A BIRTH STORY: FINNICK MAXWELL

I promise I haven't forgotten my blog...and maybe one day I'll update it more...but for now, few and far between seem to be more my style. It's like a have 3 kids or something...

ANYWHO...almost 3 weeks have passed since we welcomed our 3rd little Wilson boy to the family, and I figure it's about time to sit down & write out his birth story! Just a little warning: this could contain some TMI...it is, afterall, a birth story! ;)

On Thursday, September 3rd, I had my last OB appointment. I was still measuring a little small, but nothing for her to be concerned about. I was 2-3cm dilated, having very random contractions & had been losing my plug slowly since week 39 (if you don't know what that means...don't look it up. Trust me). She stripped my membranes for the 2nd time (OUCH!) & we talked labor plans. Since it was a holiday weekend, she wasn't on call at all...and the only day the entire next week she was on call was Monday (Labor Day). Since this was my 2nd VBAC, I felt very strongly about having her as my doctor. She knows my history, knows my babies, knows me & I was so afraid of going into labor and getting a doctor that wasn't quite as on board with a VBAC as she was. She told us to talk it over, and if we decided that Monday was our day, we could call in the morning and schedule our induction. However, I had already decided in my head...it meant more to me to have my doctor than to wait for Finn to show up on his own, so we called the next morning and scheduled it. Monday morning at 6am we were to be induced! However...

Later that night, I started having a lot more contractions. I started timing them, and they came in no pattern what-so-ever. Some were 3 minutes apart, some 6 and some 30. It was obvious that I was in early labor, but that could last for days so there was no need for alarm. Regardless, I still got hardly any sleep Friday night because even if it is early labor, contractions still don't feel good. Around 4am Saturday morning, Christian woke us up crying, coughing & with a fever. Grrrrreat. Just what we needed, me in labor & sick kids. I had a feeling it was strep throat by the way he was coughing, so I took him to the doctor first thing Saturday morning. Sure enough, strep throat. They put him on antibiotics and told us that if Gavin were going to get it, he would show symptoms in 24-48 hours. Talk about stressing a mom out. A baby due at any time, one with strep & one that needed to be watched for strep. Side note, answering all the pediatrician's questions, while constantly contracting...not fun. 

I took it easy all day Saturday (after the doc appt)...like I said, I did NOT want to go into full blown labor without my doctor on call. I was determined to keep that baby IN! However....

About 2:45am, I woke up to some very intense contractions back to back. I decided I probably needed to time these, but first I needed to use the bathroom. Upon that trip to bathroom, I suddenly realized I was bleeding. I immediately panicked...this is exactly what happened with Christian. I bled & bled and since they couldn't figure out why, I ended up in an emergency c-section that I don't remember and it was awful. I sat there cleaning myself up trying to figure out how this was happening again. Once I calmed down, I woke Dustin up and told him to call his mom to come over. It was hospital time. He also called my mom, who was in Michigan on a weekend trip & she jumped in the car to start her journey home. We packed up the remainder of our bags, I brushed the tangles out of my hair and wiped the mascara off from my under my eyes. We loaded up the car and headed towards the hospital. I was nervous, scared & oddly calm. I'd been through this before, I knew not to completely freak out. 

We checked into L&D, got hooked up to the monitors & the nurses checked out the bleeding. They said it wasn't a lot, but they would let the on call doctor know what was going on. I was still having strong contractions and I was 3-4cm dilated. 

About an hour later, the on call doctor came in and told me that for now, she just wanted to keep me on the mobile monitors & watch the bleeding. She didn't want to induce me or break my water, and she was just going to let my body progress on it's own. If I hadn't had the baby by the next morning, then my doctor could start the induction process as planned. AKA she didn't want to do my VBAC! I was actually relieved. As much as I was ready to get the ball rolling, I wanted my doctor. 

So we spent all day Sunday walking around the labor floor, watching TV, playing card games, cat-napping & pretty much being bored out of our minds. My contractions actually slowed down, and my bleeding eventually stopped. We had some visitors bring us food & since my Sunday night girl's night was obviously not going to happen for me, some of the girl's came to visit me afterwards. Finally, about 10pm, the nurse gave me an Ambien and told me to get some sleep...Monday was going to be a long day!

About 5am, the nurses came in to check my progress (4-5cm), hook me back up to all the monitors & fluids and start my very low dose of pitocin. With me being a VBAC, I can't be induced with a regular amount of pitocin, because it increases my risk of a uterine rupture. Once the pitocin started, my contractions got a lot stronger. Around 7am, I felt a huge gush of something come out. I told Dustin I didn't feel like it was my water breaking, so we called the nurses and sure enough, it was not my water breaking. It was blood. And a LOT of it. They called in my doctor to come check things out. She immediately let me know she did not like this amount of blood, so she wanted to break my water to make sure that didn't have blood in it as well. Luckily my water was clear, so she told me we were going to stop the pitocin, put in my epidural (in case we had to be rushed back for a c-section), watch the bleeding & keep an eye on both of our heart rates. If anything started looking bad, it was going to be another c-section for me. 

At 8am, they gave me my epidural. At 8:45am, they came in to check my progress and put in my catheter. I was at 5-6cm.

For the next couple hours, things went slowly. The epidural seemed to be taking well, I got a couple more little naps in & had some more visitors. Around 9:40, she checked my progress again & I was at 6cm. At 11am, I was at 7cm. I also started to notice that my epidural was wearing off on my right side (deja vu...this same thing happened to me with Gavin), so I asked Dustin to help me switch to my right side to help get it numb again. For some reason, my body does not take well to me being on my right side during labor, because I started getting nauseous, threw up a few times, lost my vision & my blood pressure bottomed out to thirty something. They moved me off of right side & slowly I started feeling better. About this time (1pm), my doctor came in to check things out. I was 8cm and 75% thinned. The bleeding had slowed down and I was getting close! I decided to take another little nap while Dustin chowed down on some chick-fil-a (jerk!). About 3(ish), I started feeling some pressure & asked to be checked. My doc came in and said I was ready! They started getting the room ready & it was time to kick my family out. However, I started getting really emotional when my mom left, so I asked Dustin if she could stay for the birth. He is Mr. Privacy, so I knew it might be a battle, but after a small hormonal meltdown, he went and got my mom from the waiting room. We had also asked our friend Celia if she would stay in the room and take pictures with our camera. So we had our labor crew, the doctors & nurses and it was time to push!

Pushing was a lot harder this time because 1: I was completely numb and couldn't feel my contractions coming (with Gavin, the epidural had worn off on one side). and 2: Mr. Finn decided he wanted to come out face-up! A sunny-side up baby. In case you weren't aware, babies are supposed to be born face-down...and pushing them out face-up causes a lot of bruising and a much harder time getting them out. Because I couldn't feel my contractions coming, the nurses would watch the monitor and let me know when to push. In between pushes, we were joking and laughing like nothing was going on. However, because I wasn't on pitocin or anything to make my contractions come faster, it was taking forever in between contractions. After about 20-30 minutes of pushing, they started my pitocin again to get the contractions coming more frequently. 

After about 40 minutes of pushing (and we think about 7 actual rounds of pushing), she pulled out a huge, swollen, chubby, dark-haired baby boy! They put him on my chest and the amount of emotion that came with it is just indescribable. You would think that after 2 babies, I would get used to the feeling of meeting this new little life, but everytime it's just as emotional and you have an overwhelming love for this little creature you just met. 

Since he was face-up, his poor little head was so mis-shaped! But luckily that went down quickly & he had very little bruising, which surprised everyone. He also surprised us all by weighing in at a whopping 9pounds, 5ounces! I had been measuring small, so no one expected that big of a baby! I'm not sure where he was hiding out in my belly, but I'm going to take a wild guess & say my ribcage. ;)

While the doctor was sewing me up and all that fun jazz, she let me know that I was losing a lot more blood than she would like, so she was going to have to do some "scraping" to make sure my placenta hadn't detached. All I'm going to say is thank GOD for epidurals! Because of my blood loss, once the adrenaline of having a baby wore off, I was weak, light-headed & (obviously) exhausted. They put me on iron for 2 days and by the 2nd day, I was feeling a little stronger. 

Overall, it was another amazing birthing experience. It definitely had it's scares and ups & downs, but I feel so blessed to have another healthy boy & another VBAC under my belt. We were in the hospital for a total of 4 days & were elated to go home and start our life as a family of 5. Gavin & Christian have done surprisingly well (Gavin WAY better than expected) with the new adjustment and we are all working to find our new normal. I have PILES of laundry that need to finished, a forever dusty & dirty house, dishes everywhere & toys are the new home decor, but it means my house is full of love and life, and one day, the chaos will be so missed!

 

Welcome to the crazy life, Mr. Finn. We already love you oh so much!

Finnick Maxwell Wilson

September 7th, 2015

4:05pm

9lbs, 5oz | 22inches

TEXAS 2015

Well here I am in our Vegas hotel room while the hubby is at his work conferences. Before I throw on my bathing suit & head to the pool, I figured I would catch everyone up on last week's travel adventures. For someone who doesn't hardly ever leave the house except to go to the grocery & Target (oh, Target!), we've had quite a whirlwind of travels these past two weeks!

We got back a week ago from visiting our friends who recently got relocated to San Antonio, Texas. We were only there for 4 days, but we were so happy to see their new home, visit the sweetest little 7 month old & get some much needed time away from the kiddos. Kayla, Daniel & Gemma were great hosts & we really had a wonderful time! Also, I'm a firm believer that every parent needs an occasional break, although the boys were greatly missed and we couldn't wait to get home for some slobbery kisses & snuggles. 

Disclaimer: this blog contains a lot of photos! ;)

For starters, I have a huge phobia of flying, but I think I did pretty well on the flights (thanks to anxiety meds & a supportive hubby). I hate hate hate taking off. The plane speeding up on the runway, the feeling of lifting into the air and away from the nice safe ground, the bumps, the turbulence...cue severe anxiety. However, the second the plane starts making it's descent, I'm a happy camper. I start getting excited & love looking out the window. Talk about a complete personality flip from beginning to end...it's actually kind of comical. 

As soon as we got to Texas, Kayla and I headed for the pool while Dustin & Gemma napped in the house. We were having such a nice time catching up and swimming, that we didn't realize we were getting extremely burnt! I normally don't burn at all...like ever...but pregnant skin is a lot more sensitive than regular skin. Cue a very red Bessie the rest of the weekend!

That night, we went to a DELICIOUS little pub style restaurant called 54th Street. SO delish. These were our appetizers...spinach & artichoke dip and this spicy, cheesy dip called Gringo dip with waffle fries. PREGNANT HEAVEN.

On Friday, we took it easy during the day (thanks to our sunburns) & then went to the Alamo & Riverwalk that evening.

Oh, and hello 34 week baby bump!

The Alamo was very cool, but HOT HOT HOT. I think that goes without saying though...it is Texas afterall.

And my favorite, The Riverwalk. I loved this place & definitely wish we can have spent more time there. However, we were all starving so we beelined it to a Steakhouse restaurant for some grub.

By the time dinner was over, it was a crowded, drunken mess of people, so we snapped a couple pictures & then headed back to the house to call it a night.

On Saturday morning, our hosts had a planned a day of tubing down the Guadeloupe River. We called ahead to make sure it was safe for preggos, I packed a ridiculous amount of snacks & drinks to keep my energy up & threw on my whale maternity suit. I was determined to hang with the rest of gang...belly or not, I'm going tubing! ;)

Apparently, tubing is THE thing to do in Texas. There were so many people! We had a group of about 16 with us and I was the solo non-drinker...thank goodness I had my patient pants on! Haha. 

I probably put sunblock on my legs and shoulders every 15 minutes. I was determined not to burn over my already burnt legs.

Our group stopped for margaritas along the way...by this point, I had two other non-drinkers join my side...including Dustin. I think he knew I needed some moral support, haha.

But we really had SO much fun tubing. I definitely got a little uncomfortable towards the end (and may have wanted to drown a drunk or two thanks to my pregnancy hormones), but it was an experience I'm so glad I got to be a part of! 

We left early Sunday morning for our flight back home, and we were pretty bummed that we didn't have time to try the famous Whataburger. But then! Literally right next to our departing gate...a Whataburger! We thought it was super yummy, however, we were also starving to death, so we probably could have eaten cardboard and been happy. ;)

The flight home consisted of a pretty awesome window view, my daily caffeine, grapes & Outlander.

And then getting to bear hug these adorable little boys! I'm tellin' ya, nothing makes you appreciate their sweet little faces like some time apart. We picked up a Texas cowboy hat for Christian & I swear he hasn't taken it off since.

So happy to be home! 

Thanks again Kayla & Daniel for letting us crash your house for a weekend and showing us a really good time! We enjoyed meeting your friends, getting baby Gemma snuggles & most importantly...kid-free relaxation! Until next time!

PLAYING CATCH-UP

Holy cow it's been awhile! I really want to keep up with my blog, but as I get further into my 3rd trimester, life just gets more & more crazy. And any waking moment we're not super busy, I'm falling asleep in my bowl of cereal (Lucky Charms to be exact). However, I REFUSE to give up on my blog just yet, so here is a super shortened preview of what us Wilson's have been up to the past month!

We went to a wedding where we got to watch one of our best friends marry the girl of his dreams. Friends, dancing & Taco Bell...I felt like I was 21 again! (Okay, not really...I was ready to go to sleep by 10pm, but I powered through!)

We celebrated the 4th of July with some sparklers, neighbor friends & red and blue sherbet (YUM!).

Gavin got sick with some sort of virus where his only symptom was a high fever for 4 days. Lots of rest & snuggles from this one!

Baby Finn is growing like crazy & constantly trying to kick his way out. Only 6-7(ish) more weeks to go!

Southern Indiana has been relocated to the Amazon Rainforest & for a month straight it seems like all it has done is rain & storm. Good thing I like storms!

Gavin has become very aware of my ever-growing baby belly and likes to pat it and say "eeeeeeeeeasy!" ....and in case you couldn't guess, he learned that from the stupid amount of times he would come over and wham right on his baby brother. ;)

Dustin & I had a much needed date night to Louisville's Homearama...where we saw all kinds of homes that were SO beautiful, but we could never afford. It was a little too much walking in the humid heat for this preggo & my feet & hands were swollen sausages afterwards. Pregnant in the summer is definitely a new experience for me!

We tried yet again to cut out Gavin's morning nap, but then he tries to climb in by himself and asks to go 'nigh-nigh' and I just can't say no.

There has been a LOT of this the past week or so. He is cutting FOUR molars and TWO baby teeth. DEAR LORD make the teeth stop! If you look closely, you can see molar #3 making it's wonderful debut. And the molar on the other side had a lovely teething blood blister...fun times, I tell ya.

I started the fun task of organizing boy clothes! It took me about a week, but I have Finn's closet & dresser full, the older boys' clothes are all sorted, the totes are organized by season and the rest is in piles ready to be sold in next month's consignment sale. If this organization doesn't make a nesting preggo happy, I don't know what will!

And then.....THIS happened. I didn't want to do it, but his hair was getting so gross & sweaty because of the summer heat, I decided the curls needed to go. Insert sad, hormonal, crying face.

Before & after! 

And no, his hair didn't change colors with the new haircut, this just shows how different his hair looks in different types of lighting. He is still just as ginger as ever. ;)

We've been swimming with Mimi & eaten watermelons with Papa Joe...

And everyone's favorite...Jeep rides for ice cream!

The diaper bag is all ready for baby, which just leaves a handful of things left on the "THINGS TO DO BEFORE BABY" list.

And last but certainly not least, I've tried to catch up on as much snuggles with the boys as I can. The laundry, floor mopping & gross toilets aren't going anywhere, but one-on-one time with each boy is most definitely numbered!

So there's your brief catch-up! I'm really going to try to do better with the blogging, but these tiny humans like to keep me nice & busy! 

And lastly, any prayers or well-wishes you have for me the next couple days will be greatly welcomed! We are leaving the boys behind for a long weekend in Texas to visit our friends. FIRST...I am so anxious about leaving Gavin. I know he'll be in good hands, but he isn't exactly the easiest baby on the block, plus it breaks my heart that he might miss us or wonder where we are.

 SECOND...I have a major phobia of flying. MAJOR. The doctor usually has me on a pretty strong anxiety medication during my flights, but obviously being pregnant, she could only prescribe me a lower dose medicine, but I still hate the thought of putting something in my body that could possibly affect Finn, too. However, having a full blown anxiety attack while 34 weeks pregnant probably isn't good for the baby either. 

Regardless, everything will be OKAY, the boys will have a blast with their grandmas & Dustin and I will get a much needed vacation before numero 3 arrives. At least this is what I keep telling myself....

Thanks for reading & Happy Tuesday!