I've been looking back a lot at the pictures of our other children to compare them to our newest addition & realized I wrote out all of their birth stories & I'm glad I did. So, now that it's already been 6 weeks, I need to do this so I don't forget it!
It was Tuesday, September 12, and I was 37 weeks & 4 days. I had an appointment with my Dr. to check my bp and do a non-stress test. the last few weeks I was being seen 2 x a week, alternating NST & ultrasounds, due to my history of preeclampsia & high blood pressure. Sean came with me and we left the kids with aunt JoDee so we could both go to the appointment. Things had been pretty stressful at home because we have been waiting for Sean's Arizona bar license to finalize & had found out that it may be December before it is even evaluated. Knowing this, we had come to the decision that Sean would go back to Idaho & work until his license went through here. We had just made plane reservations that morning for him to fly out that weekend to interview in Boise. My blood pressure was pretty high initially when we got to the office, but the NST looked normal. I had started having a bad headache that afternoon that was progressing. Dr. Hollar saw me & told me if I wanted to, I could go to the hospital & have some tests run to make sure everything was ok, and if anything was abnormal, we may induce labor. Since I was nervous that Sean would be out of town for the birth, & there was a chance we could speed it along, I agreed to go be monitored. We had driven separately to the doctor because the truck was having work done & needed picked up, so I drove myself to the hospital & Sean went to get the kids & I told him I would call him from the hospital. I was there a few hours in triage being monitored. When I got there my blood pressure was pretty normal & the labs came back fine as well. As I was there, waiting forever for lab results, my headache increased a significant amount. They were about to discharge me, when I asked if they could give me anything to help with this insane headache I was having, so she put an order in for some medication & put me back on the blood pressure monitor. My blood pressure had all or a sudden skyrocketed. The nurse was pretty concerned, so she went to talk to the on call doctor. It just so happened that my doctor was there, so she came in to talk to me & let me know that I wasn't leaving & they were going to induce labor. I called Sean to let him know & told him that it probably wouldn't be til the next evening before the baby came, because I still wasn't fully effaced, or very dilated either, so he stayed home with the kids that night & I told him to keep his phone on, in case something changed.
I was admitted to a room in labor & delivery & put on magnesium to prevent stroke/seizure from the high bp. They started to soften my cervix, late that night & I thought I would just have a boring night.
I even took a nice selfie to send to Sean to let him know I was fine because he kept asking if I was sure he shouldn't come through the night.
Well.. things changed pretty quickly. My contractions started & increased pretty quickly. I was trying to hold off to call Sean, for some weird reason. Looking back, I don't know why I was doing that. By 5 am I was almost in tears, wishing I had told him to be with me because the contractions were getting so crazy. I called him & told him to hurry... apparently it didn't take much to send my body into go-time labor! & he told me to call the nurse in so I could get an epidural. I'm so ridiculous. I didn't want to bother the nurse & kept thinking, I'll just wait til she comes in again & ask for it then. Sean convinced me to call her in & ask. Good call, because it always takes some time for the anesthesiologist to get there & get it done. Sean had to get the kids situated with family before he could come, & finally got to the hospital just before 7, right when I was getting the epidural.
Ahhhhhhhh! Relief! Why? Why did I wait? I'm so silly! I did that when I had Sam too. stupid.
Somewhere after this, my water broke. I can't quite remember when that happened. But after that epidural I started relaxing, & so did the labor. It was pretty crazy though, because right after I was checked & was only 7cm dilated, it just happened. My body was ready to go. I must have looked pretty bad, because everyone was starting to panic a little, put me on oxygen & kept telling me everything was going to be fine. Sean told me to hang in there. Luckily, Dr. Hollar had just gotten there & was getting all ready. I said- I have to push, I have to do this! That's when I realized my epidural wasn't quite working how it should. yeah... I felt it. I yelled out- wait! I can feel it!!! The nurse said, - well, there isn't much we can do about that now! Everyone wasn't quite in position, but I had to push!!!!. & thank the good Lord that I only pushed 2 times, because that was the hardest thing I've ever done. Ever. With the other kids, I definitely had an epidural that worked!!!!!
and then he was here. It's always so surreal. It feels like it can't really be happening. but there he was, all yucky & beautiful. He didn't cry though & I anxiously asked the doctor if everything was ok. She assured me he was breathing & he was just fine. They gave him right to me & that whole shocked, but relieved, but this is crazy feeling overwhelmed me. *sigh* he was here!!!
not quite named yet... but Charles Houston Johnson was here. 8:53 am, 7lb 11oz, 20 inches long & so freaking beautiful!!!!!! How is it even possible that this baby was just inside of me?!!!!
Sean said we should buy slurpees for everyone (he was 7-11. haha)
I had told everyone in my family that it wouldn't be til that night, so everyone was surprised to hear he was already here. I was taken to post pardum room pretty quickly. Even though the epidural hadn't really worked, part of my left leg was still weirdly numb.
We had some visitors pretty soon afterwards & a lot of it is a blur because I was so tired!! My blood pressure was doing pretty well & things were going great!
Aunt JoDee & uncle Andy came to the hospital too, but somehow we didn't get a picture of them!
We were all doing well & we couldn't wait to go home & be in our own bed!!!
I do remember talking with Sean on the phone, trying to settle on name for him. We had gone to the hospital with a few names in mind (James & Julian were a couple), but none of them seemed right. I don't even really remember how we came to Charles, but Sean said it was his mothers grandfathers name. Joe is my mothers grandfather, so I thought it would be nice to have 2 children named after our moms grandfathers. We had talked about Houston, because it is also a family name, before we got to the hospital, & it fit so nicely with Charles. I remember the nurse as she was leaving her shift told me that we should definitely name him Charles Houston & she loved the name.
Well, we were lucky to be able to leave the day after he was born & we headed home to start life with our new little guy!
We had more visitors the next day - Aunt Nancie, JoDee, Aniston, Michelle, Janet & Jocelyn, Tiffany & David. It was so nice to be home & around our family!
The next day I wasn't feeling well & my head started pounding like crazy again. Sean insisted I take my blood pressure & when I did, it was crazy high. I was sure the cuff was broken. My headache just kept getting worse & finally Sean insisted that I either call Michelle & have her come check my blood pressure, or he would take me to the hospital, so I did. Luckily I have pretty amazing sisters. I know Michelle was busy that day & that she still had things to do that night, but she came over & took my blood pressure & confirmed that indeed, my cuff was not broken & she made me call my doctor. The on call Dr. asked me to return to the hospital. Sean was helping with a church function that night & his trailer with alot of chairs had to be loaded & returned to the church, so Michelle took me & Charles to the hospital. Our awesome neighbor sat with the kids until aunt Nancie could make it over to help hold down the fort.
When I got to the hospital & they took my blood pressure, my worst fears were confirmed...I was not leaving the hospital that night & my blood pressure was crazy crazy high! higher than when they induced me. What was going on?! I waited til the nurse left to have a meltdown in front of Michelle, who so lovingly held Charles & listened to me lose it. I was also worried because Sean was supposed to leave the next day out of town. I'm so glad he stayed with me, & Idaho fell out of the picture for a bit.
I spent the next 2 days in the hospital. The only way Charles was allowed to stay with me was if someone else was there with us also, which presented a little problem. If Sean stayed, what about our other kids? We are lucky our family is so amazing. My sisters & mother in law all took turns being with either our kids, or me & Charles. It took a good day to find a medication cocktail that even touched the insane pounding headache I had. Finally after 2 days, things were looking normal again.
After being home a day or so, my blood pressure began raising again. I was able to control it by communicating with the nurse, my doctor, & changing my medication dosage & didn't have to go back to the hospital again- thank goodness!!! I'm not sure I could stay sane if I had to go back!!
I'm not sure why my blood pressure was so crazy around the time of his birth. I've always had problems in pregnancy with it, but not that extreme.
One thing is for sure; our family loves us so much, & were there for us every step of the way. Sean was there to make sure I didn't ignore my own health & because of the people that love me, I was ok, when otherwise I may not have been.
It's been so long since we've had a newborn, you definitely forget things!! But we are taking it one day at a time. & I have to say that God has surely blessed me with exactly what I've needed to make it through this time- an amazing husband, unbelievable moms, selfless siblings, and an incredible neighbor!! Our church members even brought us meals to help ease our burdens. but mostly faith that God is the grand director of our lives.
I'm so grateful for this amazing baby of mine! For our deep staring contests, for his gassy smirks, and his intense spirit that peers out of those amazing eyes! How does God know how to orchestrate our lives in exactly the right way to make us what he knows we can be?
Welcome to the Johnson family Charles :) :) :) :) :) :)
