The story

My original due date was November 27, which was black Friday. A few weeks before my due date my doctor informed me that he would be out of town the whole week before my due date and even a few days after. Because of my heart history he offered an induction so that he could be my doctor and that way I wouldn't get stuck with the on-call doctor and getting them up to speed with my health history. I chickened out of my first induction date, but felt prepared to go in for the second induction date which was set a few days later. We went to Portneuf medical center on Wednesday November 18th around 

7 pm to get the induction started. (night inductions are the worst!)

Last picture of the Preston Family of 3, soon to be family of 4

Belly shot at 38 weeks and 6 days pregnant in the birth suite

I gave birth at the hospital I work at which has its benefits. My nurse was my friend Lia who worked with me in the ER for a few years before she switched up to labor and delivery. The doctor chose to use the drug cytotec for the induction. We got the induction going around 8 pm, and by 9 I was having painless contractions. Joe stepped out of the room around 10 pm and luckily missed some excitement. Apparently our little Harvey's heart rate dropped after a contraction but stayed low for a few minutes. I just love nurses and how calm they can act. I knew from my L&D rotations that nurses try to act calm when the babies heart rate drops but if it stays low after a contraction it is something to worry about. Quickly 4 calm nurses were huddled around me one was hanging a bag of fluids, another was helping me onto my side, another was putting an oxygen mask on my face, and another was getting the baby warmer ready. The resident started asking me lots of questions but eventually Harvey's heart rate increased so I was left alone, on my side, with a mask on my face (fact about me: I am claustrophobic). Anytime Harvey's heart rate would stay low after a contraction for an extended period of time my nurse would calmly walk in and hang another bag of fluids, and make sure my oxygen mask was on. I tried cheating with the oxygen and pulled it off but I always got caught, because Harvey's heart rate would stay low, so for his benefit I kept it on, and didn't get any sleep. Man I love that little guy. The nurses didn't want me up and about because they wanted to monitor Harvey so I really stayed in bed and labored in the fetal position on my side. By 4 am I was miserable and my cries woke Joe up who urged me to let the nurse know how miserable I was. Lia came in and told me I was dilated to a 5 and that I was eligible for an epidural....yes please, and quickly please. Epidural was in and going by 430. I was sad that the nurses had shift changes at 5 am because that meant I lost my nurse friend Lia. I was finally able to relax, not sleep but relax. My new nurse rushed in at 530 and said that she could tell by my contractions and Harvey's heart rate that I was getting close and she wanted to check me again. To everyone's surprise I was at a 10 and ready to push. My nurse ran to wake up my doctor by phone and when she came back she started the magical transformation of my hospital room. My bed did crazy things, things appeared out of the ceiling, huge carts were rolled in. The resident came in and because I pushed for 45 minutes with Kate he thought I could get some pushes out before the doctor arrived. My water had not broken yet so he broke my water and then promptly told me to not push, but as soon as my water broke I knew Harvey had dropped even more and would slide out if the doctor didn't come fast. Luckily my doctor lives really close and magically appeared in the doorway. After 2 contractions Harvey was out! His cord was wrapped around his head loosely and that is why his heart rate dropped so much. Dr Jones put him right on my belly and I helped clean him off and Joe cut the cord. It was a fantastic time, and heaven seemed so close, I was now holding in my arms my little piece of heaven, best feeling ever. 

The nurses took me by surprise when they told me they needed to take Harvey to the NICU for a little while. They told me that I had a rare antibody and that they needed to take him for blood work and observation. I sent Joe to be by Harvey's side and then after all that excitement I was alone. It was a strange feeling to just give birth to a little baby and then not have anyone to share the excitement with. Joe was great and sent me lots of pictures to my phone from the NICU, but I still felt lonely. Luckily we weren't away from each other for too long. After a little over 2 hours they brought Harvey back to me and told me they would need to do repeat labs, but that so far he looked great. It was so nice to be back with my new little guy, 2 hours seemed like forever. His blood work looked good for the remainder of the hospital stay. It wasn't long before we started having visitors.Joe's mother Renae stayed the night at our house with Kate and brought her up in the morning. Kate was a little shy with Harvey in the hospital, but overall she acted really excited to meet him.

Grandma Nae,  Gammer

Grandpa

Who knew that it takes almost a whole package of wipes to clean up a poop for a baby a few hours old?

I had my legs back in time to help give Harvey his first bath

Nice and warm after his first bath

Nonna

Papa

My nurse Lia from the night before was able to come back and meet Harvey on her next shift

Dad and Harvey

I am still in amazement that this little guy fit in my tummy!

Going home!