Rockwell King: Birth Story

Well, it finally happened, after 38 long weeks, we got to meet our third bundle of beautiful chaos, Rockwell King. I wanted to take a little time and write down our birth story, as I have done in the past with the boys – and share with you some of the beautiful photos Bella Baby made for us in the hospital. So if you’re interested in that sort of thing, stick around!

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“So, you must have a history of having big babies, correct?” – the ultrasound tech asked me as she scanned my belly at 35 weeks.

“Yep, I do.” – I smile at Eric… we were prepared for a big boy, normally around this time they begin telling me that I’m measuring full-term by belly measurements and the baby is measuring a few weeks ahead.

“Well, looks like he’s gonna be a big one for sure, my estimate for weight is 8 lbs 5 oz.” – she said with a cool, calm tone.

“0_0” – me, as I looked at Eric.

Well, alright then.. here we go…

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Life Pro Tip: Never take a pregnant woman’s blood pressure after telling her that her 35 week old baby is already 8+lbs. It will mostly definitely read very, very high. 

It was around this week mark that we started to make a game plan for baby’s arrival. Eric and I had been through such an insane situation with Atticus, that we were OVER preparing for another crazy situation this time around. Our daily conversations went something like this:

“Have you ordered the emergency birthing kit?”

“What if we are in (insert location), the boys are (insert location) but are/are not asleep and it’s the same as last time (read comes in a whirlwind?)”

“What if we are more than 15 minutes away from a hospital?”

“Did you watch the “how to deliver a baby” youtube videos I sent you?”

“What if we are stuck in traffic?”

“Let’s go over it: What are the first steps when delivering a baby yourself, in the middle of your living room, with your kids wanting to watch?”

Hahaha. As you may have guessed, we were a little traumatized by the last go around and we were on edge that it would be even crazier this time. Every baby comes quicker right?!

So after speaking with my doctor, we decided to strip membranes on week 37, to hopefully induce labor and avoid having to birth an 11 lb baby.

After 2 days of cramping, nothing much had changed. We were on high alert every moment of the day. Eric wouldn’t even let us shop or eat or travel farther than 5 minutes from the hospital. We went to bed with our bags packed and I was doing my very best to listen to every twinge my body made.

Fast forward a week, and we were gearing up to get a final ultrasound taken before delivery. I was feeling like Rockwell was going to simply walk out of me at this point, I had definitely dropped and I knew I had progressed that week, but I wasn’t sure how much.

We went into the ultrasound and as the technician was taking measurements, I was noticing every measurement would say 100th percentile, due 3 days ago. Or something similar. And I was like 0_0. Okay…

So I jokingly told her, “Just don’t tell me he’s 11 lbs. That’s all I ask.”

And Eric’s just pumped that he’s gonna be a big boy, more to squish, he says. 😀

After the scan was over, she just said “Well, I did my job atleast.” And she sat there for a solid minute, just waiting for me to find the measurement on the screen on my own. But I couldn’t find it! And then I heard Eric just softly start laughing – which was my cue that he was mildly freaking out on my behalf/super excited on his behalf – he must have seen the estimates.

And out it came: 10 lbs 10 oz. At 38 weeks. You better believe I was clinging to the hope that it was off by a pound in the wrong direction and he was actually only 9 lbs, like his brothers.

Life Pro Tip: Never take a pregnant woman’s blood pressure after telling her that her 38 week old baby is already 10.5 lbs. It will mostly definitely read very, very high. 

I noticed as I was getting off the ultrasound table that I had a little contraction, nothing crazy, but it kept me from moving for a minute. And I was like “hmmmm let’s take a little note of that.”  But, no others came.

Until my doctor checked me and I couldn’t lay flat until a contraction passed. And again I thought – “hmmmm, let’s take note of that.” And since my blood pressure was high and Rockwell was measuring so big, my doctor said – you ready to have this baby today?

And we were like – NO. But YES? And so we drove directly over to the hospital to be induced.

To be honest, this was the very last thing I wanted. I knew the chances that if I were to induce, I was going to end up with an epidural and I really, really didn’t want to go that route again after Edison’s epidural made me stall and ended up not lasting through my pushing and delivery. So, even though I was a ball of nerves, we went on, excited at the thought that we would see our baby soon. I trust my doctor with my whole heart and his decisions for our health.

As I got hooked up and going at the hospital around 1:00, I was running the gauntlet of questions they throw at you (if you’re a mom and have been through this, you know what I mean) and getting poked and prodded and a thousand things going on… and the nurse said “So… are you feeling these contractions at all?”

And I didn’t know what she meant… I wasn’t feeling anything. I was kind of embarrassed.. I said “honestly? I didn’t know I was having them.”

And she said “OH, um… okay… okay… cause honey, you’re having them every 2 minutes.” And I was completely clueless. I had been in labor the whole time, but just hadn’t noticed.

I felt a little vindicated at how Atticus stormed into the world so quickly – even after she told me, I couldn’t feel them. haha!

And so after much deliberation with Eric, my doctors and my mom, I decided to get an epidural as they started pushing pitocin, to help me relax and not be so worried about a long labor or it ending in a c-section. And after I got that epidural, I relaxed for the next 3 ish hours. The nurse came in around 4:10-4:15 and checked me and I was at a 7 and fully effaced, save for one little spot. It was just my mom and Eric and me in our room… and it was so quiet and calm and peaceful. A storm front moved in and the rain and thunder poured down outside. We had the curtains open to watch the storm and the lights down and we just rested in that moment for some time, it was so wonderful. I found time to pray and even drift off to sleep.

It was around 4:25 when the rain let up and when I woke up to my mom speaking with the nurses about Rockwell’s heartrate dropping. He had an internal monitor, so the reads should have been pretty accurate, even as he was moving into the birth canal.

Next thing I knew, a team of nurses and an doctor whom I didn’t know came swooping in and moving me into position for delivery. I couldn’t even seem to wake up because I was so relaxed and everything was happening so quickly.

“Hey there girl, baby boy’s heartrate is dropping and you’re dialated to a 10 and ready to deliver, we need you to push hard and get him out as fast as possible.” – the doctor said.

And I was like – “erm… okay?!” (they had just checked me about 15 minutes before and I was only a 7, so it came as quite the shock)

So she coached me beautifully and instructed me to take a breath and push. And, now let me tell you, I was embarrassed by the lack of coordination in that first push. I felt like I did absolutely nothing. And I was almost laughing, apologizing and readying myself for a real push. And I heard her say “and the head is born! take another big breath and let’s go” So that was good motivation for the next push!

I pushed again and Eric was there in my ear, counting and encouraging me. And as I geared up for that third push, I heard Eric say “There he is!” And I just stopped and said “WHAT?! Already?”

And the next thing I knew my big ole baby boy was resting heavily on my chest, purple and gooey and amazing and breathtaking and waiting for momma to hear those first cries. I will never forget how completely present I was for his delivery. Eventhough it seemed hectic because it was fast paced and his heartrate was low, I was not focused on the pain of the moment or the fear of how big he would be… I was completely caught up in meeting him for the first time. The placenta delivered within the next 2 minutes and Eric cut the cord. We were in absolute heaven! He was here! Our baby boy.

Born at 4:34 pm

10 lbs 7 ounces

22 inches long

and 100% preciousness

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In the hours after his birth while Rockwell was having skin to skin time and nursing for the first time, we reconnected with the doctor and learned that he had the cord wrapped around his neck very tightly, which was causing the drop in heart rate as he entered the birth canal. Especially since I went from a 7 to a 10 in about 15 minutes, it happened quickly.

In the process of delivery, he ended up swallowing a ton of amniotic fluid, which caused some issues later on, but didn’t affect his overall health. Turns out, I had quite the amniotic fluid stash, the nurses and doctors couldn’t believe how much there was!

I also got a chance to ask my nurse, “level with me – was I actually even pushing? I felt like I wasn’t doing anything!” And she just laughed and shook her head, as nicely as possible, to say no. “It was the epidural, it makes it hard to feel what’s going on sometimes. Your body really did all the work for you, it was amazing. Those contractions just pushed him right out. Your body is just made to birth babies, girl.” she said. We got a chance to laugh at that together. I kept hearing this line over and over from everyone on the delivery team and let me tell you, that’s a great way to pump a freshly delivered mom up! I was ready to birth a few more! 😀

Overall, we are so thankful for an easy, calm and safe delivery. No crazy rides to the hospital, no worrying for our safety or his. We were in the best of hands and I just want to say thank you to our staff at Baptist who took such good care of us. Every aspect of our care was top notch. I love bragging on my amazing hospital birth experiences in the midst of all the negative press about hospital births.

Rockwell, you have entered into one crazy, chaotic and loving family. A family that will do our very best to continue growing together, learning how to love each other to the best of our abilities everyday. Continually failing and making mistakes, but choosing to forgive and grow in spite of our flaws. A family who looks to Christ as our example and love for others and the truth of the Gospel as the key notes in how we are founded.  This is our hope and desire, our aim and our goalpost. But I’ll tell you now, it isn’t always attainable. That is why it’s our goal, what we shoot for, our guide. We aren’t and will never be perfect, but we’ll do our very best to make steps towards that goal, together.

We always wanted a house full of boys, and here we are, living the dream, adding you to our family.

We cannot wait to get to know you more. We love you to the heavens and back.

-Mom