He gave me a Hickey

Kian Crew Hickey, my little king, was born on June 7, 2012 at 2:32 pm.  I was done being pregnant…done.  Looking back now though (postpartum amnesia in full swing) I could do it all over again.  Kian sleeps through the night, occasionally rousing to nuzzle with mom and fill his tummy.  I feel very blessed.

This is his birth story.

Kian is my third baby and when I went in for my 38 week office visit the nurse practitioner told me that I was 4 centimeters dilated. I was excited and surprised.  I had been having contractions every night for a week and didn't think they were doing anything.  Apparently they were!  She offered to strip my membranes and I accepted.  It wasn’t too painful, she apologized and said she did her best but she had short fingers and it probably didn’t do much.  I was still grateful for the chance of things being sped up and the possibility of jump starting true labor.  But another week passed and still no baby so my doctor offered me an induction.  I was induced with my first two boys, Kael and Caleb, so I knew what it entailed.  So in my “doneness” I scheduled myself for an induction and was super excited to know the day that Kian would arrive.

My sister Robin and I drove to the hospital at 5am on June 7^th.  Sam stayed home with the little boys and would be coming to the hospital after he dropped them off at daycare.  They started me on the Pitocin at around 6am and the contractions began about 40 minutes after that.  They were steady and mildly painful.

I had a nurse and a nurse in training looking after me.  Eva my nurse was AMAZING.  The gal she was training was really nice too, but when she checked my cervix for dilation I thought I was going to die.  It was excruciating.  Then Eva would come over and apologize and recheck me to confirm the trainee’s estimate on how far along I was.  Eva once said “sheesh, if she stayed any longer in there you would have had to charge her rent!” we shared a little laugh.

As a few more hours passed and they continued to increase the drip I felt the contractions grow longer and stronger.  They were still bearable and I could talk though them.  I dilated to a 5 around noon, but hadn’t made any further progress.  The baby was still sitting high so they gently broke my water.  The doctor was careful to make sure the baby’s cord didn’t come out before the baby’s head came down when she broke my water.  It is bad news if the cord were to come out first because then it pinches and doesn't give the baby oxygen.  She said she barely had to touch it and my water broke.

Wowzers, this is when the contractions really began.  They were earth shattering and felt like they were breaking my body in half.  I could barely say the word epidural though these contractions.  The anesthesiologist was short and in his 50’s, very soft spoken and warned me in advance that he took his time when placing an epidural.   He did take his time, but he worked with me to make sure that he was able to get me completely numb from the belly down.  Oh, how grateful I was for the drugs, and they were just in time.  It wasn’t but a few contractions (pain free mind you) later that I felt pressure.  After being checked again I was dilated to a 10 and they said I could start pushing.  5 contractions later Kian Crew was born.  It was easy, I remember them telling me to push and since I couldn’t feel anything I didn’t feel like I was making any progress.

When he came out they placed him on my chest, something I didn't get with the other boys.  Kian was covered in vernix, a thick coating to protect him while he stewed in amniotic fluid the previous 9 months, and he had a ton of hair.  I wasn’t surprised by all his hair though because both Kael and Caleb had a lot of hair.  What a handsome little boy!  8lbs, 2oz, 22inches long.  Kian Crew, I love you!

Big brothers love the baby.  They like to help and sing him songs when he cries.  I am one blessed lady.  Thank you to my husband Sam for three beautiful boys and for being there to be my cheer captain.  Robin, my lovely sister, for being there to see each boy be born.  My mother-in-law Rebecca, for filling in when my mom coudn't be there.  And my good friend Stephanie who got to watch little Kian come into this world with us.  Love you all!