Gideon Grey Stanley

Baby Gideon arrived on scene June 13 at 6:27 in the morning. Weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and 21.3 inches long. Everything about this little man has been surprising and unexpected. It has me curios and a little worried to see what the rest of his life will be like! I have felt with all my boys that their time in the womb and deliveries were a foretelling of their personalities. Does anyone else feel that way with their kids?

Many know that Gideon's first little trick was being conceived in the first place. We were doing the opposit of trying to have a baby at that time. We very much had our hands full with our three boys and the extra help Gavyn and Nevin both need. Although I didn't feel "done" having kids I did not think right now was the right timing. Apparently God thought other wise and very much blessed us with this little man. The other very different experience for us was having a hospital birth as the first three were all born at home. Although I knew this was a much needed step for his safety since I am Group B positive it also gave me much anxiety during the pregnancy. Ryan's cousin Mandi was so awesome in reccomending her OB to me though! Dr. Philpott was so awesome during my pregnancy and delivery. Every visit with him he would ask me what I was worried about, what was on my mind, what could we talk thru this month? He was actually impressed that I had three natural home births and was not judgmental at all about it. His attitude was, you go girl, I am staying out of your way, you know what you are doing. He would listen to my concerns and we would either make a plan or talk it out. The closer it got to my due date the more concerned we all became with the very real possibility of my going into labor and not making it to the hospital in time for the minimum 4 hrs of antibiotics needed to protect Gideon from the infection. Nevin came in a fast and furios fashion of 6 hours. He was my easiest and fastest labor. Gavyn came in about 7 hours and was a harder labor than Nevin but he was also my biggest baby weighing in at 8 pounds 9 ounces. The more we talked about this we came to the conclusion that the safest method would be having me come into the hospital early, get a round of antibiotics and then be induced. I had been induced with Skyler who was a whopping 9 days late so I was familiar with the procedure. We thought we had everything planned to a T but here is what happened....

Tuesday morning the 12th. We were supposed to get up at 5:30 and get ready. We were supposed to call the hospital at 6 and tell them we were coming in at 7 to be induced. My parents were coming at 6 to take care of the boys and my mom would come up to the hospital around lunch when I would be actually induced. I could not sleep the night before because I was so anxious. I almost sprung out of bed in the morning thinking I had over slept. I called the hospital at 6 and was surprised to hear that every bed was full in labor and delivery and I needed to wait to come in. They would call around 9 to let me know when to come. I was too wired to go back to sleep. My parents ended up taking the boys around 8 back to their house. Ryan and I decided to run to target to pick up a few last minute items and kill time. By 9:30 I called the hospital again and was told to hold tight again. Finally close to 10 I started to doze off on the couch and of course that is when they called for us to come in.

We arrived close to 11 and spent the next two hours being registered and all that jazz. Finally close to 1 they started the antibiotic drip. Ryan rented a movie for us to watch and pass the time. As soon as I was hooked up to the monitors and antibiotics we were surprised to notice I was having very frequent very small contractions. This seemed very promising and encouraged me that I would be having another quick delivery. Close to 4 Dr. Philpott gave the go ahead to start the potocine drip. My nurse started a slow drip at only a one just to see what my body would do. I kicked into labor very quickly and was having good sized contractions every couple minutes. It was enough that there was no need to even up the potocine. By this time though I was getting really hungry and scarfed down a lot of Popsicles and ice! I started to walk the halls and Ryan and my mom took turns making laps with me. Everything was looking promising. Close to 7 my nurse asked to check me so she could give Dr. P an update. I had been dilated close to a two before we started, surely I was a four or five by now! I could not have been more discouraged to hear her tell me I was a three! After she talked to Dr. P she came back and told me they were going to break my water. Excuse me? I was not having it. She tried to convience me it would speed everything up. I told her I knew exactly what contractions would feel like once they took my cushion away and if I was only at a three there was no way they were breaking my water. The doc on the floor was completely ok with my decision but the nurse tried to push me further. I was adamant that it was a no go for now. Thankfully there was a shift changed and my new nurse was much more accommodating to my wishes. She was also impressed with how I labored and told me more than once I was made to labor naturally because I was so calm.

Eventually I was able to fall asleep and get a nap for about an hour. That was very helpful and refreshing. Every time my nurse Kate asked me what I needed I would tell her a cheeseburger. I hadn't eaten since 6:30 that morning and was starving! I knew she couldn't feed me but that is what I really wanted to get me through it! I kept walking and eating Popsicles. By this time my concept of time gets fuzzy but I think by 10 pm I had dilated to a 5. I couldn't understand why it was going so slow. I tried to stay relaxed but I could feel the anxiety starting. Eventually I dilated to a 7 and agreed to let them break my water because that typically speeds things up and I was feeling my body getting ready. Then the strangest thing happened. After my water was broken my contractions started to slow! What was happening? By 3am Kate checked me and gave me the worst news I have ever heard while laboring. I had gone from a 7 to a 5! I was in shock. She explained that sometimes when baby is positioned funny when they break the water it causes baby to pop back up instead of down. I had been sitting straight up in the bed with my legs stretched out for 2 hours trying to get him to come down and instead he had moved up. I panicked. My poor mother and Ryan got a good scare when I told the nurse I wanted a C-section now! I completely lost it and was sure he was not coming, something was wrong and all I could think about was my other two special babies and how I could not do it again. Kate did her best to calm me and then went to go call Dr. P. Thankfully Kate and Dr. P knew that a woman who gave birth three times naturally at home did not really want a C-section and they needed to figure out what was going on and try to hold me off on that decision. Kate got my mom and did some investigating into our lives, what was I worried about? What had happened with Gavyn? How were the boys now, high functioning, low functioning? What could we do to ease my anxiety? Kate came back into my room with me completely exhausted and in tears. She told me Dr. P would do a C-section but first he thought I should get an epidural (since I would need it anyway for surgery) and take a nap for an hour. I agreed. I had been up for almost 24 hours with little sleep before that and my stomach was completely empty. I had nothing left to give. This was completely God at work and seeing how the next three hours played out was amazing.

I was given an epidural, something I never thought I would do simply because my labors had been so fast in the past. Man did that sucker hurt but after about 5 minutes I was feeling so much better! Before I knew it I was asleep and Ryan and mom were also able to get some rest. After an hour Kate came and woke me up, she informed me there was an emergancy C-section happening. Because of that she was not going to check me but let me rest for another hour. I was relieved. I feel back asleep for another hour. When she woke me again there was another emergency C-section happening! I should go back asleep. By 5:30 I started having severe contractions that even the epidural could not hide. By 6 I could tell I needed to push. Kaye checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to go. For a split second we thought Dr. P would not even make it! Thankfully he walked in just as they were helping me to sit up in bed. It went from being very quiet to a flurry of activity in less than 5 minutes. Before I knew it was in a good position and started to push. Mr. Gideon had turned his body in such a way that he was almost stuck. This is why my labor had come to a stand still until I could relax more. Once I pushed Dr. P was able to turn his little head and after only about 4-6 pushes he arrived on scene! No one could believe how little he was! The way he had been laying in my stomach for the last couple months it had pushed everything around making my measurements bigger and giving everyone the impression he would be well over 8 pounds! He was very much worth 14 hours of labor and 17 hours of being hooked up to an IV. He was perfect in every way. I am excited to watch him grow and see what new adventures he brings to our family this year.