How Landon Came on the Scene

The week before my due date I'd basically told myself that the baby was definitely going to be late. I decided having a baby early was a luxury that was not going to be bestowed on me.

Well... I was wrong... By one day :)

When thinking about giving birth there were two things that I wanted. Two things that I thought would ensure that labor was happy and healthy: 1) I didn't want the umbilical cord around his neck; 2) I wanted him to be a baby that came out wailing and was put immediately on my chest for skin-to-skin.

Well... I didn't get these two things, at all.

Here is how it all went down..

The Sunday before Labor Day we went to our friend Anga's house for a little BBQ. We had a good time relaxing, chatting and (of course) eating. After we went home and relaxed in front of the TV. I realized I wasn't having as many contractions as I'd been having in previous days so the baby wasn't coming early. For sure. I went to bed a little later than usual because I was having trouble sleeping (nothing out of the ordinary when you are nine months prego). I was in bed around 11:30pm but not really falling asleep. Soon I had a pretty "good" contraction and looked at the clock just in case more were coming like it. One more came like 30 mins later and then nothing.. Dang it.

I finally start dozing off to sleep when suddenly I felt something. Sitting up, I thought, Am I wet? and ran off to the bathroom. As soon as I hit that tile floor, there was no need for questioning. Fluids were gushing. Okay, weirdest thing ever. I called Nate and noted the time, 12:45pm. When Nate got to the door, I looked at him and kind of laughing said, "I don't know how to make it stop!"

It doesn't, you know. When your water breaks it's not like in the movies where there is a gush and then you just jump in a cab and head to the hospital. Nope, it just keeps coming. And coming. Part of the benefit of an epidural is that you don't have to feel like you are constantly peeing yourself. TMI?

Nate just looked at me with a huge smile and said, "Welp, I guess we are having a baby." To the hospital we went. In the car I started having contractions at about 4 minutes apart. It seemed like Landon was ready to make an appearance, and soon. We got all checked in at the triage and waited for what seemed like forever to get to our room upstairs. It's funny because later our nurse would tell me that on the screen they felt like I was moving quickly and needed to get me upstairs in a hurry. I wonder how long it would have taken if they didn't think things were moving.

Finally, it's time to head upstairs and by that time everyone knew that we were friends of Turi (Turi is a nurse at Mary Birch and a good friend of mine since high school). Was that the reason we got one of the BIG delivery rooms? I like to think so.

Once in the room, things started slowing down. I was dealing with the contractions pretty well, but the nurse talked me into getting the epidural then. She basically said, "Why not?" and I listened. I didn't want a normal epidural. I really wanted to be able to feel everything and be able to push when it came time. The anesthesiologist was not too happy about it and told me that I would NOT be comfortable. She gave me 1/3 of the normal dose and said she'd come give me more when I needed it because she was sure I would. As you may expect (if you know me well), I never saw her again.

Things slowed way down from there. Luckily my mom and sisters arrived to add some comic relief to the room. I had dilated quickly to (almost) 4 but then not much happened after that. They decided to give me pitocin to move things along. The nurse gave it to me and then left the room.

I was chatting with my family, having a gay ol' time when suddenly my nurse and others came hurrying into the room. She told me to flip to my other side. I started doing it, but she said, "As quickly as you can." Something in her voice told me I needed to listen. Landon's heart rate and been a strong 140 through the labor, but at that moment had dipped to 74. Switching to my side raised his heart rate back up, which was good, but the heart decel basically told us that we needed to be REAL careful here on out. The nurse said we wouldn't know why the decel had happened, but it was possible the cord was around his neck. If another decel happened, we wouldn't mess around. It would mean an emergency c-section.

Let's just say that after this little scare, I was a lot less happy go lucky. Nine months I had carried Landon and all I wanted was for him to come out safe.

Luckily, no more decels did happen. We were told it was going slow and that it was looking like we wouldn't have a baby until after 4:00pm. BUT then things started moving! The nurses don't like to check a woman whose water has broke as much as normal for fear of infection. So I wasn't going to be checked for hours, but, like I said, I was feeling pressure. My nurse checked me and I had leaped from 4 to 8.5 cm dilated. Things were moving! After less than an hour (and a lot more pressure) I asked to be checked again. I had leaped, again, to 9.5 cm. It was time to push!

Pushing was by far my favorite part of labor. Finally, I felt like there was something I could do to help this labor progress. Being an athlete, the challenge was welcomed. I was ready to get Landon out safe and sound. So in front of 14 people in the delivery room (my mom counted. It included nurses, doctors, NICU team because of the decel, and my mom, sisters, Lauren, and Turi) I pushed. And out he came with a full head of hair.

As the nurse had predicted, the cord was around Landon's neck (and wrapped around his leg, too). Luckily, it didn't pose a threat in the actual birth. But little man also didn't come out wailing, as I had hoped. Although, he was pink ( a good sign), he was retracting. Retracting just means that he was working way too hard to breathe. Fortunately, NICU was in the room because of the decel and went right to work on him. He needed help getting the fluids and mucous out his lungs. I was told it would be okay and that I had the best in NICU working on my son. I was fine at first, but after 10 minutes and all of the 14 people on the other side of the room with a son a couldn't even see, I began to cry silently. I was scared for my little boy and because of the epidural I couldn't leave the bed to be with him. Soon things were more light-hearted and Landon FINALLY cried out. He was here and he was happy and healthy :)

Nate got to cut the cord, not once, but twice:

After they knew Landon was okay, people seemed to realize that I was crying (and probably looking desperate) on the hospital bed across the room. The NICU nurse held up Landon "for mommy" and I got a real good look at my boy:

And FINALLY they put him on my chest for our skin to skin. I was overwhelmed with emotions at this point. I couldn't really say much. All I could do was kiss him:
We were the new and improved Butler Trio:

Everyone left the room and we got a little time for just us (sorry for the grainy, iPhone pic):
This is the sight that melted my heart. Nate was the happiest and proudest (and cutest) new dad I'd ever seen. I could see he loved Landon as much as I did. It's amazing how immediate the connection is.
Here is my family who made the trek, early on that Monday morning.
And the star of the show: Landon Butler. Born Labor Day afternoon, September 6, 2010 at 2:44pm. He was 7lbs 2oz and 20 inches long. My uncle nicknamed him "Crash" (say it together with his name - Crash Landon, get it?). After the ups and downs of his delivery, I think the name is very fitting.
"Nanna" with her 1 day old grandson:
After two nights at the hospital, we were discharged. I don't look tired at all.. No, not at all ;)
Landon looked so tiny in the carseat. I felt bad because I knew it had to be uncomfortable. But it didn't seem to bother him since he slept the whole way home.
Home sweet home:
Anybody still there? This is by far my longest post ever! I'm surprised I've only had to stop once to feed Landon. Almost finished.

So, although things didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped, Landon entered the world safe and sound. And now it's just amazing to watch him grow and evolve. Nate and I are forever changed. It's amazing that something so small can bring such big joy :)