Grady's Birth Story
My entire pregnancy I never knew my due date. First they told me August 12th, then they said August 31st, then they said he's big and might come early... Grady was born September 1, 2017 at 4:57pm.
On my August 31st due date I went to my OB/GYN for my weekly checkup. They told me I was STILL only one centimeter dilated and that it was "going to be awhile". I was so disappointed. On the way home from my appointment I started having contractions, but I thought nothing of it; every time I was checked for dilation I would have contractions but they would eventually fade off over the course of the day.
Well, the contractions never faded. I kept texting my friend, Meghan, screenshots of my contraction counter app..."Should I go to the hospital now?!" At 11:30pm I woke up Jacob, "I think it's time!"
We arrived to registration at 11:57pm... "Welcome to your due date!"
At triage they confirmed this was THE REAL DEAL. I decided to go to the bathroom one last time before they put in my catheter. When I returned from the restroom my triage nurse excitedly informed me that my water had broken. Cue the beginning of the awkwardness.
A short while later they moved us to my delivery room. They immediately gave me my epidural and we settled in. Between 3am and 4am we called our parents and let them know "the baby" was on his way. Our folks knew we were having a boy, but we hadn't told them his name.
My parents arrived a little after 6am. They were kind enough to go pickup our dog, Atticus, and take him to their house before heading to the hospital. Jacob's parents arrived not long after. THEN IT STARTED... my dad guessing baby names for hours. EEEEEE!
At about 1:30pm my nurse announced I was fully dilated and could start pushing.
I pushed for about an hour and a half with the nurse and Jacob before the doctor came in to check me. "You're not even close," she said and I started to cry. To do this day I think she could have been nicer and more encouraging.
I pushed ANOTHER hour a half and then came Grady at a whopping nine pounds five ounces!
My hospital highly encouraged skin-to-skin contact so the moment he was born they placed him immediately on my chest. Grady ruined the moment by pooping all over me... welcome to motherhood!
After the nurses got both Grady and me cleaned up, Jacob was able to cut the cord and I nursed Grady for about an hour before I was moved to recovery.
Once in recovery my parents, Jacob's parents, my brother Graham, and my niece and nephew came in to meet "the baby". I was so excited to finally say, "MEET GRADY WYATT!" By this time it was about 9pm and I was exhausted. My family left and Jacob and I tried to sleep.
The next two days went fairly smoothly… until it was time to be discharged.
The nurse came in to do Grady's final blood sugar test (in his foot) and he failed. She told me not to worry, that they would do another test, this time actually drawing his blood, and we would be on our way. She took Grady out of the room to do the test. She came back about half an hour later --- without Grady. "We're going to discharge you, but Grady needs to stay" I started bawling! "Don't worry," the nurse said, "We'll let you nest in this room." ... I don't know why she didn't say that to start! In the end, we were able to figure out that Grady wasn't receiving what he needed from my milk and would need be formula fed. As soon as he had his first formula feeding his blood sugar level doubled. He spent one night in NICU and we were able to head home the next morning!
