Baby Dane's birth story

Dane Aaron Christensen
Born January 22, 2012
8:10pm
8lbs 7oz, 20 inches

I think I am finally ready to get my birth story posted. Plus, I'm scared that if I wait any longer I'm going to forget some of the details. So, if birth stories weird you out, stop reading now:-) feel free to just skim through the pictures. They are all G-rated, don't worry:-)

(This ended up being pretty long, and, since I am sleep-deprived, please excuse the typos and misspellings, sorry!)

Baby Dane had dropped around 36 weeks, so I thought he would for sure be coming soon. Little did I know he wanted to take after his daddy and be a little late:-) I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks and started to wonder if I would be able to recognize when actual labor started. Wow, was it obvious!

(My belly at 40 weeks. Huge!)

For about 5 days before Dane was born I started to have pretty strong contractions that would start late in the day and last all night long. I actually started sleeping on the couch because they were painful enough that they would keep me awake, and I didn't want to keep Aaron awake with all of my wiggling. I would go downstairs and turn on the "Soundscapes" music channel on the TV and just try to relax through the contractions. I knew we were getting close, but then when morning time came they would go away! So, I just kept on walking (with my neighbor) around the neighborhood and park.

Then the day came! No, not the day labor started...my due date. It came and went with no baby. Well, not my baby that is. Baby Roan (my neighbor's baby) was born! We would always joke that she would have her baby on my due date and that I would have mine on hers (4 days later). We celebrated my due date by going and visiting Roan, Stephanie, and Lars in the hospital.

(Visiting baby Roan in the hospital)

I was fine with him being late because I really was having such a great pregnancy and I tried to enjoy every minute. And I had managed to be stretch mark-free till my due date! That is until I woke up the day after my due date and found stretch marks around my belly button. Oh well.

On Saturday night (January 21st) I was tired and sore but decided to go to the adult session of stake conference with Aaron. Mainly because several people in our ward have started a tradition of going to Ruby's after, and I didn't want to miss out. After the session we went to Ruby's, and I ordered a double cheeseburger (they have gluten-free buns!), fries, and a milk shake. I ate every single thing they brought me because I had this nagging feeling that that might be my last meal for a while. Towards the end of my dinner I started to have my normal nighttime contractions, but this time they were stronger and located in my back. I couldn't sit still and told Aaron that we should probably get going.

I managed to get a few hours of sleep that night but woke up at 6am with the real deal. The contractions were 1 min long, 4-5 mins apart, and I timed them for 1hr. That was when I decided to wake Aaron up and have him time the contractions with me to make sure I was doing it right. I did NOT want to go to the hospital if it wasn't real labor and, I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible.

"As long as possible" ended up being till 8am when I finally called the doctor and he told me to go to the hospital to get checked out. We loaded the car and went through my "What to do before we leave for the hospital" checklist that I had taped on the door 5 days earlier.

We got in the car and headed to Hoag. Aaron was grateful that Dane decided to come on a Sunday morning when there was no traffic. We got to the hospital at 9am and the back pain was pretty crazy. I was sure that I was progressing and was really excited for my little guy to be on the way! They checked me in (no wait) and took me to a triage room on the labor and delivery floor. They checked me and....I was at a 1! So I ordered a spritzer... and they decided to monitor me and the baby for an hour to see if I would progress. An hour later, still at a 1. However, they didn't really like what Dane's heart rate looked like. The nurse said it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It was just very consistent when they wanted to see it going up and down. So they decided to monitor me for another hour. They also did an ultrasound to see how much amniotic fluid there was. It was a tad on the low side. At this point the contractions were very painful, and I was so worried that they were going to send me home because I didn't know how I would walk to the car. The nurse let me know the reason they were so painful was that Dane was posterior (face up and sideways) and I was having back labor. Fun. After another hour of monitoring I was still at a 1, but was definitely having a consistent contraction pattern for labor. I just wasn't dilating. That is when they let me know they were going to admit me (since I was late anyway and there wasn't really a reason to keep me pregnant) and induce me (pitosin and break my water). That's when they moved us to our labor and delivery room.

(Oh yes, I got an ocean-view room!)

Dr. C came at about 2:30 to break my water, and at that point I was at a 2. They decided to hold off on the Pitosin till after he broke my water. It was such a weird feeling having my water broken! After that they let me walk around and get out of bed, and that helped so much! With every contraction I would stop and Aaron would take the little massager that I brought and put pressure and rub my lower back.

(Me between contractions in labor and delivery.)

I was doing really well until they told me that because they needed to monitor my baby's heart rate I needed to stay in bed and pretty much stay as still as possible. That is when I decided to go ahead and get the epidural. I had seriously been more scared of getting an epidural than trying to deliver naturally, but I just couldn't manage the pain lying still and I didn't want the shot they could give me in my IV because it would affect Dane. They didn't end up needing to give me pitosin because as soon as they broke my water things started happening fast.

(My labor and delivery nurse and me)

The anesthesiologist came about 5 mins later, and, with Aaron supporting me, I got the epidural. This was around 4pm, and I was dilated to a 3. I had a really good epidural and was able to watch a movie with Aaron while we were waiting for Dane to come.


They checked me again at 6:30 and I was at a 7! At that point, I told the nurse that I was having a lot of pressure, and she told me that she would check me again in a half an hour and see where I was. When she checked me at 7:30, I was at a 10, and the baby was so low that she told me not to do any pushing.

They called Dr. C (who was actually on call, which is very rare, since he is hardly ever at the hospital on Sundays--even the nurses commented on how lucky I was!) and told him to come. He arrived at my room at 8:00pm, I started pushing at 8:02, and, three pushes later, Dane was born at 8:10pm. The Doctor and nurses were astonished at how fast I delivered him and verified that this was my first delivery:-)

Here is Dane Aaron Christensen's first picture! Born 8lbs 7oz, 20 inches long.

(Dr. Clayton, me, and Dane right after delivery.)

Aaron was a super husband the whole time. He stayed up at my head and was cheering me on and encouraging me the whole time. He had specific instructions from me that I wanted him up at my head the whole time. We both got the PG view of the delivery, and that is what I wanted. They pulled Dane out and put him on my belly right away. I was in awe. He was perfect and big! And he looked just like his daddy! He also had a full head of dark hair:-)

(First family picture about 45 mins after he was born.)

Aaron cut the cord and stayed with Dane while they wiped him down and measured him. Dane had his first BM pretty fast, and the nurse was amazed at how Aaron wanted to change his first dirty diaper. I wasn't surprised, I knew he was going to be an awesome daddy.

(Aaron staying with Dane while they checked him.)

After they cleaned him up they gave him to me for skin-to-skin time, and we stayed like that for 2 hours before they moved us to our recovery room. (Did I mention that at Hoag all the rooms are private? So nice). That is also when I got stitched up. Dr. C had to give me an episiotomy, and I had some 2nd degree tearing during delivery.

(View of the sunrise from our recovery room)

Our recovery room was also an ocean-view room, and we really felt pampered by all the nurses. The day after delivery they brought us a celebration dinner that consisted of filet Mignon, baked potato, veggies, sparkling cider, and a yummy dessert.

(Baby Dane and Mommy in the recovery room.)

(Daddy in the recovery room. My husband has never looked more attractive to me:)

We had several visitors come visit us, and we absolutely loved it. It was so nice to see everyone, and, since Hoag doesn't have visiting hours or limits on how many people can come in at a time, we had stress-free visiting sessions. Thank you to everyone who came to see us!

(Nana, Aunt Debi, Dane, and me)

We stayed for 2 days, and then it was time to go home. We had mixed feelings about going home because we were ready to sleep in our own bed, see our dog, and be able to do things on our own time schedule, but we also had such a nice stay, and the hospital and the nurses were so nice and helpful that we could have stayed another day.

(Ready to leave the hospital)

(Dane in his car seat for the first time)

I feel so blessed to have had such an "easy" delivery and to have such a healthy, perfect baby boy. Recovery has been good but taking longer that I thought it would. He has been a super baby when it comes to nursing from day one (thank goodness) and sleeps...well, he sleeps like a newborn:-) We are all a little tired over here.

We love you, Baby Dane!