Daxton's Birth Story

My whole pregnancy with Daxton, I had been told he was measuring two weeks big. Clara came at 38 weeks, so I just assumed that it would be the same way with Dax. My water broke with Clara's pregnancy as well so I thought everything would just be the same this time. His due date was August 20th, which also happens to be the first day of fall semester. All these things added up to me feeling so much pressure to have him early. There was several false alarms where I thought I was maybe in labor. I went to labor and delivery at 38 weeks because I was feeling really crampy but they sent me home quickly. I started to try everything I could think of to start labor. I ate pineapple, went for long walks, did "curb walking", bounced and bounced on the yoga ball. I was getting so frustrated and discouraged that school was starting soon and he still wasn't here.
On August 10th, I got really nauseous and was throwing up after lunch. I don't think I've ever thrown up so much or that hard. At one point, I felt a small gush while I was puking. I began to question if it was my water breaking or if I had just peed my pants. With Clara, it was such a big gush and my contractions started soon after that there was no question it was my water breaking. I waited to see if contractions would start or if there would be more water but nothing else happened. I decided I had probably just peed my pants. However, I couldn't shake the thought in the back of my mind that maybe it was my water. The next day, I was playing a Peppa Pig board game with Clara and Anthany. Something made me laugh really hard and I thought I felt another small gush. Again, I questioned if I just peed myself or if it was my water. I was having really light contractions so I called to talk to my mom about it. She urgently convinced me that if there was any chance it was my water, I should go get it checked because it can be really dangerous for the baby. She came right over to get Clara from us. For an hour, I just sat on the couch still unconvinced if we should go in. Anthany kept asking me what we were doing and I told him I knew they were just going to send us home again and it made me feel dumb. He finally said we should just go check it out. I threw a few things in a bag just in case but I was really sure that it wasn't labor yet. Anthany said "Next time we come home we could have a baby with us." I disagreed haha.
At the hospital, I felt so dumb telling them I thought my water might have broke. I know they have pregnant ladies come in all the time after peeing their pants and it's always a false alarm. They did a test to see if it was my amniotic fluid. The nurse, Kelly, told me it took about ten minutes to process. At the eight minute mark, she said it was looking negative and we would probably be going home. I was so annoyed. After ten minutes, she said she had to get a second nurse's opinion. I told Anthany that I was sure it was just pee and we were going home. Kelly came back around 9:15 pm and she said "I have good news and bad news." I was positive that the good news would be that my water hadn't broken and the bad news was we were going home. It turned out to be the opposite. She said "The good news is we are inducing you and you are having this baby tonight. The bad news is that your water has leaked and there is a risk of infection." At all of Daxton's appointments, his heart rate was always around 140. At the hospital, it was around 160. She said the high heart rate could be indicative of an infection.
I was in shock that it was actually time. I immediately started to panic and called my mom. I was overwhelmed with guilt that I didn't come in sooner. I was so nervous if Dax would be okay. Also, I was freaking out that my body wouldn't progress fast enough and I would have to have an emergency c-section because of his risk of infection. They got us back to labor and delivery and I asked Kelly a million questions. I was so worried about Dax and the induction and everything. She was so sweet and patient and helped calm me down. Pretty much everything with my labor was opposites with Dax and Clara. With Clara, getting the IV went so terribly. However, this time, it went so smoothly and didn't even hurt too bad. With Clara, I was begging for the epidural and in so much pain. With Dax, I was nervous about getting the epidural because I wasn't in any pain yet. The epidural with Clara was so easy and quick because I was so desperate for it. With Dax, it felt like it took forever. The anesthesiologist had me hunch forward for such a long time. I was so uncomfortable and it was hurting my ribs and back so bad. It seemed like he was doing the needle for hours. When it was finally in, I told them I felt really light headed. I broke out in a cold sweat and I thought I was going to throw up. My blood pressure went way down and Dax's heartbeat dropped way down as well. They began rolling me over from side to side trying to find a position where Dax wasn't under stress. Finally, his heartbeat calmed down again.
My good friend Madi Richardson stopped by to see me at that point. She reassured me that no matter what happened I would be okay and I could do this. She really helped calm my nerves. At this point, my entire body was shivering uncontrollably and it continued basically my entire labor. I kept asking Anthany to check Dax's heart rate on the monitor and needed constant reassurance that he was okay. Dr. Lunt came in to check on me at that point. He decided to break my water to help speed things along. Apparently, it was a lot more water than he anticipated. He started rushing around to find towels and clean up. An alarm started going off and suddenly three nurses ran into the room. Breaking my water put Dax under stress and they began flipping me from side to side and up and down trying to raise his heart rate back up. I was sure at any minute they would wheel me back for a c-section. We finally found a position where he was okay. They put a monitor on his head so they could more accurately monitor his heart rate. Also, they put a monitor inside me to track my contractions and feed some water back into my uterus to hopefully help Dax be less stressed.
The only funny part in all of this was I had turned on the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall on TV. It seemed that every time things were really stressful and all the nurses were there, a really inappropriate scene would be happening in the background and I would be so embarrassed but too preoccupied to shut it off. When things finally calmed down, I was glad to turn off the movie and try to sleep. This was tricky because I was worried about Dax's heart rate and I was still shaking uncontrollably.
At around 1, they came to check me and I was only at a 4. This was the same thing I had been at since I checked in so I felt pretty discouraged. They reassured me that my contractions were really strong and consistent and things were progressing well. Because I got the epidural before they started the pitocin, I didn't feel a single contraction my entire labor. It was the craziest thing that I had a baby with no pain whatsoever. At about 2 am, one of my monitors began beeping. I called the nurse worried that it was Dax's heart rate again. Kelly told me it was because my epidural was almost out and she would go get me some more. A few minutes later, I started feeling so much pressure and was worried it was the epidural wearing off. Dax's heart monitor began beeping and a few nurses rushed in again. They checked me and I was suddenly at a 10 and ready to push. While we waited for Dr. Lunt, the nurses rolled me from side to side trying to bring Dax's heart rate back up again.
Dr. Lunt came really fast and they quickly set up to push. Anthany had been napping but was woken up when they said I was at a 10. He was still a little groggy and I motioned him over. I think he was a little in shock that it was time. With Clara, I felt so out of it when I was pushing because of the pain meds they had given me. I felt so out of control of my body and didn't really understand how or when to push. This time, I could feel some pressure and could feel him progressing as I pushed. The nurses were commenting in the background how awesome I was and what a great pusher I was. I remember wondering in my head if they say that to everyone or if I really was that good. Either way, it made me feel strong and I was able to push Dax out with only three contractions. The last push, they told me to look down and I saw Dr. Lunt pull Dax out. He was born at 2:33 am on August 12, 2018.
I immediately noticed how big he looked and commented that he already had little rolls on his arms. I was so worried about his heart rate or if he had an infection but they reassured me that he was great and healthy as can be. Clara was so puffy and swollen and cone headed when she came out. With Dax, he looked so perfect and cute and was so alert with his big eyes. As I did skin to skin, he started trying to find my nipple to eat pretty quickly. He has been a great eater from the start and didn't struggle at all with latching. When they told me he was 8 pounds 10 ounces, I was pretty shocked. I couldn't believe I had that big of a baby! He was 20 1/2 inches long. They said I was technically in labor 36 hours because they go off when my water first broke. However, it was only about four hours at the hospital from the time they induced me to the time he was born. He was perfectly healthy with no infection and his heart rate was great from that point forward. Anthany and I both cuddled him for awhile so in love with him. But we were definitely exhausted and eager to get to a recovery room and get some sleep.
We had debated on his name quite a bit. My whole pregnancy we were pretty set on the name Bronson. But the last few weeks I had began debating the name and not sure I wanted Bronson anymore. Clara was completely set on Bronson and would get mad if we ever suggested another name. After we had him, I really didn't feel like Bronson was right. I told Anthany I felt like his name was Daxton. Anthany finally agreed the next morning. We named him Daxton Mikeal McCabe. Mikeal is Anthany's dad's name and Anthany's middle name. We had been set on that middle name the entire pregnancy.
Overall, this was a great labor experience. It was stressful not knowing when it was time to go or not. It was scary to be induced in an emergency situation like that. Daxton's heart rate dropping over and over was really scary for me as well. I was so incredibly worried about him. Despite all of that, it went so smooth. I had no pain, it didn't last very long, and he was born with no complications. We are so incredibly happy to have him in our family and to be done with that pregnancy!