Jackson Alexander GoetzBorn: Friday, September 24th, 2010
Time: 10:01am
Weight: 8lbs 15.8oz
Length: 51cm (20.07")
The room I delivered in at the good ol' Walkerton Birthing Centre
seconds after birth, nurses are trying to cool me down
Jackson lounging under the heat lights
not a fan of the hat
the nurses kept laughing cause he was so relaxed under that light they thought he looked like he was on vacation at the beach
Daddy holding his son for the first time
me holding Jackson after they cleaned him up and measured him
you'd think HE just delivered a baby
exhausted from his trip
our first evening together, he was so alertAfter our false start the week before I had doubted that I would know when I was in "real" labour again. But when I was woken up by a sharp contraction at 4am on the 24th I knew it was time. Emily and I have a crazy connection and when I sat up in bed she did too and cried out for me. I timed my contractions and they were 13 minutes apart, so I knew there was no need to panic or wake up Jason. I went in to check on Emily and she was just wide awake. So Emily and I headed downstairs and we cuddled on the couch (as best as you can cuddle a toddler with an enormous belly in the way!) and we watched some cartoons. I kept track of the contractions, which were coming faster and more intense. By 6am they were 7 minutes apart and quite painful. So I went upstairs and woke up Jason and called our friend Laurie to come over.
Heading to the hospital in the daylight was weird for us. Both the girls were midnight trips to the hospital. When we got there I was the only patient. They escorted me to my room, which was sweltering! It was an unseasonably warm day (mid twenties) and the hospital is under construction so the workmen had turned off the A/C. The room was easily 30˚. They had a fan going and offered to get me more but I was too distratced by the pain to notice I was sweating to death!
I got into a cool bath while I waited for Dr. MacArthur to arrive. When he came he checked me and I was at 7cm and then he gave us the bad news, Jackson still hadn't rotated, he was facing my belly instead of my back. Not the best way to deliver. He was still not fully engaged so there was a chance he'd turn. Dr. MacArthur said I'd probably still be awhile and that he was needed in surgery but if I did happen to fully dilate and I was ready to deliver before he was done, his wife, also an OB, would deliver. So the nurses had me lay on my side which apparently can help a baby turn, and I waited. Jason did a great job trying to distract me. We used the time to try to pick a name, we had always liked Jackson but over the past couple of months we started to wonder if maybe it had gotten too popular.
I had to pee so the nurses helped me up and from there things got a little crazy. When I stood up I had a contraction and it felt like his head was right between my legs, so they checked and it was my membranes bulging. Dr. MacArthur (my Dr.'s wife) decided to break my water and get the show on the road as I deliver without an epidural and things were getting intense. So back onto the table I got and she broke my water. Then I stood beside the bed working through contractions by swaying, trying to convince the little man to turn around (I was told laying on my back was not a good idea, he would never turn that way). After only a few minutes I couldn't stand anymore, the pain was too strong so they had me lay on my side. I started pushing on my side, not fun. Now, normally you only push with the contractions and rest in between, but when he crowned and still was facing the wrong way it hurt SO BAD that I just wanted him out! So I kept pushing even though they were telling me to stop. I couldn't stop! They rolled me to my back and let me do my thing and after only a couple of pushes (in which he turned like a corkscrew) out came our little man.
He was my biggest baby and my hardest labour, by far. But he was worth the morning sickness, back aches, heartburn, sore legs, false labour, no drugs and painful delivery. We have a son, and he's beautiful and healthy and all ours.
Heading to the hospital in the daylight was weird for us. Both the girls were midnight trips to the hospital. When we got there I was the only patient. They escorted me to my room, which was sweltering! It was an unseasonably warm day (mid twenties) and the hospital is under construction so the workmen had turned off the A/C. The room was easily 30˚. They had a fan going and offered to get me more but I was too distratced by the pain to notice I was sweating to death!
I got into a cool bath while I waited for Dr. MacArthur to arrive. When he came he checked me and I was at 7cm and then he gave us the bad news, Jackson still hadn't rotated, he was facing my belly instead of my back. Not the best way to deliver. He was still not fully engaged so there was a chance he'd turn. Dr. MacArthur said I'd probably still be awhile and that he was needed in surgery but if I did happen to fully dilate and I was ready to deliver before he was done, his wife, also an OB, would deliver. So the nurses had me lay on my side which apparently can help a baby turn, and I waited. Jason did a great job trying to distract me. We used the time to try to pick a name, we had always liked Jackson but over the past couple of months we started to wonder if maybe it had gotten too popular.
I had to pee so the nurses helped me up and from there things got a little crazy. When I stood up I had a contraction and it felt like his head was right between my legs, so they checked and it was my membranes bulging. Dr. MacArthur (my Dr.'s wife) decided to break my water and get the show on the road as I deliver without an epidural and things were getting intense. So back onto the table I got and she broke my water. Then I stood beside the bed working through contractions by swaying, trying to convince the little man to turn around (I was told laying on my back was not a good idea, he would never turn that way). After only a few minutes I couldn't stand anymore, the pain was too strong so they had me lay on my side. I started pushing on my side, not fun. Now, normally you only push with the contractions and rest in between, but when he crowned and still was facing the wrong way it hurt SO BAD that I just wanted him out! So I kept pushing even though they were telling me to stop. I couldn't stop! They rolled me to my back and let me do my thing and after only a couple of pushes (in which he turned like a corkscrew) out came our little man.
He was my biggest baby and my hardest labour, by far. But he was worth the morning sickness, back aches, heartburn, sore legs, false labour, no drugs and painful delivery. We have a son, and he's beautiful and healthy and all ours.
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