Theodore Louis. (his birth story)

We found out I was pregnant in the spring. It was fairly uneventful pregnancy, but at 37 weeks baby boy went from transverse (sideways) to breech (bottom-down, instead of head-down, like he was supposed to be). Apparently I have a roomy uterus? Goodness. After tears were shed I had the option of seeing if he went head down on his own (not likely) or having the doctors move him (and making a pros and cons list with that, too) I went into the hospital for a version, where my doctor, a physician's assistant and a nurse manually turned him from the outside while I played flat on my back. At 37 weeks pregnant. Without an epidural. I am amazed at modern know-how and that he was safely turned from the outside, and I didn't want an epidural because honestly, I haven't ever had one and just wanted to keep it that way. But I had a contraction while they turned me and was reminded just how much contractions/natural births/labor can be. OUCH. They stopped turning him while I breathed through my contraction for a few minutes and then finished turning him. He was finally head down and the goal was for him to stay there. After the version I had a scheduled induction date for the day before my due date. I really didn't want to be induced. I also didn't want an emergency c section. But I also knew that it didn't really matter how he came. During my last week of pregnancy he was starting to come on his own. YAY! And at my last doctor's appointment she predicted that he would be born that week--before the induction date--and she was right! On the day before his induction date, he came.

My mom came the day after my doctor's appointment, on Tuesday night. She had booked her ticket the week before after I cried and moped to her how much I didn't want to be induced. I was so grateful for this amazing pregnancy, for a healthy baby, and I knew deep inside that it didn't matter at all how he was born, but I still had it in my mind what I wanted and was in mourning that the birth I had imagined may not happen. Nothing happened on Tuesday other than some cramps/Braxton Hicks and I went into Wednesday thinking nothing may not happen again. But shortly after Ryan left for work and Henry left for school I was feeling like moving and that this baby may just come with a little walking. Or he would have come anyway and I just wanted to feel like I was doing something to come a little quicker. So my mom, Walter, and I headed to Target to walk this baby out. We got to Target, picked up a few things for baby boy, Wally got a new shirt, and as we headed home for lunch I felt a big contraction. A real-deal contraction. I timed them on the way home and they were about 6-10 minutes apart. Since we were still unsure if he had moved from head-down we quickly headed home, I called Ryan to meet me at the hospital, dropped Walter off at a friend's place a little before 1, grabbed my hospital bag and headed out.

Of course once we were at the hospital the contractions subsided and I was worried that they had stopped altogether and I was the "experienced" mom who headed to the hospital for false labor, but once in triage, donning that beautiful hospital gown, the contractions started back up and stayed consistent. I was officially admitted around 2:45 when I was 4cm at 90% effaced. Unfortunately, while in triage I could only have one person with me, so my mom headed downstairs and Ryan stuck around. And unfortunately, there had been an emergency and all the nurses/resources were in the OR so they couldn't find enough nurses to staff a labor and delivery room so unfortunately, I labored the whole time in triage. Boring, small room, no window, triage. FORTUNATELY I always try and watch a comedy while in labor (Parks and Rec. for Henry and Walter, and this time, The Office) and laughter is the best distraction. And season 4 does not disappoint. It was pretty fun to laugh with Ryan as he timed my contractions. As with Hank and Walt, I did not get an epidural. I sat in the hospital bed for a while, waiting to be wheeled from triage, but when it looked like I was going to be there a while they graciously took off the monitoring belts and let me walk around the room and in the hallway. So the contractors were coming, the crampy stomachaches were continuing, and I was nervous that this baby was going to take longer than I thought I could manage. But lo and behold, around 3:30 my water broke. I knew it was go time, that there was no more barrier and this baby was ready. It's all a blur after that, but they checked me one more time, quickly wheeled me into an L&D room, and Ryan called my mom to come up. I had to move myself from the triage bed to the L&D bed "in between contractions". But the contractions were coming so fast and that seemed like an impossible feat, but I got to the other bed, my mom came into the room, and I pushed baby Theodore out of me within minutes. My mom was pretty ticked she didn't get to really labor with me since I was stuck in triage, but I was so grateful she was there for the birth and for the recovery, giving me kind words and calming my aching body.

And here's baby Theodore in all his newborn glory!

Born at 4:11 pm, he was a whopping 9 lbs 15.5 oz, with a beautiful head of hair, and beautiful baby blues (that are turning grey? I'm still hopeful!). I am still amazed that my body pushed that huge baby out of me. It was my third baby and my biggest and my body is definitely having a harder time getting back to normal. But when I remember that it pushed a huge child out, I cut it a some a lot of slack.

And although I am so grateful for my birth story, I know that this story is not the only way neither is it the "right" way to have a baby. And I know that having a baby is not the only way to know that our bodies are amazing and capable of amazing things.

Having a newborn in our home has made it even better than it was before. There is something so special about having this brand-new beautiful spirit in our home that has made all of us a little better.