~The Experience We Call Life~: Hendrix's Birth Day

I had Marley and Grace BOTH nine days early. I had mild pre-eclampsia with both girls but never any with Hendrix. I wanted to have Grace naturally but it didn't work out that way, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking I would like to have Hendrix naturally because the epidurals for me weren't all that great with Grace but more so with Marley. I was able to cross-fit (modified, of course) until about 3 weeks before I was due (which was supposed to be August 20th). I feel like I could have done cross-fit until the day of, but we had to move into Jerry and Ruth's house at that point because we'd sold our old home and hadn't finalized everything with our new house. I ate MOSTLY paleo/primally most of the pregnancy with Hendrix (except at the beginning because nothing sounded good). I thought for sure that I would deliver early with Hendrix. When I went in for my doctor check-up the week before I was due, I was only dilated to a one but my cervix had soften to about 75%. It seems like when my cervix had been checked with Marley and Grace, it's what started my labor because within 24 hours, I had started labor with both girls (I also think the mild pre-eclampsia had something do to with going into labor early as well). My due date came and went...I was two days over (I even went to work on my normally scheduled day, which is Tuesday, and all my co-workers were surprised to see me as they were sure I'd have already given birth) When I saw the doctor, he said I would have to be induced if this little baby boy didn't come within a week. (Surprisingly, I gained the same amount of weight with Hendrix as I did both girls, even though I was over-due with Hendrix and I kind of wonder if it was because I was exercising more and eating healthier. I didn't have pre-eclampsia with Hendrix). At this point in time, I was about ready to do anything to not be pregnant anymore and give birth. I was barely sleeping because I was so uncomfortable and everything else just seemed so much harder being that pregnant! When the nurse ask when I she could schedule the induction for me, I said as soon as possible. There was a spot in the next two days for me to induced. After I left the appointment, I started thinking I didn't want and induction. I read info on it (I never had to think about induction with the other two since they were 9 days early and I thought for sure Hendrix would be early as well) and it said that induction would probably more painful because the contractions are started artificially and I would have to get an epidural. So I didn't want that and tried to post-pone the induction as long as I could but the first date I got was the date I had to have because no other date was available and my physician didn't want me to go past a week over-due. So I started looking up ways to induce labor on your own and started asking others. I tried doing pressure points but not sure that helped. I tried going on pretty strenuous walks up hills and that didn't work either. I even tried to drink some raspberry Finally, I talked to my friend Chantae who said she tried Castor oil with her second child. It's a laxative, but I guess it releases prostaglandins as well, which is what helps start labor. So I poured the oil in some juice and chugged it down the evening of Tuesday, August 21...kind of gross. Nothing started to happen for a long while and because I couldn't get comfortable to sleep, I tried pressure points again while laying in bed. Then at about 330 am, I started having some contractions that were pretty strong and pretty regular. So after about an hour (at about 433 am), I downloaded an iPhone app to keep track of my contractions. It was actually pretty handy. There were times where I didn't keep the best track because the contractions were pretty close together and pretty darn intense.

Kevin woke up at about 550 am and realized that my contractions were really close together and insisted we go to the hospital. Even though I went, I wasn't sure I should because with Marley and Grace my contractions were regular and close, and I was well dilated but sat around in a hospital room for 12-13 hours before finally delivering and I really didn't want to do that again. We get to the hospital at about 510 am and Kevin wanted to drop me off at the front, but I made him park the car so we could just walk in. The contractions were getting more intense and I was really anxious to get checked in. The nurses didn't seem too in a hurray to get me checked in, but I'm sure they see women all the time in serious labor pain and don't have their kids for hours. When I got to the room, they wanted me to give a urine sample. I was sitting on the toilet when my water broke (which was I'd never had happen spontaneously, the Md always had to break it for me). I yelled to the nurse that I was pretty sure that my water broke. She tested the fluid and sure enough, it was amniotic fluid. Once my water broke, the contractions were that much more painful and I thought, "if I have two go another 12 hours of this [thinking about how long I was in labor with Marley and Grace] intense pain, there is NO WAY I can go natural". So I ask the nurse for some pain medication and she checked me and asked me if I was sure because I was about 20 minutes away from delivering. Even though it was VERY intense, I thought, I'll do it. It's only 20 minutes and getting pain meds and/or and epidural will just slow everything down. So they got everything ready and paged the on-call doctor, who I didn't know (I felt bad because it was almost the end of the shift). It was crazy because the on-call doctor came in the room and just kind of stood around, probably thinking it would be sometime and lots of pushing before she had to spring into action. But the nurse told me to do a trial push, which I did, and nearly pushed the baby out. The nurse told me to stop and the on-call doctor immediately sprang into action and I pushed that baby out! I was in the hospital door at 610 am and had Hendrix at 655 am, so it may have happened that fast but it sure was painful! The nurse was trying to put the baby monitor around my abdomen during a contraction and it hurt so bad for her to touch it that I was like "can you not do that right now?!" I didn't really know how to deal with how intense the pain was, so I was doing this weird yelling/screaming thing (and I AM NOT an emotional person...in fact I wish Kevin would have videoed me while I was in labor because when I think back on how I was yelling, it makes me laugh) and Kevin didn't know what to do or how to treat me. He just awkwardly patted my arm and was like, "ummm, you're doing OK..." because he didn't really know how to handle the situation. When I pushed Hendrix out, there was some intense pain in the "downstairs" area that is apparently called the "ring of fire" and now I know why. Even pushing the placenta out was painful!! But once he was out, the pain was gone (I didn't tare) and recovery was AWESOME!!! Especially since I can compare having an epidural versus not having an epidural or any pain medication. I would have gone through that pain for Marley and Grace if from the start of contractions to delivery of the baby could've have been the same: 3 1/2 hours! I sat there in disbelief after having Hendrix (and I am still in disbelief). I couldn't believe I did it all natural and that he came that fast! The nurses kept saying to call for help up to the bathroom because I'll be unsteady. When I would remind them that I didn't have an epidural, they would say they had forgotten because almost no one has a baby without an epidural in the hospital. That surprised me because I know several people who have had natural labor and several who intend on doing it natural when they do have a baby. I keep mentioning his name, Hendrix, but like Grace's name, I really wasn't sure what we were going to name this boy! We didn't fill out the name paperwork until the day we left! His middle name is after Jerry's (Kevin's dad) father: Campbell Miller Wallace Cooke.

HENDRIX CAMPBELL COOKE

BORN WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 AT 655 AM

7 POUNDS 5 OUNCES

21 INCHES