The Extremely Late Birth Story of Payton Xander

Well I suppose seems how Payton is two months old today I should post his birth story haha! I suck at this. But I want to put it out there anyways because I want to be able to remember it!

Short & Sweet version:

Payton Xander was born via “emergency” C-section at 6:55PM on October 2^nd. He weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 21.25 inches long.

The incredibly long and detailed TMI version:

            It all started on October 1^st, my actual due date! I was supposed to work until 11:30PM but I was at work and just felt awful so I went home after only being there for about three hours. I felt terrible too because someone else had already not showed up for work that day! I got home and Brent and I made dinner and rented “This is the End”. I was so tired though and we went to bed around 10:30.

I woke up at 12:24AM to go pee but when I stood up it felt like I peed a little bit, I ran to the bathroom really quick because I thought I was losing control of my bladder control haha, the things you have to worry about when you are pregnant! I made it to the toilet but when I stood back up I felt more leak and instantly sat back down and it felt like I peed all over again. I was sort of in denial that this was it but I also kind of knew. I went and got back into bed and waited to see if I felt anymore before waking up Brent. I stood back up and felt a little bit more and so I woke up Brent and told him that I was pretty sure my water broke. He thought I meant that it broke on the bed and grabbed his phone and started looking all over. It took me a minute to realize what he was doing and told him it wasn’t on the bed! Haha!

I called the on call doctor but he wasn’t available so I left a message. They said to call back in 20 minutes if I hadn’t heard back. I decided to get up and take a shower. When I got out I called again because it had been more than 20 minutes. He still wasn’t available so they said to call back again in 20 minutes. Right before I was going to call back he called back, turns out he was delivering another baby ha! He told me to come on in because it definitely sounded like my water had broken.

Brent took a shower and we got all of our things into the car. We also had to go drop off our dog to Brent’s brother’s house. When we got there we went to unlock the door only to realize the dead bolt was also locked. So we tried calling Brent’s brother, SIL, and his mom who were all obviously dead asleep so we had to keep calling, no ringing the doorbell because they have a one year old. I’m sure it was only five minutes but I was already having contractions and my HUGE poise pad, yes you read that right Poise, was already soaking through, so it felt like twenty minutes. By this point they had all woken up and they were very excited. Brent’s mom was going to be in the room with us so she asked if she should leave right now or wait. Poor Brent wanted it to be just us for a while so he said to wait but I think we were only at the hospital by ourselves for about an hour. 

So we finally get to the family birthing center, which is just what they call labor and delivery here, around 2:30 or 3. When the nurse came to take us to the room to make sure I was actually in labor she saw that I had leaked through my pants and decided that step was unnecessary, thank goodness because I felt gross! We got all checked into our room and we were so excited. Honestly I thought I would be meeting my little guy by noon....If only haha!

I was having what felt like pretty consistent contractions but they weren’t horribly painful, it felt like really horrible cramps. I tried to lie down and get some rest but I was way too excited. By about 4:30 the contractions were super painful. I thought for sure things were moving along. But no, they were not I was only about 4 cm dilated (not impressive when I was 3cm when I checked in). I wasn’t discouraged yet though!

Around 8:30 labor was kicking my ass. My contractions were long and painful. Brent was amazing though and kept reminding me to breathe deep and helped me get through the contractions. There was really nothing that helped make them feel better, but swaying back and forth at least gave me something else to focus on. They had gotten so strong at this point that I remember looking at Brent and saying “It feels like I am going to throw up” but I didn’t actually think I would. Luckily the nurse knew better and grabbed a barf bag because I threw up hard.

            Once the contractions got that bad I really lost all sense of time. I was so exhausted already by around 10am and they checked me and I was only like 6 cm. I was starting to feel a little defeated and I asked for a dose of fentanyl because I needed to sleep. I don’t think fentanyl works so well because it makes your contractions hurt less it just makes you so groggy that you can fall asleep in between them. So for roughly an hour I layed in bed and went through super groggy contractions where I basically withered in pain because I was too out of it to do anything else. I felt a lot better after though because I did get a smidgen of rest.

            I think I stopped counting after I had puked about 8 different times. Puking has never bothered me and it actually helped me during my contractions because I couldn’t think about the contractions. Around 2PM they thought for sure I had to have made some progress and they checked me but I was about 7cm. I decided to get another dose of fentanyl because I was so, so tired. The contractions were so bad at this point that the fentanyl hardly did anything. Once it wore off I was barely making it through my contractions. I had cried and told Brent I couldn’t do it, more than once! But Brent kept helping me through.

            Around 4 or so my doctor checked me and I was 9cm, I was feeling like it was almost over! But then around 5:00 she came back because she thought I must be close, but I was still only 9cm. I literally just said “F**k” when she told me and she said “Yeah, that’s just not fair”. She asked me if I wanted an epidural and I said no. I am not sure when but it was shortly after, she came back in and told me that my blood pressure was getting really high and the baby’s heart rate was dropping with  each contraction, she suggested I get the epidural because she thought if I was able to relax it would help with his heart rate. I immediately agreed to get one even though I had wanted to avoid it. All I could think about was his little heart struggling.

            The guy came in and placed the epidural at 5:30, I was in the middle of a contraction and focusing so hard on that and not moving, that I barely even remember him placing it. He said “wow you are doing really well” and I was like well I’m not going to squirm around. And honestly I had no energy to at this point. They then put in some sort of internal monitor that could better sense the contractions because my doctor was worried about me not progressing past the 9cm. I seriously felt so much better after the epidural. Just knowing I didn’t have to feel the contractions anymore was a huge relief.

            Around 6 my doctor came in and she did not look like she had good news. She said “I know that you wanted to do this natural, and this is not what you wanted, but I really think a C-section might be what’s best right now.” I almost instantly started to cry. She told me that the epidural had only helped with his heart rate for a few minutes and it was starting to drop again. And once they put the internal monitor in they found that he had passed meconium. I had already been in labor for 18 hours and she didn’t think that it was going to be over soon. She said that if I were to continue with a vaginal birth I would probably have a tired baby. And then she continued to explain that she didn’t mean he would be sleepy, he would be what they consider sick and probably have to go to NICU, on top of that if he aspirated the meconium he could get asthma or have troubles breathing. The doctor and nurse left the room to let Brent and I discuss it.

            I didn’t want a C-section and I was terrified, but even more so I didn’t want my baby to be sick or spend the first week of his life in the NICU all alone. The nurse came back in and I asked her how long I would have to wait for a C-section, thinking that maybe somehow if it was going to be two hours he might come on his own. But she said I would get prepped and head back in about 15 minutes. I told them that we would do the C-section; I just couldn’t risk the safety of my little guy.

            So when I first got the epidural I was really happy that I could still move my legs because that was one of my main concerns with getting one. I had really good control but couldn’t feel the contractions. But when I had to get the C-section they had to put in more drugs so that I couldn’t feel it. It got stronger slowly which I thought would happen but then it kept getting further and further up my body. By the time I was in the OR I could feel my arms starting to go numb. Once Brent came into the OR I couldn’t have cared less and I was just excited to finally meet our son.

            They started the surgery and Brent was telling me everything they were doing. I was so tired and groggy that I am surprised I didn’t fall asleep. It turns out that Payton was “sunny side up” and his chin was lifted. This is why my super painful contractions were not efficient. It also explains the excruciating back labor. The anesthesiologist asked if I wanted them to pull down the screen when they pulled him out so I could see. I obviously said yes! I could still barely see though and they whisked him right away because of the meconium. I heard his cry within seconds and instantly got teary eyed myself. Brent was over helping to cut the cord and he looked over at me and said “He’s perfect.” 

Brent finally brought Payton over to me and I was so in love. I don’t even know how to explain the feeling that I had when I first saw him. It’s overwhelming and when I look at him now I still get the same feeling. It took a while for them to stitch me up but they let Brent and Payton stay with me most of the time. They left right before they put me back onto my normal bed.

I was wheeled back into my room and Payton and I were finally able to do skin-to-skin. He latched on really easy and the nurses were really impressed with him. I was still so out of it and my spinal had worked its way all the way up to my arms and I could barely move them. I couldn’t feel Payton nursing at all. I was just so relieved he was here and he was so healthy. We got him to nurse and spent over an hour with him and then all of our family finally came in to meet him.

It was really wonderful having everyone there to meet him and everyone knew how tired I was so they didn’t hang out for too long. Once everyone met him and loved on him they left and Brent handed Payton back to me and I looked down at him and I just cried. After everything we went through I just couldn’t believe that this perfect little boy was here and he was mine. I’ll never forget that feeling ever.

So there you have it, my long and detailed story of how Payton Xander made his difficult way into this world! And a picture of him in the hospital the day after he was born and then four days later on the day he came home!