I had no intention of opening this site back up but I needed a space to write out Logan's birth story so here we are! And if I'm going to type it all out I might as well share it!
Let's start on November 3. No, let's start before that. On October 15th when I found out I was pregnant, very pregnant, one of the first questions I asked the Doctor was "can I still run?". I had a million other questions but that was the one that slipped out first. Since March I had been training to run Wine and Dine weekend with my little sister and if it was safe I wanted to still attempt to participate. Doctor assured me that it was ok to keep running as long as I felt ok and encouraged me to keep working out in some capacity because both Logan and I were used to the activity. The week of the run (October 30th) I asked again if it was still ok and again Doctor encouraged me to run as long as I felt good. I went back and forth on what I was going to do all week leading up to the race. I ultimately decided that I would do as much as my body would allow me to, even if that meant swallowing my pride and not finishing.
November 3rd my little sister and I got up at 2:45am and made our way to Epcot. I won't lie, I was a nervous wreck and considered not even attempting it while we waited to get into our corrals. As soon as I was in my corral that all changed and I was ready to go. I kept telling myself if something didn't feel right I would stop and find a medic tent otherwise I was going to do as much as I could. And that's exactly what I did. I ran way more than I even I thought I would and finished pretty much on pace to what I had expected. Crossing the finish line with my sister, at 37 weeks pregnant, was one of my proudest moments yet. At the end of the run I was exhausted but I still felt great! So great that I went to Magic Kingdom with my sister and parents for the rest of the day after lunch and a nap.
November 6th (38 weeks) we went back to the Doctor and I was checked to see if I was dilated. Doctor asked if I had any contractions and at that point I was pretty sure I had not. To everyone's surprise I was already 3cm dilated! I was sent home and told to be ready for contractions to start any time. Knowing I was already dilated I became really antsy and had George walking every mall and giant store in the area with me. There was one night where I thought something might happen, I was having really inconsistent contractions, but they stopped shortly after I laid down to try and sleep.
November 13th (39 weeks) we went to the doctor again not knowing it would be the last appointment. All the previous appointments had run on time, so after sitting in the office for an hour and not being seen yet George and I were both pretty anxious. Doctor finally came in and checked me again and I had not progressed from the week prior. He decided he wanted to induce me to get things moving along, so we set up to be induced at 7:30 the next morning and preformed a membrane strip in hopes of something happening before that. We left the office at 1pm, at this point I'm only slightly uncomfortable but that was expected after being checked and the membrane strip. We decided to stop for lunch because there was nothing quick at home and I was approaching hangry status. We ordered to go and sat in the restaurant waiting for our food. After about 15 minutes of looking at the sign on the wall it occurred to me we had picked to eat at Logan's without even realizing it.
We got home around 2pm and sat down to eat before cleaning up a few things. Around 2:45 things started to change and I just wasn't feeling right. I wasn't having contractions but I knew something was happening. I called the Doctor and they told me to go ahead to the hospital. By 3:30pm we were on our way. In the car I had two very mild contractions, so mild that I questioned if that's what they really were. When we got to the hospital (4pm) I told George to park in the garage and not drop me at valet because I was feeling good enough to walk in with him. We grabbed the bags and headed to triage. Checking in at triage I was still comfortable but knew something was off. I wasn't in any pain and was still in really good spirits. By 4:30pm we were back in triage and sharing our story with the nurse. At 5pm the midwife came in to check me and ... I was 7cm dilated! We all had a good laugh about how I was having contractions and didn't feel them and I earned the nickname "freak of nature" from my triage nurse. The nurse told me she was expecting me to go home until they hooked me up to a machine and realized I was contracting every 2-3 minutes. Because I was so calm, not in pain, had walked in on my own, and told them I was just seen by my doctor and only 3cm they were really expecting to send me home and tell me to come back in the morning. Within a few minutes we were headed up to a L&D room and signing all the necessary paperwork.
My parents and sister (with her college roommate) drove from the coasts (literally my parents are on the east coast, my sister is on the west, and we live in the middle of the state) and got there just in time. Around 9:30pm I went from barely feeling contractions to being in a lot of pain so I asked for an epidural. I was still only about 7.5cm. At 10pm they arrived to administer the epidural and I had the worst contraction of the night. George said he watched it shoot straight up on the monitor and not come back down for quite some time. At 10:45pm they were finally done and I was checked again, this time 9.5cm The nurse called for the team to come in and set the room and I had George call my mom to come back to the room - how else would I have awesome birth photos if she wasn't there?! I remember hearing the nurse say on the phone "don't take it lightly, this is going to happen quick, come now".
While the room was being set I was being re-positioned because Logan's heart rate kept dropping. It felt like as soon as they had his heart rate stable it was time to push! At 11:20 they told me it was time. The next 31 minutes are all a blur. I know at some point I laughed because George had given me a massive spoonful of ice and I couldn't get rid of it fast enough when it was time to push again. Because I had a mouthful of ice and laughed I had a tickle in my throat so I coughed. Everyone got really excited and told me to cough again because they could see Logan's head now. A few more pushes and at 11:51pm Logan Jaxson Orr was born! (That dropping heart rate... his cord was wrapped around his foot.)
The last month has been nothing short of life changing in the best possible way. And while I sit here and finish typing this at 2:28am, after finishing a feeding, I cant help but feel incredibly blessed. Blessed that my body grew and took care of Logan for 9 months, blessed to have George to go through this journey with, blessed with two incredibly supportive families who love our little boy to pieces, and most of all - blessed with a healthy baby boy. I don't know what tomorrow hold (besides diapers, feedings, naps, and probably some crying - from me and Logan) but I do know that each day gets better with this little family of mine. I can't wait to watch Logan grow up, although I wish he would stay little forever. I can't wait for all the adventures and memories we will create together. But for tonight, I'm going to snuggle my baby boy and kiss his little cheeks while he'll still let me.
Let's start on November 3. No, let's start before that. On October 15th when I found out I was pregnant, very pregnant, one of the first questions I asked the Doctor was "can I still run?". I had a million other questions but that was the one that slipped out first. Since March I had been training to run Wine and Dine weekend with my little sister and if it was safe I wanted to still attempt to participate. Doctor assured me that it was ok to keep running as long as I felt ok and encouraged me to keep working out in some capacity because both Logan and I were used to the activity. The week of the run (October 30th) I asked again if it was still ok and again Doctor encouraged me to run as long as I felt good. I went back and forth on what I was going to do all week leading up to the race. I ultimately decided that I would do as much as my body would allow me to, even if that meant swallowing my pride and not finishing.
November 3rd my little sister and I got up at 2:45am and made our way to Epcot. I won't lie, I was a nervous wreck and considered not even attempting it while we waited to get into our corrals. As soon as I was in my corral that all changed and I was ready to go. I kept telling myself if something didn't feel right I would stop and find a medic tent otherwise I was going to do as much as I could. And that's exactly what I did. I ran way more than I even I thought I would and finished pretty much on pace to what I had expected. Crossing the finish line with my sister, at 37 weeks pregnant, was one of my proudest moments yet. At the end of the run I was exhausted but I still felt great! So great that I went to Magic Kingdom with my sister and parents for the rest of the day after lunch and a nap.
November 6th (38 weeks) we went back to the Doctor and I was checked to see if I was dilated. Doctor asked if I had any contractions and at that point I was pretty sure I had not. To everyone's surprise I was already 3cm dilated! I was sent home and told to be ready for contractions to start any time. Knowing I was already dilated I became really antsy and had George walking every mall and giant store in the area with me. There was one night where I thought something might happen, I was having really inconsistent contractions, but they stopped shortly after I laid down to try and sleep.
November 13th (39 weeks) we went to the doctor again not knowing it would be the last appointment. All the previous appointments had run on time, so after sitting in the office for an hour and not being seen yet George and I were both pretty anxious. Doctor finally came in and checked me again and I had not progressed from the week prior. He decided he wanted to induce me to get things moving along, so we set up to be induced at 7:30 the next morning and preformed a membrane strip in hopes of something happening before that. We left the office at 1pm, at this point I'm only slightly uncomfortable but that was expected after being checked and the membrane strip. We decided to stop for lunch because there was nothing quick at home and I was approaching hangry status. We ordered to go and sat in the restaurant waiting for our food. After about 15 minutes of looking at the sign on the wall it occurred to me we had picked to eat at Logan's without even realizing it.
My parents and sister (with her college roommate) drove from the coasts (literally my parents are on the east coast, my sister is on the west, and we live in the middle of the state) and got there just in time. Around 9:30pm I went from barely feeling contractions to being in a lot of pain so I asked for an epidural. I was still only about 7.5cm. At 10pm they arrived to administer the epidural and I had the worst contraction of the night. George said he watched it shoot straight up on the monitor and not come back down for quite some time. At 10:45pm they were finally done and I was checked again, this time 9.5cm The nurse called for the team to come in and set the room and I had George call my mom to come back to the room - how else would I have awesome birth photos if she wasn't there?! I remember hearing the nurse say on the phone "don't take it lightly, this is going to happen quick, come now".
While the room was being set I was being re-positioned because Logan's heart rate kept dropping. It felt like as soon as they had his heart rate stable it was time to push! At 11:20 they told me it was time. The next 31 minutes are all a blur. I know at some point I laughed because George had given me a massive spoonful of ice and I couldn't get rid of it fast enough when it was time to push again. Because I had a mouthful of ice and laughed I had a tickle in my throat so I coughed. Everyone got really excited and told me to cough again because they could see Logan's head now. A few more pushes and at 11:51pm Logan Jaxson Orr was born! (That dropping heart rate... his cord was wrapped around his foot.)
The last month has been nothing short of life changing in the best possible way. And while I sit here and finish typing this at 2:28am, after finishing a feeding, I cant help but feel incredibly blessed. Blessed that my body grew and took care of Logan for 9 months, blessed to have George to go through this journey with, blessed with two incredibly supportive families who love our little boy to pieces, and most of all - blessed with a healthy baby boy. I don't know what tomorrow hold (besides diapers, feedings, naps, and probably some crying - from me and Logan) but I do know that each day gets better with this little family of mine. I can't wait to watch Logan grow up, although I wish he would stay little forever. I can't wait for all the adventures and memories we will create together. But for tonight, I'm going to snuggle my baby boy and kiss his little cheeks while he'll still let me.
Beautiful family and I am so happy for you. The love and support you share with your family is amazing. Thank you for sharing. xo
ReplyDeleteLogan is beautiful and can't wait to watch him grow. Hugs Logan.