Felix Joseph's birth story
Maternity leave is here, today's my first day at home all day with 3 kids SOLO, so why not set an impossible task for myself and try to write up Felix's birth story? hahaha. No promises that this gets actually posted before June, but here goes nothing.
LOL. A week and a day later, I'm finally back to finish this. Here we go, for real this time.
My usual disclaimer for birth story posts: if this ain't your cup of tea, feel free to click away! Will discuss things that come along with birthing a human baby, so I understand if that's not your thing.
Another quick thing: if you're a birth story junkie (like me!) here are Kitty's birth stories (part 1 and part 2) and Cora's birth story.
Now onto Felix!
My pregnancy with Felix seemed to fly by, except for the last month (isn't that always how it goes?). Chasing after two kids whilst pregnant makes you forget you're pregnant a lot of the time, and then suddenly you're 36 weeks pregnant and you have to do a bunch of things like buy diapers and get the baby clothes out and mentally prepare for adding another child.
During all of the last three months of my pregnancy, David was occupied studying for a certification for his job (Wealth Management Certified Professional, if you're curious). All of his free time, especially in April, was spent studying. I did a lot of solo parenting -- a lot MORE solo parenting than I would have chosen, honestly -- to let him study in peace. His exam was scheduled for April 29, which was the Monday before my due date. With my history of being late with the other two girls, we kind of assumed after his exam was over we'd have two weeks to really get the last baby prepping out of the way as well as talk about names.
I had my 39 week checkup the 29th as well, to which I dragged the girls with me (my faaaaavorite thing...not!) while David drove to Lincoln to take his exam. My OB waltzed in and cheerfully announced, "So, when do you want to have this baby?" I think my mouth went agape and I just stared at him. He then followed with: "I'm going out of the country for 10 days starting on Thursday, so how about tonight?" I was literally speechless, I think. I'm sure he thought he had already told me this information, with the nonchalant way he said it. But he most CERTAINLY HAD NOT. I definitely would have remembered.
I told him that David was in Lincoln but maybe tomorrow would be better? He and the nurse checked me, and I was about 1.5 cm dilated, and so he called the hospital and scheduled my induction just like that. To be honest, having already gone through two inductions, I just assumed I'd need one this time anyway and I was so done being pregnant that being induced at 39 weeks 3 days was a perfect solution.
So! I went home, panicked for 3 hours while David took his test, breathed a huge sigh of relief when he called me and told me he passed and then stunned him into silence when I told him we were scheduled for an induction the next day. He is not often lost for words, but that definitely did it for him. It was hilarious. When he got home we mowed the lawn, packed our bags, I told my mom and asked her to come to Omaha the next day, and then tried to go to bed early. Of course that meant the girls woke up about two hours before their normal time the next day but it didn't matter, it was baby day!
I finished up all my stuff for work that day, David came home a tad early so I could get my normal pre-baby mani/pedi (seen above, my first gel manicure and I'm in love with them now ruh roh), we had our traditional pre-baby meal at Chipotle, and then we headed to the hospital at 7 p.m.
We settled in, the nurse placed my IV -- worst one I've had yet, honestly, it was like on the outside edge of my right hand because she couldn't find a normal place anywhere else and OUCH that is an uncomfortable place to have an IV -- and we settled in for the long haul. My doc was actually stationed at the hospital overnight that night with the residents, so he came in to say hi and decided we would do a combo of the cytotec and the Foley balloon thing, which I'd never had before. Before we started everything, they'd monitored me and I was having contractions but not feeling them.
Puffy face but excited!
The combo of the balloon and the cytotec started working, as I started having contractions. They weren't anywhere near painful, but I could feel them. In an attempt to keep them and hope they progressed, I tried to walk laps around my room as often as the nurse would let me off the monitors. (My nurse was an angel and helped me to get off as much as possible.) I think they placed the cytotec and balloon around 8 or 8:30 p.m., and from then until about 10:30 I spent my time walking laps, discussing names with David, getting monitored in small increments, and then back to walking. We decided to try and sleep a little bit then, thinking that I'd probably spend the whole night on the balloon and cytotec and start Pitocin in the morning.
Well, the balloon was a little more effective than they thought it would be. I think around midnight the nurse tugged and the balloon came out, which meant I was dilated about 4-5 cm. My doctor's resident came in and checked me, where he confirmed I was about 4. The plan was then one of two options: lots of people kind of stall out after the balloon comes out, so we had to wait a couple hours and see if my contractions got worse on their own, and if they didn't then my doc wanted to break my water and put me on Pitocin then.
So I spent another hour pacing around our room while David mostly tried to sleep off-and-on. Around 2 a.m. the nurse checked me again, and I could tell that my contractions had lessened and we were going the Pitocin route. I was still 4-5 cm dilated then, so she called my doctor to tell him. And then she gave me the best advice anyone's given me in labor before: she told me that since it was my third baby, if I was planning on having an epidural (I 100000% was) that I should get it before the doctor broke my water, because there's no reason not to, and sometimes it can go quickly for babies that aren't first babies. I had already mentally committed to an epidural and although I wasn't nearly in any pain, I decided to go for it (although I had no hopes for it going that quickly, honestly).
Coincidentally, the anesthesiologist was already up at labor and delivery, so I told the nurse I loved her plan and 3 minutes later I was getting an epidural. I think this was my best one yet, honestly -- I barely felt the doc place it, and had a little bit of cold shakes while it went in, but then it was sweet sweet warmth and no feeling. The resident came and broke my water, and they put me on Pitocin, and then we played the waiting game.
I started to be able to feel the contractions as they slowly upped the Pitocin, but for the first time I understood what they mean when they say "you should feel pressure but no pain." It was slow at first, but as the time went on, I could feel pressure on my abdomen like an afterthought every time I had a contraction, but absolutely no other pain or sensation. The time from 3:00 a.m. to about 6:00 was rather a blur. I slept off and on, being interrupted by the nurse coming into help me change positions, or move the monitors (Felix did NOT like to stay in one spot for them to stay on the monitors). It was bliss. He liked it the best when I was basically sitting upright in bed with my legs hanging down, so I slept like that (as did David).
Around 6:00, my doctor came back to check me and I was around a 6 cm dilated. The nurse checked me again less than an hour later, and I was 9.5-10 cm. Yay! She called him and told him I was basically ready, to get there soonish, and then he showed up 30 minutes later. They set up all the stuff in the room, got the baby gear ready, etc. etc. and right at like 8:00 a.m. the doc asked me if I remembered how to push. I definitely didn't, so he walked me through the process, and sat down and told me we'd just try it on this next contraction, no worries if it wasn't a good one at first.
At this point the pressure from the contractions was CRAZY. I do not remember the pressure being so hard with the other two EVER, let alone right before I started pushing. I didn't necessarily feel the overwhelming urge to push, but I could really tell my body was going to be relieved when I did start pushing. Again, absolutely no pain whatsoever but tons and tons of pressure when the contractions hit.
So anyway, my doctor sat down, I pushed two times through one contraction, and everyone panicked -- because his head was already out. (Wow emoji here!!!) My doc scrambled to get his scrub-overcoat thing on, David and the nurses congratulated me for doing so well, and then on the next contraction I pushed one more time and Felix was born! Three pushes, y'all. Third baby, three pushes -- a truly miraculous and life-affirming birth.
The doc lifted him up and both David and I exclaimed IT'S A BOY!!!! I still can't believe it, honestly. He cried one of his cute little weak cries and they put him on my chest and I just stared at him, marveling at how beautiful and perfect and amazingly HE he was the whole time. Gosh. It was incredible.
He was born at 8:08 a.m. weighing 7 lbs 15 oz. We got to have skin-to-skin for two hours, and then they cleaned him up and all that jazz. David and I spent those hours trying to pick a name for him, as you have probably heard that we didn't even have names lined up whatsoever. We narrowed it down to two options, and then David kept asking me which one I liked better. I kept telling him I liked Felix better, and he kept saying that he liked them both equally...to which I was like, well, then if you like them equally and I like one better, shouldn't we pick the one I like better? Aaaaand we did.
Felix was born on St. Joseph the Worker's feast day, and my middle name is Josephine, so we had quite a few reasons to pick his middle name. There is also an awesome St. Felix (link here to a bio about him if you're curious), a bunch of popes named Felix, and there's a SJ priest named Fr. Felix-Joseph Barbelin who was "the apostle of Philadelphia," which is where David's brother lives with his Sodalitium Christianae Vitae community. So we had all sorts of reasons -- lots found out after we picked his name -- to have him named the way he is. How incredible, right?
He had a little bit of trouble with his bilirubin levels so he got put on those crazy lights for a few days, but luckily it didn't last long and everything else has gone absolutely swimmingly. He is an angel baby -- he hardly cries (so far), he's happy to be held or sleep in his crib and bassinet, and the only things he really doesn't like are being naked or getting his diaper changed. Otherwise he's happy and calm and honestly it's a huge blessing.
I've had a fantastic recovery and had such an easy labor and delivery -- most of which I credit to Stephanie pointing me to the research about eating dates in the last month of pregnancy -- that it's been a breeze. I really hated eating those 7 or 8 dates every day (they are so gross! blech!) but they helped so much (at least in my head) that I'm sure if/when we ever have another kid, I'll do the same process again.
The girls absolutely love him and squeal with excitement whenever his eyes are open. It's been a little bit of a challenge adjusting to three (woof have some emotions gone crazy!) but we're nearing the other side and settling into a new normal here, and it's fantastic. We've even made it out of the house just with me and the three kids and we survived! Of course I haven't gone back to work yet, so we'll see how it goes when that happens, but so far, so good.
Anyway this post has been long enough now so I'll end it here to say, we LOVE you Felix and we are SO happy you're part of our family!
LOL. A week and a day later, I'm finally back to finish this. Here we go, for real this time.
My usual disclaimer for birth story posts: if this ain't your cup of tea, feel free to click away! Will discuss things that come along with birthing a human baby, so I understand if that's not your thing.
Another quick thing: if you're a birth story junkie (like me!) here are Kitty's birth stories (part 1 and part 2) and Cora's birth story.
Now onto Felix!
My pregnancy with Felix seemed to fly by, except for the last month (isn't that always how it goes?). Chasing after two kids whilst pregnant makes you forget you're pregnant a lot of the time, and then suddenly you're 36 weeks pregnant and you have to do a bunch of things like buy diapers and get the baby clothes out and mentally prepare for adding another child.
During all of the last three months of my pregnancy, David was occupied studying for a certification for his job (Wealth Management Certified Professional, if you're curious). All of his free time, especially in April, was spent studying. I did a lot of solo parenting -- a lot MORE solo parenting than I would have chosen, honestly -- to let him study in peace. His exam was scheduled for April 29, which was the Monday before my due date. With my history of being late with the other two girls, we kind of assumed after his exam was over we'd have two weeks to really get the last baby prepping out of the way as well as talk about names.
I had my 39 week checkup the 29th as well, to which I dragged the girls with me (my faaaaavorite thing...not!) while David drove to Lincoln to take his exam. My OB waltzed in and cheerfully announced, "So, when do you want to have this baby?" I think my mouth went agape and I just stared at him. He then followed with: "I'm going out of the country for 10 days starting on Thursday, so how about tonight?" I was literally speechless, I think. I'm sure he thought he had already told me this information, with the nonchalant way he said it. But he most CERTAINLY HAD NOT. I definitely would have remembered.
I told him that David was in Lincoln but maybe tomorrow would be better? He and the nurse checked me, and I was about 1.5 cm dilated, and so he called the hospital and scheduled my induction just like that. To be honest, having already gone through two inductions, I just assumed I'd need one this time anyway and I was so done being pregnant that being induced at 39 weeks 3 days was a perfect solution.
So! I went home, panicked for 3 hours while David took his test, breathed a huge sigh of relief when he called me and told me he passed and then stunned him into silence when I told him we were scheduled for an induction the next day. He is not often lost for words, but that definitely did it for him. It was hilarious. When he got home we mowed the lawn, packed our bags, I told my mom and asked her to come to Omaha the next day, and then tried to go to bed early. Of course that meant the girls woke up about two hours before their normal time the next day but it didn't matter, it was baby day!
I finished up all my stuff for work that day, David came home a tad early so I could get my normal pre-baby mani/pedi (seen above, my first gel manicure and I'm in love with them now ruh roh), we had our traditional pre-baby meal at Chipotle, and then we headed to the hospital at 7 p.m.
We settled in, the nurse placed my IV -- worst one I've had yet, honestly, it was like on the outside edge of my right hand because she couldn't find a normal place anywhere else and OUCH that is an uncomfortable place to have an IV -- and we settled in for the long haul. My doc was actually stationed at the hospital overnight that night with the residents, so he came in to say hi and decided we would do a combo of the cytotec and the Foley balloon thing, which I'd never had before. Before we started everything, they'd monitored me and I was having contractions but not feeling them.
Puffy face but excited!
The combo of the balloon and the cytotec started working, as I started having contractions. They weren't anywhere near painful, but I could feel them. In an attempt to keep them and hope they progressed, I tried to walk laps around my room as often as the nurse would let me off the monitors. (My nurse was an angel and helped me to get off as much as possible.) I think they placed the cytotec and balloon around 8 or 8:30 p.m., and from then until about 10:30 I spent my time walking laps, discussing names with David, getting monitored in small increments, and then back to walking. We decided to try and sleep a little bit then, thinking that I'd probably spend the whole night on the balloon and cytotec and start Pitocin in the morning.
Well, the balloon was a little more effective than they thought it would be. I think around midnight the nurse tugged and the balloon came out, which meant I was dilated about 4-5 cm. My doctor's resident came in and checked me, where he confirmed I was about 4. The plan was then one of two options: lots of people kind of stall out after the balloon comes out, so we had to wait a couple hours and see if my contractions got worse on their own, and if they didn't then my doc wanted to break my water and put me on Pitocin then.
So I spent another hour pacing around our room while David mostly tried to sleep off-and-on. Around 2 a.m. the nurse checked me again, and I could tell that my contractions had lessened and we were going the Pitocin route. I was still 4-5 cm dilated then, so she called my doctor to tell him. And then she gave me the best advice anyone's given me in labor before: she told me that since it was my third baby, if I was planning on having an epidural (I 100000% was) that I should get it before the doctor broke my water, because there's no reason not to, and sometimes it can go quickly for babies that aren't first babies. I had already mentally committed to an epidural and although I wasn't nearly in any pain, I decided to go for it (although I had no hopes for it going that quickly, honestly).
Coincidentally, the anesthesiologist was already up at labor and delivery, so I told the nurse I loved her plan and 3 minutes later I was getting an epidural. I think this was my best one yet, honestly -- I barely felt the doc place it, and had a little bit of cold shakes while it went in, but then it was sweet sweet warmth and no feeling. The resident came and broke my water, and they put me on Pitocin, and then we played the waiting game.
I started to be able to feel the contractions as they slowly upped the Pitocin, but for the first time I understood what they mean when they say "you should feel pressure but no pain." It was slow at first, but as the time went on, I could feel pressure on my abdomen like an afterthought every time I had a contraction, but absolutely no other pain or sensation. The time from 3:00 a.m. to about 6:00 was rather a blur. I slept off and on, being interrupted by the nurse coming into help me change positions, or move the monitors (Felix did NOT like to stay in one spot for them to stay on the monitors). It was bliss. He liked it the best when I was basically sitting upright in bed with my legs hanging down, so I slept like that (as did David).
Around 6:00, my doctor came back to check me and I was around a 6 cm dilated. The nurse checked me again less than an hour later, and I was 9.5-10 cm. Yay! She called him and told him I was basically ready, to get there soonish, and then he showed up 30 minutes later. They set up all the stuff in the room, got the baby gear ready, etc. etc. and right at like 8:00 a.m. the doc asked me if I remembered how to push. I definitely didn't, so he walked me through the process, and sat down and told me we'd just try it on this next contraction, no worries if it wasn't a good one at first.
At this point the pressure from the contractions was CRAZY. I do not remember the pressure being so hard with the other two EVER, let alone right before I started pushing. I didn't necessarily feel the overwhelming urge to push, but I could really tell my body was going to be relieved when I did start pushing. Again, absolutely no pain whatsoever but tons and tons of pressure when the contractions hit.
So anyway, my doctor sat down, I pushed two times through one contraction, and everyone panicked -- because his head was already out. (Wow emoji here!!!) My doc scrambled to get his scrub-overcoat thing on, David and the nurses congratulated me for doing so well, and then on the next contraction I pushed one more time and Felix was born! Three pushes, y'all. Third baby, three pushes -- a truly miraculous and life-affirming birth.
The doc lifted him up and both David and I exclaimed IT'S A BOY!!!! I still can't believe it, honestly. He cried one of his cute little weak cries and they put him on my chest and I just stared at him, marveling at how beautiful and perfect and amazingly HE he was the whole time. Gosh. It was incredible.
He was born at 8:08 a.m. weighing 7 lbs 15 oz. We got to have skin-to-skin for two hours, and then they cleaned him up and all that jazz. David and I spent those hours trying to pick a name for him, as you have probably heard that we didn't even have names lined up whatsoever. We narrowed it down to two options, and then David kept asking me which one I liked better. I kept telling him I liked Felix better, and he kept saying that he liked them both equally...to which I was like, well, then if you like them equally and I like one better, shouldn't we pick the one I like better? Aaaaand we did.
Felix was born on St. Joseph the Worker's feast day, and my middle name is Josephine, so we had quite a few reasons to pick his middle name. There is also an awesome St. Felix (link here to a bio about him if you're curious), a bunch of popes named Felix, and there's a SJ priest named Fr. Felix-Joseph Barbelin who was "the apostle of Philadelphia," which is where David's brother lives with his Sodalitium Christianae Vitae community. So we had all sorts of reasons -- lots found out after we picked his name -- to have him named the way he is. How incredible, right?
 |
| photo cred my sister Natalie |
He had a little bit of trouble with his bilirubin levels so he got put on those crazy lights for a few days, but luckily it didn't last long and everything else has gone absolutely swimmingly. He is an angel baby -- he hardly cries (so far), he's happy to be held or sleep in his crib and bassinet, and the only things he really doesn't like are being naked or getting his diaper changed. Otherwise he's happy and calm and honestly it's a huge blessing.
I've had a fantastic recovery and had such an easy labor and delivery -- most of which I credit to Stephanie pointing me to the research about eating dates in the last month of pregnancy -- that it's been a breeze. I really hated eating those 7 or 8 dates every day (they are so gross! blech!) but they helped so much (at least in my head) that I'm sure if/when we ever have another kid, I'll do the same process again.
The girls absolutely love him and squeal with excitement whenever his eyes are open. It's been a little bit of a challenge adjusting to three (woof have some emotions gone crazy!) but we're nearing the other side and settling into a new normal here, and it's fantastic. We've even made it out of the house just with me and the three kids and we survived! Of course I haven't gone back to work yet, so we'll see how it goes when that happens, but so far, so good.
Anyway this post has been long enough now so I'll end it here to say, we LOVE you Felix and we are SO happy you're part of our family!
Wonderful birth story! <3 Love his name story too! So glad he went easy on you. Maybe those dates really are magical! You're right that they're hard to eat, and it doesn't help that they look like cockroaches. Lolz. Anywho, he sounds like an awesome baby. Welcome, little Felix!
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