Alex Arthur Glenn

Almost 37 weeks

37.5 weeks

 I was totally unprepared for Alex to come up until about 37 weeks. I finally got some clothes washed, froze breakfast burritos, gathered things for the hospital, and pulled out and washed the infant car seat.

Giving birth is exhilarating. It's such an exciting and unique experience whenever a child is brought into the world. It's amazing to me every time. Here's how it happened this time...

First, and this has nothing to do with how Alex was born, I want to start with some context of the kind of week we were having. Monday was Adaline's 5th birthday! She got to celebrate the week before by going to Lumpy's for breakfast while Andrew's parents were in town, and having her friend party. The plan for her actual birthday was to go to my prenatal check-up, then play either at the park or Chick-Fil-A depending on the weather. Andrew was planning to come home from work a little bit early so we could eat chicken curry, her chosen birthday dinner, then have ice cream and open presents. Instead of all that, we were rear ended while waiting at a red light only a few blocks before my doctor's office. That effectively ruined the entire day. Thankfully we were all relatively okay, but the van was not. Andrew came and picked us up and then we went to Chick-Fil-A so the kids could play and Andrew and I could call insurance/talk about what we needed to do uninterrupted. After lunch, we went over to my doctor's office because we knew they wanted to check on the baby after the accident. However, they wanted to have me monitored for a few hours at the hospital instead. Andrew dropped me off and took the kids home, then came back to pick me up after the monitoring showed that all was well with baby. We had dinner with the wonderful friends who were watching our kids, and then had Adaline quickly open her presents before bed. It was not at all the day we were hoping for, and now we were van-less with only a week and a half to go before my due date. Talk about stressful. 

It ended up being totaled and we had to buy a new van

Waiting in the ambulance for Andrew to come pick us up.

Sitting in the hospital for a few hours to monitor me and baby.

39 weeks. The day before Alex was born

Fast forward to Thursday night (all you're really missing is a bunch of phone calls with insurance companies). Andrew and I were talking about stake conference meetings coming up and who was going to be able to go to which ones-I couldn't give him a firm answer about what our plans should be, and now I think I know why. I was having contractions (which I'll call surges from now on), but this was far from unusual because I'd been having them regularly for months. However, I told Andrew that I felt like the baby might be coming soon, but that I didn't want him to be born the next day only because I didn't want his birthday to be 4/20. haha

Friday morning, at 39 weeks and 1 day, I woke up to my alarm at 6am after a solid 8 hours of sleep. Today couldn't possibly be the day Alex would be born since all 3 of my older kids were born on or after their due dates, and on a Tuesday. Anyway, I didn't get up and exercise right away because Andrew was still out for a run and I knew I had a little more time since it was his day off. I was still having surges and felt "just a little different" but decided I would just do an easy exercise today and go for a walk. I had overestimated how much time I had, and ended up with only 15 minutes before I needed to be back so that Andrew could go to the church to help clean before a funeral. I was still feeling like something might be going on, so I just did a half mile, came back home, and told Andrew to make sure he kept his phone on him while he was gone. I went and got in the shower while Andrew was getting ready to leave. I was probably having surges about every 4 minutes, and I asked Andrew if he could find someone else to unlock the church/be in charge. The people he was calling weren't answering, but I told him I didn't think he should go and that he should pack his clothes and anything else he wanted to take to the hospital with us-just in case.

I got out of the shower just after 7 and, although I wasn't yet convinced that we needed to go to the hospital soon, I realized I needed to at least figure out someone who could come be with the kids if I decided that this was for real and we would need to go to the hospital later. All the usual people I would ask were having especially busy mornings and I had no idea what to do. I texted two of my closest friends asking for their ideas, and they worked it all out even though I know it was so inconvenient for them. By about 7:20am, Lydia came over and Andrew left to get gas for the car. I was getting ready after my shower and pausing to relax through surges. When I wasn't busy concentrating, it was fun to listen in on Lydia's interactions with the kids as she helped them get out of bed and get breakfast.

I texted my mom and sister to try and keep them in the loop. I went from not being sure if I was in labor to sending a picture of our new baby, with not much in between.

I think it was around 8am that Cindy came to relieve Lydia so she could go to work, and I'm guessing, take her kids to school. I hadn't seen either one of them this whole time, and I definitely wasn't watching a clock. Andrew was putting the last few things in my hospital bag, but would stop and help me relax or put pressure on my back during each surge. Even though I'd intentionally done this med-free twice, I kept saying I kind of wanted an epidural this time, but I still didn’t want to have the after effects of it. Andrew kept reminding me I didn’t need it and that of course I could do this. I felt like even though I knew I could do it, I sort of didn't want to. I kept thinking I needed a break/a chance to rest, which was funny because it hadn't been very long and I had just had a full 8 hours of sleep. I think I was feeling this way because all of the pressure was focused in my lower back and because it was a quick/efficient labor. Luckily I got over that, and was able to get relaxed and focused. 

During each surge, I knew we needed to head to the hospital, but as soon as one was over I felt like things weren’t progressing quickly and I felt fine so we didn’t need to rush it. Andrew pointed out that we could just head over to the hospital and then we wouldn't have to worry about getting there in time (especially because I knew I needed to give them enough time to place the IV before baby was born). I think we ended up leaving the house around 8:30. There was so much pressure in my back, that there was no way I could sit up. Andrew put the seat all the way back, I curled up around a pillow, and I listened to my relaxation track. I was working really hard not to be anxious while he drove since he was going down the same road where I got in the accident, and I knew it would be pretty busy at this time. About halfway to the hospital, at 8:50, Andrew remembered that we needed to call my midwife and let her know what was going on. 

I think we got to the hospital about 9:15 and walked up to L&D. After getting out of the elevator, I didn't feel like I wanted to check in just yet. I stopped at a couch in the hallway and relaxed through a surge. As much as I kind of wanted to just hang out there, I decided it would be better to go on in. While Andrew was filling out the check-in paper, I just rested on the desk and breathed through another surge. He calmly told the nurses I was in labor. We saw the nurse that I had during Michael's delivery, Rebecca, and said hi hoping that she was the one we were getting again. She wasn't, but we later learned that she had told our nurse that we were definitely going to be admitted. My nurse this time, Kristin, was confused and said she was just going to check me, but Rebecca assured her that we were definitely going to be admitted. She remembered us from last time and knew that even though I didn't look like it, I was definitely in labor. 

Time started to pass so slowly once we got to this point. Everything suddenly seemed to be taking forever. When Kristin eventually checked my cervix (maybe around 9:30?) I was only 5cm dilated. I was a little bit surprised and disappointed because before now I had always been at least 6cm by the time I checked into the hospital. I reminded myself that it didn't really mean anything or matter at all, and to just trust my body. 

The next order of business was to get an IV placed. After Michael was born, I lost a lot of blood, so I promised my midwife that I would drink lots of water while in labor and be patient with them/let them place an IV. The nurse kept saying my veins were really good but would collapse as soon as they got in the needle. After 4 tries, spread between 2 nurses and an anesthesiologist, they finally got the hep-lock placed. It hurt a lot to have it in my arm, but I knew I had to have it, and at least it wasn't hooked up to anything so I could move around easily. 

I kept drinking water, going to the bathroom, and trying different positions to get comfortable. I was feeling all of the surges and pressure in my back which was taking a lot of concentration to stay relaxed during. In between surges, I complained to Andrew about that and told him I felt like baby was coming so slowly. After trying the toilet, the peanut ball, and putting down the end of the bed to kneel on, I finally got comfortable lying on my side and resting one leg on Andrew’s shoulder while he pushed on my hip. That finally relieved some of the ache in my back and hips. Shortly after finding that position, I noticed I was feeling pressure, but that it wasn’t the baby's head, and I so started asking to have my water broken. The nurse checked my cervix and said I was 8cm dilated with baby still at  -1 station, and that the waters were bulging. She said she’d call Lauren and let her know. My nurse kept leaving and, from my perspective, it felt like she wasn’t understanding how soon he would be here. I kept telling her updates like how I was getting hot then cold then sweaty, etc trying to get her to understand, but she didn't seem to be getting it. Soon after this, while she was out of the room, my body started pushing with the surges. Part of me wondered if I should try to stop it since I was only 8 cm, but I decided to trust my body and just let it do its thing. I was grateful to be on my side this time because the urge wasn't the same forceful/overwhelming expulsion I'd experienced with Matthew and Michael. When the nurse came back in I told her I was feeling lots of pressure and that I needed Lauren to come right now. I think she called her again around that time and said she was really really coming this time. About time!

Even though they stayed spaced out, with a break between each one, my surges were starting to be all push and I could feel his head moving down. My nurse finally came back in the room, along with Lauren. I had another surge either during or right after this, just as she finished washing her hands. She turned to grab a towel because she anticipated what was happening, and suddenly my bag of waters burst and it splashed all over Andrew’s pants and the floor. I would have laughed, but Alex’s head was right behind it and I was too busy. In fact, after feeling the pressure of the waters come and go, and then his head right after, I wasn’t actually positive that his head had come out already. It was really fast, which is why his poor face was so purple and blue. Lauren was still trying to get in a good position to help Alex out and told me to slow down, but there was nothing I could do. 

I think Alex's left hand came out first, then his head, then his right shoulder was trying to come out next. Lauren said she would’ve let Andrew just catch him if it hadn’t been for the whacky way he was coming out, and that she needed to help him get into a better position. I could tell Lauren and the nurses were getting a little anxious because of what was going on with his shoulders him being a little stuck. So when Lauren asked me to push, I worked with my body and gave a couple good pushes to go ahead and get him out quickly. Best feeling ever. Alex was born at 11:36am.

Alex was super dark purple/blue and not crying so we were all talking to him and rubbing him while he lied on my belly. Luckily he started crying pretty soon and we got to snuggle. His face didn’t pink up because of the bruising-even 12 hours later it only looked slightly better. While we were bonding, and I was getting stitched up from a small tear, blood started pooling in my uterus and not coming out. Thankfully we had the IV in place, so they could go ahead and give me a bag of pitocin.  After lots of that horrible post-birth massaging, having a piece of amniotic sack scraped out from my uterus, and the pitocin doing its thing, my bleeding started to slow down and things were looking okay. While still painful, it was a lot less scary this time because we knew it was likely to happen. Everyone was prepared and able to get the bleeding under control much faster, and I had no problem holding Alex the whole time.

After a good long while, I gave Andrew a turn to hold Alex, and then they weighed him what not. He was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches tall. 

At some point while we were all just hanging out with Alex, our nurse from Michael's birth, Rebecca, came in to visit us because she remembered us from a year and a half ago. She said she just loved watching us work together and would always remember us even though she often can’t remember her patients the next day. She was so sweet. She told our nurse, Kristin that we were so fun to watch and so obviously in love.  That made me happy to hear. She also said she was she was going to try and trade patients with Kristin so she could be with us again, but didn’t only because she had a student nurse with her that day. It was fun to see her again and chat with her. 

Headed to the Mother/Baby unit

I feel like things could not have gone better with Alex's birth, and I have to give a huge shout out to Andrew for that. He was amazing the entire time. He’s gotten so good at reading my cues, telling nurses to just talk to him instead of bothering me, knowing when I’m starting a surge and need his support or when I’m finishing one and giving the nurses permission to go ahead with something they need to do. His voice is so relaxing and he stays so calm and positive the whole time. He stays in all the uncomfortable positions if it’s what’s helping me, and doesn't give his discomfort a second thought. He knows exactly what to say, and Rebecca even said hearing him talk relaxes her too. lol Plus, he's so good at the logistics of everything-getting our stuff packed, driving to the hospital, remembering all the people who need to be called on the way, suggesting helpful positions for me etc. I remember only a few minutes before Alex was born, the nurse wanted to adjust the contraction monitor because it wasn't reading anymore. I was clearly uncomfortable with her adjusting it, and he immediately says, "Is that really necessary at this point?" She said it was and gave some reason but thankfully didn’t fight him on it-I really did not want to be touched right then. Thank you Andrew!

Also, right at the end I was getting a touch snappy with Andrew because some things that were working earlier didn’t feel good now/I didn’t want him to touch the same spot on my back, etc. He was so patient with me during that and just kept reminding me that my wanting to panic meant Alex would be in my arms so soon. The whole time, it was hard to believe he was really coming because I'd never had an early baby before! I sure love you, Andrew. Thank you for being the best husband ever. 

Alex's tiny feet hanging down!

 The next morning, Lydia brought the rest of our kids over to the hospital to meet Alex. They instantly fell in love. Matthew almost exclusively said "he's so cute" in a tiny, high-pitched voice the whole time. 

Matthew held Alex probably 6 separate times

All my little boys

Heading home!

The older kids often watch over Alex

As his bruising went away, he started to look so different each day.

so. much. hair.

Andrew had to go into work on Monday, so we were on our own for a few hours. Luckily Alex slept long enough for me to make breakfast with the older kids, and we all survived. 

Pictures like this make me realize that I kind of have a bunch of kids.

Michael was sleeping in his crib, so he missed out on the family snuggles.

Matthew is my little baby lover. He's completely crazy about Alex, and was the exact same way when Michael was a baby.

Our whole family is obviously crazy in love with Alex, and we could not be happier to have him join our family. I love all my people and am so grateful for each one of them. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world.