Gage and All His Glory

This post is long overdue with Gage already 4 weeks and 4 days old!  Things were a little busy with

1. Packing to move to Wyoming

2. Having a baby

3. Adjusting to life with 3 kids

4. Sending Bryson back to work in Wyoming

5. Having my parents come for a visit to help me with the kids.

6. The actual move Wyoming

7. Unpacking in our new home

8. Trying to stay connected long enough to some neighbor's unprotected internet to actually post anything, haha.  That being said, we have set up and are paying for our own (password protected) internet now :)

9. Finally, managing my time the best I can with 2 little ones at home while Brynn is in Kindergarten!

Now for the nitty-gritty details for anyone who feels the desire to read this other than me for our own family mini family history :)  Absolutely no offense taken if anyone just skips ahead to the pictures, I mean honestly, that's what the 39 week wait is about, right?!

Both Brynn and Abby came a little earlier than expected and on their own with my water breaking followed by induction at the hospital since there weren't ever any serious contractions.  Gage decided to come a little differently, but I can't help but believe the Lord had a huge part in that.  These times are likely off a bit because I didn't write them down and sadly I don't remember exact times anymore!  Wish I was better at recording these things!

Bryson left for Wyoming the end of May, which left the girls and I in Pocatello for the summer.  He was able to come home Friday evening and head back to work Sunday after church every other weekend.  This only totaled about 4 days of seeing him a month.  We missed him like crazy, but it was nice at times to have our own schedules and be able to have minimal responsibilities (cooking, fixing things, or keeping busy with anything other than enjoying the summer with friends).  If Gage had decided to come on his own early, we would have been in a huge bind because Bryson was 5.5 hours away.  The last thing I wanted to do was deliver a baby in the hospital without him.

I was experiencing inconsistent contractions on and off from about 36 or 37 weeks on.  About every 2-3 days I would spend several hours feeling, well, just plain cruddy.  I experienced contractions that made me throw up and have loose stools.  Nothing was ever consistent enough to tell Bryson to come home, but that worried me that I wouldn't know when to have him come home because I've never timed contractions and honestly, I don't know when I would have needed him to come home.  I woke every morning thinking, "Dang, my water didn't break!" because at least then we would have had some type of "schedule" of that's possible with a baby :)

Last pictures taken before Gage came - 38 weeks 3 days and gained about 29-30 lbs.

Sitting at 2 cm and 50% effaced for about 2 weeks, Dr. Carlson scheduled me to be induced at 39 weeks.  This was a blessing because it meant Bryson could come home a day or two before, help pack the big items and electronics and spend a few days with the girls and I before adding a baby into the mix.  I was really hoping not to have to use pitocin if possible.  I had it with Brynn and it is a nasty drug that makes contractions become so forceful and so quickly!  My body reacts to it extremely well which is both a positive and negative thing.

July 31st, Bryson and I checked into the hospital at 11:00pm.  By 12:00am they had started me on Cytotec (my preference over Pitocin).  It started contractions as expected and my doctor had written for me to have up to three pills (doses), one every three hours.  The nurses came in a little after 3am and said that my body was responding and causing some good contractions, as if I couldn't already tell.  They didn't want to give me another dose because unlike Pitocin, Cytotec can't be turned off if needed.  They were worried my uterus was going to hyper-contract which would result in stress on the baby.  It was decided that we would wait it out for an hour and see if my body continued to produce effective contractions for the next hour other wise another pill would be inserted.  I wasn't able to sleep through the contractions to that point so I was given a half dose of Fentanyl.  This narcotic not only lessened the pain but made me very loopy and groggy.  I went to sleep and woke up about 5:45am.  I was relieved to have had some sleep, but disappointed I slept so long as I was really looking forwards to soaking in the fabulous looking jetted birthing tub in my room.

 Bryson waiting for me to go to sleep (I wish!) about 1am

At the 6am mark I was feeling too uncomfortable to even want to undress from the hospital gown to soak.  To speak of the gown, one of my side ties had ripped off and so I wasn't even able to tie it closed!  I cared about this and the entire modesty thing at midnight, but by 6am I didn't care at all!  I finally gave in and asked for the epidural about 6:30 with the gentle reminder from the nurses that we have modern medication for a reason and if I chose to use an epidural this time I didn't need to be in a ton of unnecessary pain.  They also reminded me that my other two came very quickly once they decided to come and the anesthesiologist needed a little time to get there.  When I asked for the epidural I was lucky enough to have her on the floor only a few rooms over.  They were just switching shifts but she decided she had time to do one more before the next was in place and ready to go.  Knowing that I was going to be induced with Pitocin was one of my biggest reason for the epidural because I didn't know how long I would labor and have experienced both a Pitocin induced birth and a natural drug free birth.  By 7:15am I was hooked up to pitocin and all the machines I had wanted to avoid as long as possible.  My ob/gyn came in about 7:40 to break my water.  At this point I was only dilated to a 4 at most but the contractions started picking up almost immediately. 

I found the contractions were in both my back and lower abdomen and no matter how many times I pushed the "magic" button on my epidural drip I wasn't finding my relief.  My nurses were monitoring my contractions from the other room and stopped in to see how I was doing.  They had the anesthesiologist come down and talk with me.  He offered a small dose of fentanyl, which I gladly accepted.  He asked when I was last check by a nurse and I told him it had been about 30 minutes.  He went and got a nurse for me who checked me to find I was dilated to a 6 which they seemed to think was pretty quick and they adjusted my drip and turned it down a bit.  If I remember correctly, she said it was a scale that ranged from 1-15 or 20.  She started me about a 4 and turned it down to 2-3 range which was supposed to lessen the intensity of my contractions caused solely by the Pitocin.  The nurse kept smiling and seemed to find amusement at how quickly my body responded to the drug and I'm still now sure why, but at that point I just didn't care. 

A few minutes before 9 the nurse and OB Resident came into the room asking if I had felt the urge to push with that last contraction.  I honestly hadn't, so I told them no not really.  Just as I said that I felt the "surge" that comes when you know that baby is coming and there is no stopping him!  My own OB/GYN walked in just then as he had just come out of surgery - talk about good timing!  I pushed for no more than 20 minutes with no complications.  I find it very funny that during the down time between pushing, everyone in the room was watching the Olympics and talking about the events and competitors.  It was all so very casual but slightly awkward with me out for the room to see, I would push for the counts from the OB Resident then everyone would return to casual Olympic discussion.  I'd prefer this to silence between pushing though, that's for sure!

Gage Barrett arrived at 9:14am weighing 7lbs 1oz. and 20 inches in length.  He looked so much bigger than the girls did, which I guess he was!  Brynn was only 5lbs 15oz. and Abby was 6lbs 3oz - so that extra pound makes a difference on their little bodies! 

I have to give a HUGE thank you to our friends, Scott and Wendy, who took the girls for us.  Wendy slept at our place while we went to the hospital.  The next morning once Gage was cleaned up and things had settled down a bit Bryson went and got the girls.  These are the pictures from the first time they met their new little brother!  Brynn was so excited but Abby wasn't too sure.  She liked the idea of having a baby brother but their first meeting was as expected.  She quickly looked him over, touched his little hands, then wanted to watch cartoons on the hospital tv.  I can say she has loved him more and more with each day!  These two are already proving to be great little helpers who as they both say, "Love him TOO much!"  

 They don't look happy because this was the 3rd attempt at a picture and all they cared about was the fact that Daddy was blocking their TV show :)

 Coming home from the hospital!

Gage is has nearly perfect health.  We had an ultrasound and he has one slightly enlarged kidney and the other kidney has a diagnosis of hydronephrosis.  He had an ultrasound just before his 2 week check up and we learned that their is still either a blockage or reflux that is in the moderate range.  We are so blessed to have him appearing healthy and growing so well considering we have moved to WY where medical insurance is easily 4-5x what we paid in WY.  We don't yet have medical insurance in place for the kids but have applied and are just waiting to hear back from a few different places.  He will have to have another follow-up ultrasound at 2-3 months to make sure things haven't gotten worse.  At this point though he hasn't had any fevers and no pain associated with urinating which indicates that drainage is sufficient and there is currently no concern with a UTI, bladder or kidney infection.  We just keep praying that things can stay calm and pass over quickly with no complications or at least hold off until we have health insurance for him in place.

Gage has been a huge blessing to us and the Lord really did plan his arrival time perfectly.  If it would have been up to me, I would have loved to have him July 25th though because then we would have had in order May 25th, June 25th and a July 25th birthday with the kids!  An August 1st birthday is just as great though :)  Gage is a pretty content little guy so far and growing so quickly!  Over the next few days I will post pictures for the last month!  Time really does go too fast when they are little!