Jaxson's Birth Story

After reading about little Averly Gentsch's birth story, I decided that I needed to document Jaxson's so I can always read it & remember all the special memories of the day our baby boy arrived.

Anyone who really knows me, knows that I like to have things planned, organized and go my way :) My little Jaxson has his own way of doing things..on Jaxson's schedule! The plan was to be induced on January 29, 2010 at Jennie Stuart Medical Center. My doctor was Kristen Dobay, who happened to be our landlord at the apartment. Dr. Dobay explained that he liked to induce around 39 weeks because by that time the baby is just gaining weight. Dr. Dobay explained that it is usually easier on Mommy & baby at that time because the baby shouldn't be really big. Weeks before Jaxson's arrival I was "nesting". I have never cleaned/organized so much in my life! I wanted the house to be spotless for his arrival, not that he cared! I wanted everything to be PERFECT!

The morning of January 25, 2010 I went to work at 7:00 a.m. like usual. I started feeling a little weird almost immediately after getting to work and was having some pains that felt like menstrual cramps only they were near my rib cage. I started to write them down not really knowing if they were contractions or not. When Maria arrived about 30 minutes later, a coworker, I told her what I was feeling and she got a huge smile on her face and said I was probably having contractions. I continued to write them down through staff meeting and through my work yearly evaluation...needless to say I have no idea what was said in staff meeting and I just hope my evaluation was good because I just signed it! My contractions were about 2 minutes apart for a period of 5 hours before I finally got the nerve to call the doctor. I was a nervous wreck. The nurse told me to go to the hospital to be checked. I was so nervous that it took me about 30 minutes to tell Dana, my boss, that I needed to leave and I had Maria call Emmett because by that time I was in tears. Dana drove me to the hospital and Emmett left work and rushed to the hospital...Patty followed shortly after :) After about 3 hours, they told me that I was not dilated and although I was having contractions that I wasn't quite ready and that I looked "too good to have a baby today." They gave me a shot for pain (which didn't work and the spot still hurts 7 wks later!) and sent me on my way. They told me to rest and they would see me Friday. Well, by 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 26, 2010 I was still having contractions every 2-3 minutes. I called the doctor's office again and explained that I had been having contractions for 24 hours and just wanted to make sure it wasn't hurting the baby. They advised  me to go to the hospital YET AGAIN to be checked. Still not dilated and sent home again. Before I left, I vowed I would have the baby at home before I went back to the hospital before Friday! :) Dr. Dobay came in to see me before I left that day and said "she's still smiling, she's not ready...see you Friday!" After the two false alarms, my parents were packed & sleeping in their clothes just waiting for the phone call. They decided to come on Wednesday night not being able to stand it any longer!
I began have REAL contractions Thursday afternoon. I knew they were real because they were much lower and quite painful. I had to call the hospital at 11:00 p.m. Thursday night to make sure they had a bed available for me. Emmett, my mom and I left our house at 11:45 p.m. Thursday night to head to the hospital. The goodbyes were filled with tears...I could see the nervousness in my Daddy's eyes which almost immediately sent me to tears! I was terrified of the unknown! Daddy, Patty, Megan, Jason and Keaton were all there to see us leave. I cried all the way to the end of our road when Emmett realized he forgot his wallet...the tears dried up and I was aggravated (anyone that knows Emmett knows that he forgets his wallet A LOT!). We arrived at the hospital and I got the IV and they started to monitor my heart rate, blood pressure and baby's heartrate. Emmett settled in to the nice comfy chair and did a little snoring (it's on video for proof). From 12:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. January 29 I had contractions and they continued to get stronger and longer...by 7:00 a.m. I was ready to walk the halls to look for the nurse who was doing my epidural. I commend anyone who does a natural birth! I think I handled the contractions pretty well though, no screaming, yelling and hating my husband! :) After the epidural I was WONDERFUL. I felt great and was happy and loved everyone! hahaha...I had many visitors until around 10:45 when the nurse said I was ready and I started to push. Dr. Dobay didn't expect me to deliver until Friday afternoon since it was my first child; I think he decided to take a nap. The nurses had to call him around 11:30 because Jaxson was ready to make his grand entrance! Dr. Dobay showed up around 11:45 and Jaxson was born at 12:09 p.m.! It was so wonderful to finally see him after having him in my belly for 10 months! Everyone was a little surprised that he was 7 lbs and 12 ounces..everyone guessed much smaller including the doctor! I waited in recovery for the epidural to wear off while Jaxson was in the nursery being checked. It took the epidural about 2 hours to wear off enough that I could walk with assistance and be taken to the postpartum floor to my room. We had a lot of people waiting to meet our little man: Pawpaw, Wawa, Papa & Nana shaff, Grandma shaff, Max, Megan, Jason, Chris and Keaton. The snow began to fall Friday night. Around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning I decided to give up on breastfeeding, the exhaustion/emotions from the day set in. By the time everyone was ready to come visit again on Saturday we had several inches of snow! The snow continued to fall through Saturday night. Pawpaw and Jason shoveled our driveway Sunday just so we could get in our garage. It took about 2 weeks for all of the snow to melt away. Jaxson brought the snow with him for his grand arrival!