Dylan's Birthstory

Dylan Mark Foede’s Birth Story

May 5th, 2005

I figured that since Dylan was too impatient to wait until his due date to be born, I can at least write his birth story on that day. I did find an interesting number pattern though. Today, on 05-05-05, my 5th baby is 5 days old, and sunrise was at 5:55 AM. Not exactly what I had *hoped* would happen, but to have a beautiful, healthy baby is such a blessing, and more important to me than anything else! Some people have expressed their disappointment for me that I didn’t have the baby on the day I wanted, but honestly I find it hilarious that despite never having gone into labor early before, I do the one time that gives me another April baby.

I wrote in my last update that on Monday I wasn’t feeling right, and part of me wondered if I was going into labor. But by Tuesday I was energetic and comfortable again. At my Wednesday doctors appointment all was well, I was maybe 50% effaced, and not very dilated, so I was hopeful of lasting a while longer, at least into May. Then on Friday I woke up with a VERY tiny amount of bloody show. The only other child I had that with was Ethan, and with him I delivered about 20 hours later. Boy was I livid! I called Mark on the phone and said, “I have bloody show!” to which he replied “No, really?” and I said, “Ok, I am going to start packing my bag and charging the video recorder battery and making my labor CD.” Those things kept me busy the rest of the day, but I was grateful each time I went to the bathroom to NOT find anymore show. After all, some women go weeks with it before they deliver!

On Saturday morning Mark went to a plant auction in New Germany, about 25 minutes away. He left his beeper number on the counter for me. I slept in until around 9:00 AM, and then had to go to the bathroom. I stood up to make the bed, and felt *something*, so I rushed to the bathroom and to my surprise saw a lot of blood and my entire mucus plug. The amount of blood had me worried, so at about 11:00 I paged my doctor who told me if it was still that way in a few hours, to go to the hospital and be checked out, but to not go into labor until later because she was at her daughters bridal shower. That made me laugh! She did say, “I’ve been waiting for your phone call!”

A few hours later I was still having a lot of blood, so I went in to the hospital to be checked, in room 218. So far I had taken 2 baths, and I checked myself knowing that I had thinned out a little, but dilation hadn’t changed much. My intention was just to be told if the bleeding amount was normal or not, but instead they hooked my up to monitors for an hour, and then checked me. “Well, your 50% effaced, and not dilated much. You’ve only had one contraction (I had some minor ones that weren’t showing up on the monitor) but lots of bloody show. We are going to send you home. Have a good nights rest, and maybe we’ll see you tomorrow.” Gee, thanks, I know I am not contracting! I was told the show is probably a normal amount. This happened between 3:30 and 4:30 PM. As soon as I stood up to get changed, I had another contraction and wondered if I would really get a good night sleep!

So we came home, and I called my Mom to update her. I also noticed that I only needed to wait 7 more hours to have a May baby. Well, I can do that…Alisa took 7 hours, although she was induced. At this point, around 5:00, I was having contractions about every 20 minutes, but they weren’t painful, they weren’t consistent, and they weren’t getting stronger. At 6:00 I started having contractions every 10 or 15 minutes, but again, some were strong, some were weak, sometimes they skipped one altogether. I tried walking to speed them up or lying down and drinking water to stop them. Neither happened, at that point. At 7:00 I finally had one that I had to breathe through. So I started to record them, to see if I could see a pattern. Mark was making supper at this point (tacos) and so I walked around and timed them: 7:04, 40 seconds. 7:11, 40 seconds. 7:16, 35 seconds, 7:20, 35 seconds, 7:27, 45 seconds, 7:32, 35 seconds, 7:37, 40 seconds, 7:48, 45 seconds, 7:54, 40 seconds. The contractions were now fairly consistent, and I had to breathe through each of them. I decided to take another bath, as my back was hurting. While in my bath Mark asked me if I wanted to eat, and I told him “No, I feel sick!” and it was at that time that I realized “Oh my gosh, this is it!” I did a quick cervical check to find that my formally posterior cervix was easy to reach, about 80% thinned, and a good 5 centimeters, with a bulging bag of waters. I popped out of that bath so fast, got dressed (shaved my legs, of course!) and yanked the door open “Get the kids, we need to get to the hospital!” It was now 8:00, and only 3.5 hours earlier I was being sent home for no contractions and being barely dilated. I called the hospital and told them that I had been having consistent contractions since a little after 7:00, and the nurse said “Well, anytime you are uncomfortable enough to come in and get checked, especially as a gravida 5, you can. You can always go home!” The bags were still in the car (we forgot the tripod for the video though!) And away we went. Mark dropped me off at the entrance, and a contraction hit as I walked in. The registration person had me sign some things, and asked if I wanted a wheelchair. No way…for me, contractions are much easier to deal with when I am standing. I got upstairs and was put into room 221, and was immediately hooked up to monitors. I hate that…I wish I could be pacing back and forth. The nurse checked me and said “Nice bulging bag of waters, and you are a …6!” So I said “Find Bob!” Bob is the anesthesiologist…the epidural man! She said “We have to call your doctor, and we will page Bob too!” She went to page them and then came back to give me an IV, which she got in on the first try (usually my rolling veins take several)! And then told me “You may not have time for an epidural.” I didn’t like hearing that. If I can’t have an epidural, can I get up and walk? Apparently they wanted to wait and see what the Dr. said. Mark ran home to call my Mom and Dad, and leave a message on his parent’s machine. He came back in record time. “Your Mom probably won’t make it in time.” In the meantime the on-call doctor came in, just in case Dr. Olson didn’t get there in time. “Can I have some nubain or staydol?” “You are too far along for that, no drugs!” UGH! But now my IV is in place, they won’t let me walk so that Dr. Olson would get there in time (turns out she was on her way home from the shower, was in Hector, and was speeding!) Bob was on his way from Cash Wise grocery shopping. I got through my contractions saying “Where is Bob, I need Bob” over and over. The nurses kept answering me, until I finally said ‘I know he is on his way, it’s my way of coping. Just wait until you see how pleasant I am when I am not in pain.” That made them chuckle. In fact in between contractions, I was able to relax, make jokes, and talk about my other births. When I contraction hit, I would say “I don’t want to feel this!” to which the nurses would reply “You can do this!” In my head I was thinking “I know I CAN do it, but I don’t WANT to do it!” I would also lay on the bed and count the tiny holes in the ceiling tile and roll my head back and forth in time to my breathing. Finally, around 9:30 I heard “Bob’s here!” I was checked again…8 cm’s. Yay, I can have the epidural, if he hurries. At this point there are about 5 nurses, a doctor, and Bob in the room. The nurses and doctor are all talking about their birth stories. (Slow day at the hospital, apparently! Actually I was the first laboring Mom in several days, and the only Mom while I was there. I was so spoiled with attention!) So Bob enters the room and I say “Hi Bob! I mean Dr. Bob.” And he says, “Please, just Bob.” And the nurses’ say, “Boy has she been asking for you!” Bob gets me set up, and I cope with the contractions (which aren’t as bad when I am sitting!) by staring at the bee’s on the Nurse’s (Kay…and she was a doll!) frock. Bob puts in the epidural (which barely hurt at all) but it does nothing! Turns out he tried an intrathecal first, so my legs are tingly, but I am feeling everything. This is about an hour after I get to the hospital. So I get checked again, and am about 8.5 cm’s…and he decides to go ahead with the epidural. I bled a little at the epidural site, and he had to stop that before administering the drug. Finally, a little after 10, I start to get numb. Dr. Olson showed up during the epidural, and they lay me back and check me. 9 cm’s. Wow! I made it to 9 cm’s drug free? If they had let me stay sitting I’d probably have kept with it. Dr. Olson starts talking about breaking my waters, but there is so much blood! They decide my placenta is a little low (I KNEW something wasn’t right that morning!) I then told them I feel pressure, and they check me and sure enough, I am complete and ready to push…not even 2 hours after coming in. The Dr. tells us that it will likely be messier because of the low placenta, and the kids decide to stay in the family room with Mark’s mom, who had just showed up. (I later learned that Zach spent the time pacing back and forth!) The staff does the things they need to prepare for delievery. Drop the bottom of the bed, set up instruments, get the bassinet heating up, etc. I takes another 10 minutes before they allow me to push. They go through the procedure to push, and tell Mark to hold my legs. Well, Mark was going to hold the camera, because we don’t have the tripod, but video afterward will have to be good enough. 2 contractions later the babies head is out and it’s mouth is being suctioned. When he was crowing Dr. Olson said, “Wow, it has a LOT of dark hair!” I can’t sit up to see him, and with the doctor’s permission I don’t wait to push through the next contraction, I just push and get the shoulders out, and the rest is history. Our chubby cheeked baby is laid on my stomach, and the doctor said, “It’s a boy!” I rubbed his body and welcomed him to our family. I immediately started crying! It is such a glorious, amazing experience to give birth, and I am grateful for that blessing. I asked Mark how he reacted when Dylan was born. He said he felt happy, and got teary-eyed. It seems like it went so fast, that it’s hard to remember exact reactions. So fast, it took me longer to make the labor CD than to have the baby. So fast, I didn’t even get to listen to it, so I thought of the lyrics in my head! So fast, I didn’t have time before hand to worry that this could very well be my last labor and so fast that I really didn’t have time before he was born to think I would never feel a baby kick again. Mark kissed me when Dylan was lying on my stomach, as I touched our baby. Dylan cried for a minute, and then calmed down and was very alert. We noted that he looked like Ethan, but was calm like Zach. Dylan was taken to the bassinet to be looked over, and I delivered the placenta. The doctor said that for something so low, it sure was taking it’s time delivering. She had me push, rubbed my uterus, but for 15 minutes, nothing. And then all of a sudden it popped out, surprising Dr. Olson. She actually jumped a little bit when it came out. It was intact, and I had no tearing, and all was well with Dylan. We didn’t name him for about 24 hours, and it was hard to choose a name! It came down to Dylan, Samuel, or Christopher. We chose Dylan as the one that ‘seemed’ most like him. It is Welsh, and means “Sea” or “From the Sea”. We felt that was appropriate, as our minds were wrapped up in our cruise plans long before he was conceived, and long after. And that he joined us on the trip too. The kids came in, and were so happy to see their brother. They smiled big smiles, and argued over who could hold him. Ethan said we should name him “Hairy” and was SO proud when he heard us say they looked alike. He added “I think his eyes are turning green!” (To match his, of course.) Alisabeth was quiet, but happy to hold her new brother. I was a little tired, glad to have my baby, and a little amazed at the fact that he was born on April 30, 2005 at 10:34. How did I miss May by less than 90 minutes? I’ve never gone early before! He was 8 pounds, 12.2 ounces, and 20” long. Dark blue eyes and dark hair, long curly eye lashes. Long legs, and so strong. The doctor noted how strong he was, and sure enough he holds his head up and kicks so well. His APGAR scores were 9, and 9. A very healthy baby!

He is so beautiful. And so sweet. I love him so much, and I don’t think words can convey it properly. Other mother’s will know what I mean. I love to watch him sleep, especially when he smiles. I love to watch him sneeze. He always gets one out, and then misses one and gives a big sigh instead. He came out with a love of nursing, and continues to be a good eater. I love to nurse him as he grasps my finger. I feel so blessed, so grateful, so loved, and in love, so lucky and spoiled, and amazed. We thank God everyday for this blessing, this life, this gift we have been given!