Happy Birthday Jett Michael Martin
This is my birth story of our first born child, Jett Michael Martin....
Around 4:00 AM Wednesday, February 9th I had woken up with some pressure around my belly area. I got up thinking it was one of the many bathroom trips I needed to make that night. I went to the restroom and then went back to bed, but the pain & pressure I was feeling was not going away. Which typically the pressure goes away after I go to the restroom. I started to pay attention where I was feeling the pain. It was on my lower back and belly area. I was thinking....this might be the real thing. So I got my phone and turned on my contraction app I had on my phone and started to time these pains I was having. They were consistently 10 minutes apart for 2 hours.
I had been having alot of Braxton Hicks Contractions. More than usual. I was very nervous that I wouldn't know the difference between the Braxton Hicks and the real deal. I just told myself if I could sleep through it then it wasn't the real deal. Thank goodness I gave myself that tip because that little tip I told myself was what made me determine I was in actual labor.
My head was spinning on what I should do. Should I wake up Mike? Should I wake up and get ready for work? Should I even go to work? What if these are false labor pains? Maybe I should go into work so I don't loose a day. Will this be the day we meet our precious son? Is this the real thing?
I then finally got the courage to wake up Mike at 6 am. I tapped him on his shoulder in bed and said, "Hey I think I am in labor. I have been having contractions 10 minutes apart. Do you think I should go into work?" Mike rolled over immediately and asked if I was okay. We laid in bed for a few more minutes. Then we both got up to figure out what we were going to do.We just knew that we needed to wait till my contractions were 5 minutes apart for 2 hours straight before calling my doctor.
I kept asking if I should go to work because I was thinking that I would be in labor for a while and I really didn't want to loose a day for my leave. Then Mike said I should really stay home because the weather was getting bad with sleet and ice and I shouldn't be driving in it. So then I thought maybe I could just work from home that day. So I emailed my manager and told him my situation and would feel more comfortable if I could work from home just encase I needed to go to the hospital. He said it was fine. So I proceeded to work from home and my contractions were starting to be 5 minutes apart.
I called my mom, Mike's mom, & texted Becca to let them know my contractions had started that morning. I told Mike he might want to start packing his bag because the contractions were becoming closer together. I then got up and finished packing my bag. I took a nice shower, painted my toes (did not want Jett too see some hideous toes on his birthday), and put a little make up on. I was ready to go to the hospital.
Around 12:30 PM I called the doctor. Of course I had to call when they were on their lunch break. Answering service paged the doctor and he called me right away. I told him my contractions were 5 minutes apart for the past 2 hours. He told me he remembered for the day before I was about at 3 cm. I had met all the criteria and I should go in and get checked out at the labor and delivery at St. Lukes.
We said our good byes to the dogs. It was the last time it would be just me, Mike and the dogs. It would be more than likely when I came back home that we will be bring home a little Martin to our family.
The drive to the hospital in The Woodlands was very exciting, but scary at the same time. It was very cold outside and it was starting to sleet. The worry wart that I am was very nervous about the bad weather and was thinking the worst case scenario. Like what if Dr. Young can't make it cause the roads were iced over or the whole city will shut down like the week before. Nervous!
We arrived at the hospital and went straight up to labor and delivery on the 3rd floor. We let the nurses know at the front that I was having contractions that were 5 minutes apart the past two hours and Dr. Young said I should get checked. 10 minutes later I was in this cold room where they check and determine if my labor was a false alarm or not. The nurse who checked me was name Trisha. She hooked me up so we can listen to the baby's heartbeat and this other thing to monitor my contractions. She checked me and said I was a good 4cm and 80%. She would call Dr. Young too see what he wanted to do at that point. I was praying that he wasn't going to send me home. I did not want to go back into that cold and go through more pain. Trisha came back and said that Dr. Young wanted me to walk for a hour too see if I would progress or not. I was in shock...really? walk?? I was in complete pain. Trisha said she doubt he would turn me away because I was at a really good 4cm, but my water hasn't broken yet so they can't admit me. If my water broke it would be a different story.
So I put on another gown to cover my rear end. I put back on my tennis shoes and we started to do my laps around labor and delivery. That 45 minute period was the longest time of my life. My contractions were extremely painful. At this point they were a minute and a half apart. I would have to stop and grab the rails and breathe. It was so difficult. On a couple I cried because it hurt so bad. On one of the laps I spotted Dr. Young. He was at one of the nurses station hanging out and smiling. As I was turning the corner I felt like glaring at at him for making me walk laps around labor and delivery in pain. Well the walking helped! The doctor checked me and I was at a 5 cm and 90% effaced! Walking did us good! We then were officially admitted around 3 pm into room 209 on 2/9/11. It was fate!
We let all the family know by text and facebook that it wasn't a false alarm. That this was going to be the day that we meet our son!!!!
A bag of fluid was started so I can get the epidural I had already requested as soon as I walked into the door, which I have to say was the best thing I ever did. It was all timed perfectly! The bag of fluid started to drip slowly then my nurse, Lizzy, made it go faster to speed up the process. She called the anesthesiologist right then by the time the bag was done he would be there (The bag of fluid was needed so my blood pressure wouldn't drop when I received the epidural).
Our support team came in shortly after we were admitted into labor and delivery. The awesome support team of family came too root us on, Mike's Mom, Kim, Steve & Becca! I will never forget the look on Mike's mom's face when she walked into our room. She was already in tears so excited!
Around 4pm the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. I was pretty nervous about this part since I knew a huge needle was going to be in my spine. Also, was a little uneasy because they made Mike leave the room. I really really didn't like that. However, I understood why they made him. As they inserted the cathered in my back my nurse Lizzy was trying to distract me from the pain by asking all sorts of questions. It worked to get my mind of the pain. Getting the epidural was just as painful as a bad contraction. Luckily it didn't last long, but after I knew I had it in my back I was nervous to move around at all in my bed. It finally set in after 15 minutes or so, but the contractions leading up too it were very very painful.
Around 5pm Dr. Young came to check up on me. He checked me and I was at a 7 cm and 90% effaced. Then all of sudden I felt a gush. I looked over to him and asked...."Did you just break my water?" He laughed while holding up in the air the thing that he broke my water with. Mike then looks at me and laughs, "What did you think he was doing?" I had no idea he was breaking my water. I thought he was just checking me. Anyways....the feeling of that was all weird. Didn't think it would be a rush of fluids coming out. I thought it would be a little trinkle like I had read in the books. I was wrong. Before Dr. Young left we asked him when he thought the baby would be here. He said rule of thumb is that you progress 1 cm per hour, but he thought I would be much sooner since I had been breaking every rule the book has. So he thought baby would be here in a couple of hours. Wow...was he right!
After he broke my water all the family came back in and started to take guesses on when the baby would arrive and how much he would weigh and how long he would be. At this point I was exhausted. I really wanted to take a nap. I hadn't eaten anything all day, but just half an orange. And at the hospital I just had a few pieces of hard candy to get my mind off of not being able to eat and help with the dryness and not drinking any water. I was sooo sleepy.
Then around 6:30pm Lizzy had checked me and was surprised. She says,"Yes, you are at a 10cm and 100%. I am going to call the doctor." Wow...this was actually going to happen. Our baby boy was going to be here soon. Right after that there was a shift change and my new nurse was Victoria. She had spoken to Dr. Young and told her to tell me not to push until he got there.
I could start feeling the contractions again. They weren't painful, but I felt an extreme amount of pressure in my belly area. I just was praying that Dr. Young would be here soon so we can get this process going because I was tired and I was expecting to be pushing for 2 hours since that was average for first time moms.
Dr. Young arrives around 7:15ish or so and said I could start pushing. So Victoria got me all prepped to start the process. I started to push around 7:40. Victoria coached me every step of the way on how to push. She asked Mike to count one through ten while I was pushing. If Mike wasn't there counting I couldn't have gone through with it. He was the only thing that kept me going. His voice was my focal point.
On a side note during this time I was pushing with Victoria I thought these were practice pushes so I can get the hang of how to push when I really needed too. I guess I thought this after reading so many people's other birth stories online and them having practice pushes. Well mine were NOT practice pushes they were the real deal. After a first couple of pushes I started to get the hang of things.
I think after the 3rd push I asked if the baby had hair. Victoria couldn't tell, but she thought he didn't really have much because she really couldn't feel any. Then after the next couple of pushes she was like...Oh yeah he has a TON of hair. It is just all plastered onto his head. I couldn't believe she could see his head at this point and so could Mike.
Dr. Young came in to bring our miracle into this world. After 1 push Dr. Young said in his laid back no big deal tone, "One more and baby will be here." I don't know what I was thinking, but it really didn't hit me at all. I was thinking okay whatever. Well he was right one more push and all of sudden at 7:51 pm, Wednesday, February 9th, I have this slimy baby crying on top of my chest. I teared up and was in amazement and shock. I couldn't believe I was holding our son. Mike was thrilled!
As the doctor was stitching me up. Mike is next to our newly born son while he is getting wiped down, measure and weighed. He turns to me describing our baby to me. "He has long toes, fingers and has your eyes." The one thing I will never forget Mike saying to me as he turns grinning ear to ear...."He is a Jett. He is definetly a Jett. One "T" or two "T's". I smile and said two "T's."
Our son.....
