what kind of world do you want?: Axl's birth story

Axl Phoenix Floyd

3:05pm, October 19

7lbs, 9oz, 20 in

We're still here! I'll blame my tardiness with this post on my post-baby hormones. I've sat down to write this at least three times, but it just gets too emotional and overwhelming. Well, today, I'm doing it. I want to remember all of this, so it's really really long. Skip to the pictures if that's all you're here for! Thank you for all your texts and f@cebook well-wishes! Here goes.

We had a storybook day with Ace on Monday. Sweetest moments and just loving on each other and having fun. I was hoping we'd get a call from the hospital that day to let us know when to be there Tuesday am, but no such luck. So we were also super antsy all day. My mom and "little" brother, Gabe came to get Ace after dinner (and a lot of "Iron Man" battles between Mace and Ace). Ace was SO excited and had been telling Axl to "hurry, hurry!" so that he could go to Eebop(my mom)'s house. And he knew Axl was going to be born and come out of mommy's tummy on Tuesday. When I was buckling him into his car seat, I told him the next time he saw me, Axl wouldn't be in my tummy anymore, and that we would be able to hold him and see him! He said, "Oh!" and leaned in close and hugged my belly and gave it a kiss. Precious boy! Then he said, "go, Mommy!" Hah!

Mace and I got a little sushi and tried to get some sleep. I think I slept a total of 3 hours, max, because I had a hard time sleeping and once I got to sleep, my alarm went off so I could shower before the hospital called. They called just after 5 to let us know to be there at 715! I was so so SO excited! I let Mace sleep until I was almost ready, and we were out the door in record time! The road between our house and the interstate is really REALLY dark and empty at 640!

The lady at the front desk asked what we were there for that day...I wanted to tell her a tummy tuck, but just told her a scheduled induction, haha! We waited less than 10 minutes for our room and then literally walked to THE farthest room on that floor/wing. About halfway there, I told Mace, "watch it be the last room..." and it was! Once we got there (about 720), I got to change into the gorge hospital gown, pee in a cup once more for old times' sake, get hooked up to monitors, answer a bajillion questions, get my iv(ow) and fill out the encyclopedia of paperwork. Oh, and side note, our nurses were Katherine and Susan. We're pretty sure Susan (who just moved here from Lexington - what a small world) was new to nursing, even though she assured us she was just new to the hospital...but by the end of it all, we all agreed she was definitely new new! My plan was to get the "trusty" enema (nasty, but seriously, if I wasn't pregnant and in labor when I had it with Ace, I would've never felt better!) right after the iv and such...BUT, they told me my ob was going to come in and break my water so...we scratched that plan and she broke my water right before 930. There is nothing subtle about that. And ya know how pee is warm when it comes out? Well, amniotic fluid isn't(or at least mine wasn't). It's hot. Like the towels they wrap your hands and feet in at the mani/pedi place hot. Iiiiick! So started the "slow leaking" aka GUSHING until I would deliver. They started my pitocin soon after she broke my water. Oh, and I was 3cm and about 40% effaced at this point.

Just before 10, the nurses came in and told us that they were closing that wing of the floor and we would be changing rooms. So I got to waddle down the hall with my iv pole and leaky self. So we went from D7 to C6 and poor Kara, who had been trucking it to the hospital finally got through traffic and such. It was probably close to 1045 or 11 when my pain got to about an 8 and I decided to go ahead and get the epidural, and was rockin' at a 10 on a pain scale of 1-10 within about 5 minutes(have I mentioned my body moves quickly? Oh, just wait...). There is no pain like the pain and pressure during that procedure, but it is so worth it to me. I was pain-free within 10 minutes for the first time since I was about 10 weeks pregnant. It was beautiful! Before Kara and the epidural arrived(not together, of course), my amniotic fluid had been gushing, so we were changing out towels (Mace was amaaaaazing throughout) frequently, but there was one freakishly GINORMOUS gusher just before I asked for the epidural (probably where the majority of my weight gain went...jk!). I freaked out and told Mace, "I need towels, please get some towels!!" And he said, "I'm pretty sure you think it's worse than it is..." just as he beheld the geyser that was soaking everything in sight...he followed up with, 'oh, NO, you're not!" Haha(was that a, "had to be there" moment? Sorry)! It was pretty hilarious and helped to lighten the painful mood.

Once I was comfortable, we just had fun chatting it up with Kara and the nurses who would come in periodically. Then, after Kara left to get her and Mace some lunch around 2, Axl started having some decels and after checking me and I was only a 5, Katherine tried flipping me onto a different side to see if he "liked" that better. Dr. H came in less than 5 minutes later to check me and said, "NO, you're a good 7, and 75%...complete with a contraction!" So she sat with us for a couple more contractions just to make sure I wasn't just trucking it to the finish line and Mace and Kara scarfed down their lunches. Axl continued to have drops in his heart rate, and nurses came in and out, checking me and making sure he was doing okay, and within half an hour, I was complete...I still wasn't feeling pressure and some random nurse was concerned because my uterus wasn't relaxing, so she was getting ready to shoot me up with some terbutaline (I really really hate that stuff) when I had a contraction and finally felt a ton of pressure and told her to stop and just call my ob.

We joked and talked about Ace, that this is my natural hair color, and my camera settings in between pushing through 4(Mace thinks 3) contractions and Axl was born less than 15 minutes after the nurse first said I was complete, at 3:05pm on October 19!

He came out really grey, and that's when things got scary. They put him on my belly, but I was wanting them to take him because he couldn't get the fluid up that was coming out of his mouth and nose, and he wasn't crying. The mood was pretty tense in the room as they tried to get him to cry while drying him off on my belly. I was basically pushing him off to them at this point. It was really scary for us. I think there were about 8 people in my room for the delivery, not including the 3 of us, and most of them crowded around the warming bed, talking low to each other and not really moving with enough urgency to make me feel comfortable. My ob was asking if they needed her, and if they had called NICU yet, and they were still moving pretty slowly. So, after she delivered my placenta(which looked super healthy, btw- I know you were curious), she went over to get something definitive from the nurses and see what was up. They couldn't get him to cry, but his apgar's were 7 and 8 and they kept telling me everything that was looking good, and all the things that were normal, but were OBVIOUSLY very concerned and wouldn't say what was wrong or what was concerning them other than that Axl wouldn't cry. So, it was up to transition for my sweet baby after a quick hold - he didn't even get weighed or measured (typically, he would have gotten weighed, measured, bathed, and everything else he needed while he was in the room with me).

My ob was amazing and stayed a long time with me and told me to call her if I needed anything...she said she was my advocate and would be the go-between if I ever felt like I wasn't being given enough info or needed her to interpret. She is amazing. So I'm 2 for 2 babies spending their first hours post-birth in the transition nursery - Ace had tachypnea...just the opposite of Axl - he was breathing too fast and Axl was having a hard time getting started. Seeing how bad Axl's color was now brings back all the terrifying feelings, but I was so fortunate to have my ob and Kara to wait with me until Mace got back from seeing Axl to the nursery. We loved having Kara there...it was so great!

We didn't get taken up to our room for more than 3 hours after Axl was born...I was dying to get an update and see my baby. I had to look through pictures on my camera to remember what he looked like! I even got cleared for a shower and eating normal and got cleaned up and into normal clothes...and my brother and his wife came to see us just before we finally got taken up to a normal room! They were able to go with Mace to see Axl before they had to scoot, and we FINALLY got our perfectly, miraculously healthy and shockingly quiet and peaceful baby almost 5 hours after his birth. We were over the moon and SO grateful all was well!!

We had a ton of visitors right after we got Axl back, and got to introduce our boys to each other and get some pictures before the nurse came to check on me and Axl. That's when exhaustion hit both Mace and me, and we started saying goodbye to our visitors. We really had a fab stay in the hospital...Axl was so sweet and so fun. It was such a special, intimate time for Mace and me from start to finish...such special bonding time for the three of us.

My recovery has been spectacular - SO much easier than with Ace! Post-birth cramping was horrendous, but I was warned it would be, and my bones HATE me for putting another baby through them, but a 1st degree instead of a 2nd/3rd degree tear makes a HUGE difference!! He is a fabulous eater and sleeper...we are loving him and soaking up every precious minute!

professional baby-maker. he was the most supportive, attentive, compassionate, and loving he has ever been and more than I could ever ask for. absolutely blew me away. Love you so, so much, Mace Floyd...more than ever!