My pregnancy with Knox was full of joy, lots of stress, feelings of loneliness, fear of losing our baby shortly after birth, fear of a possible surgery, and so many other emotions I cannot even express in words. Due to not knowing whether or not he would need surgery or if he would make it, I froze in many ways. I couldn't continue preparing for his arrival with all of the unknown. I was torn- I wanted to have things ready for him when we came home, but I also didn't want to come home empty-handed and have to look at baby clothes, a bassinet, a pack and play, changing table, diapers, etc.
I decided instead to focus on my kids already with me, and spent a lot of time praying. I wanted to have special one-on-one time with Ella, Owen, and Lana. I spent a great deal of time trying to plan something special for each of them. Exactly a week before Knox came, I took Owen to ride on Thomas the Train at the Kentucky Railway Museum. I also took some time for myself and went and had a girls night with my new friend, Angela at Uptown Art. That was an eventful night of painting! It was crazy hot in the building, and a woman ended up passing out right behind us and hit her head on the concrete floor. This was Friday, the 12th-- and I forgot to mention, I was up most of the night Thursday night with contractions. I almost got to the point of waking Brent, but I was able to get them to go away with lots of water and pacing around the house after about an hour. Whew! I was afraid I was going to have to bail on my new friend, and I was not ready to have a baby yet. I still had to have special one-on-one time with my girls. I begged God to keep Knox cooking a little while longer, and I'm so grateful it didn't happen that night because Brent's dad wouldn't be able to come and help us yet and we wouldn't have anyone to watch the kids. We'd already had a false alarm earlier in the week at my weekly appointment where my doctor forced me to go to Triage at the hospital and be monitored because of high blood pressure-- and it wasn't even that high. It was slightly raised, but the nurse insisted and I was sent anyway. I just wanted to tell them that my blood pressure always rises when I'm preparing to birth a baby because I'm naturally nervous each and every time. I know how painful it is and how unpredictable birthing a baby is! Brent's mom ended up taking off work to watch the older three so Brent could be with me while I was monitored because they were talking like they were planning to induce if my blood pressure didn't go down. No pressure, right!? All ended just fine and my blood pressure came down after they monitored it for a few hours. There were so many other places I wanted to be instead of the hospital. Brent even brought the kids gifts, so then we didn't have anything to give them for the real deal- it was just coloring books and then Lana got a baby doll that she refuses to sleep without nowadays.
The following Saturday, I took Ella for a tea party at Sisters Tea Parlor in Buckner, KY. That evening, I let Brent have some time to himself and go to the theater to see Jurassic World while I put the three kids to bed. I thought I could do laundry that night after the kids were in bed, and finally pack my hospital bag. It was HOT that day, I remember being drenched in sweat while I had lunch tea with Ella, and felt extra slow while walking to and from our car. Since it was so hot, I decided to take Lana swimming at the neighborhood pool for our special time the next morning. After about 20 minutes of doing laundry, my ankles and feet were swollen and I just could not bear to stand any longer. I sat down on the couch and rested until Brent came home. I think Brent got home around 9pm, and I'm pretty sure we went to bed not too long after. I think I slept for maybe an hour, and then awoke with a sudden deep pain in my back and urge to pee. After I returned to bed, I could not get comfortable. I started watching the clock because it sort of felt like real contractions, but I wasn't positive and didn't want to wake up Brent quite yet. I paced around the house and tried getting water, and nothing was working. I laid back down, and the pain still kept pressing on. I realized after a couple hours that a pattern had developed and this had to be the real deal. Don was already planning to arrive Sunday afternoon and would stay until we went into labor, but it looked like we needed him more like early Sunday morning. Brent called his dad, and Don got on the road from Indiana- he was a little over an hour away. It was a little after midnight and I started cleaning up a few things I wanted done before I went into labor with Knox, and I all of a sudden needed to pack my bags. I frantically (as frantic as you can be while stopping every few minutes for a contraction) started gathering our things and started crying because I realized I wouldn't be able to have my special time with Lana and I was hoping for a date night with Brent-- neither would happen now. After Don arrived, we left him with a note to read to the kids since they were clueless to all the ruckus.
I think we left the house in Simpsonville around 2am and that was a miracle as there was no traffic to battle on the interstate as we headed to the hospital. With each baby, I've become more and more fearful that I will end up delivering in the car on the side of the road.
Brent drove pretty fast, and my contractions kept coming. We arrived in the parking garage, and I decided I wanted to wait to check in. We took the elevator to the floor where the elevator inside took us to the labor and delivery entrance-- it was like a maze trying to get to where we needed to check in. We paced the halls as I labored- it was eerie as the halls were empty where it's normally bustling on a weekday with appointments, and I felt like we were in a horror film. I had to go to the bathroom again, and when I went to the ladies room, it was clogged and disgusting. I came out and told Brent there was no way I could use it without vomiting and couldn't risk delivering a baby in that toilet. Ha! He told me I could go into the men's since there wasn't a line. I walked up and down the hallway, counting time between contractions and finally called my parents to give them an update. As the contractions got more and more painful, I told Brent I was ready to walk a little closer to the labor and delivery floor. We took the elevator and started walking around the waiting room in labor and delivery. Well, we got to the far side of the waiting room, and I started having a major contraction, and leaned into Brent, but there was a lady watching some horror crime show in the middle of the night and had the tv blasting so. freaking. loud. I started getting upset because it was making me anxious as I was contracting-- you know the suspenseful music, the blood and gore talk.... I could not handle it at this point in labor ( I can't even handle it on a normal day, much less when I'm trying to concentrate without this loud shrieking scream of the poor victim in the show.) I felt bad for the receptionist too. I told Brent we needed to check in because I couldn't spend another second in that waiting room as long as that woman had her tv blaring.
We check in, and the nurses took me back to triage--- which is a crazy concept to me. In Memphis, with my previous three births, I never went to Triage, they just took me to the delivery room. Once the nurses finally got things together- I signed the paperwork and they put in the saline lock, they told me I'd definitely be having a baby that day because I was at 7cm. After that, they disappeared for an hour before taking me back to a delivery room. I really thought I might deliver in Triage.
Once we made it to my delivery room, my doctor came in to check on me. She was on call that night, and had been there all night already. She joked with me a few days prior that this weekend would be a good weekend to have a baby since she'd already be there. My doctor was wonderful in letting me walk around as much as I'd like and did intermittent monitoring. I did eventually just want to lie down, and when my legs were in constant pain, my doctor came in and moved my bed so I could sit up straight and tall with my feet resting on a foot rest--- it was incredible and I wish that my previous drs did this for me while I was in labor because I had the same problems with my other three babies- my legs were killing me and my feet were tingly to the point I couldn't get comfortable. The nurses pretty much let Brent and I have our privacy as I labored and were so sweet the entire time. They were helpful and did not pressure me into an epidural or shame me for my decision. I was impressed.
This was the first labor where I actually had a break in between contractions and could laugh with Brent in between. It was kind of surreal. I liked being able to carry a conversation with him in those moments- I didn't realize it could be that way.
My doctor ended up breaking my water for me since Knox's position made it difficult to do so naturally. The pain increased, and it got harder to keep quiet.
I remember asking God to help me over and over again. Toward the end of labor, I kept feeling a slight urge to push and I would ask the nurses to come in and check because I was worried about Knox and then having the experience with Lana where no doctor or nurse was present for her birth (they were in the hall and Lana slid out onto the table), I was worried something similar might happen. I probably got on the nurse's nerves, but once my doctor came in, she helped so much. When it was time to push, I got to the point where I definitely thought I couldn't do it. I was so tired. Without Brent's encouragement, I would have just tried giving up. Haha.
There were more people in the room than I've ever had before- there was a neonatologist and his team present to check Knox and see if his esophagus was attached to his stomach or not, plus the nurses, my doctor, and a few more nurses for good measure. I pushed for a while- I don't think it was quite time once we started pushing. I remember how encouraging everyone was, I didn't feel like a burden and I truly felt like these people genuinely cared about me and my baby.
Knox Reid arrived at 8:41am on June 14, 2015, and he was 8lbs and 21 inches long. He had a head full of hair, and dark gray eyes. They took a little longer to check him out than normal, but we were able to have him back pretty quickly after he got the all clear. God's protecting hand held our son and me, and I will remain forever grateful.
The following Saturday, I took Ella for a tea party at Sisters Tea Parlor in Buckner, KY. That evening, I let Brent have some time to himself and go to the theater to see Jurassic World while I put the three kids to bed. I thought I could do laundry that night after the kids were in bed, and finally pack my hospital bag. It was HOT that day, I remember being drenched in sweat while I had lunch tea with Ella, and felt extra slow while walking to and from our car. Since it was so hot, I decided to take Lana swimming at the neighborhood pool for our special time the next morning. After about 20 minutes of doing laundry, my ankles and feet were swollen and I just could not bear to stand any longer. I sat down on the couch and rested until Brent came home. I think Brent got home around 9pm, and I'm pretty sure we went to bed not too long after. I think I slept for maybe an hour, and then awoke with a sudden deep pain in my back and urge to pee. After I returned to bed, I could not get comfortable. I started watching the clock because it sort of felt like real contractions, but I wasn't positive and didn't want to wake up Brent quite yet. I paced around the house and tried getting water, and nothing was working. I laid back down, and the pain still kept pressing on. I realized after a couple hours that a pattern had developed and this had to be the real deal. Don was already planning to arrive Sunday afternoon and would stay until we went into labor, but it looked like we needed him more like early Sunday morning. Brent called his dad, and Don got on the road from Indiana- he was a little over an hour away. It was a little after midnight and I started cleaning up a few things I wanted done before I went into labor with Knox, and I all of a sudden needed to pack my bags. I frantically (as frantic as you can be while stopping every few minutes for a contraction) started gathering our things and started crying because I realized I wouldn't be able to have my special time with Lana and I was hoping for a date night with Brent-- neither would happen now. After Don arrived, we left him with a note to read to the kids since they were clueless to all the ruckus.
I think we left the house in Simpsonville around 2am and that was a miracle as there was no traffic to battle on the interstate as we headed to the hospital. With each baby, I've become more and more fearful that I will end up delivering in the car on the side of the road.
Brent drove pretty fast, and my contractions kept coming. We arrived in the parking garage, and I decided I wanted to wait to check in. We took the elevator to the floor where the elevator inside took us to the labor and delivery entrance-- it was like a maze trying to get to where we needed to check in. We paced the halls as I labored- it was eerie as the halls were empty where it's normally bustling on a weekday with appointments, and I felt like we were in a horror film. I had to go to the bathroom again, and when I went to the ladies room, it was clogged and disgusting. I came out and told Brent there was no way I could use it without vomiting and couldn't risk delivering a baby in that toilet. Ha! He told me I could go into the men's since there wasn't a line. I walked up and down the hallway, counting time between contractions and finally called my parents to give them an update. As the contractions got more and more painful, I told Brent I was ready to walk a little closer to the labor and delivery floor. We took the elevator and started walking around the waiting room in labor and delivery. Well, we got to the far side of the waiting room, and I started having a major contraction, and leaned into Brent, but there was a lady watching some horror crime show in the middle of the night and had the tv blasting so. freaking. loud. I started getting upset because it was making me anxious as I was contracting-- you know the suspenseful music, the blood and gore talk.... I could not handle it at this point in labor ( I can't even handle it on a normal day, much less when I'm trying to concentrate without this loud shrieking scream of the poor victim in the show.) I felt bad for the receptionist too. I told Brent we needed to check in because I couldn't spend another second in that waiting room as long as that woman had her tv blaring.
We check in, and the nurses took me back to triage--- which is a crazy concept to me. In Memphis, with my previous three births, I never went to Triage, they just took me to the delivery room. Once the nurses finally got things together- I signed the paperwork and they put in the saline lock, they told me I'd definitely be having a baby that day because I was at 7cm. After that, they disappeared for an hour before taking me back to a delivery room. I really thought I might deliver in Triage.
Once we made it to my delivery room, my doctor came in to check on me. She was on call that night, and had been there all night already. She joked with me a few days prior that this weekend would be a good weekend to have a baby since she'd already be there. My doctor was wonderful in letting me walk around as much as I'd like and did intermittent monitoring. I did eventually just want to lie down, and when my legs were in constant pain, my doctor came in and moved my bed so I could sit up straight and tall with my feet resting on a foot rest--- it was incredible and I wish that my previous drs did this for me while I was in labor because I had the same problems with my other three babies- my legs were killing me and my feet were tingly to the point I couldn't get comfortable. The nurses pretty much let Brent and I have our privacy as I labored and were so sweet the entire time. They were helpful and did not pressure me into an epidural or shame me for my decision. I was impressed.
This was the first labor where I actually had a break in between contractions and could laugh with Brent in between. It was kind of surreal. I liked being able to carry a conversation with him in those moments- I didn't realize it could be that way.
My doctor ended up breaking my water for me since Knox's position made it difficult to do so naturally. The pain increased, and it got harder to keep quiet.
I remember asking God to help me over and over again. Toward the end of labor, I kept feeling a slight urge to push and I would ask the nurses to come in and check because I was worried about Knox and then having the experience with Lana where no doctor or nurse was present for her birth (they were in the hall and Lana slid out onto the table), I was worried something similar might happen. I probably got on the nurse's nerves, but once my doctor came in, she helped so much. When it was time to push, I got to the point where I definitely thought I couldn't do it. I was so tired. Without Brent's encouragement, I would have just tried giving up. Haha.
There were more people in the room than I've ever had before- there was a neonatologist and his team present to check Knox and see if his esophagus was attached to his stomach or not, plus the nurses, my doctor, and a few more nurses for good measure. I pushed for a while- I don't think it was quite time once we started pushing. I remember how encouraging everyone was, I didn't feel like a burden and I truly felt like these people genuinely cared about me and my baby.
Knox Reid arrived at 8:41am on June 14, 2015, and he was 8lbs and 21 inches long. He had a head full of hair, and dark gray eyes. They took a little longer to check him out than normal, but we were able to have him back pretty quickly after he got the all clear. God's protecting hand held our son and me, and I will remain forever grateful.
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