Finn Jared Patterson came into the world on April 28th, 2015!
He was born at 6:21 PM weighing 7 lb 12.5 oz and 19 1/2 in long. Here are a bunch of pics with birth story to follow.
On April 28th I went in to the OBGYN for a checkup. I was 39 weeks and ready to be done! The doctor said I was 4 cm dilated and baby could come any day now. At the end of the appointment, he asked if I would like my membranes stripped. I told him I don't know much about it and asked what it would do. He said it may do nothing or it may help me go into labor sooner. I told him to strip my membranes (I later learned from the doctor who delivered Finn that this particular doctor didn't believe that stripping membranes ever did anything).
As I left the office, I could feel myself leaking a little with every step I took. I assumed I had a full bladder and was peeing myself a little (as is so often the case with pregnant women) and didn't think much of it. I didn't make an appointment because I was scheduled to be induced on May 1st, that Friday. I wanted to be sure that Tom had school off and my mom had work off to help with the new baby.
Ezra and I got in the Jeep and headed to IKEA. We still hadn't gotten a dresser for the baby's room and I was getting some last minute stuff done before he came. It was a 15-20 minute drive to the store. As I got Ezra out of the car seat to go inside, I noticed I was STILL peeing. Every move I made caused some leaking. I thought this was strange because I had peed at the doctor's office so my bladder shouldn't have been that full. As we started walking into IKEA, I thought, "maybe my water broke." I knew that sometimes it isn't a gush but a small trickle. I decided I should probably skip IKEA and head home (because even if it was pee, I still don't want to be shopping and peeing the whole time...). We turned around and got back in the car (which Ezra was not happy about).
I got home and stood in the tub so I could see the fluid I was leaking. It was clear and didn't look like urine. So I hopped out and wrapped myself in a towel, just in case "The Big Gush" was coming. I texted Tom and let him know my water may have broken, but I wasn't sure. He called me back and said he would be home ASAP (He was 20-30 minutes away at school). I quickly packed a bag (procrastinator) for myself and Ezra and arranged for my neighbor to take him while we went to the hospital.
We got to the hospital at around noon. I went up to labor and delivery and told them I wasn't sure if my water had broken or not. I wasn't having and pain or contractions. They tested the fluid and it came back positive for amniotic fluid. They took me to another room to get ready to have the baby!
I told the nurse that I wanted to see if I could go into labor on my own before being given pitocin. However, my water wasn't broken enough for contractions to start. It seemed the doctor had torn the sack of water accidentally when he stripped my membranes, so I really wasn't in labor. But, I needed to get this baby out soon before infection could set in. They started me on pitocin and slowly upped the dosage as time went by. For several hours nothing happened.
Finally, the doctor came in to check my water. Apparently, the bag of water has two layers and only one had ruptured. The second layer was very thick and was not breaking on it's own. With a pinch and a twist, the doctor broke the second layer and "The Big Gush" happened. Soon after, I was in active labor. I asked for the epidural and was not in a lot of pain yet. As the contractions got stronger, I could tell the epidural wasn't at a high enough dose. I kept upping the dosage with my button, but it seemed to have no effect. The anesthesiologist came in and administered an extra "shot" to help. By the time I was ready to push, however, it still wasn't in full force. Luckily, it was working somewhat.
The doctor came in and the pushing began. I pushed for 18 minutes and little Finn was born! a perfect little baby boy. I had only a first degree tear that the doctor stitched right up. Because my legs never got fully numb, I was able to get up soon after.
Finn had a good amount of dark hair and peed all over me and the doctor the moment he came out. He tried opening his eyes immediately. Everything looked great and he was a healthy baby!
That evening in the hospital room, Finn was making some loud noises while he slept. I thought he was just a noisy sleeper. Eventually the nurse came in and took him to the nursery for the night. I told them to bring him in to nurse when he was hungry. They brought him in once that night and told me they were a little concerned about his breathing from the noise he was making. They said they would run some tests and see if everything looked ok. The following morning, Tom headed to the nursery to see what was going on. Finn was on a CPAP the aid in breathing. They took an X-Ray to check his lungs and nothing looked out of the ordinary. The doctor said that it was likely Finn hadn't breathed deeply enough in the first few minutes he was born, so he hadn't developed a membrane layer in his lungs to aid in breathing. Being on the CPAP for the morning would help with that.
After about 5 hours on the CPAP, Finn's oxygen levels were good and his breathing wasn't as labored. They watched him for an hour or so after that, and then we tried to nurse him again. He hung out in a room for the majority of the day, with a few trips back to the nursery when his breathing started to sound labored again. The loud breathing stopped pretty quickly, though, and he would come right back. By the end of the day he was breathing just fine.
He was born at 6:21 PM weighing 7 lb 12.5 oz and 19 1/2 in long. Here are a bunch of pics with birth story to follow.
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| 19 weeks |
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| 25 weeks |
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| 27 Weeks |
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| 30 weeks |
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| 33 weeks |
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| 34 weeks |
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| 35 weeks |
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| 37 weeks |
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| 38 weeks |
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| 39 weeks |
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| 39 weeks |
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| Minutes old! |
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| 39 weeks |
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| Difficulty breathing. I want to document it for future reference or to help other babies. |
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| First time meeting brother! |
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| C-PAP |
On April 28th I went in to the OBGYN for a checkup. I was 39 weeks and ready to be done! The doctor said I was 4 cm dilated and baby could come any day now. At the end of the appointment, he asked if I would like my membranes stripped. I told him I don't know much about it and asked what it would do. He said it may do nothing or it may help me go into labor sooner. I told him to strip my membranes (I later learned from the doctor who delivered Finn that this particular doctor didn't believe that stripping membranes ever did anything).
As I left the office, I could feel myself leaking a little with every step I took. I assumed I had a full bladder and was peeing myself a little (as is so often the case with pregnant women) and didn't think much of it. I didn't make an appointment because I was scheduled to be induced on May 1st, that Friday. I wanted to be sure that Tom had school off and my mom had work off to help with the new baby.
Ezra and I got in the Jeep and headed to IKEA. We still hadn't gotten a dresser for the baby's room and I was getting some last minute stuff done before he came. It was a 15-20 minute drive to the store. As I got Ezra out of the car seat to go inside, I noticed I was STILL peeing. Every move I made caused some leaking. I thought this was strange because I had peed at the doctor's office so my bladder shouldn't have been that full. As we started walking into IKEA, I thought, "maybe my water broke." I knew that sometimes it isn't a gush but a small trickle. I decided I should probably skip IKEA and head home (because even if it was pee, I still don't want to be shopping and peeing the whole time...). We turned around and got back in the car (which Ezra was not happy about).
I got home and stood in the tub so I could see the fluid I was leaking. It was clear and didn't look like urine. So I hopped out and wrapped myself in a towel, just in case "The Big Gush" was coming. I texted Tom and let him know my water may have broken, but I wasn't sure. He called me back and said he would be home ASAP (He was 20-30 minutes away at school). I quickly packed a bag (procrastinator) for myself and Ezra and arranged for my neighbor to take him while we went to the hospital.
We got to the hospital at around noon. I went up to labor and delivery and told them I wasn't sure if my water had broken or not. I wasn't having and pain or contractions. They tested the fluid and it came back positive for amniotic fluid. They took me to another room to get ready to have the baby!
I told the nurse that I wanted to see if I could go into labor on my own before being given pitocin. However, my water wasn't broken enough for contractions to start. It seemed the doctor had torn the sack of water accidentally when he stripped my membranes, so I really wasn't in labor. But, I needed to get this baby out soon before infection could set in. They started me on pitocin and slowly upped the dosage as time went by. For several hours nothing happened.
Finally, the doctor came in to check my water. Apparently, the bag of water has two layers and only one had ruptured. The second layer was very thick and was not breaking on it's own. With a pinch and a twist, the doctor broke the second layer and "The Big Gush" happened. Soon after, I was in active labor. I asked for the epidural and was not in a lot of pain yet. As the contractions got stronger, I could tell the epidural wasn't at a high enough dose. I kept upping the dosage with my button, but it seemed to have no effect. The anesthesiologist came in and administered an extra "shot" to help. By the time I was ready to push, however, it still wasn't in full force. Luckily, it was working somewhat.
The doctor came in and the pushing began. I pushed for 18 minutes and little Finn was born! a perfect little baby boy. I had only a first degree tear that the doctor stitched right up. Because my legs never got fully numb, I was able to get up soon after.
Finn had a good amount of dark hair and peed all over me and the doctor the moment he came out. He tried opening his eyes immediately. Everything looked great and he was a healthy baby!
That evening in the hospital room, Finn was making some loud noises while he slept. I thought he was just a noisy sleeper. Eventually the nurse came in and took him to the nursery for the night. I told them to bring him in to nurse when he was hungry. They brought him in once that night and told me they were a little concerned about his breathing from the noise he was making. They said they would run some tests and see if everything looked ok. The following morning, Tom headed to the nursery to see what was going on. Finn was on a CPAP the aid in breathing. They took an X-Ray to check his lungs and nothing looked out of the ordinary. The doctor said that it was likely Finn hadn't breathed deeply enough in the first few minutes he was born, so he hadn't developed a membrane layer in his lungs to aid in breathing. Being on the CPAP for the morning would help with that.
After about 5 hours on the CPAP, Finn's oxygen levels were good and his breathing wasn't as labored. They watched him for an hour or so after that, and then we tried to nurse him again. He hung out in a room for the majority of the day, with a few trips back to the nursery when his breathing started to sound labored again. The loud breathing stopped pretty quickly, though, and he would come right back. By the end of the day he was breathing just fine.
