the life of a law student: Will's Birth Story

WARNING: This may be a VERY long post with a million pictures!

Will's Birth Story

January 6, 2015 is a day that I will never forget. Jeff and I woke up bright and early at 5:30 am to get ready. Luckily I was already showered, had my bags packed, and was ready to head to the hospital. We finished getting ready, gathered our stuff, and was out the door on our way to have this baby by 6:15 am!

With living on the third floor, we try to take as few trips as possible to the car each time we go to or from our apartment. As we were walking to the car, Jeff had his arms full of our hospital bags and our car seat. The sidewalks looked dry outside, but the road looked pretty shiny. The temperature was 32 degrees and it felt pretty warm on this dark morning. As Jeff went to put our stuff in the back of the car, I noticed that there was water dripping from the top of the apartment car port. I quickly said to him, "Jeff be careful its dripping!" Two seconds later, Jeff slipped on a thick patch of ice and fell on his left arm and hip. Thank goodness he didn't break anything, and was only left with a cut on his hand and a sore body.

We arrived at the hospital to check in around 6:30 am. They took us back to a huge hospital room where we put our stuff and I changed into my gown. A couple of minutes later, my nurse came in and introduced herself and started the process. About 7:30 am, I was done answering all of the nurses mandatory questions, and an EMT student came in and gave me my IV. He started putting it in my left arm, but accidentally ruptured the vein so the nurse gave me a new IV in my right arm. Through my IV, they gave me a bag of fluid, and then also started a small dose of Pitocin.

My nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 3/4 and was almost completely effaced. She continued to talk to me about the events of the day, and told me that if things went smoothly we would deliver this baby by the end of her shift at 6:00 pm. Things started to feel real! I remember thinking to myself that I wouldn't get out of this bed until I had my son in my arms. It was an exciting thought.

I told my nurse that I preferred my epidural as soon as I could get it so she quickly went to put me on the line up for the anesthesiologist. He came in about 30 minutes later and gave me the epidural. As he was putting in the needle and medicine, it didn't hurt but my back had a weird tingling sensation with a lot of pressure. Once my epidural was in it simply became a waiting game.

As I laid in my bed, my shoulder started to become numb, and then it made its way up my neck. My body reacted really well to the medicine from my epidural, but it made me a little too numb that I couldn't move any part of my body. The anesthesiologist came back to lower my dose of medicine and I was set for the rest of the day.

My epidural made me very drowsy, so for the rest of the day I was just sleeping on and off. My nurse put in a catheter so I didn't have to worry about anything but waiting for my body to decide that it was ready for this baby to come out. By this time it was about 9:30 am and my doctor, Dr. McCarter, came in to break my water. I didn't feel anything when he broke my water, but it made me feel hopeful that it would help my body progress into active labor faster.

My nurse came back in every hour to check me and about two hours later my body moved to a 5. An hour later it went to a 7, then another hour it went to a 9, and then finally I was dilated to a 10! I couldn't feel any difference in my body by this point, but I could feel the pressure (luckily not pain) from my consistent contractions.

By this time it was just after 2:00 pm, my amazing nurse Ann went to call Dr. McCarter to see what he would like me to. She told us that often times Dr. McCarter likes to have me rest and relax for an hour to see if my body would push my baby down on it's own from the contractions. If my body would do that it would save me a lot of pushing time and a lot of energy for when I really needed it the most. She explained to us that often it takes the same amount of time to push the baby down if I was pushing with each contraction as it would if I let my body do it on its own working with the contractions. At this point, my contractions were very consistent every 2-3 minutes, and Dr. McCarter wanted me to wait an hour to see what my body does on its own.

During this time, I began to feel a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen, and I could feel our sweet baby moving lower. When my nurse came back in, I described the pressure that I was feeling and she decided that we should start to push and see how it goes. My nurse, Ann, held one leg and Jeff held the other and I began to push with each contraction. In between contractions, Ann asked me if I had any heart burn or acid reflex. I told her that I did very badly during the third trimester of being pregnant. She told me that it's because I have a baby with a full head of hair that they could see each time I pushed! I pushed for about 40 minutes, and then Ann decided that we better hurry and call Dr. McCarter over because our baby was ready to come!

Dr. McCarter came in (with the rest of the crew) and we began pushing. He told me that his partner just got called in to deliver a baby in the room next door so we had to beat them. He told me that he is a competitive person, and wanted to win the race. It sounded like a good plan to me, then I got to hold my baby in my arms sooner! Once we started pushing, it only took four contractions until our sweet William Jeffrey was out.

William Jeffrey Davis was born at 4:11 pm in the Orem a Community Hospital. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces, and was 19 inches long. The first reaction from the nurses was that he had very broad shoulders, and big manly feet and hands. At that moment, I couldn't wait to hold my sweet baby boy! Jeff went over while they cleaned our baby up, weighted, measured, and made sure that he was breathing okay why they finished up with me.

When Jeffrey handed me our sweet William, I felt overwhelmed with joy, and full of adrenaline. It was the moment that I realized that I was a mom to this sweet baby boy. He was absolutely perfect in every way!

We decided to name our sweet baby boy William Jeffrey Davis. William is named after his Grandpa William Lyle Davis, and Great-Grandpa William Murdock Davis. His middle name is named after his father Jeffrey Lyle Davis. We decided that it was a perfect fit! Our sweet William was born on a beautiful sunny January day with a high of 43 degrees Fahrenheit.

Welcome to the world our little Prince!

Orem Community Hospital

the first moment I held my little babe

Dr. McCarter

our "new" little family

proud new Dad

We felt so loved during our hospital stay with AMAZING nurses and hospital staff that took phenomenal care of us, an incredible doctor, and many loved ones showing their support by visiting us.

On the Davis side Will is the first, and only grandchild. It was fun to watch Raelene and Lyle meet their first grandchild, and Jeff's two brothers excited to be uncles. It was priceless!

Jeff's Mom Raelene

Jeff's brothers - Justin & Jordan

Jeff, Raelene, Will, Jordan, & Justin

Jeff's Dad Lyle walked in with flowers for me, and a balloon for Will. He is always so thoughtful!

new grandparents

For my parents this is their fifth grandchild, including the third boy within the last twelve months.

My Dad

My Mom

Spencer

Mom, Spencer, Will, & Dad

my sister Erin

Erin, Nicole, Will, Mom, & Annie

We had to meet our cousins through the window because there are no children under the age of 14 allowed inside during flu and RSV season. They held up signs that they made for Will.

Grace, Jeff, & Claire

After meeting our Lindsley cousins through the window, they hung out in the hospital waiting room

Grace, Dallin, James, & Claire

My cousins Lauren & Carmen

Lauren, Nicole, Aunt Rebecca, & Will

Jeff's cousins - Whitney & Katie

Although this picture isn't the most glamorous picture of Will and I, it is my very favorite picture from our hospital stay. I feel SO blessed for the amazing care that we received during the few days we stayed in the hospital. Our nurses made the entire experience wonderful, and I felt like I was able to fully soak up the experience and just enjoy being with my two boys. This particular afternoon, I was able to hold my sweet little baby for hours and just rest with him in my arms. I had no idea that Jeff captured this picture, but I am so thankful that he did.