Britt Raborn

Three weeks ago today we welcomed our sweet baby boy into this world. It is amazing how time flies because it feels like I just had him yesterday. I have taken a break from blogging to enjoy our time as a family of four. My husband is on an amazing rotation right now that allows him to be home with us so we are so grateful for this precious time together. Along with introducing our son, I wanted to share his birth story with y’all. It was one of the best moments in my life and meeting my son was an absolute high. I hope you enjoy his birth story!

Sullivan Joel David
November 16, 2015
1:24pm
7 lbs 8oz
19.75 inches

A Birth Story… 

Am I in labor? 

Ever since I was about 33 weeks pregnant, I started having really strong braxton hicks contractions that were painful and not consistent. That was all very normal, just so uncomfortable to be experiencing way before my due date. At 37 weeks inn the very early morning hours on October 31, I started to have somewhat consistent braxton hicks contractions that were VERY painful. I started to get dressed and throw stuff in a bag and after some time went by they petered out and disappeared. That following week at my OB appointment my doctor checked me and I was already at 1cm dilated. I started getting really nervous that baby would be coming earlier than my due date. At my 38 week appointment I was 3 cm , but not effaced yet. My 39 week appointment came and I was at 4 cm and 50 effaced. I left my OB office feeling down because at that point, I just really wanted to go into labor! I got nervous though because my doctor had travel arrangements for the next 4 days. I love my OB, so I was nervous and really wanted to make it to the 17th when she would be back and I could go to my appointment again. Late Friday night on the 12th, Scarlett came down with a stomach bug and I stayed up the entire night with her. Given my stats already, my parents became worried about me since my husband was on night call and couldn’t help me, and drove through the night to be with me to help. Fast forward to 1am on Sunday morning and I had realized I caught what Scarlett had. I was so sick and not able to hold down anything for half the day. That evening I began eating and drinking again normally, but still felt so yucky. Late that night I started having back cramping and very mild braxton hicks. I blew it off just thinking my body was in shock and was recovering from the stomach bug. I went to sleep that night and just had a gut feeling that real labor was on its way.

Oh yep, I’m Labor! 

Every hour after midnight I felt a strong contraction, and then nothing for another hour. At 6am they started coming every 3, 5, and 7 minutes apart. I woke up my husband at 6:30, handed him my phone to time my contractions, and had him follow me to the bathroom so I could take a very quick shower. I managed to wash my hair, shave my legs, and blow dry my hair in no time! I still laugh that I did all of this! But, coming off a stomach bug and not feeling well enough to do this the night before, I knew I was going to regret it if I didn’t. We left for the hospital around 7:45 (right in the middle of school and work traffic). There were many of times I was screaming at people to move out of the road and even begged my husband to use the shoulder on the interstate when the traffic was bad. For those 15 minutes, it truly felt like a movie scene! I checked into the hospital hobbling in and all. There were many stares! And of course I got on the elevator that stopped at almost every floor! I finally got into a monitoring room where they hooked me up to a contraction machine and then the intern came in to check me. My husband being the MD he is looked at my contractions and said, “Hmm, I don’t know babe, you’re contractions are not regular and are all over the place.” I gave him a bold look and smirked. I knew these were real and that I was NOT going home. The intern began to check me and said, “WOW, okay, you’re at 6cm and 75% effaced! You’re going to have this baby by lunch time!” SIX centimeters?! I surely believed her, but I could not believe I showed up to the hospital over half way progressed. I even jokingly thought, hey, maybe I could have this baby without an epidural ;p! I reminded the nurses that it took three people to get my IV inserted last time, so they needed to send in their best before they made my arm black and blue like last time. They got me hooked up to my IV and wheeled me over to a delivery room. It was all happening so quickly. I asked for the epidural immediately since I was so nervous that my water would break soon and then would be pushing without any pain meds. Thankfully they sent in an anesthesiologist quickly who ironically was from New Orleans, so that made me feel more at home and comfortable. This time the resident anesthesiologist let my husband stay in the room the whole time which I was really grateful for. It was done and over with so fast, I did not feel a thing. Honestly, the IV is much worse to me. I got comfortable and the epidural began to kick in. Shortly after, my parents came in with Scarlett and I was able to spend some time with her. I started to put on a little make up and it was adorable having Scarlett sit there with me helping me get ready! That little bit of girl time with her was exactly what I needed! She got a little rambunctious so my parents took her for a walk. A few minutes later, out of the blue, my blood pressure dropped and I began to get very faint and nauseated. That part is all very hazy, but I woke up to an oxygen mask on my face and the OB in the room. My levels had dropped pretty low for some unknown reason, but thankfully they came back up soon after. Within minutes after that happening my water broke. Things were starting to move really quickly! They paged the OB back to my room and she checked me. Yep, it was ‘go’ time!

It’s Go Time! 

They got me ready to start pushing and then just like that I was starting to push. My sweet nurse was so great at coaching me through each contraction. My actual OB was not on call that day, so another doctor labored and delivered Sullivan. I am so very lucky because the doctor on call was just the sweetest and she stayed with me the entire time I pushed which was not like my first delivery at all. Both the OB and nurse coached me so well and let me know when my pushes were really great- which helped keep me on track. My sweet husband kept me motivated and held my hand the whole time. The second time around was so different. It was very calm and personal. It was just us 4 in the room which was a change from the 20 people I had in the room with Scarlett. I was really able to focus on pushing and we even joked with everyone. Towards the end of my labor, the last set of pushing between contractions got really hard. I could tell that my body was physically drained and I did not have much energy to get through the last set of pushes. I knew that was due to the stomach bug the day before. Thirty five minutes later and 3 really good pushes Sullivan was out and I just remember tears streaming down my face. He didn’t cry right away, but he did make sure to pee all over the doctor! She cleared out his nose, he began to cry, and she handed him to me. We delayed the cord clamp for 1 minute. He was so beautiful! I got so excited to see how much hair he had. He was very mad for a little while so we waited until he calmed down to try nursing. When he did he immediately started to feed like a natural. It was amazing! They allowed me so much with him in the delivery room before moving me to recovery. I think we were in the room for close to two hours. I got to really focus on feeding him and just take it all in. The nurse came in to bathe him, get his stats, and check him out once I got him a good feeding. The nurses helped me get comfortable and gave me a little snack since I was so hungry! We then started getting ready to head to our recovery room upstairs.

Scarlett Meets Sully! 

Soon after we moved up to our recovery room where our family was waiting. Scarlett came running in and immediately went to Joel who was holding the baby. She was so excited to see him and just kept patting his head saying “baby, baby, baby Sully!” I think my heart bursted right then and there. I had a feeling them meeting would go well, but I never expected to see so much love between them. Giving my daughter a sibling was truly the best gift I could have ever given her. I am so excited to watch them grow up together and be best friends.

Recovery

Most people who have had more than one baby will tell you that your second baby is much easier to deliver and recover from. Some will tell you the opposite. I tried to be really hopeful with this delivery because Scarlett’s was very difficult for labor and recovery. With Sullivan I was feeling really great afterwards and even got out of my hospital bed the night of and was on the floor playing with Scarlett the next time. It was crazy! I couldn’t believe that I felt so good. I couldn’t even stand let alone get out of the bed with Scarlett. Recovery so far has been really good and I feel really well. Of course there are several things that are uncomfortable and painful at times, but overall I cannot complain. Sullivan is nursing like a champ and is packing on the pounds. He regained his birth weight at 2 weeks and even gained a few more ounces over his birth weight. He’s been gaining and eating really well! He’s very efficient and takes a short time to feed. We are so grateful!

Thank you so much for all of the kind words and congratulations over the last few weeks! We are so overjoyed and thankful for another blessing in our family! I cannot wait to get back to blogging soon, but for the next few weeks/months things will mostly be sporadic until I can get into a routine. Thank y’all again 🙂