💚My team green baby is here💚

This was the first time I decided to keep baby’s gender a surprise. I thought it would be fun to do something different especially since it would be my last pregnancy.

After two girls, my team green baby turned team BLUE!

ROWAN JAMES was born October 13th, my husband and I’s dating anniversary.

8lbs 11oz and 21 inches long, my biggest baby!

My birth story with a back story, LONG.

I live on an island where we aren’t equipped to have babies so four days before my due date I left my husband and kids and went to stay with a friend until I had this baby. My husband is a commercial fisherman and season just opened so there was a good chance he was going to miss this birth. I was hopeful I’d have the baby quickly or be induced so I could be home by the end of the week. On Monday 10/8 I had a membrane sweep and was disappointed to hear posterior 2cm and 50% effaced at best. With both of my girls I was at least a 3 by 38 weeks. I then decided I’d pamper myself and do whatever I could to get things going. Got my hair done, nails done, I even got a massage! I can never find time to do these things normally so I was feeling pretty good. I was walking until I couldn’t walk anymore, doing squats, and basically everything to make this baby move into position. On Friday 10/12 I was still pregnant and missing home. I had a doctors appointment and was so upset to find out there wasn’t much change. My husband had called me to let me know the weather was going to be bad and he wouldn’t be able to go out fishing so if I had the baby that day or the next he could make it. I talked to my doctor about induction and I was surprised to find out my hospital changed their policy and I couldn’t be electively induced until 41 weeks! I was crushed. I cried to my doctor about how my husband would miss the birth but could make that weekend and he decided to call the hospital to see what they would say. The charge nurse decided to take pity and said to call that evening to figure out a time. I was thrilled! I called my husband and he took the next boat out. I called the hospital that evening and was told there were too many emergencies and there was no way I could induce that night and to call back at 9 the ext morning. Again, crushed! My husband and I decided to make the most of our evening since we hadn’t seen each other in a week and try again tomorrow.

3:30am I get a phone call from the hospital asking if I wanted to come in for my induction at 5am, heck yes! I got to the hospital at 4:45 and started on paperwork. I had tested positive for group B strep so they started on antibiotics and put my pitocin drip at a 1 so I wouldn’t progress too quickly (HA!) at 9am they boosted it up, still barely contracting. They were about 10 min apart. They boosted it up again and still they were inconsistent, 7 min apart, 2 min apart, 6 min apart, and they barely hurt. At 12:45 a doctor came in to break my water and I was hopeful things would pick up. The contractions were coming every 3-6 min apart and were becoming painful. I got checked at 3pm and I was only 3cm and still high up! SO frustrated since I had been walking and bouncing since 5am. At 5pm the contractions were really getting to me and I swore I was making progress, called the nurse to check, only 4cm!! Threw my birth plan out the window and decided to get an epidural, I thought maybe my body just needed to relax. At 7pm I got my nurse back that I had when I first came in. She looked at the monitor and immediately said we needed to turn baby, that they weren’t in position to move down. She had me laying all different ways, and I was FINALLY progressing! Within two hours I went from a 4 to a 9! By 9:55 I was ready to push but my doctor was stuck in the OR along with the anesthesiologist, my epidural had worn off at this point. I could have pushed with a different doctor but I love my doctor and trust him more than any other (he saved my first babies life) so I waited the 10 minutes. He finally came in but it was too late to re up the epidural, guess I was getting that natural birth I originally wanted. I pushed for about 15 min with every contraction until baby crowned and had him out in 5 min after that. They told my husband to look down and announce what it was and I BAWLED when he said it was a boy. My tough guy husband, who never has cried at our births, even got choked up at what an emotional moment it was. My nurses eyes even welled up. Thanks to my doctor for stretching me (which I was yelling at him for) I had no tears, not even a scrape. 13.5 hours from start to finish. Overall I am happy with my experience, I’m sad I never got to go into labor on my own, but happy I did something different and everyone is healthy. I can’t believe I have a SON!