Baylor Ray's Birth Story

 Induction was scheduled for 5am on Monday, June 8th. Bentley spent the night with MiMi & Pop Pop Sunday night and was staying with them while we were in the hospital. (thanks COVID! *side eye*)

We got up about 4 am, but lets face it...I barely even went to sleep. We got ready, fed the animals, and packed the car. The drive to the hospital was very quiet. I think Kip knew I was a little nervous, because he just grabbed my hand and held it the whole way to the hospital. 

We got the hospital about 5:15. (us, late? NEVER!) Got checked in through the ER. Since COVID was still rampant, we had to get temp checked, but no COVID test...hallelujah! We went up to L&D and had to wear masks. They made Kip sit in the waiting room while I got into a room and hooked up to all the monitors and got my IV. That took probably an hour. I think it was about 6:30 before he came into the room with me. 

I was still feeling good. I wasn't feeling any contractions but Baylor was moving a lot! It was almost shift change, so we a new set of nurses. At 7 am, they checked me and I was at 4 cm. I asked if they had started pitocin because I was feeling some contractions and Nurse Kaylee said that I was having contractions 2-3 minutes apart. She said because I was contracting already, she wasn't going to start pitocin until after Dr. Smith broke my water. He was delivering another baby so we were just in the waiting game of him to come in to break my water. He came in at 7:45 am and broke my water. About 20 minutes later, I started having stronger contractions. They were getting a little more painful, but bearable. Still 2-3 minutes apart. 

At 8:35 am, I started having some strong back contractions. I was still able to talk through them, but they were consistently getting more painful. Kaylee said they weren't going to start pitocin until I got my epidural, because she didn't want me progressing too quickly and not be able to get it. (i.e. Bentley's birth). She asked if I wanted pain meds, and I said I was ok for right now. She asked if I had a high pain tolerance, and I said that I didn't think so. She said she has girls that will be at a 2-3 screaming in pain by this point, so my pain tolerance was pretty high! 

At 8:55 am, she started the pain medicine. I was really hurting. I was at 5-6 cm, baby was super low, and I was progressing fast! Just very (im)patiently waiting on the epidural. One thing I do remember from the pain meds was that I felt really lightheaded and almost drunk! They kicked in quick and helped some, but I still had pain. 

Finally got the epidural about 9:45 am. It took and was working great. I was in very little pain and dilated to 6-7 cm. Kaylee decided they wouldn't give me pitocin because how fast I was progressing. She did tell me she was worried I wouldn't be able to get the epidural because I was progressing so fast on my own, but she waited to tell me after I got it! haha!!

10:40 am: At 8 cm, baby was a -1 to 0 station. She turned me to right side to help baby move down. I couldn't feel anything below my belly button! It was great! I wanted to take a nap, but she kept coming to check on me because it was all happening so fast!

11:15 am: Dilated to 9cm. turned to my left side to help baby come down some more. I started feeling really shaky and shivering some, but I wasn't cold. She mentioned I was probably in transition and my body was reacting. 

11:50 am: 9-10 cm dilated. A little bit of cervix was still in the way. She me up and I sat indian style to see if that would help get it to move. My legs felt like jello and super heavy, so she pretty much had to position me like that!

12:00 pm: She checked me and said sitting that way seemed to be working. She wanted me to sit like that for about 20 minutes then we would start pushing. 

12:15 pm: The whole team came in the room ready to get baby out! My tech, Jordan told me, jokingly, that she was gonna give me 10 minutes to get this baby out, because she hated wearing all that stuff they were having to wear due to COVID. I told her that was the perfect plan. They all knew I was anxious about pushing because of the experience I had with Bentley!

12:25 pm: I started pushing! I pushed about 4 times when Kaylee said to Jordan to go get Dr. Smith. I was concerned something was wrong, and she said that everything was great and baby would be out in no time. 

12:34 pm: Baby Baylor was BORN! I pushed 2 more times with Dr. Smith and he popped right out! He weighed 8lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long! 

We had the most amazing staff tending to us for labor and delivery! I couldn't have asked for better people! Kaylee & Jordan were MORE than I could have ever hoped for and made the whole process SO easy! 

 Hospital stay & first few days at home coming soon!

Baby Name Update & "Virtual" Baby Shower

Most people know the story of how Bentley got his name. He was named after Kip's grandfather, Bobby Gene, who passed away when we were about 8 weeks pregnant. When my grandfather passed away in November, Kip and I hadn't talked about baby names yet. Shortly after Pops passed away, we started talking baby names. We had decided we wanted to incorporate Pops name somehow with baby #2. His name was Billy Ray. We thought from the beginning that baby was a girl and decided quickly on using the name "Rae" as a middle name. We were so shocked when we found out he was a boy that took a while for us to decide on his name, but we have finally made a decision! We will be welcoming our baby boy Baylor Ray Williams in June!! I absolutely love that both our boys have special names that remind us of 2 special people in our lives!

"Virtual" Baby Shower

Since COVID ruined everyone's fun this Spring, we weren't able to have an in-person baby shower, so my mom, mother-in-law, and best friend put together an awesome virtual shower for us! We started getting things delivered to our house around early to mid-April. And I think we got a delivery every single day for almost a month. By the time May 2nd rolled around, we had SO many packages to open! 

We didn't open anything until the day of the shower. We went LIVE on Facebook in the event group and opened up all our gifts. We are SO very blessed with wonderful friends and family! We didn't need much since we kept a lot of things from Bentley, so diapers, wipes, and bottles were really all we actually NEEDED. But we received SO many gifts I was blown away!

Third Trimester with Baby Boy #2

My next appointment was on March 31st at 28 weeks. Due to the GD, I had an ultrasound to check baby's size. He was measuring about 3 weeks ahead, weighing around 3lbs 13 oz. His HR was 148 and he was breech. My BP was 120/85 (hooray for lower BP!) and weight at 184.2. 

I had my appt with the endo on April 1st. He wanted me to try to control the GD with diet and exercise. I immediately started looking up things to eat so made a grocery list. I knew it was going to be a long 10-12 weeks. But I also knew that I needed to do this for my baby.  

I had another appointment on April 16th right at 31 weeks. I had another ultrasound and baby boy was measuring 5 lbs 6 oz. He was measuring 4 weeks ahead. His HR was 162. My BP was 119/84 and weight at 182.4. Here is an update I posted on FB so I don't have to re-type it all. 

He scored 100% on his ultrasound for movements, breathing, heart beat, etc. He’s weighing in at a whopping 5 lbs 6 oz and measuring about 35 weeks. Dr. Smith is still thinking we will have to induce a little early, but we will continue to monitor how he is growing at each appointment. I do love getting to see him on the ultrasound screen though!

So far, my gestational diabetes is being controlled by diet and exercise-gotta start walking more though!! But on the downside of this, my iron is super low despite taking daily iron supplements. With the GD I can’t drink orange juice with the iron supplements like has been suggested to help my body absorb the iron quicker. Also, some of the foods I am eating for GD are causing a slower absorption of iron. I have to get an iron infusion Tuesday morning at the hospital. I’m nervous about going into the hospital during this time, and also having to go alone due to no visitors. Prayers are greatly appreciated for this process, that I will stay healthy and away from any of the virus mess that’s going on while going into the hospital. (I don’t have to stay or anything. Just an in and out thing) Also, please keep praying for me during this gestational diabetes journey that my numbers will stay where they need to be and that baby boy will not grow too big too quickly!

On a side note: I know that this stay at home order hasn’t been fun for many people and most people are ready to get back to normal, as am I!! But I’m also very thankful that I’ve been home during this crazy month with this pregnancy. I’ve had a lot of doctor’s appts and Telehealth visits, having to control my diet and eat every 2-3 hours, checking my blood sugar, low iron causing dizzy spells, etc. I am still working from home, but this whole process would have been a lot different if I was still going into the office to work-Missing days of work for all these appointments, probably not controlling my diet like I should be, not being able to lay down when having a dizzy spell, or going for a quick walk around the neighborhood if my blood sugar numbers were a little higher than they should. So I am very thankful for this “stay at home order”, even though I miss seeing my work family!

At this point, I am going every 2 weeks to my OB and every 2 weeks to my endo. I also have had to go to the lab for blood draws and get iron infusions. Lots of doctors appointments which isn't something I was thrilled about during a pandemic. 

At my next appointment at 33 weeks on April 30th, he was estimated to weigh 6 lbs 5 oz. His belly measured 37 weeks and head & legs measured 35 weeks. My BP was 129/81 & weight at 182.8. I was still controlling my GD with diet and exercise! Baby is super active & I am super miserable! I started having contractions every night between 7-10pm. They were pretty intense but not consistent and would start and stop almost exactly at 7pm and 10pm every night. 

35 week appointment (34+6 to be exact) on may 13th: Baby's HR was 157. He was estimated to weigh 6 lbs 8 oz. My BP was 127/86 & weight at 183.4. Still doing good with the GD! here is my facebook update from this appointment:

Baby Update! His growth has slowed down drastically! He’s only measuring about a week ahead now and weighing about 6lbs 8oz. His breathing, heart rate, and movements were great! He’s head down already and actually facing the right way unlike his big brother was! 1 cm dilated but that doesn’t mean he is coming any time soon. No more iron infusions for me!! Iron levels are increasing! Unless he comes on his own before 39 weeks, I’ll be induced around then (2nd week of June). We will know more after my next appointment on May 29th, but as of right now, we have 4 weeks or less til we meet our boy!

We celebrated Mother's Day with just our immediate families, due to COVID. It was bittersweet just knowing that this was my last year to celebrate with just my one boy! 

37 week appointment on May 29th: Baby is estimated to weigh 8lbs 1 oz. Measuring a few weeks ahead. INDUCTION is scheduled for June 8th!! My BP was 124/79 & weight at 183.2. Still doing great with following the GD diet and keeping my numbers low!

I've still been having contractions a lot. They are now coming all throughout the day and are pretty painful, but nothing consistent at all. Even though induction was already scheduled for Monday, June 8th, I had one final appointment on June 5th. 

At that appointment, baby was measuring 8lbs 15 oz. My BP was 130/82 and weight at 181.8. I was 3 cm dilated and almost completely thinned, so I wasn't going to have to go in Sunday night for cervix thinning meds! 

I was very anxious all weekend. Mom came and helped me clean my house and get it all ready to go which was a good distraction. I had a lot of emotions, and I think most of them stemmed from already having a child. What was he going to think? How was he going to react? Would he be jealous? How could I love 2 babies the same? What if something goes wrong with the induction? What if I end up having a c-section? What if it takes days? Just lots of emotions and nerves!

But we made it. We made it to 38+4 weeks, and we were going to get to meet our baby boy a little early! 

How he got his name & his birth story coming soon!