Jesse's birth Story

This evening I have decided to share Jesse's birth story.  I will share Gabriel and Loghan's stories as well but at a later stage, this is going to be a long one so either make yourself a cuppa or settle in for the long haul =)

So here we go...

We fell pregnant with Jesse January 2013, he wasn't planned at least not at that stage we were wanting to try for another baby after our last loss but we were aiming to try at the end of 2013 or so, in any case I was on the pill but Gabriel had a stint in the hospital and this meant I had not taken my pill as I should have so when at the end of Jan my period went a miss I decided we needed to test, I have to say that the result was an incredible shock even though I knew it was very likely I sat there for a few minutes and then screamed for my hubby who came a running, I showed him the result and he cried and I cried we were incredibly happy but also equally scared due to our previous losses.

At 8 weeks we went to my doctor and we saw his heart beat we were incredibly happy, for the first time I got a supportive and happy response when we announced our pregnancy to both sides of the family, we both had a stable job and were at a good place in our lives together.

At 12 weeks we hoped to see the gender, Jesse refused to open his legs so after a very long external scan my doctor chose to look internally and shake him up a bit, he opened his legs for a few seconds and we got a quick view and picture, I am 90  % sure its a girl she said... a girl wow, Loghan was with us and he was very happy with that result, if I show you the picture from that scan you can see three lines very clearly so we went about choosing a name and within the next month became very accustomed to the idea of a little girl, at 16 weeks however we went in and as she waved the wand around my belly she remarked ohhhh I see something with a smile, I looked at her and was like you're serious, my hubby looked at me and I said, its a boy.

I will admit that my heart did sink for not even a minute we had just gotten used to the idea of a girl and now he was a boy lol but by the time we left we were overjoyed at the idea of having another boy... to be honest the thought of having a girl scarred the shit out of me anyway....

Anyway so after seeing my doctor we discussed the birth and I asked that she consider a natural Caesar it really bothered me that 2 of my babies had been in the NICU and I also didn't feel comfortable picking a Caesar date so I put it out there and I was incredibly happy when she said she would allow me to go to 40 weeks before intervening, I also really wanted to know what contractions actually felt like, strange I know but I didn't feel mine with Loghan and didn't have any with Gabriel so it was just something I really would have liked to experienced if possible.

My pregnancy was ok, I was incredibly tired, seriously I never felt so tired in my life and nauseous/ sick every day up until my 3rd trimester, Jesse was also posterior so I suffered badly with pain under my ribs and into my back, I also suffered with infections but I had an incredible amount of support from my hubby who rubbed my feet and back everyday.

32 weeks

At 38 weeks I started my maternity leave and even though I had been convinced that he would come at 39 weeks when 39 weeks came around I was like ok well guess I was wrong.

However I woke up on 39 weeks with an incredible need to get everything done, I did groceries, I cleaned and ran around prepping everything and then when I woke up on 39.1 I just felt the urge to rest and so I did I watched movies and lay around and at 2pm in the afternoon while eating a jar of Nutella and watching Alice in Wonderland I started getting intense pains in my lower back, I dismissed them and carried on as normal I fetched the kids bathed and fed them.

When my hubby came home he showed concern as did the girls on my moms group, I went to take a bath as suggested to see if the pain would subside and it didn't, eventually I was hunched over the bed in pain and still denying that it was time so my my hubby called the hospital himself and they told us to come through.

However ever in denial I called my mom to take me so Jaco could stay behind with the kids and off we went.

As we were driving it started to rain and I should have known it was time it rained on both Loghan's and Gabriel's birth dates despite it being Summer with Gabriel, it was now almost 10 o clock.

When we got to the hospital we went into casualty and they took me upstairs in a wheel chair which I hated but at that time the pain turned up to a whole new level and I actually started feeling proper contractions (boy did I regret that urge to know what it felt like), I did not know that posterior babies mean that you tend to labor more into your back especially in the beginning hence the intense back pain.

Anyway I was taken to a room and hooked up to a monitor the pain seemed to be more tolerable whilst sitting, my mom and I chatted and when the nurse came in my mom said so anything happening, the nurse checked and replied with oh yes something is definitely happening in there and then off she went.

The next 10 minutes were a blur I remember being handed paperwork and a gown I was incredibly confused and realized I was being prepped for theater, I honestly thought I would be going home, next thing the nurse came in to ask where my husband was as they were taking me up in a few minutes and couldn't wait.

I became incredibly emotional and panicked thinking he wouldn't make it, they came to fetch me and he still hadn't arrived. thankfully as they were shutting the theater doors in he came running into the room, I was so relieved and calmed down very quickly, they started the procedure and I become incredibly ill from the meds, my bp dropped quickly and they had to issue more meds to alleviate the problem.

A few minutes later they lifted Jesse from me and there was silence...nothing... I strained my neck in an attempt to see what was going on I was screaming in my head willing him to cry and then he did and the relief was just incredible.

Unfortunately despite him being full term he was born with fluid on his lungs and he had to be taken off to the NICU when his oxygen levels kept dropping, I would only learn later that he was born with an incredibly low afgar score and it is why he was whisked away so incredibly fast.

My doctor later explained that this was a common occurrence and is why they prefer to Caesar at 39 weeks.

Our fist pic and last before NICU

I wasn't told much when I got back to my room just that he needed some time in the NICU and from previous experience I was prepared , I was also told that I would not be able to see him until the next day, he was born at 11:03 pm.

I eventually fell asleep at about 3 am and the next few days were incredibly heartbreaking as the NICU had new rules that meant we could only go visit at certain times twice a day unlike with my other 2 where you could go any time and sit there for as long as you wanted.

I did not want to leave the hospital without my baby this time so on day 3 I insisted on holding him and trying to feed which the allowed by that evening they had taken him off the machines and brought him to me and the next day we went home!!!!!

Day 3 first time I held him

This just shows you what a difference kangaroo or skin to skin care makes and I know that he would not have gone home the next day if I had not been able to hold him.

The next day I drove us home and the next week was just incredible we just stayed in bed and I concentrated on breastfeeding and we just enjoyed our time with Jesse.

For the fist time ever I took maternity leave and my hubby was off for 2 weeks with me which was an incredible help especially when my other 2 came home from their dad, and the boys were amazingly great with their new brother.

The transition from 2 to 3 was actually incredibly easy and I thoroughly enjoyed being home for those 4 months an being able to cook clean etc on my own time and spend more time with my boys.

My boys

Unfortunately Jesse suffered with colic and re-flux but he was still such a good baby, he fed well when on his meds, however I had to have a dnc shortly after his birth because I was in pain and bleeding heavily, a scan showed my body was not dispelling the clots in my womb, it was a quick procedure and I was home within a day, then I started experiencing severe migraines that only alleviated when I lay down after going for scans and being on meds and in hospital the nurses and I finally convinced my doctor that I was most likely experiencing spinal migraines from my spinal.

What happens is after a spinal the hole that is caused into your spinal cavity is supposed to heal sometimes it doesn't and this means that spinal fluid is constantly leaking out from that whole this leads to incredible migraines and is only alleviated when you lie down as then the leaking does not occur.

I went in for a blood patch which is where they draw blood from you and then in theater while you are awake they inject the blood into your spine where the spinal occurred in order to seal the whole, if it works or if that was the cause your migraines alleviate shortly after... 10 minutes later I was migraine free for the first time in nearly 2 months, I was incredibly angry that I had been deprived of time with my baby and that the doctor had refused to listen for so long but there was not much I could do.

Jeese's birth was a roller coaster ride but he was of course incredibly worth it and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives I couldn't see it any other way!