Gray Tunney Bird's Birth Story

Well it is safe to say it's been a while since I've blogged, over a year ! Sometimes things just take a back burner and my blog was/is one of them.  BUT I wanted to write down my precious baby boy's birth story.  Oh ya ...I have a baby now :) 

In the past year Log and I moved to Las Vegas, started new jobs, bought our first house, got pregnant, had baby Gray, I quit said job to be a stay at home mom, and so many fun things in between. But I digress.  Here is how it all went down people. 

My due date was December 4th, 2015.  Leading up to my due date there was lots of back and forth between my doctor and I about being induced at 39 weeks because baby boy was measuring BIG.  My mom had two 9 pound babies, a 10 pound baby, and a whopping 11 pound baby, so I knew the likely hood that Gray would be big was high. 

I was huge and uncomfortable and wanted this boy OUT.  My mom came out the day after Thanksgiving and that Monday November 30th I had a doctor's appointment where my doctor discussed with me (again) about being induced.  I was all for it and he said it could happen the next day! I was so excited.
Well, fast forward a few hours and BOTH hospitals nearby were completely booked for a week out for scheduled inductions.  I was devastated, there were tears, and emotions, I was so miserable and to think it was soon to be over and then have that taken away was too much for my 9 month pregnant mind to bear. 

So we scheduled the induction for the first available day (December 7th) and the waiting game began. Another reason I wanted to be induced was because my doctor was out of town December 2nd-6th and I did not want the baby to come without my doctor.  

Well babies don't wait for doctors.

Since my mom arrived we were doing everything to get this baby out. Most importantly walking...A LOT.  On December 2nd I felt some cramps as we were on one of our nightly walks but I had had LOTS of contractions throughout my pregnancy so I didn't think anything of it. The next morning I woke up and when I sat up in bed I felt a little "gush" and I do mean little.  I knew I wasn't peeing but lots of gross/weird errr I mean amazing? things happen during pregnancy so again I thought nothing of it.  You see, in the movies they show a huge gush of water soaking everything, women keeled over in pain screaming from the contractions, and that was just not the case for me.  

My mom and I continued getting the house ready and decided to go to the mall to grab some things and to get our nails done.  As I got in my car another little gush...this time it soaked through and on to my car seat...ew. Definitely not normal. My mom suggested calling my OB's office so I did.  They said they would have a nurse call me back. 

Onward to the mall.  We were in Sur La Table when I got the call. I needed to go in to the hospital to make sure my water wasn't leaking. Leaking?? I didn't even know that was a thing.  Well I didn't sense any urgency so we got our nails done first HA.  

Then we went home and grabbed the hospital bags (just in case) although I really thought they would just send me home.  We also, didn't tell Logan we were going to the hospital because with all the back and forth lately of when we would be having Gray we didn't want him to leave work for nothing.  So we arrived at the hospital around 5, I told Labor and Delivery what was going on and that my OB's office wanted me checked.  Well the Nurse at L&D was sooooo not impressed and honestly down right rude that I came in because I "thought" I was leaking and told me they were full and to wait in the waiting room and they might get to me...ya lame.

So my mom and I left because it was dinner time (duh) and went and got Cafe Rio with Log.  While we were there we filled him in on everything and while we were eating the hospital called me and said I needed to come back to get checked. 

Again...I wasn't in any pain or contracting super regularly so we took our time.  We went home, I showered, Logan and our friend Chad gave me a blessing, we went on one more walk, and we were off. 

When we got back to the hospital they took me in to triage right away. The nurse checked me and as she did that the rest of my water broke on the table. Ew.  So yes, I had been leaking all day ... OOPS . I was also dilated to a 3 at that point. 

Well the one thing I didn't want to happen, happened. My doctor wasn't there :( 

So the on-call doctor took over.  She started talking c-section right away because I had tested positive for strep-B and because I had been leaking all day she was nervous the baby would be exposed. 

I did NOT want a c-section and made that very clear so onward with labor. 

They started me with pitocin right away and as soon as they did that the contractions got serious.  I struggled with contractions for a couple of hours and around 10 p.m. I got the epidural.

Let me do a little plug for the epidural girls.  IT DOES NOT HURT. I don't know what the heck all the horror stories were about this thing but my IV hurt more than the epidural.  And I had to have it twice cause the guy missed the first time! I didn't look at the needle and i didn't feel hardly a thing. 

Once I got the epidural life was great.  My mom, Logan, and I got some z's overnight and around 6 a.m. I was so antsy to get this show on the road.  They didn't want to check me again over night because of the strep-b so they waited until around 8 a.m. to check and sure enough I was at a 10.  

So at 8 a.m. I started pushing. That part was so much harder than I thought! I didn't realize how tiring it would be. I mean...you just push. But a whole pregnancy of being out of shape, and having to do it on an empty stomach, it is tough! But 1 hour of pushing and this man was ready to come out! One problem...It took my doctor 30 minutes to get in the dang room! I was so frustrated just sitting there having to wait for the doctor with a baby just ready to go!

Well she finally got there and a few pushes in little man was born! 9:33 a.m. and he weighed a whopping 9 pounds 3 ounces. BIG BABY. 

It was utter joy, something I can't explain. It was the most incredible experience of my entire life. I am so thankful I had my Mom and my husband by my side. It was so special to have them with me. 

We love our little man and life is just SO much sweeter with him in it.