A Birth Story

So you have likely all seen the show on TLC/Discovery called a Birthday Story, well I didn’t want my labor and delivery on national TV but I would love to share it ith friends and family…I promise no gross photos or details.

So here are some pictures for your viewing delight. We love our little guy! I thought I would post the photos first for those who want to be spared the details.


Beginning Labor - Boy do I look happy for someone in labor.. Right after birth...and a scrub down - Proud Daddy
First Bath at the Hospital - Clean this gup off me please!

Warming up after the bath - hold the tanning lotion Chiling out in the nursery - day 1

Snuggling with mommy - day 2
Hanging out with my nana - day 2 - Thank you for coming to see me and helping mommy and daddy!

Going home - day 3

Looking like a lego pirate - day 3

Ready for bed - day 3

Play with me - Day 4

Relaxing - Day 4

Big Yawn! Day 4, hanging out with Daddy

So here we go…DETIALS
On Tuesday the 14th I woke up, officially 4 days past my due date and expecting to be induced. My doctor told me to not eat or drink anything after 1pm and to call the hospital at 5:30pm to see what time I should come to the hospital to start the induction process – we decided to use some prostaglandins, which ripen the cervix, on the night of the 14th and pitocin, which contracts the uterus, on the morning of the 15th. During the day Ryan and I hung out, went on a walk, went to see the movie The Proposal (FUNNY), and just had a good time together - then we got ready to go to the hospital. I called the hospital at 5:30 and they said they were really busy so to call back at 6pm. I called back at 6pm to be told “we planned on having you come at 9pm but we don’t know if we will have enough beds, so it might be 10pm but call back at 8pm and we will let you know. If we get a bed sooner we will call you.” Okay so at this point I am hungry but hey I will get a good night’s sleep and be able to have some ice chips when I get there, not too bad.

At 8pm I called the hospital back and as soon as the nurse picked up the phone, my water broke, just a little bit (weird feeling and I think unmistakable). I told the nurse, “ummm I think my water broke” she told me to hang out at home for an hour to see if it was my water that broke and come in immediately once I figured it out and that she would call me back as soon as a bed opened up. Well it took me all of 30 minutes to confirm my water had broke so I decided to take a shower and have Ryan load the car for the hospital…it wasn’t the water that gave it away the fact that I was in labor, it was the contractions that started coming every few minutes, also unmistakable in my case. At 9:25 the hospital called to say “okay come in” to which I replied “great because I am on my way and in labor!”

We got to the hospital around 10pm and checked in. I hung out and got dressed in the “awesome looking” gown and monitor girdle thing. I got my IV, signed everything, and still felt excited to be getting the show on the road. When I got checked I was all of 1 and a half cm dilated….okay so not the start to labor I was looking forward to but it was promising in terms of not having to be induced. After some antibiotics (ouch) and an hour of being on the monitors I got to go for a walk with Ryan….after an hour and contractions every 2-3 minutes we had to go back for more monitoring…and no progress. 30 minutes on the monitor and I wanted to get into the tub…hello warm water and jets. I spent an hour in the jet tub trying out the theory that the tub is comparable to an epidural for pain relief. The tub was nice, the jets were fantastic. After an hour I had to get out to go back on the monitors and to see my doctor. Okay so got checked again and like no change but the contractions were coming nicely so no induction was necessary, nor would it even help to get the extra drugs. Cool…my prayers had been answered I had gone into labor on my own, Bean picked his own birthday!!!

Well they kept me in the bed for a while because I had to get more antibiotics (ouchy again – for those who are not aware penicillin G burns as it goes into the veins) and some oxygen for a little while. Okay so it totally sucks to be stuck in bed in labor unable to move around a lot with no drugs for pain relief….did I mention the bed is NOT comfortable at all? Oh and my IV was hitting a nerve in my hand, which is now bruised and still hurts, this was another lovely side effect of being dehydrated when you go into labor.

After a few hours I hadn’t made much progress and I was getting tired so the nurse asked me to take some pain relief drugs to help, at that point I thought okay we’ll try some drugs. I got some drugs in my IV to take the edge off, which they did for like 20 minutes….worthless (in my opinion). An hour later the nurse gave me some more drugs, again like 20 minutes of relief and nothing but I had at least final reached 4cm! At about 4:30 am the nurse came in and asked me if I wanted more drugs in my IV because I was going to be in labor for quite a while and I probably needed to try and rest. Okay so at this point I am exhausted, I have had nothing to eat or drink, I got a poor night’s sleep the night before, and I was so nauseas. Faced with hours and hours of labor ahead of me I started to worry that if I got no sleep I would have zero energy to push the baby out and end up with interventions or a C-section. So I asked for an epidural – something those of you that know me scared me more than labor itself. At 5am I got the epidural which helped me to rest and relax and dilate to a 6!

Okay so let’s address the question – is the tub as good as the epidural… – are you kidding me? The epidural is fantastic despite the fact that it can be patchy, which mine was (still worth it). The tub was great and if you are well rested, nourished, and can stay in it for long periods of time it is great but if you can’t, then not so much, but either way the epidural in terms of pain relief offers more (never thought I would be saying this).

Now the night I came in for the “induction” my doctor was at the hospital and had delivered 3 babies by midnight. During the day my doctor popped in between delivering another 4 babies (she was a bit busy to say the least). Around 9am my doctor broke my water and we found out that I had meconium in my amiotic fluid. Now you may be saying “wait she said her water broke at 8pm….this is 13 hours later.” Okay so my water broke up high and I still had a bag of waters down low – this had to be broken so I could finish dilating – she broke my water to help speed up my labor (THANK YOU).

At around noon we heard the nurses yelling get the OR ready for an emergency C-section, they grabbed the anesthesiologist out of my room v(he was there giving me more drugs) – he ran down the hall to the OR and the nurses grabbed my doctor, right before she came in my room and asked her to do the C-section since the other girl’s doctor was not there and my doctor was the only doctor free on the floor. So here I am hanging out in bed just waiting for this kid to come but getting pretty uncomfortable despite the fact that I couldn’t feel my legs, could barely move my toes, and was tired. We had been waiting for my doctor to check me for over an hour before she got snatched up to do surgery. I told my nurse, “hey can you just check me, I don’t think I am ready to push but I need some kind of hope.” My nurse obliged and said “well you are ready to push, let me go tell your doctor.” The nurse came back and we got ready to push, my doctor came in straight from the C-section…baby number 5 for the day, 8 since I had been there….I pushed for 40 minutes and we had a baby! - #9 for my doctor that day - #1 for us!

Things I didn’t like about labor in general:
It was 17+ hours
I could not get comfortable in the bed that I ended up being stuck in for most of my labor
I couldn’t eat or drink during labor (are you kidding me)
I had the labor shakes – this is when your body shakes uncontrollably from your hormone changes, imagine being cold and shaking without the ability to stop only you aren’t cold and there is nothing to do to combat it

Things I liked about labor:
I got a BABY!
My husband was totally supportive and awesome!
Drugs are my friend!
Labor pain can be manageable if you have the tools to work with it but sometimes you have no control over your ability or inability to use certain coping techniques– this is what it means to be flexible with your expectations.
Not being pregnant anymore – what a relief
My nurses were super nice and helped me a lot
I felt really prepared, even when the doctor told me that the NICU had to come in for my delivery, I was really glad I took the birthing classes, read books, and talked with people – there was nothing unexpected that happened during my labor in terms of me or the baby, this made it a pleasant experience and helped me to be calm and maintain my composure for all except about 10 minutes right before I pushed when I kind of panicked just because I was tired and knew I might be pushing for hours

Interesting insights:
I think pushing is more about how much you curl up than how hard you actually try to “push”
I had no swelling during pregnancy but plenty after…guess I got mine
I thought it was interesting that the labor nurses kept telling me about this fruit drink they would make me after I delivered if I wanted it….amazing how motivating this is when you are hungry – and boy did it taste great! Labor and delivery = juice bar
Cracking jokes while in pain can really be a good way to pass the time (I am so proud of myself for not turning into the wicked witch of the west during labor)
Breast-feeding is not as easy and natural as it looks even though the process is as natural as birth itself – I am glad I researched all of the details regarding successful ways to breast-feed and to use alternatives if needed because you never know how you or your baby will respond to the feeding process

Sorry this post was so long, I didn’t want to leave anything out for those who wanted to know…and for those who didn’t well too bad so sad.

He is here!

Karsten Brody Westlake has arrived - here are the stats pictures will come tomorrow. :)

• 17 hours of labor - no induction necessary (I will explain later)
• He was 7 pounds 8.5 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long, 10 fingers, 10 toes, 1 really cute smile
• His eyes are black right now (like mine were at birth)
• He has a darker version of my hair color right now, his is more brown but when he was first born it was sandy blonde with a little red
• He has Ryan's long arms, fingers, and legs
• He was born at 1:19pm on 7-15
• He has the cutest sneezes and yawns and doesn't cry very much yet unless you take him away from mommy, daddy, or his warmer...then it is on like donky kong - LOL

Late.....

Well my kid must take after me, he is late...we are still waiting. :)

I make the joke that the only thing I have been on-time for was my birth, after that I have pretty much been late for everything so perhaps there is hope for this kiddo.

1 Day left….hopefully

So today is officially the end of week 39; I am due tomorrow! Hopefully little Bean will decide to make his grand entrance soon. If he does not show up by Tuesday evening I am being induced so either way check back for updates.

Oh the Places You’ll go…when you are bored and waiting for a baby

Ryan recently finished his summer internship for school (Friday) so he has been home with me for a few days. We decided that we were very bored and Ryan had heard about this nice little “dirt” road that essentially goes from one reservoir over a mountain and down to another reservoir. The person who told Ryan about the road described it as a pleasant drive and saw nothing wrong with taking a pregnant woman on the drive. So we thought well we are super bored let’s plan a trip down to this dirt road and get out into nature for a few hours. Well we drove down about an hour to the turn off for the main road that leads to the dirt road…then we turned onto the dirt road, which is one path cut through the trees on the side of a mountain with a creek running beside it…did I mention it is part of the mountain so instead of dirt it was more like bumpy rocks for 2/3rds of the drive. As I was tossed around from side to side as well as up and down I think I can honestly say that I made Bean mad….but not mad enough to want out. The last 1/3rd of the drive was fairly smooth, this was when we reached the top then descended back down the mountain. Here are some pictures from our adventure…our 39 and a half week belly shot…HUGENESS, a little animal friend we met along the way, a shot of the “nice” part of our drive, and a view from the top of the mountain.

Movies and Dating

Ryan and I have recently been trying to spend as much time together as possible while we are still a family of 2. Yesterday we decided to watch a few movies together, Star Trek (in the theater) and Benjamin Button (rental).

So I admit that I really wasn’t too excited to see Star Trek. Growing up I occasionally watched the Star Trek show and I thought it was ridiculously cheesy (sorry if you liked it, it just wasn’t my thing). Any ways, I agreed to go to the show because so many people had said it was good…they were right. I was really surprised at how good the movie was; definitely worth seeing. My favorite part – the little kid Jim Kirk driving the car and singing the Beastie Boys song Sabotage “wahhhhha…. I can’t stand it, I know you planned it….” made me want to go speeding down the street in my car listening to that CD (yes I have the Beastie Boys Greatest hits CD…go ahead take in the shock).

Now Benjamin Button, wow I should have NEVER watched that movie while pregnant – those of you who have seen it probably know why. The movie I thought had great acting and a decent story line but it moved super slow. Ryan didn’t like it. I thought it was sad, Ryan thought it was depressing. We both agreed it moved very slow. I think if you want a sad love story and you have a lot of time on your hands it is great, otherwise probably not a movie I would suggest. I don’t suggest this movie for anyone who is pregnant.

14 Days and Counting….

It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant, boy did that make me nervous and excited. Then we found out we were having a boy and we told pretty much everyone…again nervous and excited. Now that we are in the home stretch as my doctor likes to call it I can’t help but feeling an overwhelming sense of, you guessed it, nervous excitement!

I have been busy washing baby stuff, setting up his room, acquiring baby stuff (man this kid is going to have an awesome birthday), and I think attempting to eat my way into labor (I am so hungry…can’t eat all that much at once but boy do I like to eat, well at least most days lately).

Here’s a picture of my ever growing belly….yes it is HUGE but I guess that is what happens when you stick a bun in a 4 foot 11 oven….the only place it has to “rise” is out. Thankfully I have gained very little weight during my pregnancy, so hopefully my “massive bump” will recede quickly.
I have also planted a garden on our back porch recently…yes I know I am pregnant like I need anything else to take care of other than a baby. I have always wanted to try and grow veggies as well as some herbs and now that we have a place that actually gets sunlight where we are “allowed” to plant according to our lease, I thought I would try it out.

I planted:
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Basil
Cilantro
Banana Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Paris Island Romaine Lettuce
Chocolate Bell Peppers (these are supposed to be sweet and gourmet quality…they are all the rage on the internet)

Of course right after I planted my little garden it started raining for weeks on end….argh. Good thing I planted in well drained containers. I did have to have Ryan drill into one of the potters to create more drainage (tomatoes) because the plant was being finicky. All the rain also brought bugs (only on two of the plants) and fungus (just on the tomatoes)…so I have had to learn a lot about natural ways to combat fungus and buggies from invading my garden. Hopefully the sun will decide to stay for a while…we had our first 3 days in a row with no rain this week (stopped today…it rained this morning – 3 days is a lot considering it has been raining every day for a month).

Here are some pictures of my meager garden; hopefully I can manage to grow something worth eating!
I also thought I would include a picture of what we see from our back porch, you can see the mountains in the background and some of the south-west part of the Salt Lake Valley as well as the Northern part of the Utah Valley. Out our front door we have mountains that are much closer, I will have to take a picture of those. We also have the mountain we live on that you can see the side of that has the hang gliding park on it if you turn the other direction from our porch or walk out our front door.
It also rained the other day (big surprise) and the clouds were pretty low, I missed the best pictures but I thought I would share a bit of the view from our window after the storm.

Let the Countdown Begin!

As of today I have 30 days left until my due date, I can hardly believe it! It is hard to really picture myself as a parent; perhaps it takes some time to get used to the idea that I will be someone’s mommy. I know this sounds weird but I just don’t feel old enough to be someone’s mom. Yes, I do know how absolutely ridiculous it sounds when I say I don’t feel old enough – I am plenty old enough to be a mom…of a few kids.
Well I am excited to see what this new adventure brings and I am very excited to start preparing more for Bean’s arrival.

Also worth mentioning, I have been taking this pre-natal water aerobics class and I love it! I highly recommend swimming and water aerobics to anyone who is pregnant! I feel so much lighter and like I am floating on air in the pool. Even on days when my back hurts, the baby is “on my nerves” literally, and I feel gross, I get in that warm pool and I feel like I can do anything! It is also super cool to feel the baby moving around while swimming, it is like he is trying to swim with me.