Colton's Birth Story

My pregnancy and delivery with Colton were quite dramatic. We were thrilled to be pregnant with our third, and last, child. However, from the very beginning I felt horrible. I wasnt nauseous or sick during my first trimester but I stayed in excruciating pain. We had put our house up for rent and were in the process of building so during this time we were living with my Mom, and my sister took on a huge role of being an Aunt while I cried in pain most days. I had my first contraction with him at 17 weeks and I remember this vividly. I was in the shower when it hit me (this time I didnt mistake it for a stomach ache or cramp) and held my hands on the wall while slowly dropping to my knees while trying to yell for Jason. By the time my voice appeared the contraction had subsided. I knew then to keep my activity low until I saw my doctor. I remember the look on his face when I told him and he warned me this might be an entertaining pregnancy. This man was right on!

At 23 weeks I had a routine ultrasound and was told shortly after that my body was preparing for labor and that I would be making home right there in the hospital. At this point, my cervix was shortening, I was having contractions, my FFN test was positive (this test, although many times inaccurate, is an indicator of labor within the next two weeks), and I had already had preterm labor twice before. Poor Courtnie, at 3 yrs old, became my support system and she sat in a chair and watched her mother being hooked up to monitors and poked with this and that. I can only imagine her thoughts watching all of this alone.

After a week of being in the hospital and no changes I was released to go home but still on strict bed rest. This however was short-lived. At my next appointment a week later, I was put back in the hospital with no sight of being released. Baylor Garland officially became my home for the next 3 months. It was not a fun place to be. Jason became a single dad to two kids while trying his best to be the best husband from far away (all of which he conquered with perfection and little complaint). My mom and sister moved in with us (okay, not us exaclty, more like Jason and the kids) to help and they too were of tremendous help. Jason was at work everyday at 3/4 am and left in time to pick the kids up from school at 3pm. They came home, did their homework, a few household chores, had dinner and every night were at the hospital to visit with me. This schedule he had was the same for duration of my bed rest. All this time, I sat in a hospital bed feeling fine. Sure I felt the contractions this entire time but the meds lightened them and they really didnt hurt. I did have two spells where the contractions werent stopping and the L&D nurses had to come in and give extra meds to stop them and another time where they tried to switch my meds and those didnt work at all so I was switched back to the lovely Terbutaline. I watched TV endlessly, ate what I could get my hands on that wasnt hospital food, kept myself entertained online and showered twice a day (that was the highlight each day!). Now that I have painted that wonderful picture for you, let me be honest - my mood and attitude definitely could have used some love. I cried. I yelled. I laughed. I complained. I was determined yet defeated at the same time. I wanted out of there but wanted to be there for my unborn child. Let's face it, I was a psycho mother-to-be. I acknowledge this! Thank you to everyone who supported me, understood this and never let my lack of kindness hurt your feelings.

While on bed rest, I was in the hospital through Halloween, our wedding anniversary, and Thanksgiving. On December 22nd, I was having my last ultrasound before Christmas Day. I went in with a letter and pleaded my case to be released. My doctors were not happy, I had been trying to escape from their care for months now. I was 34 weeks then and just wanted to be at home with my children. Remember me saying we were building a house? I had only been there for about 6 weeks when I was put in the hospital so I hadnt even gotten to really live there yet! I wanted to go home!!! After my speech begging to go home, my team of doctors met with eachother and agreed to let me go home with a contraction monitor. I could do that! So home I went, two days before Christmas. I did remain on bed rest though through Christmas and New Years.

At 35 weeks, I was given the okay to stop taking my medicine (Terbutaline) and to resume normal activity. Heck, I had forgotten what normal activity was by then! It was a Friday when labor finally kicked in. And once again, I thought my stomach was hurting because I was hungry. I was at a friends house when my first "good" contraction kicked in and we all laughed through it and Jason and I headed back home. I sent Jason to pick up something for dinner while I took a bath and shaved my legs (hey, I was about to have multiple people looking at my lady down there!).

We get there and I am dying of the pain and felt totally beat when they told me I was only dilated to 4cm. By the time they got me back to a room, my contractions had almost stopped but I was progressing slowly. I ended up falling asleep waiting for my body to get going. My contractions decreased to about 1 every hour, which I didnt really feel (btw, no epidural here either) but I continued to dilate. Not a bad deal really!! When I finally made it to 10cm they had to give me pitocin to get the contractions going again. For all of you women who have ever been given pitocin, bless your hearts. That drug is not very friendly! By the time that kicked in, all I could focus on was getting that baby out (we didnt know the sex of the baby just yet). Has he was being born, he flipped in the birth canal which caused me to curse in pain and him to be born bruised on his face, arms, and chest. He also did not want to breath on his own but after starring at the nurses for a few minutes he decided to finally take his first breath. Colton was born on January 8th, 2005 at 7:46 am at just under 36 weeks and he weighed 6lbs 3oz and was 18 3/4 inches long.

He did go back to NICU for a few hours to prove he was healthy. We left for home the very next day. The story doesnt end here though.... 3 days later we were back in the NICU for jaundice. I cannot describe to you my broken heart. I wanted to badly to leave that place and here I was back in there. I wanted my baby, I wanted to other two children, my husband, my home, I wanted a normal life. I cried for hours in the waiting room with my church minister pleading for a break. After two days of being back in the hospital, they so kindly gave me a room to stay in while Colton was in NICU, we left home.

He was the cutest baby. We all loved on him and were so excited to be a family of five and back together again at home. Colton did have colic. For any mother who has had a colicky baby, bless your hearts. Colic is real. At 4 months old it finally went away and we were back to having our sweet, smiling baby again.

The rest of his story will follow in another blog.