Boston's Story

Where to begin!

With this pregnancy there was just a lot more pain on a daily basis. Back pain, stomach pain, hip pain, heart burn... needless to say I didn't enjoy this pregnancy as much.

So Thursday started out like a normal achy day. Brighton and I headed over to the Long Beach Town Center so she could run around, with me moving as minimal as possible. After walking around Carters, and playing on the playground for about an hour, we decided to go order some Super Mex and head home to Daddy for some lunch. On our way out we saw Amy and Audrey and stopped to chat for a bit and let our girls eat since they were starving. While we were chatting, I started getting a stomach ache... just kind of like my whole stomach just hurt. Which, like I said, really wasn't anything new. It was pretty hot out, and between the heat and being hungry I decided to say goodbye to the Thompsons and head to the car to get the A/C going.

We ate the rest of our lunch at home with Braden around noon, and then I went upstairs to put Brighton down for her nap. My stomach still really hurt, and it hadn't gone away... and eating 3 tacos, beans and rice sure didn't help anything. After Brighton was in her crib, I went and laid down for a few minutes before I had to leave to teach piano hoping it would subside.

The pain was constant, and just a little worse than other days but nothing too crazy. Braden left for work about 1:15, and my mother-in-law came over to babysit so I could go teach. I had been thinking for the last hour, "I don't know if I can teach through this pain!" but it was my last day of lessons before my "maternity leave" so I kept going back and forth in my mind whether or not I thought I could handle it. I told my mother-in-law that I was considering canceling piano and going to the hospital instead just to be safe. She said, "Every labor is different!" That got me a little nervous so I decided to go to the hospital.

I was so sure I wasn't in labor, but I really hadn't felt the baby move since the stomach ache started, so I thought, "better be safe than sorry".

I called Braden to tell him I was going in to get checked out, but assured him I wasn't in labor and that I'd call him later.

I got to the hospital about 2:20. I told them about my pains, and that Dr. Moore said to come in if I had anything significant going on. I guess Dr. Moore saw me walk in or something, because she called right then and asked the nurse, "Did my patient Jodee Christensen just come in? Check her really fast, because if she's in labor I don't want to go home and I'm just on my way out."

They settled me into Labor Room 5, got me wrapped up with the heart rate and contraction monitors and then checked me for dilation. I was a 3.

Dr. Moore then called my room and said she would like to keep me just to monitor things, maybe have me walk the halls a bit... She wanted to make sure I wasn't really in labor before sending me home and having a repeat of Brighton.

The nurse brought me 2 pitchers of water to drink to try and settle the baby down and make sure I was well hydrated. I had several contractions on the monitor and started feeling the pain coming and going more. After about 45 minutes of monitoring and 15 minutes of contractions 3 minutes apart, my nurse, Chi, checked me (which was seriously painful), and I was almost a 4. Chi told me she was sure I would have my baby that day because my contractions were regular and I had progressed almost a centimeter in an hour. Then she had me walk the halls. I had so much pain in my back I was shivering as I walked. I was talking to my mom as I walked and my voice was so shaky, but I couldn't help it! All I wanted to do was to lay down. I called Braden at 4:15 and told him we were going to have our baby and that he should leave work asap just in case my labor picked up. At 5pm, Dr. Moore called and told them to have me stop walking immediately because she wanted to make it back to the hospital to deliver me. I got back in bed and they started my IV. Chi checked me again, and I was a 5.

Chi asked if I wanted an epidural, to which I replied "yes please." I considered going natural again, but after being assured that it would not effect my chances of tearing and seeing that this labor was going to be a lot longer I opted for medication. She paged the anesthesiologist Dr. Tong a.k.a Drug Dealer, and then we waited.

Braden arrived at about 5:20. I had about 10 - 15 minutes of contractions 2 minutes apart that were really intense right before Dr. Tong came and I was really glad that he did! It was pretty weird to feel him stick the needle in my back, and I jerked just a little, but it really wasn't too bad. He was a super funny guy and did a great job. I was completely numb within 15 minutes.

Stacy came by to chat for a bit, and we just relaxed and watched the Laker game (not my idea... but I didn't really mind with the drugs :) Dr. Moore came a little before 8pm and broke my water. I was still a 5 so she ordered a "little shot of pitocin" to get things rolling. She said, "If history repeats itself, we'll have this baby out in 30 minutes".

They started the pitocin at about 8:50. I was waiting to start feeling pressure and the urge to push, but not much was happening. I could feel some pressure pretty high up, but nothing even close to wanting to push. About 15 minutes with the pitocin, I noticed the babies heart rate start to drop pretty regularly on the monitor. Dr. Moore and a few nurses came in to check on me, and said that either I was dehydrated, or the baby was ready to come out. Dr. Moore checked me and I was a 10 and the baby was +1. As the nurses were getting things ready I said, "Oh ya, I think I can feel that something wants to come out"... Dr. Moore told me to start pushing, so I closed my eyes and gave it all I had. One nurse said, "Wow! You're a great pusher!" I was really nervous I wouldn't push well not feeling anything, so I was happy to hear that. One more big push, and Dr. Moore put our sweet girl on my stomach at 9:19pm. (Almost 30 minutes exactly from the start of the pitocin)

All I could say was, "That's it! We're done?", "She's so TINY!" and "She sounds like a cat."

Braden cut the umbilical cord and they got precious Boston all cleaned up. She looked just like Brighton with her huge mouth wide open screaming. We are so in love with her!

It is crazy to me that I actually got exactly what I wanted with this labor. Since Brighton's labor, I've always said that I think a 4-6 hour labor with an epidural would be the way to go. But I'll take the 7 hours... or really I would have gone all day with that epidural and calm surrounding compared to Brighton's birth. It was such a different experience, and really a great one. (Not the most exciting story though ;). So for those who are wondering... Boston's labor was WAY "easier", if having a baby is really easy, compared to Brighton's.

We spent both nights in the hospital, and Boston was an angel. She's much more sleepy than her sister was, but I'm guessing that is contributed to the fact that she was early. Recovery has still been great since I am sans stitches, but my body and internal functions are much more sore. It's amazing how much work your body goes through to sustain a life and push it out. But really I can't complain.

I'm so happy she is here and healthy and we can start adjusting to life as a family of 4.

Brighton's first time seeing Boston
"Baby!"

Going home

First Bath

First Dr. Appt. She only lost 1 ounce! Still 6 pounds :)

Brighton sure loves to hold her baby sister and snuggle with her.

Precious Baby Boston