Birth Story - Grant Alexander

I'm glad I document these birth stories because each one has been so different. With Addie's I hemorrhaged and Hudson came out being strangled and as scary as both of those were I have to say I was more terrified this third time around. The other two times I didn't have any fears or any knowledge that anything was wrong during labor until up to the moment the baby was born. This time however I was pretty scared during the whole process and didn't get the relief that all was okay until Grant was born and in my arms.

Grant's due date was August 1st (today) however because he wasn't my first baby the doctors allow inductions to happen at 39 weeks. Danny and I went back and forth on whether or not we wanted to wait until his due date or if we wanted to get him here earlier. I was personally torn with the decision because on one hand I did not feel ready to start our new normal as a family of five but on the other hand doing an induction a week early very likely saved Hudson's life and I was worried that the same might be the case with baby Bean. Ultimately we decided to go ahead with the induction. It worked well because Danny's adviser at BYU was leaving for a conference that same week and would be gone for a couple days leaving Danny some availability here at home. I got the call from the nurse on Wednesday July 25th at 5:28am asking me to be at the hospital by 6:45am. Danny and I were excited that we were able to start the process so early in the morning because we figured that this would mean we would be meeting our baby by noon. Danny stayed at home while Addie and Hudson slept and I drove myself to the hospital. We wanted Addie and Hudson to have as much of a normal day as possible and we figured this would be the best way to do it. I did get a priesthood blessing from Danny before leaving home which brought a feeling of peace to us. The plan was that once things would progress I would call Danny and have him meet me at the hospital while his parents stayed with our kids at our place. I got to the hospital and got situated in the labor and delivery room. I was surprised to see that I had already started contracting on my own without starting the induction. It was 7:45am by the time I got my IV hooked up and at 8:10am we started the Pitocin. Things started to not look well almost immediately. At 8:30am I called Danny telling him that the baby wasn't responding well to Pitocin and that the nurse voiced her concern of a possible umbilical issue. This is when I got nervous. Hudson had problems with the umbilical cord and the nurse and I were both sure that the reason Grant's heart rate wasn't staying stable was because he was being strangled somewhere. We figured out that the baby responded better if I laid on my right side. He did not do well if I was on my left or even just on my back and I was willing to do anything to help baby be okay. Shortly after starting Pitocin we had to turn it off because of baby's heart rate. Every once in a while the nurse would turn it on again but it never lasted long because the baby wasn't responding well to even the lowest dosage. Dr Rees came in and broke my water at 9:45am to see if that would help speed things up especially since we weren't able to go the Pitocin route. Strangely I did not have a lot of fluids come out when my water was broken. Dr Rees requested that I be given an amino fluid infusion. They thought that pumping fluid into me would help the baby because he was still struggling in me. They said that if he was being strangled somewhere then this extra fluid might help loosen the umbilical cord. I had planned on just calling Danny when things were progressed but because of the circumstance I quickly changed my mind and wanted Danny there as fast as possible and in my opinion it was taking a long time to get him to the hospital while he waited to make sure our other kids were taken care of. He finally got there around 11am and I requested the epidural. At this point I was only dilated to a 4 and that's where I stayed for the next two hours. I was a little bit discouraged because I arrived at the hospital at a 3 and I realized it would be a longer labor than I anticipated, especially since we thought we'd have our baby by noon. During this time nurses were  constantly in and out of our room to check on us. I loved my main nurse Marti and appreciated her honesty with me. I could sense that she was nervous as she got me on oxygen but she did her best to remain calm. She ordered the nicu nurses to be ready for our baby's delivery when I had dilated to a 5. Around this time she also inserted an internal monitor to get a better read on the baby. Whenever the nurses would leave (and it would be just Danny and I) my mind would wander to the worst case scenario. I truly believed that I needed to prepare myself of the possibility of delivering a stillborn. I would just silently cry in the bed because I knew the baby wasn't doing well and there was nothing I could do. I even told Danny that maybe there was a reason it took us a while to connect with the baby this pregnancy. Maybe we weren't meant to keep him in this life. I was scared. Along with scared, I felt nervous and sad. Then the chills hit me. Holy cow they came out of no where and I could not stop shaking.

At 4pm I knew it was time to push and I called the nurse into the room. Sure enough I was complete and they got everything ready. It only took a few minutes to get everything ready and the doctor in the room and then it was go time. One contraction and three to four pushes later Grant was born. To everyone's shock there was nothing wrong with him. Not one sign of him being strangled and wrapped in the cord. Dr Rees said he was expecting a long cord as well but it wasn't and he's not sure why labor was so difficult for Grant. The nicu nurses weren't needed and Danny was able to cut the cord. We didn't think he'd be able to but thankfully there was nothing wrong or urgent with Grant. Right off the bat we both thought he was a beautiful baby. He looked similar to baby Addie but still manages to have his own look. He's got a dimpled chin that's so very cute and I instantly fell in love with this little guy. He's our smallest baby so far weighing 7 lbs 8.8 oz and he measured 20 inches long.

After he was born our nurse Marti was able to talk to me a little about the delivery. She was telling myself and the other nurses that she did not think I was going to have a good outcome. Apparently the internal monitors are only used for emergencies which I didn't know. It's a sharp spiral little contraption that rests on the baby's head to get a better reading but since it's sharp Grant came out with scrapes and cuts all over his poor little scalp. I took a picture of it on day three but by then it was already looking so much better. I wish I had taken a picture when we first saw it but it's incredible how fast babies heal. We'll never know why labor with Grant was so scary or why we couldn't even do a low dosage of Pitocin but I'm glad he's here and healthy. Maybe he decided to give us a hard time since he wasn't officially named until 48 hours later. :) That's a story in itself but I'll save it for the next blog post.

Danny went home to pick up Addie and Hudson while I was able to do skin to skin with Grant. I loved our time to just bond and have it be the two of us. I was also excited to see my other kids meet their little brother. My parents and most of Danny's family arrived at the hospital but they waited in the lobby for just a little bit so that Danny and I could have a moment with our three kids. Addie and Hudson both did so well meeting their little brother. Hudson kept saying "hi baby" in the cutest voice and Addie was so excited to hold him. This moment was also Danny's first time holding him and one that I'll remember for always.

Some more hospital pictures: :)

Grant is now a week old and he's perfect. He's by far the best sleeper which has turned out to be such a blessing. He only wakes up once a night and I'm hoping this isn't just a fluke since Hudson didn't sleep through the night until 15 months old. Danny and I feel a little guilty that we ever felt complete without him in our lives. He was needed in our family and I can't wait to see who he will grow up to be.

Grant Alexander

7 lbs 8.8 oz

20 inches long

4:09pm July 25, 2018