Ethan's Birth Story

On Thursday, June 9th, at about 1:30 pm Captain Gookin stripped my membranes in the clinic. Boy, was that painful! We were both sweating by the end of it. I'm pretty sure half her arm was up there!Anyway, I was 4 cm dilated for a few weeks prior to this procedure. This procedure put me to 5cm. She was SURE I was going to go into labor that evening. So was one of the other doctors...So sure that she handed off my chart to Captain North who would be on duty in L&D that night. She let us go home to get some stuff together before my labor started (as opposed to keeping us, as she said North would've wanted to do). They were so sure that they didnt even have my schedule my 40 week appointment. Dr. Njoku said I'd be having him soon so I didn't need another appt. So Wes and I went home and got our stuff and dropped Daisy and Duke off at my friend' Miranda's and got a room on base. Well at about 10pm I started having contractions consisently 3 mins apart..then starting to go to 2 mins apart. They were painful, but not unbearable. So we went in to L&D, and much to my dismay I was STILL at a 5. So Wes and I gave up and just went home. Nothing happened for a few days and then Monday, June 13th...after some help from Wes' prostaglandins, I started contractions at about 9 am. They were irregular ALL DAY LONG...so I walked back and forth around our backyard and bounced around on the exercise ball. This was (according to the ultrasound) my due date by the way. Well as we're laying in bed at about 1030pm, it feels like something explodes inside me. I go to the bathroom but there's no "water" or blood or anything...The next couple contractions were UNBEARABLE--so I tell Wes we need to go NOW. We start driving to l&d--they're asking him a bunch of questions on the phone and finally say for us to come in since I didn't know if it was my water or not (it didn't really matter because I was going anyway, we were halfway there by that point). Somehow Wes got there in like 29 minutes. I walk up to the ER doors and have to keep stopping between contractions. He gets me a wheelchair and races me across the hospital to L&D where I have to get weighed and all this. We get there about 11:45pm. They ask me for a urine specimen..I go in the bathroom and then there's this RUSH of blood. I hobble back to my bed where they're trying to get a swab to see if it's amniotic fluid. As I lay there writhing in pain, the sample comes back inconclusive...soo they have to do another one. So after that, the nurse says she's going to check me (they can't tell if the bag's broken because they said it felt like some of it was still there) but she said "we're keeping her anyway, she's at a 7, go ahead and start the IV". Okay the IV! Now it takes 2 people and 3 attempts to get my IV started..I'm getting less and less happy. They ask if I wanted an epidural I said I didn't, but I think I do now because I didn't think it'd be THIS painful. They said they'd get anesthesiology to come talk to me about my options. Well then they tell me they need to get an ENTIRE bag of fluids in me first....Now I'm well hydrated so I know this is going to take awhile..as I look over and watch...drip......drip..........drip.. All of a sudden I'm feeling the urge to push. I say to Nurse Musshorn...I'm not going to get any meds am I? She said Honestly, we could do a prudential block but it'd probably take longer than if you were to just push him out yourself now. At this point there's no sign of the doctor or the anesthesiologist..the doctor (Captain Snow) has been "getting dressed") for what seemed like an hour! Musshorn says "I'm just going to push this again"..as she pushes the red call button for a second time, letting them know I feel like I need to push. So she said push when yuo feel like it, dont' wait for me..So that's what I did..I pushed when and for as long as I felt like it...trying to do it slow and steady and breathe down so I didn't tear.They wind up telling me to hold my legs up..Hold my OWN legs up? That just wasnt happening. I said I can't! And started complaining about my back hurting. So luckily a nurse and Wes held them for me until I found that I could hold them up by grabbing from inside my thighs and that worked very well with pushing. Well all of a sudden they say Ethan's heart rate is dropping and they're going to need to use the vacuum extractor "and noone wants that" the doctor said. They got serious. I got scared. Musshorn said "you need to push...like you never have before!". So I did..I pushed as hard as I could---this time for as long as they told me to..and Snow said Oh good! It's working..We're not  going to need to use it if you give another push like that! So one or two more pushes like that and he was out! Born at 1:11am...not even an hour and a half after we had arrived. There was no nursing immediately after--I was like jello and frozen..I had them put him on me skin to skin..we waited a little (I asked to wait 1-2 minutes for cord clamping) and then Wes cut the cord. The placenta was delivered and it was huge and gross I asked Wes take a pic of it but he looked at me like I was crazy and said no. Luckily, I only needed one stitch. He went with Ethan for his first bath while I was moved to recovery. He said when they rolled Ethan over onto his stomach he propped himself up on his own like he was doing a push up! We stayed in the hospital until Wednesday evening because Ethan wound up getting jaundice pretty badly and lost a lot of weight. He was born 8 lb 5 oz (and 21 inches) and when we were discharged he weighed 6 lb 15 oz. They were making me supplement with formula and they put him under the lights Tuesday night. Wes stood most of the night holding Ethan's hands as he cried. It was heartbreaking. At his highest his jaundice was 17.1 so they were making us come back EVERY DAY to prick his foot and check his bilirubin. Luckily, he's always had a great appetite and lots of pee and poopy diapers to help flush it out. He is 5 weeks and 3 days old today! And aside from what we believe to be acid reflux, he's doing well and we couldn't imagine life without him! <3

Ethan James Linder Born: June 13, 2011, Weighing 8 lb 5 oz, 21 inches long

These photos were taken the day he was born. :)