*Going home outfit!
*Baby Chad alongside Baby Ole
*Our first selfie before cuddling up together for a long and much needed night's sleep...can't you see those tired eyes?
*Heading home, thanks Robin for taking our picture and being the best nurse ever!
Ole Niklas Hansen
Born Monday, January 5, 2015 at 8:34am
10 pounds 6 ounces
21.5 inches long
Ole Niklas Hansen is officially 18 days old today! After much excitement and preparation, our due date approached and I had no feeling that our little Ole was going to be born anytime soon. I was pretty sure that he would be coming late and my doctor even recommended I make a 41 week appointment just so I had one scheduled. I even made an eviction notice that I was very proud of and couldn’t wait to photograph my belly with on our upcoming due date…well, let’s just say that I never did get to use the eviction notice as our little one decided to pack up and leave the womb and right on time! Here is Ole’s birth story…
It is hard to believe that Chad and I are parents and to such a sweet baby boy. As I look back on Ole’s birth story, I am already filled with a sense of love and purpose for that day. A day that at the time was filled with uncertainty and doubt in whether or not I could actually do it. It all began at 11:45pm on Saturday, January 3rd, though I would credit my prenatal acupuncture visit with Jessica that afternoon at 12pm as having quite a bit to do with the events that followed about 12 hours later! I awoke after only an hour’s sleep to what I thought was my water breaking, though later it appears that it was only the fore waters. I subsequently lost my mucus plug (which I felt the need to show Chad!) right after and we let Lauren, our doula, know what was happening. She was actually just about to text us a happy due date message when she checked her phone to find that we had just contacted her instead! Chad and I were both calm yet excited as it not only appeared that things were really happening, but that our little baby would be born on his or her due date, just like his or her mother was! Little did we know….
Just the opposite of what we were supposed to do, we instantly got too excited to sleep. Sleep would be fleeting though as contractions started about 12:10am. They were uncomfortable and painful, but far enough apart and bearable that I was able to finish packing some last minute things into my bag and even decided it was a good time to do the dishes. Around 1am the contractions were getting stronger and I found that I could not successfully get anything done or ignore the pain. Chad put a movie on for me, Leap Year, and while he went to dress and shave (which at the time seemed unnecessary, but was actually a great idea). I laid in bed and tried to focus on the movie, but the contractions were getting stronger and stronger and closer and closer together. Chad timed them for me and around 4 or 5am, they were about 5 minutes apart. Once the movie ended, we called our doula who came over around 6am. My mom also showed up at about the same time to pick up Bear for a overnight visit to grandma’s house! Bear was quite sweet and concerned when I was in labor and would lay with me in bed, which was so cute.
As of roughly 5am, I had been walking circles around the house (luckily we have a house that allows you to do that!). And I wasn’t walking slowly either, I was quickly pacing around the house and Chad said I just wouldn’t stop moving. My contractions were strong and lasting 30 seconds, but coming every 2 minutes. We had called our doula around 3am to check in with her and around 5am, she called to check in and decided to head over as my contractions seemed to be close together and quite strong. We also called my mom around 5am to come and pick up Bear for a little getaway at grandma’s house! Lauren, our doula, and my mom showed up at the same time at 6am. It was so crazy to think that this was really happening and that it was happening fast. I was so excited as I was sure that our little one would be born on his or her due date and even our doula said that she was sure we would have the baby by the end of the day!
Contractions continued to get stronger and more intense over the next few hours. Chad so sweetly put on classical music for me, dimmed the lights in the house, and even lit pillar candles which almost completely burned out by the time we actually left the house! I was in so much pain that I couldn’t imagine having to go through this again, and remember telling Chad that he better be happy with this baby because there was no way I could ever do this again! We were going to have to adopt! Even when I was saying this though the sad part was that I knew it wasn’t true which made me even sadder because I knew I would have to go through all this again, probably more than once! One of the only ways I found contractions manageable was to sit on my birth ball and then lean on the back of the couch. I could then move around on the ball to help with the pain. At 8am, I felt like it was a scene from a movie as my water actually broke! It was quite gush and truly felt like someone had popped a water balloon underneath me. The pain picked up from there and I remember telling my doula that I was sure I was in transition because it hurt so much, but smart as she was and knowing that I was nowhere near transition, she just kept saying, “maybe” and telling me that we would be ready to go to the hospital, “soon.” Man, did I ever get tired of hearing the word soon! I just really wanted to know what the signposts were that would mean it was time to go and it was hard to just hear that we would be ready to go “soon.” Around noon I insisted we go to the hospital as the time between contractions was less than 5 minutes. The on-call doctor, Dr. Tiwari, said that she would get a room ready for us. When we didn’t arrive by 1pm, she called to check in and asked that we come in to be seen since my water had broke and contractions were coming fast. We agreed and left for the hospital around 2:00pm. Even though I know Lauren didn’t think it was time for us to go, I was so happy that we were en route. I felt more calm at the hospital and didn’t worry that I was literally spilling fluid all over the house (clean up aisle 7!).
The drive to the hospital was difficult, but luckily we live very close to Northwest Hospital. When we arrived, we checked in and after a few minutes wait, were escorted to room 207. From our tour of the hospital in November, I knew that room 207 was the best room in the entire childbirth center, so I was as excited as I could be given the pain I was in. It is a huge room with a couch, table, rocking chair, and an in-room tub, that would end up being my saving grace. Arriving at roughly 2:30pm, we went through many of the check-in procedures and the nurses were so nice about honoring my requests for things like no electronic fetal monitoring but periodic doppler instead, and not wanting a saline lock IV put in. Some of the time frames over the next 7 hours are a bit of a blur, but I know that I got in the tub at a certain point and found it to be the most wonderful place to deal with contractions. They were still extremely painful, but easier to bear in the tub. Chad put on my relaxation music and placed the flameless cables in the darkened bathroom which created as peaceful of an environment as was humanly possible. Lauren encouraged me to make low moaning sounds as they promote relaxation in the rest of your body. I certainly listened to her advice and as Chad can attest to made some of the lowest guttural sounds during each contraction I have ever heard come out of my mouth!
Some time around 5-7pm, I wanted to be checked to see how far I had dilated. I was excited to hear that I was at a 7, as it was better than a 3 or 4, but I had wished that I would be farther along at this point. I continued to labor in a variety of positions. My doctor must have come in to check on me in exact increments because every time she came in, the same Enya song was playing on my relaxation mix. Everyone had a bit of a chuckle with that! I laugh now remembering that every time I went to the bathroom, Lauren would whisper to Chad to go with me and try to get me to stay there for a contraction or two. I often remarked to them that I knew what they were talking about and I didn’t want to! At this point I also realized that our baby was not going to be born on his or her due date as midnight was fast approaching. I was sad, but I knew that 1.5.15 was also a fun and memorable birthday. I did excitedly confirm with a nurse that we would be able to stay till Tuesday if the baby was born after midnight though, which made me happy. As time continued, I was checked again around 10pm and was so excited to hear that I was at 9.5 cm!!! With Lauren’s pushing and Chad’s help, I tried some of the most excruciatingly painful positions in the hope of making it to 10cm. Squatting, lunging, etc. was honestly the worst and truly unbearable at times. So you can imagine how upset I was when they checked me again at 12am and I was still at 9.5cm. I couldn’t believe that none of those horrific positions did anything at all!
At the point, the doctor wanted to discuss options. Option 1: get pitocin to speed things up as my contractions had begun to slow down and were now 5-6 minutes apart which wasn’t allowing me to dilate the last 0.5 cm. Option 2: get an epidural and then some pitocin and rest and sleep for awhile to build up some strength. Option 3: a c-section will be necessary if we don’t speed labor up and get me to 10cm as they worried that my water had broken 16 hours before. Needless to say, I was unconsolable at this point. I was crying and telling Chad and Lauren that I didn’t want to disappoint them and feel like I failed, but I didn’t think I could bear to have pitocin without an epidural as it would only make my contractions harder to bear and come faster and I didn’t think I would be able to make it. I told them that I thought I needed the epidural if I was going to survive this labor. Lauren tried to convince me to have the pitocin, but I wasn’t ready to make that decision just yet. Luckily, both the baby and I were not in distress and baby’s heart rate stayed strong the whole time. This allowed me to get in the tub and try to relax for an hour before I made any decisions as I was not in a state of mind that would allow me to even contemplate the choices at that time.
I got in the tub around 1:30-2:00am and around 2:30am, I remember looking over at my poor husband who had been awake since Saturday morning (it is now Monday morning) and was sitting awkwardly on the tile floor outside the tub. He said, “You seem to be of a clearer mind now.” Which I knew meant that I had to choose one of the options. After asking and confirming with my doctor and doula that I could still tell people I had a natural childbirth even if I had pitocin, I chose option 1, pitocin by itself under the agreement that I could labor in the tub and that they would start me with a low dose. They had to hook me up to EFM and put in a IV and around 3am, they started the pitocin. I labored in the tub for 2 hours on pitocin, apparently falling fast asleep and snoring between each contraction! Around 5am, I felt an uncontrollable urge to push during each contraction. It was as if my body was pushing for me and I couldn’t stop it. Well, that was music to everyone’s ears as that is usually a sign that it is time to push. I got out of the tub and the doctor checked me…I was at 10cm! Hallelujah! I looked over at Chad who was sitting in a chair nearby, crying with happiness, because he knew that it was time to push and the pitocin had done it’s job. Our baby was on the way!
Around 5:30am I began to push. With each contraction (still fueled by pitocin which though they tried to hide it, I knew they were turning up as time went on) I would push 3-4 times. We tried a variety of pushing positions and I found that my hands were so sore from the scarf tied to the squatting bar that they had me pull on. About halfway through pushing, there was a shift change and though I like Dr. Tiwari just fine, I was so happy to see Dr. Lewis come in the room. Dr. Lewis and Dr. Salerno were the two doctors that I had hoped would be there to deliver my baby and Dr. Lewis showed up just in time! I pushed for a total of three hours, though looking back on it, it doesn’t feel like it was that long though I am sure it did at the time. Pushing was a unique sensation as it was different from the pain of contractions, but certainly was a burning kind of feeling as I was slowly stretched out down there. It was painful and hard as the more you pushed, the sooner the baby would come, but the more it burned and hurt. We switched to a final pushing position where a nurse and Lauren held my legs and I used their hands to pull against. Chad was up near my shoulder and would help my back push and apply a much needed cold and wet washcloth to my forehead after each contraction. I was so tired from pushing and definitely sweating and apparently turning a bit blue each time I had to hold my breath and push! After being told by the doctor that I could probably push my baby out in 3-4 contractions, but I might tear (or slow down and maybe stretch it out without tearing), I was all about getting that baby out no matter what. I didn’t care at all about what happened to me down there, I just wanted that baby out of me! After 33 long hours, all I wanted was to meet my baby.
So push I did and at 8:34am (8:33am if you ask Chad), I reached down and pulled our little boy out myself. Ole Niklas Hansen, welcome to the world! The intense feeling of relief that I felt in that moment is indescribable. All the pain melted away and all I could see was our adorable little boy. I had tried to make a note of whether it was a boy or a girl when I pulled him out and up to my chest, but definitely made a point of asking a nurse, “It’s a boy, right?” I had actually turned to Chad about 30 minutes before Ole was born and told him that I really thought it was a boy. For whatever reason, the woman who really didn’t have a strong feeling one way or the other at the end, was now sure it was a boy that was on his way out! I did truly think it was a boy in the first trimester too. I guess I should have gone with my first instinct…sassy little boy! The next few minutes Chad and I just gawked at our perfect little boy. My first thought was that he looked so much like Chad’s baby pictures, it was almost uncanny.
Meanwhile, the doctor game me lidocane and stitched up my second degree tear (hey, I had to get that baby out as soon as possible!) after delivering my placenta. Chad had to take a picture of the placenta as the doctor said it was 1.5-2 times the size of a normal one! No wonder Ole was a big boy who took 3 hours to push out…he was fed by a huge placenta the whole time. He weighed in at 10 pounds 6 ounces and was 21.5 inches long, which might explain the 33 hour labor with 3 hours of pushing I suppose.
Once we had a chance to rest and bond with our sweet son, we let our first visitors in, my mom and sisters. It was so special to share our little boy with them and they were the first of many visitors to come to meet little Ole. He was also visited by Diane, Dana, Leif, Bryan, Dad, Pete, Gary, Sarah, Jeris, Blake, Miles, Jessica, Merri, Andy, Dustin, and Anne. It was a very special day and one that we are so glad we got to share with family and friends alike.
The next 24 hours were spent bonding with our sweet boy who was perfect in every way. He passed every test and even latched on when we first tried breastfeeding (not that it was or has been easy!). Chad and I had some time to ourselves and even enjoyed our new parent celebration meal! Food was so delicious after not having eaten anything since Saturday night and it was now Monday morning. I just look back on January 5, 2015 and am flooded with emotion and love. The 33 hours prior were filled with uncertainty, self-doubt, and excruciating pain, but the moment Ole was born, all of that melted away. I even found myself thinking that I had gone through labor once and that I could certainly do it again. The birth of your first born is certainly a special day and it was truly an amazing feeling to look into your baby’s eyes and know that this was the special guy who had been me the past 40 weeks. Chad and I were now parents. I was a mom and this was my son.
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