Fitzgerald Barrington Thomson

It was Tuesday morning, June 19th, 2018 around 4 am when my water broke. I didn’t think the chances of my water actually breaking were all that high—but there I was, startled awake by the odd sensation and the faint “pop” feeling. I quickly got up and waddled to the bathroom where I could plainly see and feel that my water broke! Amazingly the bed was dry and so was my route to the bathroom

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Knowing that once your water breaks you’ll need to get to the hospital within a handful of hours, Matt and I got things ready around the house. I ate breakfast, texted my mom (who was 4 hours away) and waited for the contractions to start. They never really did…

We headed to the hospital around 6:30 am. In triage they checked to be sure that my water broke—and then I was admitted. A low drip of Pitocin was started, with the hope of getting things moving. Around 10:00 am Bea and my mother and law came by. It was a bit surreal to hug and love on Bea knowing that these were her last moments of being an only child. I was torn in my feelings about this. But she was so excited for the baby and her joy reminded me what a gift this baby brother would be to her and the whole family.

It wasn’t all that much later that the Pitocin started to pick up. Having had a spontaneous labor with Bea and no need for Pitocin, this was a whole new experience. Not to mention how annoying it was to move around having had my water break. My water never broke with Bea, so this was all new as well. I labored on the yoga ball and walked around. Matt watched HGTV and I found myself on the ball at the end of the bed, propped over. I think it was around this time that my parents got to town. They came in and sat with us for a while. Mom took pictures as things started to pick up (thank you!).

I feel I managed the labor well—breathing through the contractions and concentrating on each one as if it was truly opening my body up. At my next check they could see that I was dilated to 4. The nurse asked if I wanted to call for the epidural… I wasn’t sure—since I didn’t have a Pitocin labor previously, I was really nervous that the epidural would slow down my progress and I obviously wanted things to keep moving. Jerri (my wonderful nurse), mentioned that she didn’t think it would slow things down and it wouldn’t hurt to at least put the order in for the epidural (as we know, things take forever in a hospital!).

After she left I was pretty relieved to know that the epidural was on its way. Things were feeling pretty painful and she had increased the Pitocin drip, so I knew things were only going to get more intense quite quickly. It wasn't long and the nurse anesthetist came… along with his student nurse. (Based on previous experience with a student doctor, I was very hesitant about anyone working on me that hadn’t been doing it foreverrrr, I know this sounds horrible of me, and I’m all for hands on, practical experiences—but I hated that with Bea’s birth I had to have a follow up procedure because my doctor did it wrong the first time). I was hesitate as the student nurse anesthetist started prepping me. But in true “Katie Fashion” I started talking with him, asking about his career path and learned that he was a graduate of the College of Health Sciences and Professions at Ohio University, the college I work for (and I know we train our students very well!). He was incredibly kind, thorough and made me feel very at ease. The epidural went really well—he stuck around for a while to make sure my blood pressure stabilized and to ensure that I no longer felt the painful contractions. Honestly, it was better treatment then what I received the first go around with Bea (and the long time experienced anesthetist). Praise!

Once the epidural was placed, Matt and my parents came back in. At this point I was laying down with the peanut ball between my legs to help with the dilation. I was feeling really good, and I think I even pulled my book out to read a bit.

Within the same hour that I received the epidural I had dilated to 9! I was so glad I got the epidural when I did. I really think I would have lost the window for the epidural if I hadn’t agreed to go ahead and call for it. I hadn’t mentally prepared for a non-medicated labor—so I was very pleased I didn’t have to experience one J

As soon as the nurse confirmed the 9cm, the room got busy. Jerri called to another nurse to call Dr. Coats in (she was on call and not at the hospital). A couple other nurses came in and started prepping the baby warmer along with the big metal table that held all the surgical tools. At this time my dad decided to step out into the waiting room—it appeared it was just about go time.

Soon after I heard Dr. Coats in the hallway, she hustled in with a jolly smile and so much joy. She was really excited that it was baby time. This put me at so much peace. They started scooting me down to the bottom of the bed, my legs went up and everyone started gathering around. It was go time!

I had two wonderful nurses, a wonderful attending doctor and a really great resident (it all felt so much better than my first birth with Bea). With Bea, Dr. Coats was not on call and I didn’t particularly love the on call attending doctor. In that experience the attending had the resident do everything—and this is where I feel things went wrong and why I needed another entire surgery at 10 weeks post-partum. But this moment, it felt really good. Mom and Matt stayed with me. Matt by my head and mom took pictures (I’m always so thankful for these photos).

As I began to push it was all so relaxed. The nurses and doctors joked and laughed. At one point someone mentioned that the entire medical team, including myself, were covered in freckles and red/auburn hair. We were the power team! Nurse Jerri took extra good care of me, regularly getting hot compresses and applying counter pressure—I was so thankful for this! Around this time everyone started taking guesses on the size of the baby. The medical staff seemed to think it was a big baby. I guessed 8lbs 10oz.

Somewhere near the end of pushing I had intense heartburn and found myself using the burp bag. I was really hoping to deliver without any more throwing up, but both babies have caused me to puke in the final moments (just a nice reminder of the 20+ weeks of pregnancy sickness. Ha!).

Only after pushing about 40 mins or so, we welcomed Fitzgerald Barrington Thomson into the world! He came in at 9 lbs 4 oz and 22 in. long. He was a big boy!

There is nothing like the moment your baby is laid on your chest. All the hard work, all the sickness, all the pain—totally washed away as you hold your perfect baby. This is the part of pregnancy, labor and parenthood that is addicting. I could do this over and over again, just to have that moment.

As another mother in the hospital was rushed into an emergency C-section, we were left alone for nearly an hour. The cuddles were perfect and he latched quite quickly. It really was magical. The entire experience was so good. 

Things went extremely smooth and we couldn’t get over how much better this experience felt. (Bea’s birth was not horrible—I honestly thought it was pretty good). But this experience was absolutely ideal. We were in the hospital less than 24 hours and we were home with our sweet boy, enjoying our own comforts in no time. We have so much to be thankful for and this birth was just the beginning of something absolutely blessed and God designed.

Our sweet boy has been a joy. He eats well, sleeps pretty good and really love his mama’s cuddles. Bea is a great big sister (with a few bumpy moments), but she is proud and prideful of Fitz. It’s all very sweet and nearly causes my heart to explode.

This is the gooood stuff. The really good stuff.