It's been quite some time since my last post, but good and not so good, I want to remember all the details of the arrival of our precious little boy, and I figure this is the perfect place to put them.
Justin and I had been anxiously waiting to meet our little boy and were considering inducing if both Grayer and myself were good candidates. We had a sonogram scheduled on Monday, September 20th to see how big he was measuring and to see if I had dilated anymore since my last appointment. We didn't see much in the sonogram, but found out that we was measuring approximately 7lbs 6ozs., which we thought was great since they originally said that he would be pretty small. Unfortunately, when the doctor looked at me, I was still only 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced so she did not think that I would be a good candidate for an induction, at least at this point. I was a little disappointed, but Justin and I had already said that if he or I were not ready, we would not risk inducing. I was really hoping that I would not need a C-Section and we didn't want to do anything that would up the chances of needine one. So, we left the appointment and went home to wait some more. Looking back now, knowing how everything turned out, I see it was the Lord who did not allow us to induce. I think I would have forever felt guilty that we induced and he was not ready. Fortunately, that is not how it turned out.
At 1:23am on Wednesday morning, September 22nd, I woke up to some pressure and water leaking. I got up to go to the bathroom and realized that for sure my water had broken. I had been having braxton hicks contractions for several weeks at that point, which had never been painful, but as soon as my water broke, the real contractions started. I woke Justin up and told him that my water had broken and we immediately started getting ready to head to the hospital. We both took quick showers, finished packing our bags and jumped in the car. On the way to the hospital I was having contractions every 8 minutes. I was surprised how quickly they had started. We got to the hospital around 2:30 and they took us to triage to see how far along I was. When they checked me I was only at 1.5 cm dilated and when they checked to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid, they didn't see any. The nurse told me that they would check me again in a couple of hours to see if I had progressed, but if I hadn't they might send us home until I was further along. At that point I was already in quite a bit of pain during contractions, and the last thing we wanted was to get sent home, so Justin and I walked up and down the halls to try to help me to dilate furter. When they came back in to check me again, I was still only at 2cm, but the kindhearted nurse stretched me to 3cm (very painful, but worth it!) so that we could be admitted! At around 5:30 we were moved into a labor and delivery room... finally! We were both so relieved that we weren't going to be sent home. At this time, I was in a lot of pain and having contractions every three minutes. Luckily, very shortly after we got moved, the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. It was immediate relief and I was a happy girl! We were finally ready to call our parents and let them know that it looked like we were going to be having our baby!
Once I got the epidural the nurse checked me again and I was at 5cm. I was very lucky that my doctor, Kavitha Blewett was the one on call the morning and was relieved to know that she would be the one delivering. She came in to check me a couple hours later and I was at 6cm. They ended up giving me pitocin to help me continue to progress, which I didn't mind since I was not in any pain. I was able to get some rest and around noon all our family went to get some lunch. Around this time I started getting some feeling back in my right leg and was afraid that I would start to feel pain once we started pushing. The nurse turned up my drip and soon both legs were completely numb and felt like big, fat sausages, ha! Chrissa and my mom had come back to see me after lunch, and were in the room when Dr. Blewett annouced that I was at 10cm and could start pushing! They ran to get Justin and at 1:45pm the pushing began. Since the epidural had numbed everything from my waist down, I was not able to feel anything, not even the pressure of the contractions, so I made very little progress with the first hour of pushing. The nurse turned down my drip and after an hour I was able to feel the pressure of the contractions again. I was able to watch everything from a mirror that the nurse set up for me, and it was amazing to be able to see his tiny little head with every push. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! At 3:55 Grayer Knox Davis made his apperance into the world with a loud cry! He was 7lbs, 4oz and 19.5 inches long. He was absolutely beautiful! After almost 10 months of thinking and praying for him, he was finally here for us to hold. Justin was able to cut the ambilical cord and within seconds they had placed him in my arms for me to hold. He was the most precious thing I had ever seen and I will never forget seeing his tiny face for the first time. Justin and I were both overcome with emotion and in total awe of him.
Unfortunately, shortly after he was born his cries turned into grunts, which they don't like to see. They realized that he had swallowed amneotic fluid and because of this had a fever and they were concerned about infection. They continued to monitor him, but were not happy with his signs, so later that evening we were told that they would be moving him to the NICU. Because I had been moved to a room and he had been down in the nursery for so long, I felt so out of the loop with what was going on with him, so hearing that they were moving him to the NICU felt like a complete shock. It was very hard on both Justin and I, but we are so thankful that we had the prayers and support of our family. Grayer spent two nights in the NICU and two nights in Special Care. It was hard that we were not able to have him in our room, but Justin tirelessly wheeled me down to the NICU every couple of hours so that we could be with him. Luckily I was producing milk, so I was able to pump and breastfeed while he was in the hospital. After the second night in the NICU we were told that it looked like he did not have an infection, but they wanted to continue monitoring him, so I was discharged and he was moved to Special Care, where we were all able to stay in a room together. After moving to SC, they checked him for jaundice and his levels were really high, so he was put under phototherapy lights for a night. It was really hard to see him like that, as he had to be down to his diaper and wear small velcro goggles to protect his eyes. Luckily he did well under the lights and his jaundice levels went down. Finally, after two nights in SC, he was ready to go home! We were so excited to bring him home with us and to start our little family of three.
Grayer, you are the most precious baby and we love you more than words can say!
