James' Birth Story

I feel so behind in writing this! I better get to writing - some of this is already getting a little fuzzy and I don't want to forget a single moment of this beautiful day. Also, let me just say how wonderful it is to have text messages from that day to go back and look at to help remind me of when certain things happened! Beware, this is long!

Saturday, November 8th was a busy day. We got up, got ready for the day, and then Cam ran out to get donuts. Cam's Aunt Tricia and Uncle Mike were in town and came by our house to visit for a bit on their way out of town. After they left, my mom came and picked me and my sister up so we could go visit my grandma in the hospital. On the way we stopped at our favorite Mexican food restaurant to eat lunch and pick up some food to take to my grandma. I can't remember the last time the three of us had a meal together without kids...it was so much fun!!!!! Between this and the Torchy's the night before, I was hoping all the spicy food would get something going!

We had a good visit with my grandma. She was doing better after a scary few days. When she'd gone into the hospital that Tuesday, she was pretty close to death. It was a very odd feeling to have my one remaining grandparent in such dire health circumstances right when I was about to have my baby. It felt very "circle of life" and more than anything, I hated the thought of my mom having to go through those conflicting emotions. While my grandma wasn't completely out of the woods yet when I saw her that day (one never really is at 91 years old), her condition had improved. It gave me peace to know that I had gotten to see her...I'd worried all week that I wouldn't get to before the baby came and then something would happen to her and I'd always regret it. My grandma was at was the hospital where I had been born. As we left, I joked that maybe coming back to the place of my birth would send me into labor! Little did I know...

By the time I got home I was wiped out...way too tired to figure out dinner, so we went to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse. Yes, I completed the trifecta of eating out for every single meal that day. I'd been doing a fairly decent job of cooking and preparing dinner at home at the end of my pregnancy, but the wheels fell off those last few days!

Cam had been putting Claire to bed most nights, but I did it that night. It was pretty tough for me to get up and down off the floor by her bed, and in hindsight my first inkling that something was happening was when I got up from the floor and felt a dull ache in my lower back. I also should have known something was up when I went directly from her room to get into bed. As anyone who knows me well can attest, I'm a huge night owl and basically get a second wind when my kids go to sleep, but not that night! I was miserably full from dinner and having pain in my lower back. I went straight to bed around 10 pm and slept until about 1, when Cam came to bed after falling asleep on the couch. I told him I thought something might be happening, but wasn't sure. We went back to sleep and I slept off and on for the rest of the night. I have a tendency to doubt myself and what I'm feeling in situations like this, but I had a feeling that I was going to be having a baby later that day!

We were up early the next morning, but stayed in bed for awhile trying to figure out what was happening. By then, the pain in my back was coming and going and included pain and cramping in my stomach too. It was contraction-like but not intensely painful. I was trying to time my contractions on an app on my phone, but it was hard to define when they were starting and stopping. Again, I wasn't sure that this was "it" and I didn't want to set a bunch of things in motion if I wasn't sure! Around 8 am we let our family know things might be happening. With Cam's parents being in Houston, I was nervous to call them because I didn't want them to travel all that way for a false alarm. Cam called them and just told them to be aware that I might be in early labor so they could be prepared to leave quickly if this was the real deal. Things continued to get more intense and around 9:30 Cam called his parents and told them to come. I think my contractions were about 3 minutes apart by now.

Now it was time to get ready to go to the hospital! Cam fed Claire breakfast while I showered and got ready. My mom came over around 10:00 to help us and take Claire back to her house. Our bags were packed and laid out on the dining room table, but there were still some last minute things to gather. This whole process seemed to take forever...partly because my nerves were making me very inefficient and partly because I kept having to stop during my increasingly intense contractions.

We got to the hospital around 11:00 or 11:30. I think the triage rooms must have been full because they took me directly to a labor and delivery room. They started the process of getting us checked in and determined that I was 4 cm dilated! I was relieved to know that I was, in fact, in labor but not so far along that Cam's parents might not make it in time. My contractions were coming every couple minutes by this point. My most memorable symptom at that point was feeling like I had to pee every few minutes. I recognized the nurse who checked us in. Her name was Laurie, and she had been one of my sister's nurses when she had Gracie and had helped take care of me when I spent the night in labor and delivery after breaking my ankle. We spent a long time with her answering questions to get all checked in and getting my IV started. She was the charge nurse that day, so after we finished up our initial stuff, she handed us off to another nurse who wouldn't be as busy that day. Her name was Robin and she was lovely...kind, funny, and knowledgeable. She had a strong accent that I think was Canadian and she looked a lot like Trixie, a character from the show Call the Midwife. At some point I also met Dr. Rodriguez, the on call doctor that weekend. I was bummed Dr. Orth wouldn't be there to deliver my baby...we've been through a lot together and there is just no better encourager when it comes to this stuff! That being said, I really really liked Dr. Rodriguez! She was young, capable, and calm. It felt really nice to know I was in good hands.

My memory of the order of some of this is a little fuzzy, but I think around this time my family came in and visited for a bit. They were a big, lively bunch and it was fun to see them! It was my mom, dad, sister Elizabeth, brother-in-law Corey, niece Grace, and my sweet Clairebear. Shortly after, my mother and father-in-law, Jennifer and Jamie, arrived from Houston and came to see us for a bit. It was great to have them there! Everyone was very excited and we felt so much support and love!

Next it was epidural time! The anesthesiologist, Dr. Patel, was young and friendly. Random, but I remember him asking me if I was a football fan because we had the Dallas Cowboys game in London on the TV. Maybe that's unusual for a woman in labor?!? HA! Anyway, getting the epidural was more uncomfortable this time around than I remember it being with Claire. Shortly after, Robin installed a catheter and broke my water. Now, it's hard to compare directly with Claire's birth since I was induced with her, but I had suspected my water would break on its own this time around since it broke before we even started pitocin with Claire. I thought I might be part of that small percentage of women whose water breaks on their own. This turned out not to be the case...in fact, when Robin broke my water, the bag was so thick and tough to break that there was a loud, audible pop on the monitor when it finally did rupture! She'd never had that happen before and was excited to tell the other nurses! By the time this was all wrapped up, it was 2:00 pm and I was 6 cm dilated.

When Dr. Patel left, I was feeling some numbness and heaviness in my legs, but it wasn't full-on. I'd told them that my epidural with Claire hadn't been fully effective, so after he left Robin kept checking in with me to assess how it was working. It never did become fully effective, or even somewhat effective. I vividly remember laying in bed during this time and I was miserable. Feeling painful contractions, still feeling like I had to pee every five minutes despite the catheter, and being able to feel that I was laying in wet sheets soaked with amniotic fluid. It was awful and I was so bummed. I knew it wasn't working like it should, but I wasn't sure how to handle it. Maybe this was just what epidurals were like (in hindsight: NO WAY!)...maybe they just don't work for me...not wanting to be too much trouble to the staff...and so on. I was having major flashbacks to my epidural with Claire and was miserable at the thought of having to labor the rest of the way like this. Robin called Dr. Patel. When he came in and heard the latest update, he said he could either add more medicine to the epidural or he could start completely over. I wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, we'd added more medicine to my epidural with Claire and while it afforded me some temporary relief, it never fully did the trick and I felt every single stitch after she was born. On the other hand, the idea of doing the whole epidural process over again did not sound appealing. Dr. Patel asked me if I was to stand up right then if I felt like I could walk. I told him, "Well, yeah I think I could..." and he immediately said he thought we needed to start over. I was nervous, but also happy to have a second chance at some pain relief.

After removing the first epidural and starting the new one, I could tell pretty quickly that this one was different. Dr. Patel said he did something a little different this time. I'm not sure what he did (probably should have asked!)...but whatever it was, it worked and it was glorious! A working epidural is amazing! I couldn't get over it! After two flaky ones, having one that worked was just incredible! From here on out, things were really chill and blissful. I'm so so so so glad we redid it...it made for a much different experience. Yay Dr. Patel, yay science!!! (Can you name the show that's from?!?)

At this point, I was very relaxed and we finally had some time to rest. We turned off all the lights and dozed off and on for awhile. It was great to rest a bit, since I hadn't gotten a ton of sleep the night before. My mom, Elizabeth, and Jennifer came in and visited for a few minutes. We spent a lot of that time marveling at the wonders of the epidural. I can't really overstate how happy I was! Now it was just a matter of time and we'd get to meet our sweet baby boy!

Around 4:00 I was almost fully dilated. The baby needed to come down a bit, so around this time Robin rotated the bed to where I was more upright with my legs crossed and facing down so that gravity could help things along. I started to feel a little bit of pain at this point and Robin gave me the refresh button for my epidural, and it helped a lot. Right before it was time to push, Robin left for the day. She was so awesome that she stayed about 2 hours past when her shift ended at 3:00 to be there for us. Unfortunately she couldn't stay any longer, so she handed us off to another amazing nurse named Lauren. Lauren had been one of my nurses for a couple short stints during my labor with Claire. She was wonderful - so positive, experienced, and encouraging. I was so blessed with amazing nurses that day!

I was fully dilated shortly after 5:00 and by 5:30 it was time to push. Dr. Rodriguez came in and at first, it was just her and Lauren in the room with me and Cam. Initially Dr. Rodriguez just sat on the side of the bed while I pushed. Cam and Lauren held my legs and were so encouraging! I cannot overstate how peaceful and calm this experience was. Inbetween contractions/pushing we chatted about our kids, the differences between having boys and girls, Dr. Rodriguez's gorgeous Kendra Scott earrings (which I've shamelessly copied and added to my Christmas wish list...hint hint!), etc. Cam said I would look at him during these breaks and just smile. Everything was extremely relaxed and we were so excited to meet our Sweet Baby James! Once we were getting close, they removed the bottom of the bed, Dr. Rodriguez suited up, and a couple of extra people came in. One of them was Laurie, the nurse from when I'd arrived that morning! She was there to take care of James once he was born. It was go time!

At 6:00 pm on the dot, James Strutton Todd was born. It was love at first sight for me and Cam. I cried sweet, happy tears! It felt so good to hold him on my chest, tell him how much I loved him, and study his precious face. It was clear from the beginning that he was a sweet boy. He had a little fluid in his throat/lungs so they suctioned him a couple times before he really cried. Cam and I couldn't get over how much he looked and sounded like Claire! It was so wonderful to finally get to see this perfect little addition to our family.

Little is a relative term, of course. After a bit, they took James off my chest to check him out. I remember peering across the room at the scale as they weighed him. I saw the 9 and the 1...and said "9.1...wow", thinking what a big baby he was. That's when several voices said, "No, 9.14!"....um, what?! Our heavyweight champion weighed in at 9 lbs, 14 oz and was 20.5 in long. We suspected he'd be big, but not that big! He checked out perfectly healthy. We are so thankful.

I'm happy to report that the placenta and it's much-discussed extra lobe came out easily and without issue! My placenta with Claire was very stubborn about coming out, but not so this time. I tore in a couple of places, so Dr. Rodriguez stitched me up while James was getting checked out. I felt a little pain during a small part of this, but overall it was fairly easy. Cam got to hold his boy...we were both just completely smitten...and still are, of course! Once we were all taken care of, I got to hold my sweet baby again and nurse him. He nursed really well for a good 45 minutes! Cam got to go share the happy news with our family, which is one of his most favorite things to do! After we finished nursing, our family came in and met James. It was such an awesome, sweet thing to experience!!! Everyone was overjoyed and immediately taken with him.

It was so good to see Claire! She was very sweet to her baby brother, and even gave him a kiss on the head! It was fun giving her the big sister gift...a Carebear, a mini Magnadoodle, and two Pioneer Woman storybooks with big sibling themes. I was worried she'd be jealous, but she hasn't been at all. She was a little distant with me for a few days after we got home, but she forgave me for having another baby pretty quickly. :) She's been a dream with the baby...she ohhs and ahhs over him and calls him "Doll" and "Baby".

As I've mentioned earlier, James' birth was a wonderful, peaceful experience...exactly what you'd expect on a cozy Sunday evening. We came home from the hospital that Tuesday. James wore the same Feltman Brothers outfit that Cam wore home from the hospital almost 30 years ago. We listened to the song "Sweet Baby James" on the car ride home. Cam was able to take off from work for three weeks, which was great for all of us. I will never forget that special time with my sweet little family.

James is a precious baby and has stolen all of our hearts. He has such a calm demeanor, sweet smile, and happy spirit. We are so blessed that he's ours and look forward to all the fun things to come!