Hey Guys! So I’m finally sitting down to write Storms birth story as I nurse him so let’s hope Sky stays asleep and he stays happy. In order for you to understand Storms birth story I have to go back and briefly talk about my pregnancy. It started out normal, I got a positive pregnancy test, I scheduled my first doctors appointment, and based off my last period they gave me the due date of April 19th. When my family and I moved, I found a midwife since I was planning to have a home birth. When I saw my midwife for my first time she thought I was measuring small and since I was planning on getting an ultrasound to find out the gender we decided to wait and see what the ultrasound measured him at. The ultrasound measured him about a week and a half behind and it also showed that my placenta was low lying, which meant that the home birth wasn’t going to be a good idea. I started seeing a local OB and she set my due date at April 30th based off my last two ultrasounds, she also ordered an additional ultrasound to check my placenta again. The ultrasound showed that my placenta had moved but that baby was still measuring small. At 35 weeks I was scheduled for another ultrasound to check babies size. They didn’t have an available appointment until I was 38 weeks so that made me a little nervous thinking I could have him before then. Finally my appointment came along and he was still measuring small, as if I was only 35 weeks, they estimated his weight at 5 lbs. I could tell they were starting to get worried which made me start to freak out. They wanted me to come back the next morning to see the ultrasound specialist and then after I had an appointment with my OB to see whether or not they would need to induce me.
Later that day, a little after my husband got home from work I got a phone call from my OB, she said she had looked over the ultrasound and thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and induce me since he wasn’t growing well inside of me anymore. She said we will induce you when you reach 38 weeks, I reminded her that I was already 38 weeks (she was looking at my chart from the previous week) she said hold on let me call you right back… Oh man I started freaking out! So many questions started running through my head, was I going to be induced today, is my baby ok, what’s going to happen. Moments later I get a call back from my OB and she says, “Ok Feather so we are going to induce you, can you be at the hospital in the next 5 minutes?” My heart dropped. She quickly explained that the hospital had an opening and she didn’t want them to give that spot to anyone else. Luckily we only live 3 minutes away from the hospital and I had my bags packed, so we grabbed them and a couple of other things and headed over.
When we got to the hospital they got me check in and I got settled in my room. My husband Ryne took Sky back to our house where my mom was waiting to watch her while we were in the hospital. They gave me Cytotec every few hours to get my cervix ready for the induction. The next morning I was finally able to get the pitocin, I want to say I was 2-3 centimeters at that point. Everything after that was a bit of the blur, I had been up all night the night before, Storm kept moving around off his monitor so they were constantly adjusting it and having me keep changing positions. This continued into the next day so I was never left alone to “get into the zone” for labor. I had a natural delivery with Sky and I wanted the same with Storm. But the pain was so intense this time and the last time I was checked I was still only 4 centimeters, so I asked for an epidural. I was waiting and waiting for probably close to an hour and a half when the anesthesiologist finally showed up. He talked to us about what he was going to do but at this point I was just like yah yah yah can you just do it already?? He left to get what he needed to get started and my nurse was helping me sit up and get to the edge of the bed. The second I sat up I felt so much pressure and I knew in that moment that Storm was going to be born very soon. I told the nurse that I couldn’t sit up and that I needed to push. I sat back and she told me to keep breathing and not to push so that they could call my doctor to get in the room. I tried my best not to push but after my next contraction I felt him come out. The nurse lifted up the sheet and his head was out. Not only was his head out but also his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice with one of his hands in between. There were about ten nurses gathered around me in my room and in the next contraction he was all the way out. They got the umbilical cord unwrapped from around him and delayed cutting the cord for a few minutes. My husband finally cut the cord and they took him over to the incubator to check him out. After they were done looking at him they finally gave him to me to hold.
He was so tiny, he was born 4lbs 12oz 18.5 inches, and he was so perfect. My husband and I sat their looking at him and processing everything that had just happened. After a little while my husband went to go pick up Sky so she could come meet him. While he was gone they moved us out of the laboring room. Shortly after changing rooms Ryne and Sky came back. Sky meeting Storm was the sweetest thing. She sat on the bed with us and kissed his head and kept saying baby, baby.
After a little bit a nurse came in to do some tests on Storm, they were worried about his blood sugar levels. They tested him and they came back a little low so they transferred him to the NICU to monitor him. This moment was pretty much my worst nightmare ever since I realized how small he was going to be when I delivered him. I stayed in the room with Sky while Ryne went with Storm to get him checked into the NICU. Meanwhile some of my family came by to bring me food, once they left and took Sky home I was able to go to the NICU and be with Storm. They told me that they were also a little bit concerned about his jaundice so they put a light blanket under him. His feedings were every three hours, so for his first night that is when I went to see him and feed him. The next morning his jaundice hadn’t improved so they put lights above him also.
Storm ended up staying in the NICU for four days so they could monitor his blood sugar levels, his jaundice and to make sure he was feeding ok and gaining weight. My husband and I continued to go and see him for each of his feedings. They felt he was doing really well by his third day being there but because of his size he had to pass a car seat test of 90 minutes. He failed his first test so he had to stay an additional 24 hours before they could test him again. The next day I went in to watch him do his second test. I wanted to make sure he was put in the car seat properly and that he passed this one. Luckily he did pass the test and once the doctor saw him the next morning he was finally able to come home.
I was so excited and relieved to finally bring him home.
Stay tuned for my upcoming blog all about how Storm is doing now and his one month update!