Jude Blake Thompson
Born on May 13, 2021 at 8:16pm
8lbs 12oz - 21.5in long
Jude is here! My son is actually here! That’s so crazy to say. My son. My handsome little boy.
I wanted to get induced at 39 weeks and I went into my appointment the Friday before and I got checked to see how dilated I was. With my girls I was dilated to a 1 by 36 weeks so I thought for sure I’d be at least a 2 by now. I was absolutely shocked when my midwife said I wasn’t even dilated. Shocked. What the heck? She couldn’t even strip my membranes since I wasn’t dilated. They scheduled for me to come back in to see if I had progressed at all. If I didn’t dilate then I wouldn’t be able to get induced. I decided to try all the tactics to get myself to dilate. The main one was to “curb walk” where you walk with one foot on the road and one on the curb. It’s as fun as it sounds. We did a lot of curb walking.
My parents decided to come on Sunday and I was so nervous that they weren’t going to let me get induced and then my parents came up for nothing! It was so fun hanging out with my parents and Trevor and the girls as we anticipated the impending arrival of Jude. They couldn’t get me scheduled for an appointment until Tuesday, unfortunately. I was frustrated because it kept getting pushed back. I thought I’d get induced Monday when I hit 39 weeks and now I couldn’t get in to get checked until Tuesday!
I was so nervous for the appointment since it would determine if I could get induced the next day, but hallelujah I was dilated to a 2! I was so relieved! My midwife said someone would contact me to tell me when I could go in and when they finally did they said I couldn’t go in until Thursday. The 13th. Fantastic. I hate odd numbers. Just so happens all 3 of my kids were born on an odd number!
The night before I became a little panicky. My dad and Trevor gave me a wonderful blessing that filled me with comfort. I’m so grateful for the priesthood in my life. Throughout this pregnancy, Evelyn had been so excited. However, the night before she became so distraught over us leaving. When we were putting her to bed she started bawling and saying, “I want you guys to come back”. It absolutely broke me and I started bawling too. She just kept crying and repeating that. I just held her and Emma until she finally went to sleep. I was a little sad thinking it wouldn’t just be us girls anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I was soooo excited to get Jude here, but there is always a little bit of mourning that happens when having a baby. You tend to mourn your old life because you know it’s going to change even if it’s just a small change. I was a little melancholy that night.
They told me to come in at 6 in the morning, but to call at 5 to make sure there was enough room. That meant that I needed to wake up at 4:30 to get ready. Of course, I couldn’t sleep that night. I finally drifted off to sleep around 1 in the morning. 3.5 hours of sleep. Lovely. I woke up and hopped in the shower and started getting ready. I called at 5 to see if I could still come in at 6 and they said to just come in at 7. Seriously... Well, there was no use in trying to go back to bed, so I decided to curl my hair and do my makeup because why not.
They told me to get something to eat beforehand so we went to Chick Fil A! I can’t even tell you how much money we’ve spent at Chick Fil A during this pregnancy. It would be embarrassing. We drove to Layton Hospital and it was the most beautiful morning. I’m grateful all of my kids were born in the spring and born on beautiful days.
We arrived at the hospital and got checked in. My nurse was super nice and seemed to be about my age. I changed into my beautiful blue hospital gown and she hooked me up to the monitors and gave me an IV. I absolutely loathe IVs. She put it in my arm instead of my hand which is nice but it was pretty painful and uncomfortable still. I told her that I wanted an epidural but that I had some complications with it when I was in labor with Emma. When I got it my blood pressure plummeted quickly to 72/40 which is way too low and I literally felt like I was going to die. Dramatic I know. I told her I didn’t want that to happen again and she reassured me that she’d do everything she could so that it wouldn’t happen. Do you feel a sense of foreboding?
We hung out for a while and I was still only dilated to a 2. Before they even gave me the Pitocin for the induction, I was already contracting every few minutes and could feel them so it looked like I was actually already starting to go into labor. They gave me the Pitocin after a half hour or so of being there and the contractions definitely started getting painful pretty quick. My nurse came in and said that the anesthesiologist was going to be gone for an hour and a half and asked if I wanted to get the epidural now. I wouldn’t normally get the epidural so quickly but that made me a little nervous that he’d be gone so long and that my contractions were already so painful. I decided to get it now instead of later.
The anesthesiologist came in and got everything set up. He was super nice. It all happened really fast and everything went smoothly and it was over before I knew it. He told me to let him know if I felt lightheaded or dizzy and left the room. I kid you not, he left the room and I instantly felt lightheaded. Oh no, this cannot be happening again. All of a sudden I couldn’t get a breath in and Trevor said I went really pale. I was gasping and I felt myself blacking out and I remember saying, “What is happening to me?” Trevor said that I was saying other things and my speech was super slurred. Another nurse was called in and she upped the drip on my IV and gave me some medicine to regulate my blood pressure because it had dropped again to 83/47.
My nurse seemed a little panicked. She had this little packet and broke it and put it under my nose. Apparently, it was some kind of smelling salts and I think it was to keep me from passing out but it kind of made it harder for me to breathe. They put on an oxygen mask and a cool towel on my forehead while Trevor fanned me and the blood pressure medicine was starting to kick in so I was finally able to breathe and not feel like I was blacking out. It was an intense few minutes and it left me completely exhausted. It was so much worse this time than it was when I was in labor with Emma. Trevor was super stressed out from watching all that and feeling helpless.
They had stopped my epidural during all that so the anesthesiologist came in and restarted my epidural but lowered my epidural dose and told me it was because I’m considered a “lightweight” and couldn’t handle the normal dose and that I didn’t have enough fluid in me yet. After he left, I started feeling well enough to take the oxygen and towel off. After about 10 minutes the room started spinning. I started feeling lightheaded again and Trevor said I went completely pale again, too. Oh no! It’s happening again! I started feeling like I was blacking out and couldn’t breathe and again, my nurse put the smelling salts under my nose. I got back on the oxygen and had more blood pressure medicine since it had dropped to the 80s again. I had to have the mask and towel back on for a while while they pumped even more fluids in me. They stopped the epidural again until I had 2 liters of fluids in me. Once they restarted the epidural again I, thankfully, didn’t have any more episodes. But, thanks to those episodes, I had to keep the blood pressure cuff on for the rest of the day.
After resting for a long time I finally felt well enough to take the oxygen and towel off again. I basically just slept off and on in between checks from the nurse, my midwife, and the anesthesiologist. I was completely exhausted already. How was I going to push a baby out?
We had told my nurse how easy the labor and delivery were when I got induced with Evelyn and she must have communicated that with my midwife because she later came in to tell us we should expect to be there until late in the night/ early morning. To be honest she was a little condescending. We honestly didn’t have any expectations or hopes about how long it would take. My midwife was a little annoyed that I got the epidural so early which kind of annoyed me that she was annoyed! I didn’t expect to get it so early either, but that’s just how it worked out. My nurse was called to the postpartum unit so I had a new nurse.
Thankfully, the epidural was working and I could still feel Jude moving which was such a comfort to me. I expected to not be able to feel him when I got the epidural and that made me a little sad. I also could move my legs this time, too. We basically just hung out for most of the day. My mom came and visited us for a little bit. I was so grateful that she and my dad were there to watch my girls. Trevor went for a run while my mom was there.
The nurses and my midwife kept checking me and Jude wasn’t dropping very fast and I also progressed pretty slow. Around 6ish the nurses switched shifts and I had a new nurse. Around 7 my midwife came to check me again and said I was at a 7! She left and I think she expected to come back much later. About 10 minutes after she left I started feeling horrible pain in one spot and it felt like my epidural wasn’t working in that one spot. It was the worst pain I’ve experienced. I started bawling my eyes out because the pain was so intense with every contraction. My nurse was surprised at my pain so she decided to check me. I was so shocked when she said I was complete and at a 10!
My anesthesiologist came in and put fentanyl in my epidural and upped my epidural dose but it honestly was too late because it was time to push! Everyone quickly came in with their supplies and gear and got in positions. The nurses held my legs and had me start pushing immediately. I pushed for about 25 minutes and it was so exhausting. His head started coming out and my midwife said to do one more push to get him out. It didn’t work. I felt Trevor’s nervous energy and he said, “Lacy you HAVE to push him out now.” I knew something was immediately wrong by his tone of voice. Trevor was panicking and he never panics.
They put me flat on my back and had me start pushing in that position. My midwife was trying to pull him out while I continued to push not on a contraction. After a minute of him being stuck, they finally pulled him out. His face was dark purple and blue and his body was completely white. He was lifeless and not crying. They placed him on my chest and I was frozen. I didn’t know what to do. I hear Trevor say, “Is he okay? Is he okay??” No one is saying anything and the nurses are sucking stuff out of his mouth and fiercely rubbing his body. They delayed cutting his cord in the hope it would help him and after about a minute they told us they were going to take him across the room to work on him. After they took him, I heard the most beautiful sound in the world, his cry.
I cannot even describe the relief I felt hearing him cry. The color was returning to his body and the color of his face became pink. They brought him to me and laid him on my chest. The whole time he just grunted with every breath and the nurse told us that since he is grunting so much it tells them that he can’t breathe well. So they took him back to the little care station across the room and did something called the CPAP. Trevor said they put a tube down his nose that sucked liquid out of his belly or lungs. I’m not sure. They also had a mask on him to create pressure to get the liquid out. They told us they’d have to do 3 rounds of this for 30 minutes each and if he didn’t pass then he’d have to go to the NICU. Thankfully, after the first round, he passed and they put him back on my chest.
We were able to do skin to skin and we got to enjoy really seeing our baby for the first time. It was such a joy to hold my son. I couldn’t believe my Jude was finally here and that he was okay. I was so full of gratitude and relief.
What happened was something called "shoulder dystocia". His head came out and then he turned and his shoulder got stuck. Apparently, it's considered a medical emergency and can be life-threatening. I read that it happens in 1% of births so it's pretty rare and super scary. My midwife told me that since it happened, it will most likely happen again if I have another one and I'm most likely to hemorrhage. So most likely (unless Heavenly Father has another plan for us!) Jude is our last.
They gave me a box of food to eat and side note: it was the best turkey sandwich I’ve ever had! Ha! I was ravenous. They transferred me to the other bed and wheeled us all upstairs. After all the intense chaos that was going on it was so nice to be in our quiet room and feel peace. We just snuggled Jude and said many prayers of thanks that he was okay and safe and healthy in our arms. I couldn’t stop saying, “Oh I love him!” I tried feeding him and he did so well! Although he was super sleepy! After that traumatic evening, I don’t blame him for falling asleep!
After a while of snuggling him, feeding him, and getting checked by a bunch of nurses we decided to get some sleep. We had the nurse take him to the nursery which is always the hardest thing to do but very much needed. They brought him in every few hours to eat. It was nice to get some sleep after such a rough day and I let Trevor sleep as much as he could so that I could rest more in the day while he watched Jude.
We hung out and facetimed everyone and my mom came and met Jude later! They would only allow one visitor and no kids were allowed. So sad. Later that evening I took a shower which is always so nice after having a baby! I got nice and clean and when I came out my first nurse from when I was in labor came back to say hi! She told me she’d try to when she left and I figured she was just saying that so I was so happy to see her! Then later they gave Jude his first bath while we waited to see if we could be discharged that night. Luckily they allowed it! We left the hospital at 9 at night which seemed super weird, but we just wanted to get home to the girls!
We very carefully drove home. The first drive with a newborn is so nerve-wracking! We got home and my parents had the girls wait in the living room while we brought Jude in. They were so excited! It was so good to see the girls again! They absolutely beamed while holding and looking at him. It was so sweet. They had decorated the house with balloons and “It’s a boy!” signs everywhere and my dad had bought me flowers! They’re all so sweet.
I’m guessing because of the traumatic birth he has something called “small airways disease” which our doctor told us could affect him short term or basically all of his life. Well, which is it? I guess we’ll see. It doesn’t seem to be affecting him too much, luckily. Just some intense retracting when he breathes. Other than that he is a strong, big, healthy boy!
I'm so grateful Jude is here and well! He really is the sweetest little guy. He has brought so much joy into our lives already. I’m so excited to see what he becomes and I’m so happy he’s a part of our family! I’m so grateful for my parents and all their help! I seriously couldn’t have done it without them. I’m so grateful for a loving husband who was/is with me through everything. I feel so lucky to have him by my side. And I’m so grateful to Heavenly Father for his hand in all of this, and for blessing us with such a sweet boy. I’m so grateful for him watching over us and that everything ended up okay. My heart is so full and my cup runneth over!
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