October 15, 2010

I taught as normal all day although I was having contractions for most of the day. Since I have had false labor with most of my children, I didn't think these contractions were any different, just annoying. I'd been having somewhat strong contractions for the past two weeks and when I saw Dr. Brett Mumford on Tuesday he and I agreed that it would most likely be a week or more before the baby actually came.
After school Roy and I went into Boise to look at a guitar he found on Craig's List. We bought the guitar as an early birthday present for him so he could practice with TaraLynn as she learned to play the guitar for her Senior Project. We had dinner, stopped at the mall to get a new battery for my watch, then headed home. The whole trip into Boise I was having strong contractions, but they were not regular or close enough for me to get my hopes up that it meant anything.
After we got home Roy called Dr. Mumford and we decided I should go to the hospital just to see where things were in the progression of labor. Dr. Mumford was out of town for the weekend, but he called the hospital and let them know I was coming in.
The labor and delivery nurse met me at the emergency room check-in around 10:00pm. She led us back to a birthing room where I changed and had her check my progress. Well - things were definitely progressing. I was already dilated to 8 cm (10 means the baby is on its way out) so she went to grab the delivery supplies and said not to push. She also said she would see what she could do about getting some anesthesia for me.
By the time she made it back to the room our baby was definitely coming. She broke my water to relieve some of the pressure and the next contraction brought Jereth into the world at 10:17 pm assisted by a wonderful nurse.
Surprise!!! I'd spent at least 5 hours on pitocin with all 7 of the other children, so to have one come on his own was a totally different experience for us.
Jereth was purple when he was born, which is not too uncommon, and it took some time and some oxygen to get him pink. One nurse worked with Jareth, and the other took care of me until Dr. Mumford's partner, Dr. Tina McGuffey, made it to the hospital. There wasn't even time for the nurse to call and let her know my status until after Jereth was born.
Looking at Jereth we noticed his face was more round than any of the other children, he had more baby fat around his neck, and the bridge of his nose was somewhat flattened. Dr. McGuffey said there were enough markers to indicate a possibility of Down Syndrome and recommended we have him tested. She also ordered chest and abdominal X-rays since children with Downs frequently have enlarged hearts and/or problems with the digestive system.
The X-rays showed the heart and abdomen to be normal in size and that was comforting.
The children came to see their new brother and we announced Jereth's arrival to family and friends by phone as well as on Facebook (that part was done by our oldest son, Spencer).