Bayne's Introduction

We had always wanted to have our children close together in age, but my health conditions after our second child prevented us from trying for our 3rd for a couple of years. My pregnancy with Bayne was fairly normal in the first trimester. I just had very bad morning sickness. I'm not sure why they call it "morning sickness" it really should be called 'all day sickness' or '24/7 sickness'! It seemed almost anything would set me off. It was brutal to try to cook meat, the smell of it would have me running for the bathroom.

The second trimester came, and while my morning sickness lingered I started to gain weight. We went from the doctor always pushing me to try to gain more weight, with my pregnancies, to them referring me to a dietician as I was gaining so much weight. Along with my own weight gain baby was growing fast too and my doctor was worried that he would get too big to deliver naturally. Due to my past pregnancies being IUGR and high risk, we had extra monitoring with this pregnancy as well. Baby did even out and all seemed to be going fairly well. We were hopeful this would be the my first pregnancy that I wouldn't need to be induced due to IUGR. Thirty-six week ultrasound showed he was doing well, and wasn't huge like the doctor had predicted. It also showed there was no reason on the babies end to be induced. However my SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) was getting worse I could hardly walk due to it and had to change the way I did many things. I had to shuffle like an elderly person, as I couldn't move me knees very far apart without intense pain in my pelvis. We already had a game plan with my doctor to keep an extra close eye on this and he would monitor my knee spread during delivery. If that wasn't enough the actual plan was to wear a resistance band around my knees so that during the throes of labor I would not injury my pelvis ligaments further. He did say at this time that he wanted to induce me for my own health.

We decided that since baby was fine and this was my third pregnancy that baby might come a bit earlier anyway, so I was going to try to hold out. I seen my doctor at thirty-seven weeks he again said he wanted to induce me and that my blood pressure had also dropped lower than the previous week and it was starting to get concerning. I again decided not to go with the planned induction. Thirty-eight week visit was much of the same, I was having pretty low blood pressure, my SPD was still getting worse and he was concerned that when the time did come my body just wouldn't be able to put out with those two things paired together. He did say that he wanted to try a membrane sweep to see if that would help get things started. I agreed to the sweep and during the procedure he noted that I was 3 cm dilated, I though for sure labor would start soon. At my thirty-nine week appointment, I waited my turn went to get my blood pressure done. The nurse did it, then said she needed to redo it, after the second time she said she thought something was wrong with the machine and she was going to grab a second one just to make sure. She went and got another machine, took my readings again, and they were still the same. She told me and the girls to follow here into the room as the doctor would needed to see me right away. Doc came in and announced that my blood pressure was so low that he was surprised that I could even stand up and walk, and that I really did needed to take a scheduled induction for the following day. I finally agreed, I had wanted this to be my first natural progression of labor but I was just too tired after living with low blood pressure for 3 weeks.

The following day we went into our rural hospital early in the morning for my scheduled induction, but other delivering moms kept coming in and we continued to get bumped back throughout the day. Finally at 2:00 pm my doctor came in to induce me and we decided together to just go with what had worked in the past, and that was to break my waters only. I had back labor with him as well, which was either just my trend with the children at this point or it has something to due with a thinned disk in my lower back that could be making it seem more painful in my back. This induction was by far my worst, I couldn't walk my back hurt too bad, I couldn't hardly even think, I laid in the fetal position on the hospital bed for 3 hours, I tried a warm shower but I just couldn't stand or sit with the intense back contractions. When I hit 5cm, because of my past history, I was moved to a delivery room. Past history for those who haven't read my other blogs, is going from 5cm to delivered babies with in the hour. His delivery came a short four-hours post induction he was 6 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches long. Post delivery I started clotting really bad so they actually put me on a Pitocin drip to make sure my uterus continued to contract and get all the clots out. That first night was horrible it was my worse post delivery night even though it was my shortest labor. The next morning they said I could come off the drip and I was very thankful for that.

The hospital room was bustling with family and friends coming to see the new baby over the next few days. One of the doctors who came in to check on baby, 2 days after delivery, said that he wanted to keep us in over the long weekend because he noted that baby Bayne did a few little 'grunts' when he was checking him. I had noticed this as well but it was always shortly before nursing so I figured that was just his sign that he was starting to wake up and get hungry. This doctor said it could be a symptom of an issue in his lungs, so he denied my discharge. I was upset that we wouldn't be going home for Easter weekend as that is a big family gathering for us, and we were to be hosting it that year. Early the next morning, I had another doctor come in to check on baby and myself. She told me I see in your chart that he is grunting. We talked a bit about it and she asked for me to call her in when he started doing it. I told her that would be hard as it's only once or twice that he does it at one time. Right as she was going to leave the room, he started to grunt she took him back from me and listed and watched him. She said she didn't feel his grunting was indicative of any lung issue and if I didn't have any concerns she was going to release us. That this was our 3rd baby and by now we should know normal from not normal and made me promise that if I felt anything was wrong at all over the long weekend we would come through Emerg to the maternity ward.

I agreed and called my husband telling him "Come get me before they change their minds". He asked me if I had looked outside yet and I said no, I walked to the window and opened the curtain to see we were having a spring blizzard. He said he would get the girls up and come as soon as he could and also grab the winter cover for the bucket car seat for baby. Bayne did continue to grunt on and off through his first few months of life but it was always around feeding time and it never progressed into anything it was just part of his cues that he was getting hungry. Most babies cry when they are hungry but Bayne was a grunter instead.

Bayne was an easy baby, he was always just happy as long as he could see someone. He loved to be on the floor with his sisters and the dogs and they enjoyed being around him as well. He gained weight fast and was our little tank boy, he still is. He has grown into a creative, smart, caring, helpful boy over the past 7 years. He brings a sense of wonder and enjoyment to our lives daily. We look forward to seeing him grow into a young man and beyond in the years to come. He will do great things in his life and we are blessed to have him in ours.