Jett's Birth Story

It's been a quiet and uneventful day at the hospital today. Jett is sleeping in his bassinet next to my bed right now and Blair is home with Brock, so I thought I'd take the time to record Jett's story before he is ready to eat again and I'm ready for bed.

He didn't want to come out on his own, so I scheduled an induction with my doctor. He was due on Thursday, October 25th, and we schedule the induction for Monday, October 29th. The hospital called me at 9pm and told me they were ready for me. By the time we got there and got checked in, it was almost 10pm.

I was already dilated 2cm, but had been for the last month so they gave me a dose of cytotec in hopes of effacing my cervix the rest of the way. It worked and I started having contractions on my own. The contractions weren't very strong and doing too much though, so they started me on pitocin at 5am on Tuesday, October 30th.

That seemed to work very quick because by 6am I was feeling a lot of strong contractions that were hurting really bad! My nurse came in at 6:30 and I asked for my epidural. She checked me and said I was only at a "loose 3" so she was a little reluctant to give me my epidural then. She said the shift change was at 7am though, so she would put in my epidural order and the next anesthesiologist would be in around 7:30-8 to give it to me. Well, the anesthesiologist that was about to get off shift saw my order and decided to run up at 6:50 and give it to me before he left. Thank goodness!

He finished inserting my epidural and once it kicked in, my new nurse came to check me. It was about 7:30am by this time and she said I was already dilated to a 7! I am so glad the anesthesiologist came before he finished his shift because even the nurse admitted, that would have been a very rough 40 minutes for me to dilate that fast! After she checked me she got figured it wouldn't me more than a couple hours before the baby came, so she started getting everything ready. She called my doctor and said my doctor would break my water when she came in to check on me and I would probably go really fast after that.

My doctor came in right at 8am and when she went to check me, saw that my water had already broken (I just didn't feel it because of my epidural) and I was at a plus 2 (aka 12 cm)! The baby was already crowning so it was time to get the show on the road. The had me wait for just a few minutes while they finished getting everything ready for the baby.

My doctor asked how long I pushed with Brock and when I told her 18 minutes, she said we would definitely beat that this time! I started pushing and 7 minutes later, at 8:16am, Jett was born (although, he was just referred to as Baby for most of the day because we couldn't decide on his name). My doctor said that with my next baby, 7 minutes of pushing will be almost impossible to beat!

I am so glad I didn't have to wait until 7:30-8 to get my epidural like my first nurse wanted because I would have been completely miserable! I only had it in for about an hour before Jett was born, but that was enough for it to do its job perfectly!

Jett didn't come out crying so the nurse took him to give him some oxygen. His apgar score was 7 out of 9, one point off for his breathing, and another point off because he was pretty purple. The doctor said it was probably just because he came out so fast that he was a little shocked. But he recovered quickly and I got to hold him soon after.

He weighed 7lbs. 6 oz. (just 1 oz. heavier than Brock) and was 19 1/2 inches long (same length as Brock). He looks a lot like Brock, except with a lot of dark hair. Although he looks so similar to Brock, Blair and I agree, he looks like himself too. We can't figure out which features are different yet, but something is.
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About 30 minutes after Jett was born I nursed him for the first time, and he did awesome! He latched on perfectly and has a very good, strong suck! The only problem feeding him that I have run into is keeping him awake after he switches sides. He is a good sleeper and once he eats on one side, he just wants to go back to sleep. I keep a wet wash cloth next to me when I nurse now and have to stroke his neck and back with it in order to keep him nursing long enough. If that is my only problem though, I really have nothing to complain about! Nursing didn't go very well with Brock so that was one thing I was most nervous about for Jett, but thankfully he is already doing so well!

Around 10am, Blair went with Jett to the nursery while they got me ready to move to my recovery room. When they were all done, my boys came in and we just all hung out together for several hours. By 2:30pm I was ready to shower. When I finished, Blair went home to spend some time with Brock, then bring him and Blair's mom to the hospital for a visit. Brock was so excited to see me, but seemed a little confused about why I was laying in bed. He gave Jett lots of kisses and loves, which made me grin from ear to ear. It will definitely take Brock some adjusting once he realizes the baby is staying home with us, but I think he will be a great big brother!

We finally decided on a name yesterday evening around 5. Ever since we found out we were having another boy, we knew the middle name would be Rick, after my Dad, but until yesterday we couldn't decide on a first name. Blair and I knew it would be one of two names, but we both kept going back and forth all day. We finally made a decision though!

I was hoping we could go home earlier today, but they wouldn't let us. Earlier in the pregnancy I tested positive for Group B Strep, and with that, they need to give me an antibiotic at least 4 hours before delivery. Well, they didn't give me the antibiotic until I got my epidural because at the time, I was only dilated to a 3 and that should have been plenty of time. I only had the antibiotic in me for about 30 minutes before Jett was born, so there is a chance he could become infected with the bacteria. It isn't very common for babies to get the bacteria, but if they do, it can be really really bad, so they said they had to keep him in the hospital for at least 48 hours. But everything has looked good so far, so hopefully we can go home tomorrow afternoon.

When Brock was born, I kept him in my room with me all the time. I felt like if I sent him to the nursery, I wasn't a good mom. But this time around, I got over that false thought and knew it would be best for me, mentally and emotionally, if I got a decent night sleep, especially after not sleeping well at all the night before. I sent Jett to the nursery and they brought him in when it was time to eat and I felt very good today, thanks to a good night sleep.

Jett is a great sleeper though, so even if I had kept him in my room, I'm sure I still could have slept most of the night. When it is time for him to eat, I have to get him completely undressed, otherwise he is to comfortable and won't stay awake long enough to eat! He slept almost all day today, and even though he was in my room, I got a good 2 hour nap in!

Blair hasn't gotten much sleep since Jett was born though, because he has a big test tomorrow morning that he has been trying to study for. He slept at the hospital with me last night, but I sent him home tonight so he could get a good night sleep before his test. Hopefully he can do well on it, considering he hasn't had much time to study!

Blair's mom came into town Saturday night so she could help with Brock and Jett. She has already been super helpful with Brock! It's been nice to not have to worry about Brock. He can just stay home on his normal schedule and enjoy playing with Grandma! She gets to stay until this Sunday, but then has to head back to Idaho. I can already tell we are going to miss having her here!

Overall, everything has gone great! I'm feeling really good and Jett is such a good baby (at least he has been in his 1.5 days so far).

Now for some pictures:

Jett's very first picture!

Mommy and son meet for the first time.

I love this face with his tongue sticking out!

Please excuse the wild hair and the swollen face...I just pushed a baby out of me!

Proud parents

Snoozing together soon after birth. This was Blair's favorite activity to do with  Brock too!

My little pumpkin! His first Halloween costume.

Jett already loves curling up on Daddy's chest!

A little smirk.

I'm so glad you are finally here little Jett! I love you so much already!