Grayson's Story

Vomit. That's how the day started, with Kyle coming into our room in the wee hours of the morning, saying "Mama, I'm sick". It had been almost a week since Emily had recovered, and I had thought the rest of us had escaped the 3 day bug. Poor little mister spent the morning laying on the couch, getting sick every 20-30 minutes.

I had been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions daily for the past month, and a little before noon I felt like maybe I was having real contractions, but they didn't last very long so I thought it was just more BH contractions. Travis came home for lunch at around 1:00 and by that time I was sure that I was having some regular contractions. During one of my early Dr. appointments I had joked with the nurse practitioner that I would probably need to come to the hospital as soon as I felt I was having contractions so I didn't have this baby at home since Emily came so fast. Being the dedicated doc that he is, Travis asked me at least three times "So I shouldn't go back even for a little while?" after I had told him that he probably shouldn't go back to work because I was sure that today was baby day.

By 2:00 I knew that my BH contractions were a thing of the past, and these were the real thing. I was laying in bed, with the contractions coming about every 10 minutes apart. I called the Labor and Delivery nurse about 45 minutes later and explained that I was a little concerned about when to come in as my last labor progressed so quickly. She assured me that I had time, and that I should wait to come in until they were coming 5 minutes apart. Emily had come to lay in bed with me, and was watching a movie as I tried to relax. Less than an hour later I felt a really strong contraction, a sensation like the baby had kicked out or turned, and then a pop and I knew my water had broken, which had never happened with either of the other two babies. I called out for Travis and ran into the bathroom, which must have scared Emily because she started crying. I told Travis to call Labor and Delivery and let them know we would be coming in, and to call my mom so she could come stay with the kids.

My contractions went from 10 minutes apart to pretty much back to back, with little time in between, and I felt a lot of pain in my back. Rocking on my hands and knees helped alleviate some of the back pain, but it really freaked Emmie out to see me, and she had a wide eyed, terrified look on her face. My law abiding mother must have sped her way up here because she was walking in the house in no time. My contractions were so strong and fast, and I was having a lot of back pain so instead of sitting in the seat of the truck I leaned it back as far as it would go and faced the back of the vehicle in a semi-reclined position on my hands and knees. Even though he swears he wasn't going "that fast", Travis was passing cars left and right, and at one point even passed a car on the left side, crossing into the oncoming (empty, thank you Lord!) lane of traffic. He later claimed that he had passed at least 4 police vehicles and since none of them pulled us over that served as proof that he wasn't speeding...too much.

A few minutes down the road I started having the urge to push so I told Travis to call labor and delivery back to let them know we would get down to business the second I got there. The conversation went something like this: "This is Travis Livesay, I just called to let you know that I was bringing my wife in. She's feeling the urge to push, and it's her third baby so she knows what that feels like".  Ok, seeing it in writing isn't nearly as humorous as it was when he said it. Maybe you need to be in the situation of racing at Nascar like speed, weaving in and out of traffic like "The Fast and the Furious", and being minutes away from your worst nightmare coming true, but it was funny, trust me.

Once we got to the hospital I was totally that stereotypical woman in labor that you see on t.v., in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the high school girl working the admissions desk put in her resignation at the end of that shift. She was waiting for me with a wheelchair, and with the memories of how unbelievably uncomfortable it is to sit in one of those things mid-contraction (again, which were back to back by this time) I grabbed the armrests, leaned over the chair and worked up to the courage to turn around and sit down for the ride upstairs. I will give the her credit, once I was seated she was trying to gently push me over the bumps and uneven spots in the floor while still getting us all to the second floor in a timely manner to avoid delivering her first baby in the hospital hallway so I probably should go apologize to her for yelling growling snapping something along the lines of "Don't worry about the d*** bumps, just get me where I need to be!"  The poor thing suddenly took off at a sprint and was huffing and puffing by the time she got me to the delivery room, and I'm pretty sure she took the last corner on two wheels.

Sparing you the rest of the details, I think I started pushing before they could even get all of my clothes off, and I really don't remember what I said to the nurse who tried to stop my from pushing, instead urging me to do "little grunts" (WTH???!?!?!). Dr. Bury must have run (literally) over from the clinic and she arrived in time to deliver Grayson before clocking out for the day.

 Welcome to the world, Grayson Thomas! 8 lb. 2 oz. and 21 1/2" long at 4:59 p.m.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012.

Bringing Grayson home from the hospital was the best feeling since Kyle had been so sick and neither he nor Emmie had been to the hospital to meet their new brother. When we got home on Thursday both of them were so happy to see us.

Kyle asked if "we can keep him for-eber" and wanted to hold Grayson right away.

 

Welcome home Grayson!

A little catching up to do

Where have the past 5 weeks gone? It is hard to believe that my little darling is already 5 weeks old, and harder to believe that I have yet to write something about the past month! Since women just love to tell everyone who will listen the story about their children's births, so I will share mine today. You might want to grab yourself a cup of coffee and a cheese danish as you may need the snack as you kick back and catch up on life on Livesay Lane....

May 4, 2010
Happy Birthday Emily Makenna! I started having contractions as soon as I woke up this morning. Travis took Kyle to daycare, and I was cautiously optimistic that today would be Baby Eviction Day. Even though I had hoped for a 38 week baby, a 39 weeker was just as acceptable (and much preferred over a 40 week, or heaven forbid a 41 week, baby!).  I called Travis at work around 9 to let him know that I was pretty sure today would be the day. I had to leave a message for him as he was busy with a patient. When he called back I let him know that he should cancel his afternoon appointments. Since his last appointment of the morning was scheduled for 11:00 I assured him that I could wait until after he saw this patient for him to come home.Unfortunately I had to call him back within 20 minutes to tell him to come home. By come home I really meant you need to be in your car 5 minutes ago. by 9:45 Travis had rushed home, snapped a couple of pregnant Momma pictures and we were on our way to the hospital!

There are many times when women are accused of being "emotional" or "hormonal". I offer the following events as evidence that just may prove that hormones have less to do with sometimes bizarre behavior, and that circumstances (and people) beyond our control just may be to blame.

Top 10 Events Responsible For Any Erractic Behavior That May Have Occurred On Baby Eviction Day

1. Sitting in a wheelchair for over 20 minutes because the nice man at the desk was new to the job and the hospital had incorrect insurance information.
2. Baby Eviction Day falling on the same day as 5 other Baby Eviction days, leading to being given a room that was barely big enough for the bed, let alone a laboring Momma, a nervous Daddy, a cheerful staff that included Dr. Bury and her posse of 5 or 6 nurses and CNAs along with all of the various gizmos and gadgets considered necessary for the birth of a baby.
3. The contractions that accompany progressing from being 7cm dilated to 9cm within about 40 minutes.
4. The memory of back labor setting in when I was 8 cm dilated during Kyle's labor.
5. The smiling anesthesiologist (think of an overly happy cheerleader) trying to make me feel better about the fact that I could not have an epidural because I was "already dilated to 9!!!"  and would be pushing before it took effect.
6. Not eating for 13 hours due to excessive bleeding and possibility of needing surgical intervention for a cervical tear (which turned out to be non-existant ~ I'm just a good bleeder).
7. A very nice nurse who all but stood on my abdomen whilst giving me a uterine "massage" every 15 minutes for 2 1/2 hours in an attempt to stop the bleeding .
8. Having my family and baby removed from the room during the 2 1/2 hours of uterine "massage".
9. Medically induced contractions via IV drip to stop the bleeding, a.k.a. labor all over again (without the reward of a squirmy newborn).
10. What? You really need one more to believe that sometimes women may act a little "crazy" and that it has nothing to do with hormones???

What type of erratic behavior did I engage in, you may find yourself asking. I will admit to nothing and just ask that you read through numbers 1-9 again and be satisfied that if I did indeed do, or say, something out of character that I really was not to blame!

In the end, what really matters is this:

and this:

To both my little darlings:

Before you were conceived, I wanted you
Before you were born, I loved you
Before you were here an hour, I would die for you
This is the miracle of love.
-Maureen Hawkins

Ok, so maybe you didn't need that cheese danish after all. I thought this was going to be the longest post in history to catch up, but the little ones are both awake and someone is always hungry in this house!