Hugh's Birth Story

I can't believe that this is the last birth story I will ever write. That's it... no more kids for us. 

I have always loved the labour and delivery process so much more than being pregnant. There is something incredible about knowing that your body was made to create a human and get them out safely. I also think it is the most empowering and emotional experience and there is nothing like it in the world. It is also so exciting to know that you are only hours away from meeting your new family member. 

To be honest, we have known for months that I would most likely be induced on May 30th. I had been classified higher risk early in my pregnancy and my doctor let me know that I would need to be induced early. We went in the morning of the 30th at 9am not knowing what the plan was. I knew that they would either give me cervadil or start me directly on an IV drip of Oxytocin. We waited in a small waiting room until our nurse came to get us. She let us know that we would be starting the IV drip right away and David and I knew right then that we would be meeting our baby that day.
 
After changing into a hospital gown I was monitored for an hour to make sure that everything looked good with the baby. At 11am they started my IV and things were officially underway. When they start women on Oxytocin they begin with a low dose and slowly increase it every half an hour. It slowly brings on contractions that eventually lead to full blown labour. Once you are hooked up.... the wait begins. 

We walked the halls and played games to pass the next few hours. Not much was happening and the contractions were fairly easy for me to breathe through. The worst part was trying to ignore how hungry I was. 

At around 5pm my doctor called to check in on our progress. It was at that point that she decided she would come in the break my water to hopefully speed up progression. This was also when I decided to get an epidural. I knew once they had broken my water I would progress quickly. For the first time ever I got really shaky from the epidural. I tried to sleep and keep warm under some blankets while David when for some dinner. 

Checking in with the kids before bed time.

At 10pm they checked me and I had progressed to 7 centimeters. I looked at David and told him to call my friend Conni. We had planned to have her come take pictures of Hugh's birth and I knew that we were getting very close. She was at our room within 10 minutes (She lives really close to the hospital) and we were luck that she was able to get there so fast. All of a sudden I felt like it was time to push. Our doctor arrived and checked to see if he was facing the right direction... he wasn't he was face up! She manually flipped him and within two contractions Hugh was out. 

Although each birth of our children was special, this one was particularly emotional. It took two long years and two devastating losses to meet our sweet Hugh. David and I cried tears of joy and relief and fell in love with him immediately.

The procedures at the hospital have changed over the years. They used to take babies and weigh them right away. They would then swaddle them and finally give them to their parents. Now, babies are placed immediately on their moms where they spend over an hour getting important skin to skin time and learning to feed. It was such valuable bonding time for us. He ate really well and once the freezing moved out of my legs they were able to take him and get his weight. 

My favourite part of bringing a baby into the world is when they get to meet their dad for the first time. Once Hugh had been weighed and checked over David got to do some quality skin to skin time with him. So sweet! In the end, we didn't get into our actual hospital room until almost 2am. I fed him and we both got checked over and all three of us passed out for the night. 

I woke up in the morning to see this sweet tiny face quietly watching me...

The rest of the day was spent giving Hugh his first bath, enjoying some visitors, watching movies and cuddling our new little man. It was perfection...

Mrs. E