Paxton's Birth Story

Paxton's entrance into this world was both long and short.  Let me explain.

On Thursday one week before his due date I started to have contractions that felt to me and my memory of Everett's labor to be the real thing.  I called my parents in the middle of the night, and they made the 4 hour trek to Austin anticipating a birth!  However, that did not happen.  I continued to have contractions on and off over that week that felt like they would amount to something.  We were sent home from the hospital on Friday after contractions did not persist.

Wednesday, the day before his due date, we had a doctor appointment.  He "stripped my membranes"(google it if you're so inclined) in an effort to get labor started.  Because of my previous c-section, I had a deadline of one week past the due date before I would have to deliver Paxton by c-section, and induction was not an option.  Boy did it work!  I had very strong contractions later that afternoon.  They were persistent, and we went in to the hospital at about 9pm.  They watched me for an hour, and the contractions though strong were not changing my cervix.  I was offered "therapeutic sleep", which was IM Morphine and Ambien.  I really didn't want to be in a coma when delivering my baby and am not in favor of being drugged, so I refused.  Since I refused, they felt they could not do anything for me at the time and sent me home.  I wanted to seriously hurt someone.  We drove home and contractions became extremely painful.  It didn't take long before we were on our way back to the hospital with severe pain and nausea - likely in transition.  I got to the hospital with my cervix at 5cm (I was 1.5 cm when sent home an hour earlier), and progressed to 10cm after another hour or so.  It was the most intense pain I have ever experienced.  I sounded like a primal beast.  I felt very fortunate to have a doctor that allowed an epidural to be placed at such a late point in the game.   They worked as quickly as they could, but I was already 10cm at this point, and my body was pushing despite my intense efforts not to.  Having the epidural during pushing allowed for a much more pleasant experience complete with joking and conversation.  Most importantly it allowed for a slightly slower process which reduced tearing significantly, though most would say 30 minutes of pushing is not slow at all.

So there you have it.  Paxton was born on his due date like his brother Everett as well as myself (a hilariously perfect fit to my personality).  June 16, 2011.  He was 7 lb 12 oz, 20.5 inches long, and cute as a button.  What surprised me most was his dark hair and so far dark eyes. 

To compare this to our previous experience, you can read Everett's birth story.