And Then There Were Seven

Griffin Tennessee

9 lb 7 oz  20 1/4 in 

February 29, 2012, 11:01 PM

Griffin: Man of strong faith

On Wednesday (leap day!!) I had a routine doctor's appointment. 
I had said on Facebook how great I thought a leap day baby would be, but that I wasn't holding my breath!
At 3, I went to the doctor.  When she checked me she asked if I was having contractions, because I was dilated to 4 cm.  I told her I was having them, but I always have them, so it wasn't surprising.  She wanted me to go on the monitors to see if I was indeed contracting regularly.  I was 38 weeks, 4 days, and while she couldn't induce me at that point, if I was in labor, she could help speed things up.
Once on the monitors, it was discovered that I was indeed contracting every 4 minutes. 
She then presented me with two options: head to the hospital and have baby, or go home and wait things out. 
Here's where things got tricky.
After Emily was diagnosed with T1D, we knew things would be different in regards to what happened with the kids when I had the baby.  No longer could we just leave them all at home under the care of the older boys.  Thankfully, a dear friend of mine is a school nurse.  School nurses deal with T1Ds everyday.  We had decided that if for some reason, I went before my mom was able to get here, Molly would watch the kids.  However, the week before, Molly told me her hubby wanted her to go to New Orleans with him while he was on business.  She said she didn't want to leave me without someone, but I assured her the chances of me going into labor were slim to none, and I didn't want her missing time with her hubby on account of me!
I texted Molly and asked if she was still in town, she was! 
We decided it was go time.  I headed to the hospital, and Matt waited at home until Molly could get there.
I arrived at the hospital at about 5:30.  I kept joking about how we were in a hurry, because I wanted a leap day baby, all the while knowing that probably wouldn't happen.
After getting me admitted, they started IVs and gave me some pit to get the contractions going a bit faster.  After a little bit, the doctor on call came in and broke my water.  No turning back now!  But I was so focused on my leap day baby, I didn't care! 
Shortly after that, they asked me if I wanted an epidural.  I'm so wishy washy when it comes to epidurals.  I've given birth both ways, and honestly, I don't know why I sometimes choose no epidural, other than it scares me to death.  After talking with the anesthesiologist, I decided I would go ahead and get one. 
It was rough.  It took her 3 times to place it in the right place.  During which time I was shaking and crying and contracting.  I was wondering what in the world I was doing, but figured I'd gone through most of it, I wasn't stopping now!  Finally, it was in and I started to feel great. I could move me legs, but couldn't feel the contractions.  I kept having to look at the monitor to see if they'd stopped.  No, they didn't.
At one point the nurse came in and said the baby did something funny, and she wanted to check me.  The chart looked funny, but I really don't know what it was.  I was 5 cm.  This was at about 10.  I told Matt we weren't going to make leap day.
After a very short time, I started to feel nauseous.  Then cold.  I had a feeling I was in transition, but didn't want to say anything since the nurse had just been in to check!  After about half an hour, I was shaking pretty good and was feeling pressure.  We called the nurse, who was shocked to find me 9 cm.  She called out to the desk to have them call my doctor.  She asked if I wanted to lay on my side to wait, or if I wanted to get my legs in stirrups so I was ready when the doc got there.  I asked how long it would take the doctor, and the nurse told me about 15 minutes.  I said that I would lay on my side, because that was too long to wait in stirrups. 
However, with the next contraction, I had lots of pressure, and told the nurse I didn't think the doctor would make it.  She had me roll over and looked, and his head was coming down.  She called for more nurses and the in house doctor.  He came in, just as the next contraction was hitting.  I had the urge to bear down, and did, ever so slightly.  His head came out, followed by the rest in short order.
We had made leap day, with 59 minutes to spare!
My doctor came strolling in, shortly after he was born. 
Griffin Tennessee came into the world weighing 9 lb 7 oz.  He is 20 1/4 inches long.  He is also the picture of health.
This hospital has been amazing about staying on top of things and making sure he is, indeed, healthy.  They did an echo-cardiogram of his heart, which found his heart to be healthy. 
Unbeknownst to me, Molly was scheduled to leave, the very next day.  Choosing to have him on Wednesday was the very best thing we could have done.  I'm not sure I would have held out for another week when my mom could be there.
I look and see how God has all the details of our lives, in His hands, and it amazes me.
Everything went perfectly.  He is perfect.  I feel great. It was time for some good in our lives, and everything has been far better than good!  The kids are all over the moon happy to have him, and so are we.  God is good.  All the time.