth story. Katie and I are friends from high school and today is Natalie's FIRST BIRTHDAY - could there be a more perfect day to share the day this sweet little girl was born?

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Hey everyone!  My name is Katie, and I (gasp!) don’t actually have a blog.  BUT, I do love reading blogs and have been reading Mama & Mou ever since getting pregnant with my baby girl.  Ok, I read it before that too- but I’ve also known Kristin since middle school.  I was so excited to get the chance to share my daughter’s birth story because I actually have never written it, but I have been meaning to do it for the last 12 months now, I guess its better late than never!

My sweet little girl, Natalie Alice, was due to enter this world on August 20^th, but at each doctor’s appointment from 37 weeks on, I was told that I would have her early.  I saw three different doctors in that time and each of them said “no way’ was I making it to the next appointment!  However, the due day came and went…and the doctor finally let me schedule an induction if I hit 41 weeks, joking that it was just a formality, because I definitely wouldn’t be needing an induction!  Well, guess what?  Turns out I did it.  It was just about the weirdest thing going to bed the night before I was induced, knowing what the next day would bring and also having NO clue what it would be like.  For some reason, I was incredibly worried about what the right thing to eat for breakfast would be.  I debated this for way too long, and finally settled on oatmeal and peanut butter for the win!  My husband, Mark, and I got to the hospital at about 7am and got settled into our labor and delivery room.  The nurse started an IV and hooked up some bags of fluid.  The overnight doctor was still there, so she came in and broke my water at about 8:30.  It didn’t hurt at all, which was great because I was expecting the worst!  She said to me “Well, there’s no leaving without your baby now!”  Don’t worry lady, wasn’t planning on it!

The nurse then started to give me Pitocin through the IV and it wasn’t too long before I started to have some contractions.  I decided that we should walk around while the pain was still manageable, so we strolled up and down the hallway.  After about an hour I decided to try sitting on the yoga ball. The contractions started to really heat up at this point but I had barely made any progress.   After more walking and more bouncing on the ball, the contractions were getting to be really painful, so I was sure I had to be moving a long in the process.  I remember being blown away by how each contraction was really a "full body experience" rather than a terrible cramp.  I was still only at about 3cm by 1pm, so the nurse suggested getting an epidural so she could turn the Pitocin up to the maximum dose.  I had planned on getting an epidural all along, so it was an easy decision to make when the time came.  The anesthesiologist was apparently having a busy day, but he was in our room and getting the epidural going by 2:45.  Side note, he was a super attractive young doctor and the hospital should probably ban him from the premises because it is not cool to have to a super attractive young doctor see your pregnant backside.   I have a medical device implanted in my lower back and there was some concern about whether it would interfere with the epidural.  Unfortunately, something about it did interfere and the epidural only worked on one side of my body.  The anesthesiologist suggested that I lay on my side to help the medication “spread out evenly,” which did help, but I was never completely numb.   I tried to relax and get some rest, as I knew I wouldn't be getting much that night, but  I really couldn't settled down at all.  I was laying on my side for the next 2 hours while the Pitocin was at the maximum dosage, but then I started to be able to feel everything again and had the nurse come back to check things out.  I was sure she would tell me that we still had a long time to go, in fact, I had just texted my family and friends and told them we were in for a long night!  

Instead she told me that I was ready to push!  Umm, excuse me? Say what? I was wanting more meds before this happened!  I am grateful that the epidural lasted long enough to get me to a 10, but I was definitely not thrilled that the main event would be au natural.  Who really has time to care about this though when a baby is about to exit your body? My doctor was still across the street where her practice is, but they paged her to come over and got me started with some “practice” pushing.  A second nurse came in, the doctor got there, and they set Mark up holding one of my legs, even though I could easily move them on my own. 

I was completely blown away at how hard it was to hold my breath while pushing and counting.  To be honest, I had a few moments of “no, sorry, I cannot do this.”  I was almost instantly fatigued from the pushing, which was pretty surprising to me since I worked out up until 41 weeks and was actually in excellent shape.  It just felt to me that the baby was completely stuck and that I was making zero progress despite using 110% of my strength. After 45 minutes, the doctor told me that the baby’s heart rate was dropping and she was not getting enough oxygen.  She said she would give me one more good push while she used the vacuum, but that she would be performing an emergency c-section if the baby didn’t come out.  Something in me just said no way would I stop pushing and I just knew that I had to get her out on the next push.  I have no idea how I made that happen, but one more push (and completely disregarding the counting nurse next to me) and Natalie was here!!  As soon as everyone saw here, they all said..and I quote “Oh! THAT’S why this was so hard!”  Turns out she was sunny-side up AND had her umbilical cord wrapped around her, literally pulling her back in after each push.  She came into this world frantically swinging her arms and kicking her legs, like she was finally free!  One of the nurses said she had never seen a baby move that wildly so soon after birth.  I thought maybe I should be worried about it, like maybe those couple of diet cokes I drank in the last 10 months actually were full of the caffeinated poison I read about on the Internet.  But then I had a warm little baby on my chest and her eyes were wide open and she had this tiny perfect cry.  She didn’t let out that loud cry you think about, she was really very mature about the whole thing. The nurses helped me to breastfeed her for the first time and she latched on perfectly, causing my very first words to her to be “Oh! You’re so smart!” And she still is, she’s the smartest little baby.  She entered this world at 5:28 pm on August 27^th, 2014.  She was 7 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long.

I was able to get out of bed right after having her since the epidural was long gone.  It was nice to let Mark hold her while I got cleaned up and ready to move into the room where we spent the next 2 nights.  I can’t even describe that first night having a brand new baby sleeping next to you.  If you’ve been through it then you already know what type of magic it is, but it is pretty surreal and well…magical.  The days in the hospital are now a total blur, but I know there were lots of visitors, lots of poking and prodding, a little bit on jaundice, and a few terrifying moments in the shower.  We survived it though!  Mark and I really had no idea what we were doing and probably still don’t, but she is now the happiest and sweetest (and smartest!) 1 year old. 

So there you have it, nothing too wild or crazy, but with the most perfect ending!  Thanks for reading!

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Happy FIRST Birthday Natalie! And thanks for sharing your story Katie!

If you are interested in sharing your birth story, email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Parker's Birth Story {01.24.15}

My name is Kaileigh and I write a little blog called The Osbott Spot which currently documents my life as a new mom!  I gave birth to our first baby, Parker Scott back in January and he has been lighting up our lives ever since.

At 35 weeks pregnant, I was not ready to deliver.  I had been feeling more uncomfortable, but I loved being pregnant.  So when I started getting pains across my lower stomach in the middle of the night, I assumed I had a UTI.  I didn’t sleep hardly at all that night, but went to work the next day anyways.

By 10 am I knew that I wasn’t going to last all day.  So I paged my midwife and she told me that I likely had a UTI and should come in.  I told my boss I would be back in an hour and a half.  The midwife did a cervical exam so she could decide which antibiotic to put me on and told me that I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced.  Not what I was expecting!  She said I could deliver that weekend, or it could be 3 more weeks, but to prepare myself for having a baby by 38 weeks. 

As my blood pressure was high, she suggested that I not go back to work that day.  So I went home and sat in my nursery while my mom did baby laundry and organized my nursery.

I kept getting the stomach pains sporadically for the rest of the day.  But it wasn’t cramping, it was more like a sharp pain.  They got more frequent until about 9:00 when I downloaded a contraction timing app and started timing them.  They were about 6-8 minutes apart.  At this point they also started causing pain in my lower back which radiated around to my belly.  I still wasn’t convinced they were contractions, I thought my antibiotics just hadn’t kicked in yet.  I tried to sleep, but couldn’t and got up to watch a movie.  Contractions were about 5 minutes apart and 45 seconds to a minute long.

At about 3 am I went to the bathroom an there was a lot of mucusy blood.  I immediately paged my midwife.  While on the phone, my husband woke up and asked if I was ok.  I told him that he might want to get ready because we might be going to the hospital.  While waiting for my midwife to call, I quickly packed a bag because I hadn’t gotten around to that yet!  When my midwife called me, she told me it was probably my bloody show.  I was convinced it was way too much blood, she was convinced that it was normal.  By this time, contractions had spaced out a bit.  She told me to call back in an hour if they got worse, or to call her in the morning regardless.

I called her the next morning, still contracting, and she asked me to meet her at the hospital.  She wanted us to meet her at the hospital in the next city, which is where her office is, rather than the one that I was supposed to deliver in.  I found out later that it’s because at 35 weeks pregnant, that hospital could handle a preemie.  Had I gone to the hospital I planned to give birth in, they would have sent me to a hospital over an hour away.  So we headed out with the bags that I had quickly packed at 3am, totally expecting to be sent home once we got there.  She examined me, told me I was 4cm and that I was having a baby that day.

Because I was only 35 weeks, she had to share care with a doctor.  I was just happy that she was still permitted to be involved.  I was admitted and taken to a labor and delivery room.  I also had to have a fetal heartbeat monitor the entire time I was in labor, so I was confined to my bed.  My midwife asked if I wanted the epidural and told me that the anesthesiologist was available now, or I could wait for an hour.  I had hoped not to have an epidural, but told myself that if I felt I needed one I wouldn’t beat myself up for it.  Because I was confined to my bed anyways, hadn’t slept in 2 days and needed antibiotics for at least 4 hours before my water was broken (because my GBS swab results weren’t back yet), I decided to get the epidural.  The relief was instantaneous and I was very happy with my decision.

At that point, things got a bit boring.  I couldn’t feel anything so we were just waiting around.  My contractions spread out to 6 minutes apart.  At 4:00 my water could have been broken, but the doctor was busy and wouldn’t let my midwife do it.  This was so frustrating!  Finally at 5:30 she came in and broke my water.  We were told it still might be awhile but we should have a baby before the night was over.  My husband was told to go grab something to eat while he had time and the nurse and the midwife took turns getting something to eat as well.  Before Ryan was back, I texted him and asked him to hurry because I felt like things were really progressing.  Right as I sent the text he walked through the door.  He could tell I was feeling things again and went out into the hall to get the nurse, because of course at the time nobody was in the room with me.

The nurse came in and said I was 10cm.  My water had only been broken about 20 minutes before!  She had me do a test push and said I was definitely ready to go.  All of a sudden there were 2 midwives, a nurse, 2 pediatricians and the doctor in the room.  Luckily the doctor let my midwife deliver and she just observed.  The midwife and our amazing nurse Andrea coached me through everything and were so encouraging.  Ryan held my hand.  I could feel pressure when I needed to push but I wouldn’t say that it hurt.  I think I could feel exactly what I needed to feel.  At 6:40pm Parker made his way into the world.  He cried and they placed him on me for as long as they could.  Then the pediatrician checked him out.  He weighed 4lbs 3oz and was 17 inches long.  They gave him back to me for a few minutes on request of my midwife. 

Then he was taken away to the nursery.  We were at the hospital for 2 weeks with him while he learned how to eat.  Luckily he never needed a ventilator and was only on monitors for a few days.  At the time it felt like the longest 2 weeks of my life.  In hindsight, 2 weeks is nothing.

My birth experience is not what I expected at all.  Pretty much everything went the complete opposite of how I thought it would go, but it’s our story and I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.  Looking back, the whole experience seems unreal to me.  Until Parker was born I don’t think I fully grasped the fact that I was in labor!  Everything went perfectly and I think that Parker’s birth was the most beautiful and special moment of my life.

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To share your birth story, please email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

A Different Kind of Birth Video

I am so excited about today's post! A little back story - last June when me, Carolyn, Andrea & Dawn went to visit Katie Mango in Council Bluffs I was in a way introduced to Chelsey. Council Bluffs is 6 hours away and on the car ride home Dawn was telling us all about this beautiful video made of photos from the day her friend had her 4th baby. Of course she pulls it up and of course I am driving so for 12 straight minutes I hear my 3 girlfriends gushing over this amazing video that I can't see. Needless to say I watched it almost immediately after getting home and knew I just had to share it! Turns out when a busy mom of 1 and a busy mom of 4 {but really, what is my excuse?} try to get a guest post together it literally takes a year! But, the wait was worth it because today I get to share with you the story of how sweet little Cashten was born. So read about Chelsey and her boys and then seriously - watch the entire video because it's so great, I dare you not to tear up!!!

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Hello Mama & Mou readers!!!  I was first made aware of Kristin's blog from a mutual friend that had reached out to me after she had showed Kristin our family birth video on a car ride, and it must have been a long one if they even got around to watching a video that highlights my upper thighs :) 

My name is Chelsey Anderson, but I mostly go by mom. 

A little backstory, my husband and I were married in 2006 and also had our first son in 2006, yeah we were one of those couples!  Camden Michael was born on July 6th, 2006 on his due date.  

I remember when we found out we were pregnant with him I was so so surprised that we were having a boy for two reasons. 1.  My husband and I both only had sisters and 2.  I was a girl so how was that even possible for me to have a boy....yes this thought actually did run through my head!  And I'm starting to think that God heard this thought and chuckled right along with me, as he decided to bless us with three additional sons after Camden!

Our second son Cayden Jeffrey was born on September 23rd 2008 and was three weeks early.

Our third son followed shortly after and was born on February 17th, 2010.  We named him Callen Johns and he too was born on his due date.

We settled in nicely as a family of five.  Things were crazy, awesome, loud and wonderful all wrapped in a ball! 

By this point we were asked a lot if we were going to try for "that girl". We had three little guys so fast so I really felt like I should be done, we were busy and our life was full but there was always a part of me that would get teary eyed thinking of never having another child. 

2013 rolled around and I was starting to feel really at peace with not having another baby. I remember even telling my mom one night, "You know mom, I think I am finally ok with being done DONE with having babies."  And this was a big thing for me to say out loud. The next few weeks I couldn't get over the flu and my gums started bleeding when I brushed my teeth.  Finally one day my sister came over with a pregnancy test and said I think you better take this.  I was in total denial but took the test.  I couldn't believe it when it came back positive within seconds....holy cow, we are PREGNANT!  I called Cory immediately at work and he couldn't believe it either!  At this point things went into overdrive.  At the time we were refinishing our basement so there was a big push to get everything done!  I can say wholeheartedly this was my most enjoyable pregnancy.  I had so many lovely family members, friends and the most wonderful midwife and nurse to help me along the way.  It was a joy to have the boys be older and enjoy every kick and hiccup with baby was in my belly!!  

At 20 weeks we found out our family would be complete with one more little boy!  Admittedly there was a moment in the office after our ultrasound that I had a moment to mourn never having a biological girl of our own, but I couldn't have been more grateful for another healthy baby boy growing inside my belly!

As our baby's birth approached I new my very dear friend would be in the room taking pictures.  This was the first time we also invited my sister, mom and Cory's mom in the birthing room. Knowing it was our last time I probably would have invited my favorite check out lady at target if I had had time on the way to the hospital, I was so excited!  But with all the excitement came a lot of expectations for that day.  I was trying to prepare myself that all of the people I wanted to be there may not make it, including my husband that had been traveling to North Dakota for work for most of the summer.  My reoccurring nightmare was that I would end up dragging three boys into the hospital and delivering in front of all of them....and having no one else make it! 

At my 36 week appointment I was shocked when my midwife told me that I was already dilated to a 2.  I went home and packed my bag!  The next week went fast and slow all at once.  I was trying to log every detail of being pregnant in my mind because I knew it was coming to an end and at the same time baby was sitting so SO low I was pretty sure an arm was going to pop out at any moment!  I delivered all of my other boys on Wednesdays and my sister and I were born on a Wednesday so it wasn't even on my radar that I could deliver on another day ;) 

On Monday September 30th I went to my 37 week appointment, my legs were shaved and I was ready for anything!  Chillon (my midwife) checked me and the look on her face....she said you are a 3-4 and I can feel his head.  Oh my!  This is getting real!  So I went home to see if anything would happen.  Contractions started, we went for a walk, took a bath and those contractions kept a coming.  I went back in to see her at the clinic and was now at a 5.  She gave me a hug and said see you in an hour at the hospital!  Cory got home from work, showered and we left the kids with my Dad Michael.  At the hospital things progressed and it was truly the easiest labor I have ever had.  Everyone that was planning on being there made it!  Can you believe it? I think the video speaks for itself and captures every detail.  I can not tell you how much of a keepsake this video is for our family and I can't make it through the first minute without crying.  Thank you again to Licia Marie Photography for capturing it all! 

We became of family of 6!  Here we are as a family when baby was 10 days old and again when he is 1!   Cashten Dean Anderson was born on September 30th, 2013.  Our family is complete!

Thank you Kristin for allowing me to share our family's story!

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If you would like to share your birth story, please email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Mason's Birth Story {07.18.12}

Happy Tuesday mamas!

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
EASY PEASY! 

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Hello Mama and Mou readers! My name is Elizabeth and I blog over at Chasin' Mason, a blog about the adventures in motherhood and daily life with a toddler. I am a true California girl. I was born and raised in Northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved down to Southern California after I graduated college in 2006. I met my husband in 2006 when we worked together at Barnes and Noble. He was a part time bookseller (he had a different full time job, this was just his job for extra money) and I was a Merchandise Manager. We began dating in 2008 secretly since we weren't technically supposed to be dating since I was his manager {oops!}. We got engaged in September 2009 at Angels Stadium (I thought we were celebrating my birthday! I had no idea!)...

 ...and got married in November 2010...

...and then had our amazing, sweet little boy in July 2012.

He is now two years old and is the light of our lives.

Now that you know a little bit about me... here's the story of how we met our sweet little man.

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It all started on the night of Tuesday, July 17, 2012. I'd been on maternity leave for a week and a half and was starting to actually get bored. Who would have thought? I thought I would be so happy that I didn't have to work and got to hang out, watch tv, or do whatever I wanted everyday. Turns out, not as exciting as I thought (that had since changed since Mason was born as I had established my tv lineup everyday and of course, I had Mason to take care of). Plus I was starting to get big (or what I felt was big - everyone else said I was still so small) and uncomfortable. Pretty sure Mason had his foot up in my ribs, which made it really hard to sit with our discomfort. I was ready to meet my boy!

Anyway, the night of July 17th I really wanted In n Out for dinner. Seth (my husband) of course didn't object and picked it up on his way home from work. We ate dinner, everything was great, and we watched tv...but as we watched tv, I started to feel what felt like minor period cramps. I didn't really think anything of it and went to bed at 11pm. I woke up around 3am and it still hurt. I waited a few minutes and decided to wake Seth up. I told him what was happening and he told me to call my doctor. I was kinda hesitant because I felt bad because it was 3am...but hey, doctors are on call for a reason and I'm sure I'm not the first one to call and wake them up. Plus that's what they get paid the big bucks for, right? So I called the on call line, told the on call guy what my symptoms were, he paged the on call doctor (which actually happened to be my doctor - both good and bad for me), and my doctor called back. She asked me if I had taken any Tylenol. I said no. She told me to take some and see how I felt and call her back if I needed to. So by now it was like 3:15am. I took some Tylenol. Seth got up with me. We watched tv (which by the way, there is NOTHING on at 3am lol). And then... I started feeling contractions. I started timing them and Seth wrote down how long they were for and how far apart. They ended up being 5 min apart for an hour. By this time more time had gone by and it was 5am. I was getting uncomfortable. My doctor asked me if I wanted to go to the hospial. I love my doctor, but Do I want to go to the hospital? Aren't you the doctor? I called to ask YOU if YOU think I should go to the hospital. So, given the choice, I said yes. She said she would call and let the hospital know that we were on our way. So we put on some real clothes (well Seth did, I kept my sweatpants on lol), got our stuff together (our bags were packed but just the las minute stuff), and were on our way. By now it was 5:45am. I was secretly happy that all of this was happening in the early hours of the morning because the most direct way to the hospital is one specific freeway. A freeway which 1) happens to be the worst freeway for traffic (or at least one of the worst in my opinion), 2) happens to be the best way to get to the OC Fair that was also going on and 3) happens to be the best way to get to the beach. I was happy we were leaving so early and were going to beat the traffic....or so I thought. Turns out... there are already a lot of people on the freeway at 5:45am! But we didn't have a problem. We got to the hospital around 6:10-6:15am, checked in and they put us in what they call a "triage" room. When I think of triage, I think of someone who has extremely bad injuries (but maybe I just watch too much Grey's Anatomy!), which I didn't.

 when we got checked in to the triage room

the million dollar view

A nurse came in, talked to us, checked me (3cm) and then left us for a little while. She came back, asked about my contractions (on a scale of 1 to 10, I said I was having a 5-6 pain out of 10). She said they typically don't admit people until they are at 4cm and asked if I wanted to try walking. I definitely didn't but didn't want to be sent home so I said if I had to, I would. By now it was like 7am and the change in the shifts of the nurses were happening so the night nurse said she would update the day nurse and they would see what they wanted to do. The day nurse came back and said they would admit me (yay!). So we moved from triage to labor and delivery. (I later learned that since my doctor was on call the night before, she was off that day. I guess they have some sort of app on their phones that let's them check on their patients (cool but kinda creepy) and she was yelling at the phone wondering why they had me in triage for so long when she knew I was in labor). So by 9am we were finally "checked in" to the hospital and were on our way to having a baby!

contractions on the computer screen

Now I understand they need to ask you a lot (A LOT) of questions before they can admit you, but one stood out to me as kinda stupid....why are you here? Really? Why am I here? I'm having a baby! (I asked the nurse if anyone says anything different and she said just slight variations - I'm in labor...my water broke...etc). She asked what my pain level was and I said 7 (now that might have been a littttttle more than most people would say but hey, it was painful to me!). I asked when I could get my epidural and she said after I had an IV of fluids. By this time I had started to feel a little sick and she said that was normal. She gave me a bucket, just in case, which was teeny tiny! I'm like umm, that's not going to work if I throw up, so she got me a bigger bowl. Still not your ideal bowl size, but definitely bigger. The nurse left the room and Seth was distracted by something (the view or his phone or something) and then... BLAH! (TMI...sorry so graphic). Poor Seth definitely saw more than he wanted to. Not the most fun or proudest moment of my life, but hey, he did this to me, he can see the results, right? LOL. The nurse came back, I told her I got sick, and she cleaned up. Poor nurses get such a bad job. I felt so bad. A different nurse came in after that and gave me my IV. She had a hard time finding a good vein to use so she tried one on my left wrist and what happened? She blew my vein. I'm sorry, what? You did what? Now this has never happened to me before so I was thinking this is bad. Apparently it's not really that bad, but it hurt. And later (like a couple days after I got home from the hospital) turned a lovely shade of black and blue. It honestly looked like someone grabbed my arm and squeezed. So, she looked and looked on my other arm and she couldn't find anything, so luckily for me, a different doctor came to check on us and she asked for help. It hurt, but at least he knew what he was doing. It ended up having to be on the top of my right hand though. Not the ideal spot, but it worked. Some time in all of this, they also broke my water.

After what felt like FOREVER, the anesthesiologist came in and I was getting my epidural! YAY! I was pretty scared but the contractions were hurting A LOT (to me) so I was ready. They said it wouldn't hurt any more than my IV (great, that hurt....). I had to sit up and hug a pillow and not move while the doctor did his thing. He cleaned my back, and then... you get the idea, I will spare you the details. It hurt a little, but not NEARLY as much as I imagined. I was terrified of the thought of a needle in my spine.  So many things could go wrong and I was so happy when it was over.

They had me lay down and that's what the magic happened. I started to not feel anything! It was bliss.  HEAVEN. The nurse asked if I felt anything and I said no and she said that was good because I just had a big contraction. So by now it was 10am and I was at 4cm (they don't give you an epidural before that) and we just had to wait... so we took a nap. And woke up at noon. The nurse came back in to check me and I was at ... 9 cm!!!! What?! 9 cm? That was fast! If I take another nap, when I wake up, will Mason be here? (just kidding!) Now I just had to wait to get to 10 cm.

The next few hours are a bit of a blur so the timing is just an estimate.

At noon we informed the family that I was at 9 cm. Seth's dad was at the fair and left to come to the hospital. And Seth's mom left work. Little did we know, but my poor in-law's were way too early and had to wait in the waiting room for what I'm sure felt like forever. I left bad. I don't know how much time went by but I was finally at 10 cm. Probably around 1pm or 1:30pm? The nurse asked me how I was doing and I said I just felt a little pressure. She said that was good and they were just gonna let me sit. Let Mason do some work and let him move down as much as possible. So at 2pm or 2:30pm-ish they checked me again and she said she could feel his head. What?! Isn't that bad?? Where is the doctor?! The nurse called to have the doctor paged and told me we would try to push. Wait?! Where's the DOCTOR??? So we did. She asked if I wanted a mirror and I said NO WAY. Gross. Poor Seth held my one leg and the nurse held the other. I think he saw more than he wanted to. I will spare you the details. He didn't plan on looking (I told him not to also) but when the nurse yells "I can see the head!" you can't help but look. She asked if I wanted to know what color hair he had and I was shocked he had hair! The old wives tale is that if you have heart burn, the baby has lots of hair and if not, no hair. And I had no heart burn. But he had hair! Brown hair! Lots of brown hair! I pushed a little more (which was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be since in the short span of one contraction (like 1 min) you have to hold your breath and push for 10 sec and hold your breath and push for 10 sec... AND hold your breath and push for 10 sec. 3 times!! So tiring. THANKFULLY I didn't have to push that much. I seriously feel for those people in labor for hours. I don't know how they do it.)

And the doctor was no where to be found. So the nurse called again. I guess the doctor (not my doctor since she was off, but a doctor in the same practice) had actually been at the hospital earlier in the day at noon doing a c-section but nobody told her my progress, so when she was done, she went back to the office. The office is just down the street but she said she needed 5 min to finish some stuff and then she would head back. So we waited. We waited because I had an epidral and couldn't feel anything. Then I pushed again (just for fun...so the nurse said. I didn't think it was so fun). Then we waited because if I pushed again, she thought she would be delivering the baby.

The doctor finally came... maybe at 3:15pm? and after a few pushes...

He was here!

Mason Noah Birenaum

July 18, 2012

7 lbs. 8 oz. 19 inches

3:36 pm

I feel like the doctor was there for like 10 min (clearly longer) and then was just GONE! I guess that's all that was necessary. In and out and get paid BIG BUCKS. Maybe I should have been an OB/GYN? Haha. So Mason got cleaned up, they finished up with me, and then I got to hold him! My baby! I can't believe he's HERE and he's MINE! So surreal. And so amazing.

So after the "golden hour" where it was just the 3 of us, we went up to the mother/baby unit and everyone else got to meet him! I can't believe that you can only know someone for one minute and already have SO MUCH LOVE. I was in awe of him, in awe of what me and my husband created. Our boy, our Mason.

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If you'd like to submit a birth story or guest post, please email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com