My Birth Story

Hi Everyone! It's been a while! About 6 weeks to be exact! As most of you know I had a beautiful baby boy named Bowie James Turner on Jan 18th so I've been taking some time off to spend with him! It's been challenging, and amazing and better than I ever could have imagined!

Two things I learned while I was pregnant:

Every mom has a story of her pregnancy and birth of her children and...

They love to share those stories!

So here's mine:

39 week doctor's appointment: We found out baby boy had turned breech. We decided to have my doctor try a procedure called a version where she pushes on my stomach to get the baby to turn around. If the version was successful the doctor would then induce labor. If the version was not successful I would immediately have a c-section. My due date was Jan 20th but in light of the circumstances my doctor wanted to proceed ASAP so I was scheduled for Jan 18th.

Jan 18th The big day! We were going to meet our little man today one way or another! It was so nice to have an appointment! I had time to do my hair and makeup and get everything ready!

2:30pm We checked in at Riverside Methodist Hospital and settled into a delivery room. My husband, mom, and my best friend Kelly were all there to support me!

3:30pm The first step was for them to hook me up to an IV and get a blood sample- simple enough, right? Oh no! Long story short, It took three nurses and about a dozen tries to get get my blood! I am really squeamish around needles and blood so it was a real nightmare for me! I kept almost passing out, my whole body broke out in an intense sweat, and my blood pressure kept going crazy! A big thank you to nurse Raven who came in and got my blood on the first try! If I ever have to go through this again, I will be requesting you!

5:00pm Epidural time! Yay, more needles! This was apparently just not my lucky day because it took her 7 tries to get the epidural in the right place! As I was hunched over the side of the bed with band-aids and bruises covering both my arms I just kept thinking, this cannot be happening! I also couldn't believe how long everything was taking! My c-section appointment had already came and went and I hadn't even had the version yet!

6:00pm My doctor arrived to do the version. Thankfully, it didn't hurt because I was numb from the epidural so all I felt was a lot of  pressure as she pushed on my stomach. After about 2-3 minutes my doctor determined it wasn't going to work. The baby was in distress and my blood pressure was going crazy again. I was really surprised. I had kind of convinced myself that it was going to work- probably because everyone I had talked to who had one, had a successful one. So I was a little disappointed at first but then I started thinking about all the unknowns of being induced and how long and painful it could be I was kind of glad I wouldn't have to go through that!

6:30pm More waiting! I guess this is probably normal at a hospital but everything just took forever! While we waited the nurse prepped us for surgery and kept telling us that as soon as the OR was available that everything was going to happen fast!

9:00pm  It was finally go time! They wheeled me down the hall into the operating room. I was surprised by how intensely bright it was and by the amount of people in the room. Even though they did a pinch test, I was convinced that I wasn't numb enough! I was a little nervous but so excited that I was about to meet my baby boy! I wish someone would have warned me about the uncontrollable shaking. I kept trying to calm myself down and make it stop but I guess it's a normal side effect of the anesthesia. It was so crazy how bad my upper body was shaking! I was so glad my husband was by my side to hold me steady!

9:21pm Bowie James Turner is here! I'm sure all moms feel this way but the birth of my son will forever be the most emotional, and intense experience of my life! I had no idea! People talk about it but you just have no idea until you go through it! I will never forget the moment they lifted him out of me. You feel this weight on your stomach then all the sudden the weight is gone- it was so crazy!

Then they told me to look to my left and all of the sudden I saw him! It was just so amazing! He was so cute and much bigger than I expected! The doctor thought he was going to be around 6lbs and he was 7lbs 9.9oz 17.5in. After they got him cleaned up I remember looking to my right and seeing my husband holding him and smothering him with kisses! I felt love for them both like I had never felt before!

10:00pm We spent the next 2 hours in a recovery area. I held him skin to skin and he was so content!

12:00am Then they took us to our room. We held and fed him. Then on the advice of almost everyone we know, we let then take him to the nursery so we could get some sleep. Not that I slept between the compression boots startling me and the nurses coming in every hour! We sent him to the nursery 3 out of the 4 nights that we were there. I felt a little guilty but I'm so glad we did! I was in so much pain after the c-section that my husband had to take care of baby Bowie almost entirely on his own. This gave him a much needed break and let me rest and heal.

10:00am They finally let me eat! I hadn't eaten for like 36 hours at this point and I was starving! I thought I could eat right after having him but they made me wait till the next morning!

Overall, I have to say it was a great experience! Other than getting pricked over a dozen times with needles the whole thing was actually pretty easy! I feel a little guilty saying that knowing how much pain most mamas endure while giving birth. So I definitely feel very lucky! In contrast though, the recovery has been pretty rough. I'm almost 6 weeks out now and the incision is still really tender. It gets better every day though and I'm still I'm glad I ended up having a c-section! I am convinced that that was Gods plan and he may have spared me from a long horrible labor! Maybe not, but he is happy and healthy and everything went smoothly so I couldn't ask for anything more!

He is growing so fast! At his 1 month appointment he weighed 11.2lbs and is 21inches long now! Poor guy has had some bad gas issues. We've tried switching bottles, formula, giving him gas drops, tummy massages, bicycling his legs, and burping him often during feedings but nothing has really helped. This makes him pretty fussy a lot of the time which is hard. I feel so bad because it looks like he's uncomfortable so I just hold him and kiss him until it passes...literally! Even though it's hard he is such a joy! He is just so cute! When he gets fussy it helps to take him outside the house! Whether it's to Starbucks or church, or even just a walk around the block, he loves to be out! He is a mama's boy of course, but he really doesn't care who is holding him as long as someone is holding him!

Hopefully I will be able to get back to normal blogging soon but for now he is pretty time consuming!

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