Spencer's Birth

I have decided to post the boys’ birth stories as I have seen on other blogs ( ok, mainly Heathers, that's where I get most of my ideas). It is a great way to record such an important event so it is never lost. I will start with Spencer & do Lynden when I get a chance. To start off, I found out I was pregnant on June 23^rd , 2002 while Michael & I were watching Dameon. The night before, we had gone camping with Brandy & Derek. That day, we all went canoeing with Bill & Judy. Anyway, I took a test that evening & it was positive. We were so excited that we both cried (me more than Michael). I had a really good pregnancy. I was really nauseous the first 12 weeks. I only threw up once and that was because I was so congested and I couldn’t stop coughing. My Dr. was Dr. Moffett whom I absolutely loved & still do. We first heard his heartbeat on Sept. 19^th. It was so amazing and again, I cried. Three days later while Michael was listening to Spencer with his head on my belly, we felt our first flutter. Great timing, I know! Our first ultrasound was Oct. 10^th & we found out we were having our baby boy. I had always felt like he was going to be a girl. Anyway, the ultrasound also showed that I had placenta previa which meant that the placenta had started to grow over the cervix. Generally it moves in time & causes no problems. I had to have another ultrasound at 24 weeks to check & it was out of the way. That was a relief. The remainder of my pregnancy was great. We went to all the classes, got all the goodies, had 3 baby showers, got the nursery done & waited. We were ready! My due date was Monday, Feb. 24^th & it came & went. I was working at Fedex at the time & was able to work that whole week. On Friday (Feb. 28^th) around 4:00 I started to have contractions. They didn’t hurt, they just felt tight, like a braxton hicks for me. I was talking to Brandy on the phone & I remember saying, “I think I just had a contraction!” We were so excited. She, Derek & Dameon were coming over for dinner that night (chicken alfredo). I called Michael, he was so cute & excited. I got off work at 5:00 & went home. I was still having contractions every few minutes or so. When Michael got home we called the hospital. They told me to drink a big glass of water & take a bath to rule out false labor (“it better not be false labor” were my thoughts). So we timed my contractions for about an hour. They were pretty regular & never went away. They were not that painful at this point & of course I managed to have a little dinner. Over the next couple hours the contractions started to get harder. We decided to go ahead to the hospital & got there around 9:00. I was only at 2 cm & 50% effaced. I had been to my Dr. appt that day & was a little dehydrated so I had to have a urinalysis & blood work done. Spencer had a slight heart deceleration while he was being monitored (not a big concern at this point). From then until about 5:00 a.m., I labored. I wasn’t hooked up to anything so was able to do different things to help me progress. The baby & I just had to be monitored for a few minutes every half hour. I walked, rocked in the chair, showered, sat on the ball, got a massage, etc. You name it, I did it. Around 5:00 Dr. Moffett came in to check me. I was only at 3 cm (some progress, but not much - some frustration, but not much). She wanted me to take a shot of nubain so I could get at least a little bit of sleep, as it was going to be a really long day. Even though my birth plan was to have no medical intervention if possible, my Dr. was not one to give drugs unless she really thought it would help, so I agreed. I fell asleep & woke up here & there. At 7:00 I woke up with pretty good contraction & I was up & wide awake. Again, from 7:00 until around 11:00 I labored (drugs were out of me so no hook ups). It was back to the walking, shower, ball, rocking, massage & such, probably in that order. Around 11:00 the Dr. came in to check me. I was now at a 4 & 80% effaced. At this point I felt pretty discouraged (19hours & only at a 4). The Dr. decided to go ahead & break my water. After that my contractions got so much harder. I spent a lot of time in the shower. My body was trying so hard to get Spencer in place. Michael was wonderful. He even got in the shower with me once, but I pretty much took up the entire thing. I snapped at him a couple time but he didn’t seem to hold it against me. Around 4:30 Spencer & I were being monitored while Michael had gone to give his Dad his cell phone back. The nurse had hooked me up & then left to do something. As I watched Spencers' heart rate on the monitor I noticed it starting to drop during one of my contractions. I hit the call button for a nurse. Within seconds, his heart rate had dropped completely off the monitor. You think you have seen me freaking out? I think every nurse in the maternity ward came in there & just seemed to be panicking. They were telling me to flip over this way & flip over that way & do this & do that. It was as if they were drill sergeants. To say that I was scared to death would be a major understatement. I just started sobbing. One of the nurses got right in my face (it happened to be Teresa Barstow; she was one of the instructors from our childbirth classes, and my dula with Lynden). Anyway, so I’m sobbing & she is in my face & she says “We can’t find the baby’s heartbeat so we are going to put an electrode on his head, but we’re OK”. Meanwhile, the nurses are looking all over the room for it & can’t find it. Michael was only out of the room for a couple minutes. When he came back in to find the nurses scaling the room, he was a little uneasy. He asked what was going on & Teresa explained. He looked at the other nurses & said, “GOOD NIGHT LADIES!” He is so funny. They found the electrode pretty fast but it seemed like an eternity to me. They put it on his head & were able to find his heartbeat (this was extremely painful by the way). I was SO relieved to hear that precious little heartbeat again. I heard one of the nurses say to another one “is the room ready?” I don’t remember the response but I knew one way or the other my delivery was close. I was hoping that I was close to push time. We asked one of the nurses if they could tell what I was dilated to when they put the electrode on his head. She said (and I remember it like it was this morning) “yes, 100% effaced (yeah!) and …...….4 cm (oooh).” My internal thoughts were “you have got to be kidding me”. They moved me back to a delivery room & Dr Moffett came in. She felt like since my cervix had not changed in 6 hours, even with my contractions getting harder, that Spencers' cord was probably wrapped around him in a manner that was preventing him from coming down any farther. As the contractions got harder they were putting more pressure on the cord, thus causing Spencer to have heart decelerations. Dr. Moffett thought we should go in and get him. At that point I felt the same way also, but I was still so sad. I started crying but I knew it was the best thing for Spencer. I just wanted my baby to be OK. Even if there was another option, it would have probably taken me at least 6 months to get from 4 cm to 10cm (ha ha). Dr. Moffett did give me a shot of breathine to stop my contractions since they were now pointless. It slowed them down for a little bit, but they quickly came back, so I got another one. Shortly after the second shot I was taken to the operating room. Michael was not allowed to be in there while they were getting me ready. Typically with a C-section, you are given a spinal block to numb you from the chest down. Then they do all the other stuff once you are numb (like the catheter, IV, etc. I will leave out some of the finer details, but you get the drift). So I am sitting here, STRAIGHT UP, while still having contractions (my shot had worn off by now) as they attempt to get the needle (or what I like to call a caulk gun) in the right place. If it doesn’t go in right it hits your spinal nerves. To this day, I still think that is the most painful thing in the entire world. At one point the anesthesiologist ran out of the meds and had a nurse go get some more & she brought back the wrong thing. Fortunately, he checked it before he started to pump me full of that. That was unsettling. After about 45 minutes and 7 or 8 attempts I just started sobbing. It was hurting so bad & I just couldn’t take it anymore. I would rather have been getting punched in the face each time. OK, that might be a little dramatic. This was a really hard time for Michael too. Anyway, Dr. Moffett said that was enough attempts and decided to put me under general anesthesia. This is usually a last resort because your risks are higher and the baby has to be out within two minutes, not to mention the prep work that I now get to feel freely before I am knocked out. I remember laying there crying. I told the nurses that I wanted to see Spencer before anyone else got to, except Michael of course (maybe a little selfish but I had waited me entire life for him, not to mention had some what of a rough time trying to get him here). I just feared that everyone else would get to hold him & bond with him before me (again, may sound selfish to some but this is how I felt it should be, plus it gave Michael & Spencer crazy bonding time from the get go). If I had it to do over I would probably at least let everyone see him through the nursery window, I don't know. Oh well! Michael was now only able to come back to see me briefly before I was knocked out. He didn’t get to stay with me throughout surgery like he would of if I had the spinal. He was crying & he told me he loved me then left. I continued to cry, but before I knew it I was out. Spencer Michael Coffman was born at 7:21 pm on Saturday March 1^st 2003! HAPPY 23^rd BIRTHDAY DADDY! He weighed 8lbs 13oz & was 22 inches long. The next thing I know, I am in the recovery room. Since I was out for a while Michael got to bond with Spencer for the first few hours of his life, just the two of them. This is something that he would not trade for anything. I think it was around 9:00 that night and I started to come in and out of it a little. Dr. Moffett was sitting there monitoring me. Apparently my blood pressure had sky rocketed during surgery, something like 230 over 180. That’s stroke zone! She had put me on something to bring it down. She stayed by my side for several hours until it came close to normal. I remembering waking up & having Michael & Mom (she was crying) in the room. I heard the nurse tell them that I wasn’t feeling any pain yet (and I wasn’t) but Mom said “then why is she moaning?” Then they left the room & I was back out. I woke back up around 10:30. Mom & Heather had just left. I was asking for my husband. I didn’t remember much at first, I just looked around the room. I wasn’t thinking anything. I know, you would think that all I could think about was my baby, but my mind was blank. When the nurse started talking to me about the baby I thought “oh yeah, my baby, I have a baby”. Michael came in & gave me a kiss. He told me that Spencer had stopped crying as soon as he heard his voice. Then he quickly asked if he could bring the baby back, they said he could, and on his way out he said “BABE, HE….IS….SO…ADORABLE!” He was giddy. I loved it. He brought him in and he was absolutely perfect. His complexion was flawless. He was so beautiful. I had never felt anything like it before. I instantly loved him so much with a love that I didn’t even know yet. I couldn’t believe that just a few hours before that he was living inside of me. I said “hi, baby” and he opened his eyes for the first time. I tried to nurse him but he wasn’t interested. I just looked him over for the longest time; he was such a cute newborn. It was the most incredible, overwhelming feeling of joy and love that I had ever felt. It is hard to find words to describe such a miracle. At that moment, there was nothing in the world that could have gotten my attention. Shortly after that I was moved to my own room (around 11ish). I think Spencer spent most of the night in our room. I couldn’t hardly sleep I was so excited. I kept trying to nurse him about every hour if he wasn’t sleeping. Once he caught on, he pretty much camped there for the next several months. Michael woke up once around 4 am & I said “Look who I got!” I couldn’t stop staring at him and touching him. I would rub my cheek and lips on his hair and skin, they were so soft. I love that feeling. Everyone came to see him the next few days. All the nurses kept saying what a beautiful newborn he was and that they were surprised because most newborns aren’t this good looking. Michael changed his first dirty diaper. I had been preparing for a baby for a long time & felt like I was ready, but right before we left I got really scared all of a sudden & started crying. There was comfort in the nurses coming in there every half hour or so checking his temp and heartbeat & all that other stuff (annoying but comforting). I was nervous. I think it was because I had watched his heartbeat drop to nothing & just having someone checking him and telling me he was OK was believable. As you all know I quickly got over this and we got home around 11 pm on Tuesday night. I could not have been any happier or loved our little family any more.

What a precious little angel.

This was our very first family photo. I had only met Spencer a few minutes prior. It looks like Spencer is smiling!

We were in awe!

He was so long & adorable.

Spencer & Daddy!

All that work and I could use a nap.

He was so kissable. I couldn't believe how much I loved him.


Just having a little rest.

Hey guys, get ready for me!

We are getting ready to head home!

Spencer at 1 week old. What a cutie!