Baby Tino’s Birth Story!

Hey everyone!

Now that Baby Tino is 2 weeks old, I’ve finally chalked up enough 5-minute blogging sessions to be able to share his birth story with you all! Now, I will warn you that some of this may get graphic, so if you faint easily, maybe come back for the next blog post.

Also, I decided to write this as more of a timeline, because honestly, in my mind, it was all a blur and for all I know, I’m going to end up lying to you all and telling you we were in and out of the hospital in no time. So, instead, I chronicled what happened by looking back through text messages and checking the times- otherwise, I’d probably have no idea what time things really happened.

Finally, before we delve in, I just want to preface this post by saying that, overall, our birth and post-partum experiences with Baby Tino were so much better, quicker, less stressful, and less eventful than Anissa’s. If you don’t remember her birth story, you can read about them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. Luckily and knock on wood, I think Baby Tino’s birth story can be wrapped up in just one blog post. 😉

New Year’s Eve: December 31, 2015

• We knew we were being brought in to start the induction that evening but hadn’t been told a time. They said they would call by early evening to let us know what time to come in, so we went to eat our “Last meal” at Cheesecake Factory right by the hospital. We had all of our bags and were eating with my parents so we could hand over Anissa when the time came.
• The hospital called at 6 and asked if we could be there at 8:30, so we enjoyed our dinner and then made our way over. Officially checked-in at the hospital at 8:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
• After about 2 hours of changing, getting in the bed, relaxing, and just hanging out with my family, around 10:15 p.m. they did a cervical check and I was 2-3 cms dilated so they decided they did not have to do any more ripening (i.e. Cervidil like last time). They decided to move straight to Pitocin, which I was excited about because with Anissa we wasted 10 hours doing Cervidil and it sent her heart rate plummeting, leading to a really scary situation.
• Around 11:30 p.m., they started the Pitocin drip. Unfortunately, the same scary situation happened as it did with Anissa, and all of a sudden the room was flooded with nurses trying to get the baby’s heart rate back up, flipping me on all fours, giving me oxygen, and trying to encourage me that everything was ok. It was, thank God.
• After all that ended, Cele was so tired he fell asleep right before the ball drop. I wished the nurse a Happy New Year, but my mind was still elsewhere from the scare.
• That night, I didn’t sleep a wink. My eyes were glued to the baby’s heart beat monitor, and between that, the frequent nurse visits and shift changes, and my increasing contractions, sleep was just not on the agenda for me.

New Year’s Day: January 1, 2016

• Around 8 a.m., Cele and I were watching tv. My contractions hadn’t been too terribly bad, so I was just toughing them out. All of a sudden, I got a wave of nausea, cold sweats, and a TERRIBLE back ache that couldn’t be relieved, so Cele helped me stand up to try to stretch it. When I did, I got so lightheaded I thought I was going to fall over. He helped me lay back down and I started throwing up because the pain in my back was so incredibly unbearable. Also, being that I hadn’t eaten or had coffee or any kind of sugar in over 12 hours didn’t help. I always get nauseous when I don’t eat.
• Around 10:30 a.m., I decided to get  the epidural. The nurse promised me it would alleviate that back pain, so I went with it. The contractions were getting stronger and more frequent, but I couldn’t feel a darn thing and I loved it!
• At the next cervical check at 1:30 p.m., I had progressed to 5 cm so they broke my water. They promised me that getting from 1 cm-5 was the hardest, and that I should progress more quickly now.
• At 3:30 p.m. the nurse checked me and I was surprised to find out I was already 8-9 cm!
• At that point, I started having really bad back pain and asked for more meds in my epidural. I could now feel my legs and the contractions, which they said was fine as long as I wasn’t in pain…. but I was. They gave me another dose of meds, but nothing helped. Soon, I started feeling like I had to go to the bathroom, which is the big sign that it is push time!
• Around 4 p.m. the nurse came in when I called her to check on me. She checked and I asked, “Am I crazy or am I close to pushing?” and she laughed and said, “Oh, you’re not crazy….” and when I asked if I was close she said, “Honey, have you noticed I haven’t taken my hand away?” I’m pushing the baby’s head back in!” All of a sudden, she started pushing the Nurse Call  button on the hospital bed, telling the other nurses that if they couldn’t get my midwife in ASAP (she was in a delivery next door) that she’d be delivering the baby herself!
• The midwife came in and everyone got in to place and started prepping the room for delivery. As the midwife sat down, she asked if I could give her 15 seconds to put her shoe covers on. When I chuckled, she got very serious and said “Don’t laugh or you will laugh the baby out!” Again, I chuckled to which she exclaimed, “I’m serious! He’s coming out with every laugh!!”

Everything was ready to go by 4:19 p.m. and they told me I could start pushing. With Anissa, it took 30 minutes of pushing (29 to be exact) before she came, and some nurses had even commented that that was a fluke and not to get discouraged if it took longer this time. So imagine my surprise when 8 minutes and 3 contractions later, out popped Baby Tino! Turns out, he was “sunny side up” which was why I was having such bad back pain- it was actually back labor. The midwife was very impressed that I was able to deliver vaginally because she said with sunny side up babies, it usually leads to c-section.

He came out screaming but a little jittery, so they tested his blood sugar. It was slightly low, so they had to give him some formula. Then, I got to hold him for a good long while and our family got to come in and meet him!! After that, they took him to the nursery to test his blood sugar twice before releasing him to us. Everything was fine, and we were all in our new room by about 7:30 p.m. That evening and all throughout our stay, we were so surrounded by love and support. It always amazes me what awesome families we have!

We came home that Sunday, and since coming home, it has been such an easy transition (knock on wood!) I know it will get harder, but Tino is the most relaxed baby ever, and Anissa is such a great big sister, it is just working out great. Thank you all for the support, love, and meals 😉

Can’t wait to continue sharing our journey with you all!

XO,

Amanda