Birth of Baby Jimmy Jim James

On the evening of September 11, 2014 it was my turn to put Luke to bed. I read him his three books and we sang our five songs and I just had a feeling that this was the last time I would be putting him to bed with baby Jimmy in my tummy. We watched some TV that night after Luke was in bed and headed to sleep around 10:30 pm.

A little after 4 am I woke up. I’m not sure if I woke up because I was having a contraction or if I heard Luke. They may have happened at the same time! I heard Luke yell out so I went to check on him. He just needed a hug and laid down and went back to sleep. I think somehow he knew this was it for him. His life (and mine) was about to change forever. Then I went to the bathroom and somewhere in there I felt what I suspected to be a contraction. I tried to brush it off and go back to sleep, but about 15 minutes later I felt another one. They definitely felt like the contractions I had with Luke so I began to think this might be the day! I tried to rest but the next thing I knew I was downloading a contraction app on my iPhone so I could start timing them. Around 5:30 I started timing the contractions with my app and they were coming about every 15-30 minutes, but they just didn't seem to be regular.

Dan came up to shower around 6:45 am and I went in to tell him and he got very excited and asking when the contractions started, what they felt like and if it felt like when I went into labor with Luke, etc! I did feel like it was real labor because it felt very similar to Luke, but they were not super regular so I was worried that I would have to labor for a day before things progressed. The contractions started out not too painful just like heavy menstrual cramps but I was able to stay in bed for a couple hours, but they did start to get more painful. Then I would have some that were not as painful.

I told Dan to go to work and I would keep him updated. I showered and did our normal routine with Luke. The contractions were not super painful so I was able to just go about my regular business. Dan was texting often to get updates and I would snap a screen shot of the contractions and send it to him. He decided to come home around 11 am. Luke and I went on a walk to collect leaves, sticks and flowers to make a little nature collage. I had to get out and do something or else I would have gone crazy. I probably should have packed our bags at this point, but I still felt like it was going to be awhile because at this point the contractions were being sporadic. While we were out walking Luke tripped, of course, and I had to carry him home. So, yes, I was in labor carrying my 36 pound three year old. Oh well!

Not too much later Dan came home and we went to Costco. This is a labor tradition of ours. We did the very same things with Luke. We walked around Costco and tried samples and bought a few things. The contractions started to get closer together and quite painful while we were in Costco so after about 30 minutes there we hit the road! This is when things started to move quickly and I knew we needed to pack our bags and get out to Hillsboro (the hospital is about 40/45 minutes from our house and we had to drop Luke at my sister’s house first). We frantically finished packing and the contractions were getting super painful. I would have to stop and try to breathe through them and they were getting about 4-6 minutes apart!! We finally got all our stuff together and into the car.

I called the hospital once we were in the car and they said I should come straight in so then I called Marci to meet us at the hospital so we could give Luke to her! We wanted her to be there for the labor and delivery so she arranged for her Dan to come work from home and he came to pick up Luke.

As we drove the 40 minutes out to Hillsboro the contractions calmed down a bit and were more spaced out and less intense. I would have a really bad one occasionally, but there were more little and lighter ones in between. When we arrived at the hospital Marci and Dan were not quite there and we took one last family selfie of the three of us. I was definitely a little sad to leave Luke because I knew his little life was about to be changed forever. I was not super worried about him handling the change, but it is change nevertheless. I went in and started the check-in process while Dan waited outside with Luke. I got my bracelet and we were ready to roll.

I said my goodbyes to my big baby boy and they took us upstairs to labor and delivery. We were greeted by our nurse, BJ, and as she asked me questions in the triage room she decided to take us right to the labor and delivery room because I was obviously progressing quickly with my labor and I wanted an epidural. She led us down to room number 4 where baby would be born a few hours later. I put on my gown and used the restroom and then got in the bed. We had to go through a huge list of questions, get an IV going so I could get the epidural. It was 1:47 pm when we got into the labor and delivery room.

The contractions were getting SUPER painful at this point, but we had to wait for a bag of saline to get in me before I could get the epidural. I would have to close my eyes and squeeze Dan’s hand really hard and try to breathe through each contraction. It hurt… A LOT! I just seriously don’t know how women do it without the pain management! I don’t ever want to feel that baby come out of me! I was finally able to get the epidural at 3:00 pm. It’s never fun to get an epidural and it is more the idea of a big needle going into my back that scares me, but it is totally worth it. It started to work almost immediately and my legs went mostly numb and I could not feel any pain from the contractions. I could tell I was having one by pressure and tugging in my abdomen but there was absolutely no pain. My legs were not completely numb which was nice because with Luke I was so numb that I couldn't feel a thing and pushing was hard because I couldn't even tell if I was pushing. This epidural was amazing and perfect.

I was then able to relax and smile and just hang out and enjoy the ride. I got the shakes really bad from the epidural. I couldn’t control it at all. I would just shake and shake like I was cold when in fact I felt hot and had a fan blowing in my face and the air conditioning cranked as low as it would go in the room. When the baby nurse came in to meet us she commented on how cold it was in the room! We kind of just hung out for a couple hours. Dan went and got a little food and I think I posted a selfie on Facebook and Instagram. The midwife on duty that day was named Patty Barnes. She was absolutely hilarious! She was a little older and it was obvious she had delivered many babies in her time. She made me feel very comfortable and safe and she kept checking in on me. BJ (the nurse) was also awesome and was in and out of the room preparing everything and checking on me and baby. They were a great team and made everything wonderful for us. Patty told me to let them know when it felt like I wanted to have a bowel movement and that then it would probably be time to start pushing!

A little before 5 pm I began to get the sensation that I wanted to have a bowel movement. Patty came and checked me and I was fully dilated and we were ready to start pushing. I seriously couldn’t believe it! With Luke it was hours and hours of labor before I started to push and then I pushed for 2.5 hours. I could tell when I was having a contraction but there was absolutely no pain, but I could feel some pressure so I knew that pushing was going to be easier than with Luke. I had my first push and the head started to come way down. Patty got out this big plastic bag to put under my bottom to collect all the wonderful juices that come with birth and she said, “Look, this is the baby’s first toy! A slip n slide!”. I decided to have a mirror brought in so I could see the birth. It was crazy to see his little head start to crown and it was even crazier that it was all happening so quickly. I started pushing at 5:15pm and at 5:36 pm my baby was born! I could see his little head start to appear in the mirror and on the second to last push after I stopped his head kept coming so I gave one more push and I reached down and grabbed him and there he was. There was a perfect baby boy next to my face. He was pink and crying and looked perfect.

There is really no way to describe the feelings I have right after giving birth. The first thing is just touching the baby and looking at their face and just feeling that instant love and joy. It is so overwhelming and wonderful. There is also the great relief of having that little baby out of your stomach. It is the most relieving and wonderful feeling after nine months of pregnancy. It’s interesting because I don’t even think about counting his fingers or toes or if anything might be wrong with him, but during pregnancy I went through every worst case scenario. In that moment it is just pure joy and happiness. I just kept thinking he was so tiny and so cute.

I was able to hold him skin to skin for a good long time and then they weighed and measured him. He was 7 lbs and 1 oz, 20.75 inches long and had 13 inch head. His head seemed so small to me because Luke had a very large head. He just looked absolutely perfect! Marci and Dan were then able to hold him and I think I ordered dinner at that point and boy was I starving! Marci left to go to a comedy show her family had tickets for and Dan and I were there with our new little boy. The nurse gave Jimmy a bath and then we were left on our own. Our dinner arrived and I devoured every last drop of the wonderful hospital lasagna. Dan cuddled with his little boy and we sent pictures to family and friends. A while later the nurse came in to help me out of bed and to the bathroom for the first time. The epidural had worn off and I was actually feeling very little pain. She gave me 600 mg of ibuprofen and with that I had no pain at all.  I was able to go to the bathroom and change into a clean gown and get cleaned up from the birth. We then gathered up our belongings and moved to our post-partum room.