Revisiting birth stories... 2nd Edition: Payton Chase
I found out I was pregnant again on May 5, 2005. I had been over at a friends' house watching a movie when I had an overwhelming feeling that I wasn't alone. My hand went to my belly and I just knew there was someone else with me.
I went home, placed Avery in the living room with his toys, and went straight to the bathroom to take a test. Immediately the second pink line showed up. I could not stop smiling.
This was, BY FAR, my easiest pregnancy to date. I felt queasy once, because of an air wicks guava air freshener. That was it. The first trimester was over before I knew it, and I was in for my first ultrasound. Again, my due date was changed, from January 1st to January 17th. I knew my first date was right, mostly because if I was truly due the 17th of January, how did I get a positive pregnancy test on May 5th? The dates didn't line up at all for the due date they gave me, but at that point, I just let it be.
In September we walked into the 20 week ultrasound, and I just KNEW Avery was going to have a little brother. I was right. And I cried tears of happiness thinking about my two boys and how amazing it would be for them to have each other growing up. It made my heart swell with happiness and pride. We knew immediately that his name would be Payton Chase.
The rest of the pregnancy passed pretty uneventfully. The last week of December I tried some self induction techniques. Can you blame me? I wanted the tax deduction if he was born before New Years! Payton was not ready to come though.
The first week of January I had a doctors appointment, and we started to discuss the end of the pregnancy. I brought up the discrepancy in the due dates once again. The doctor pulled up my chart and his handy wheel that tells dating of pregnancies. He knew that my husband had been out of town after April 16th, so that a January 17th due date was not even possible. He also knew that Avery's dates had been off, and that Avery's placenta was very deteriorated. Add in the flag in my chart that said "fetal macrasomia" (in other words history of BIG baby) and my doctor decided to induce labor on January 9th.
On the morning of January 9th my friend Nicole came to be with Avery so we could go to the hospital. After being admitted the doctor placed a pill in my cervix, called cytotec. I was already dilated 2-3 cm and he said it would help get labor moving. I walked the halls of labor and delivery, the contractions came immediately. Every hour or so, I would get back on the monitors to check Payton's heart rate and contractions. I was dilated to 6 cm by about 10:30 am. I continued to walk, but wasn't getting past 6 cm. In the afternoon the doctor said he wanted to start pitocin to get labor progressing. I said I would do pitocin if I could have an epidural first. I wanted to give it another try, but I was scared because with Avery it never provided relief. I knew the pitocin would bring contractions on fast and strong, so they brought in the anesthesiologist to place my epi. AGAIN, it did not take!
At 4 PM exactly we proceeded with the pitocin anyway. At 4:15 I suddenly felt a VERY strong contraction and said I needed the nurse to check me. She came in and checked, her eyes got wide when she realized I was already 10 cm dilated. She said baby's head needed to come down a little but I was ready to push. She needed to go get the doctor. Before she could walk out of the room I suddenly grabbed the bed rails and cringed- I had felt Payton's head move WAY down instantly with the next contraction. She told me whatever I did, do not push. She and the technician ran for the doctor was down the hall in an appointment. The technician came running in to get all the tools and instruments prepped for delivery- he was ripping things out of packages and this point the pain was becoming unbearable and bottling. I NEEDED to push and everyone was telling me not to. Unlike with Avery, I was NOT quiet at this point. I was pretty loud. The doctor ran in, raised the bed and told me to push. With three pushes, Payton Chase was born, at 4:19 PM on January 9, 2006. To me, he was so little! He was 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long. To this date, my smallest baby, and my fastest labor and delivery! He was perfect, he needed a little extra suctioning, the doctor said it was because his delivery was so quick that his lungs weren't fully compressed. After that, he had no problems at all.
I went home, placed Avery in the living room with his toys, and went straight to the bathroom to take a test. Immediately the second pink line showed up. I could not stop smiling.
This was, BY FAR, my easiest pregnancy to date. I felt queasy once, because of an air wicks guava air freshener. That was it. The first trimester was over before I knew it, and I was in for my first ultrasound. Again, my due date was changed, from January 1st to January 17th. I knew my first date was right, mostly because if I was truly due the 17th of January, how did I get a positive pregnancy test on May 5th? The dates didn't line up at all for the due date they gave me, but at that point, I just let it be.
In September we walked into the 20 week ultrasound, and I just KNEW Avery was going to have a little brother. I was right. And I cried tears of happiness thinking about my two boys and how amazing it would be for them to have each other growing up. It made my heart swell with happiness and pride. We knew immediately that his name would be Payton Chase.
The rest of the pregnancy passed pretty uneventfully. The last week of December I tried some self induction techniques. Can you blame me? I wanted the tax deduction if he was born before New Years! Payton was not ready to come though.
The first week of January I had a doctors appointment, and we started to discuss the end of the pregnancy. I brought up the discrepancy in the due dates once again. The doctor pulled up my chart and his handy wheel that tells dating of pregnancies. He knew that my husband had been out of town after April 16th, so that a January 17th due date was not even possible. He also knew that Avery's dates had been off, and that Avery's placenta was very deteriorated. Add in the flag in my chart that said "fetal macrasomia" (in other words history of BIG baby) and my doctor decided to induce labor on January 9th.
On the morning of January 9th my friend Nicole came to be with Avery so we could go to the hospital. After being admitted the doctor placed a pill in my cervix, called cytotec. I was already dilated 2-3 cm and he said it would help get labor moving. I walked the halls of labor and delivery, the contractions came immediately. Every hour or so, I would get back on the monitors to check Payton's heart rate and contractions. I was dilated to 6 cm by about 10:30 am. I continued to walk, but wasn't getting past 6 cm. In the afternoon the doctor said he wanted to start pitocin to get labor progressing. I said I would do pitocin if I could have an epidural first. I wanted to give it another try, but I was scared because with Avery it never provided relief. I knew the pitocin would bring contractions on fast and strong, so they brought in the anesthesiologist to place my epi. AGAIN, it did not take!
At 4 PM exactly we proceeded with the pitocin anyway. At 4:15 I suddenly felt a VERY strong contraction and said I needed the nurse to check me. She came in and checked, her eyes got wide when she realized I was already 10 cm dilated. She said baby's head needed to come down a little but I was ready to push. She needed to go get the doctor. Before she could walk out of the room I suddenly grabbed the bed rails and cringed- I had felt Payton's head move WAY down instantly with the next contraction. She told me whatever I did, do not push. She and the technician ran for the doctor was down the hall in an appointment. The technician came running in to get all the tools and instruments prepped for delivery- he was ripping things out of packages and this point the pain was becoming unbearable and bottling. I NEEDED to push and everyone was telling me not to. Unlike with Avery, I was NOT quiet at this point. I was pretty loud. The doctor ran in, raised the bed and told me to push. With three pushes, Payton Chase was born, at 4:19 PM on January 9, 2006. To me, he was so little! He was 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long. To this date, my smallest baby, and my fastest labor and delivery! He was perfect, he needed a little extra suctioning, the doctor said it was because his delivery was so quick that his lungs weren't fully compressed. After that, he had no problems at all.
Almost 7 years later, cannot believe how this sweet boy has grown and changed!
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