I wanted to write down Lenny's birth story so we could remember all the details of the day. I am very blessed to have pretty easy pregnancies. I was able to run up until 36 weeks and I feel really good and healthy throughout. I was a little more tired with this one but would just nap when Bergen napped which helped. Lenny was measuring small throughout my pregnancy which didn't concern me much. The Dr.'s did a few more ultra sounds to make sure baby was still growing, but Lenny usually stayed around the 10th% and was always a few weeks behind in growth. Both my other girls were 6 lbs so I knew Lenny was going to be small as well. Around 36 weeks (while my sister Bailey was visiting) I woke up around 1am with fluid all around me in bed. My undies were soaked too. I was surprised and woke Spencer up thinking my water broke. I went to the bathroom (I went a lot which tells me I hadn't just peed the bed) and even a little more "water" came out that I thought was part of my amniotic sack. I smelled the fluid on our bed and it didn't have an odor. I was sure my water had just broke even though I wasn't spotting (when my water broke in the middle of the night with Bergen I was spotting) and I didn't have contractions (contractions started right away with Bergen). We called an Uber, woke Bailey up and told her we were going to the hospital and were on our way. At the hospital they took me to a room where (at about 2am) they started doing some tests. The Dr. used a cotton swab to test my PH levels and did an ultrasound to see if the fluids around baby were low. Both came back negative meaning my water didn't break and they said that I had just peed the bed! I was shocked since I was for sure that I hadn't peed the bed. {{I did pee the bed when I was pregnant with Bergen and woke up from the sensation of peeing and it smelled like pee... so I knew I hadn't peed this time!}}
The night before Lenny was born I had some pretty hard contractions throughout the night. It didn't wake me enough to time them or even look at the clock, but they were definitely present and woke me up each time. When we woke up I had a few more hard contractions but they were very sporadic and not close together. I was spotting a bit so I called my OB and they told me to come in to check me out. I packed a bag for the girls for the day (just in case) and brought my hospital bag to the OB appointment (just in case). I dropped the girls off at preschool at my friend Amber's house and went into SoHo for my appointment. I had also called my friend Kira telling her I didn't know if my water had broken but asked if things progressed if she could get the girls from preschool. Once there the Dr. checked my PH (like they did before) and did a few other tests. The PH came back positive but she said that could be positive with semen and other things. She came in and out a few times and after a while said that my water wasn't broken and I could get dressed. At this point I texted Spencer and told him everything was good (since he had meetings all day in the city and wanted to know). I also texted my friend Kira and told her false alarm and my friend Amber that I would be back at noon to pick he girls up. At the OB they also did an ultrasound which came back showing the baby's fluids were great. She checked my cervix and said I was 3 cm and decided to do one more test that you had to wait 10-15 minutes to get the results. After that time she came in and said what I had thought all along! I must have a pinhole break in my water and amniotic fluid was slowly leaking out. She did a test where you put a test strip under a microscope and it only detects amniotic fluid. She started rushing me along at this point saying I needed to get to the hospital NOW and needed to call my husband and get there. She was worried since I had tested positive for Group B Strep. She told me to call a taxi and really rushed me along! I started to cry because I had so many questions. Why hadn't they done that same test when I thought my water broke at 36 weeks? Why the rush to the hospital if maybe I had broke my water 4 weeks ago? Was the baby ok with the Group B Strep? Could she have got an infection? The Dr. said if I didn't go into labor on my own that they would induce me. I really didn't want to be induced either but understood that it was important since the baby could potentially be getting an infection and needed to come out.
I called Spencer and told him what was happening. Luckily he had just gotten done with his meeting with his CEO (!) and was getting ready for another meeting in the city. He said he would take a taxi and meet me at the hospital right away. I texted my friend Amber and told her that I actually was heading to the hospital and then texted my friend Kira to see if she could actually go get the girls later and my friend Lizzie if she could pick the girls up from Kira's and put them to bed that night. My dad called me on the way to the hospital and told me things would be fine and that Spencer should give me a blessing once we got to the hospital.
I arrived at the hospital around 1:30pm a little before Spencer and waited outside for him. I will always remember seeing him run up in his business suit with a smoothie for me in one hand and his computer bag in the other. He was running from his taxi to come meet me! We checked into the hospital and waited in the waiting room for about 15 minutes for a room to open up. When we were waiting I had a few more hard contractions but they were again sporadic and not close together. Once we got into our room Spencer gave me a blessing. It was a really sweet blessing. I could tell it was not his words but the Lord's. In the blessing he said that there would be Heavenly Angels watching over us and people on the other side to help. He also blessed the baby that she would have all the gifts and tools she needed to have a healthy and happy life. It was a very special and tender time for us as I rarely ever see Spencer get emotional.
At 2:00pm I was dressed in my gown and started getting hooked up to IV's and the antibiotics for my Group B. I was talking with my sister Bailey and around 2:45pm my water broke! It was the weirdest feeling! I was having another hard contraction and while the contraction was happening it felt like a balloon popped between my legs and warm water started gushing out! I told B my water just broke and I needed to go! It was good to talk to her because she said with her second, Beckham, that the contractions were really sporadic too and they really had no rhyme or reason to them. This is how mine were. Some would be 3 minutes apart for 10 minutes and then there would be a 10 minute gap between another one. I was sooo happy that my water broke! I was going into labor on my own and wouldn't need to be induced! After my water broke things started to progress more and more. I got an epidural around 3:15pm even though I was hesitant because my contractions weren't really close together but they were intense when I would have one. I think I was waiting for them to be the typical 5 minutes apart and lasting a certain amount of time to get an epidural. But my Dr. said if I wanted one I should get an epidural sooner than later. I am glad she told me this because after I got my epidural my contraction were closer together and getting intense. At this point she said I was 5/6 cm dilated. I was talking to my sister Rachelle around 4:45pm and once I hung up with her everything happened so fast! At 5:10pm I had two urges that I needed to go #2. I remembered this with Bergen that this is actually the baby and pressure, not poo. After two contractions with that urge, then came the urge to push! At 5:15pm Spencer called in the nurse and said we were in active labor. No one came. At 5:20pm Spencer called them in again and said that I was pushing! I couldn't stop my body.. it was pushing this baby out on it's own. The Dr. came in and told me if I could to not push while she set things up. The Dr. and nurses set things up in a hurry and after just two big pushes and about 3 contractions later, Lenny was born at 5:32pm. It was so fast! She came out crying which I was happy about since I didn't even get the first dose of the antibiotics for the Group B Strep (you are supposed to get 2 doses). She looked and seemed fine and right away they put her on my chest to do skin to skin while they cleaned things up around me. They measured her and weighed her and I was able to nurse her right away. She started sucking like a pro! It is such a miracle that they are born and minutes later have that reflex to suck. I let her "nurse" for about 15 minutes and then they took her to clean her off. When she came out she had a full head of dark brown hair and very full cheeks! Her face was really round and full which was great to see and a little different from the other girls. She had a little bit of Bergen and Charley in her and everyone says she looks like Spencer. Around 7pm they took us up to our room for the night to get settled. Spencer left around 8pm to go home to the girls and let Lizzie go home (since she had put the girls to bed at our house and was just hanging out there till Spencer came back).
That night we decided on her name, Lenny Velma. Velma is after my kind, sweet and selfless mother. I wanted her to have a strong namesake and my mother is such a charitable and sweet lady that it fits her perfect. We also just really liked the name Lenny. We were deciding between Lenny, Andi or Stevie.
The next morning Spencer brought the girls to meet Lenny and they were so excited to hold her! Bergen loved touching her face :) They also liked eating all the hospital food that I had got while staying there. It was fun for them to meet their sister for the first time. I still can't believe we have three girls! We are smitten with Lenny and so happy and feel so blessed she is here with us and is healthy!
No comments:
Post a Comment