He’s here! I can’t believe I have three kids! Crew Rushton Rahlf was born September 28th at 12:18 pm. He is 7 lbs 2 ounces and 21 inches long. His middle name is the same as Dane’s. (It’s Dane’s grandma’s maiden name.) We just really liked his first name and that’s why we picked it. Everyone keeps asking me if we are fans of Joanna Gaines and if that’s why we picked the name (she had a boy a few months before and named him Crew…I guess that’s what you get when you keep his name a secret) but honestly I didn’t even know who she was besides the fact that she has an awesome line at Target. I guess we could have picked a worse celebrity to have our children share a name.
I have always loved being pregnant but this time around was the hardest. Chasing two kids while being pregnant is no joke! I started having Braxton Hicks contractions at 19 weeks which was earlier then my last two pregnancies so I was hopeful that this pregnancy I would go into labor by myself. It got to the point where I was having Braxton Hicks contractions all day long but they would never turn into the real deal. I was so worried I wouldn’t know when I was in actual labor because they always felt like they could turn into contractions.
Last pregnancy I dilated at 35 weeks but this time around I was dilated to a 2 at 33 weeks. I didn’t feel like this was super uncommon for pregnancy number 3 but my doctors were a little worried. They put me on bed rest and prescribed a medicine to slow my contractions (again I was having them all day everyday but obviously they were only BH). I was on actual bed rest (like lay down and don’t do anything unnecessary) for 2 weeks and it was miserable. I thought it sounded like fun to do nothing all day and sleep but I was bored after 3 hours. I can’t imagine people who have to do it for months (shout out to my mom, Brittany and Dane for taking care of the other kids). I made it to 35 weeks with no baby and the doctors were pleased and said if I went into labor they wouldn't stop me. I think like my body just dilates super early but doesn’t ever go into labor. So, next pregnancy if I dilate early I probably won’t do bed rest and just take it easy.
I continued to dilate each appointment but I didn’t go into labor (still having regular BH). This was actually very frustrating . With Adler my water broke and labor started all by itself. But with Ettley I had to be induced. It looked like that was what was going to happen this time around. We set my induction for September 28 which made me 39 weeks. The plus side of being induced is you can make a plan. Because I am a planner, this was good. I knew my kids would for sure be taken care of and Dane would be with me when I went into labor.
We checked in on the 28th at 7:30 am and got situated in our room. I was 5 cm and 50 % effaced and a -2 engaged. After I got checked my contractions stared to pick up but like I said I had no idea what was real or BH anymore. I also had them put my IV in my arm instead of my hand because I hate needles and it always feels so weird in my hand. Big mistake it is way worse in your arm haha. I asked if they could just break my water like last time instead of pitocin and they agreed. They broke my water at 10:15 am and I was already at a 6. My contractions were coming every 4 to 5 minutes and they weren’t that bad so I thought maybe I was going to be eased into this labor unlike last time. At 11:02 the contractions picked up and got bad really fast!
That’s the one thing I hate about being induced I don’t get to ease into my contractions they are just bad really fast. The contractions were terrible and hurt so bad! I had a strong urge to push but they checked and I was only an 8. After they checked me I literally felt like his head was coming out with some of my contractions and I felt like my body was naturally pushing him out. It kind of freaked me out because you always hear “listen to your body” but they had told me I was only an 8. I didn’t want to hurt my body or the baby. I didn’t know what to do ( I should of had Dane look and see if he could see the head). This feeling only lasted through 3 contractions and then it went away. But it hurt so much, like a burning stretching feeling, that it made me want to get the epidural just for the pushing part. By now my contractions were some of the worst pain I have ever felt. I always want to try going natural but I am also a wimp. I asked for the epidural. I should also mention that since I was induced I had a different doctor. She was amazing and one of the best in the practice but if I had my other doctor I feel like maybe she would have helped me through this part.
They came in and said instead of an epidural they would just give me a spinal. This just meant they would give me one shot of numbing medicine that would take effect immediately and they wouldn’t put the tube in that they do with epidurals so you can continually get medicine. I got the spinal ( pretty sure that’s what they called it) at 11:54 am at an 8. It kicked in immediately and it was the greatest feeling ever.
When I go into labor I get full body shakes, which is very tiring. So this was a nice break from those. Not too long after that, lots of nurses came into our room. We were concerned and they told us that Crew’s heart rate dropped and they were trying to figure out what was going on. They told us that sometimes when the heart rate drops that means the baby is moving down and ready to come out. She lifted up my gown and his head was already coming out! I started pushing at 12:13 and I pushed 3 times through very close contractions and he was born at 12:18! When he came out he had the cord loosely wrapped around his neck and he didn’t cry a ton (compared to my other kids)but the doctor wasn’t worried at all. His apgar score was a 9 so he was just fine!
He was perfect! He looked just like his siblings and I did some skin to skin with him. I was so excited to have another baby in our family.
This is were it gets a little scary. I was having some blood clots after so the doctor gave me some medicine that I had to take as a suppository. Then, my shakes started again and came back really strong. My uterus also wasn’t contracting so the doctor gave me a shot in my thigh to help with that (so glad I was numb now for all this stuff). They told me I had almost lost as much blood as someone who had a c- section. During all of this they kept trying to get my blood pressure and it kept failing because I was shaking so bad and couldn’t relax. When they did get a reading the bottom number was over 90. It stayed over 90 for multiple readings.
They gave me medicine in my IV to relax me and they tested me for preeclampsia. They told me the medicine would make me drowsy and it really did. Everything was fuzzy and I just wanted to sleep. My bleeding was slowing down and my uterus was contracting like it was suppose to. My nurse was also feeding me crackers and apple juice to get some sugar in me. It was nice to eat but I was so drowsy and wanted to sleep. The medicine was working and my shakes finally went away and they got a good blood pressure reading for me. Then the after birth contractions started. They didn’t hurt but they were uncomfortable. Then I started having chest pain.
I decided to tell them because I seemed to be having so many issues so they wanted to get me an EKG. The doctor asked if my pain happened when I was having a contraction and I hadn’t noticed so I started to pay attention. They were but she wanted the EKG just in case. I got the EKG and a couple hours later (the computer systems went down around this time so results were taking longer to get) the EKG and blood work both came back normal. I was in the labor and delivery room until 5pm that night! This whole time I was super emotional because I just wanted to hold my little baby boy and I couldn’t. It was super intense and poor Dane was holding Crew while trying to comfort me and hold it together himself. It was a very eventful day but I was so glad to just relax after and finally hold Crew.
I can’t believe we are a family of 5! We love our Crew and he gets endless snuggles from everyone. His brother and sister love him so much and sometimes a little too much! I can’t wait to watch our little boy grow.
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