Baby!

Hey people!  We have a baby!  And I think he is absolutely the cutest baby around.  Of course, I am his mother so I'm allowed to say that.  :)  So today, I will be sharing the story of his birth.  I'm going to be quite open because I've always felt it was important to share our infertility journey with others.  (And this is a great place for me to record everything for my own history!)  If you don't want to read all about his entrance into the world, this would be a great place to stop reading and just scroll to the pictures.  You've been warned.  Also- this is ridiculously long.  Sorry about that.

Rewind to last Summer.  We had just accepted the job in Qatar, and knew we would be moving at the end of the summer.  We knew we had one month left of treatments before we left- and then we were done.  If this didn't work, we would be taking a break for a while.  So I set up an appointment with my amazing doctor to talk about our options.  I explained that we wanted to do everything we possibly could to put us in the best possible position for a pregnancy.  Because of my history of 3 losses, I was not a candidate for IVF.  But our doctor was willing to try an IUI.  So- I stocked up on all of my medications, continued watching my diet with the help of a friend in the neighborhood, and we moved forward with the IUI.

June 30, 2014.  Steve and I were traveling with the YW in our ward to Wyoming to go river rafting with our bishop as guide.  We got a bit of a late start, because I had to zip down to the clinic to have blood work done.  We caught up to the caravan, and bishop asked Steve and I if we would be in the first raft- the one that was going down the river as soon as we got there.  We agreed, and then continued on our way.  As we came out of the canyon and descended into Afton, I got the phone call.  The one where they give the results of the blood test.  The one that usually left me in tears for a day or two.  This time, I was in tears again, because the result was positive.  The IUI had worked!  Unfortunately, that meant that I didn't do any rafting on that trip after all... but I still had a great time with our cute YW!

My pregnancy was actually pretty uneventful.  It was a pretty easy pregnancy.  I had food aversions, but was never sick.  I was completely exhausted most of the time, but there were no real complications.  At 11.5 weeks, we moved to Qatar.  At 16 weeks, it was confirmed that he was a boy.  (Steve and I would both have been very surprised if we learned we were having a girl!)  I loved my doctor, and had plans to deliver at one of the private hospitals here, but later in the pregnancy I changed my mind.  There were lots of factors at play, but ultimately, Steve and I felt that we should travel across the country (a 40 minute drive!) to the Cuban hospital.  Yes.  A hospital in Qatar, completely staffed by Cuban medical professionals.  Slightly random, but we decided to make the switch and I started seeing my new doctor at about 35 weeks.

Everything was progressing perfectly!  My parents came out to be here for his birth, and they got here the evening of March 5.  I was due on March 8.  I was predicting he would be born on March 10.  Well, March 8 came and went.  I went back to my next doctor appointment and they scheduled an induction for the 16th.  I was bummed.  I really wanted him to come on his own.  March 10 came and went.  But at 1:00am on March 11, things changed!

I woke up at 1:00 to go to the bathroom, and I felt my first contraction.  I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few months, but I could tell that this was definitely something different.  10 minutes later, another.  I woke Steve up.  10 minutes later, another.  Then, they suddenly switched to every 6 minutes.  I woke up my parents and told them that we may be going to the hospital sometime tonight.  I took a shower.  By the time I got out of the shower they were every 5 minutes.  Then every 4 minutes.  For a little bit, they went a bit bonkers and were bouncing around every 2-7 minutes.  But they finally stabilized at 4 minutes apart, I ate a bowl of cereal, and at about 4am, we took off for the hospital!

Once at the hospital, they hooked me up to monitors, and checked me out.  I had 3 contractions in a 10 minute period, and I was dilated to 2cm.  They checked me in and wheeled me up to the Labor rooms.  For the most part, I really appreciated how hands-off the staff of he Cuban hospital was.  I was not hooked up to any IVs or monitors.  I was told to get out of bed and walk around to help with the contractions.  My nurse was incredible.  She checked in on me periodically, and answered all of my questions very honestly.  I loved her!  At about 9:00, they brought the monitor into the room and hooked me up for about 15 minutes.  I did not like having to be back in the bed for those 15 minutes.  The nurse took my information to the doctor, who said that he would like to check me at about 10:30.  I was currently in the Labor/Recovery room.  When I was at about 5cm, they could move me into the delivery room, and that's where all the pain relief was!  I got up and started walking again.

The contractions were getting much worse.  I asked my nurse if they were really going to get much worse than this.  She assured me that once I dilated further, they would be even worse.  At about 10:00, she came in during a particularly bad contraction.  A few minutes later, she came in during the worst one yet- the first one that had me doubled over and in tears.  She quickly left and came right back with a wheelchair.  She told me that she was going to have the doctor go ahead and check me right now.  So- we went into the "Checking room".  I don't know what it's really called... so that is now it's name!  I hate this room.  Fortunately, the doctor on call was my doctor!  That made me feel a little relief.  Unfortunately, those few minutes were more painful than I could have imagined!  The doctor quickly determined that I was dilated to 8cm.  He broke my water and they wheeled me into the delivery room.  Steve and my nurse were by my side.  I asked if I could have an epidural, and I was told that it was too late- the baby would be here in about an hour.

So- little baby was born at 11:37am.  He is perfect.  I was not prepared to deliver without any pain relief, but it's amazing what you can do in the moment!  I spent a few minutes pushing, and it took 2 big pushes to get him out.  (one for his head and one for everything else!)  The moment he was put in my arms was a moment I will never forget.  He was mine.  And he was alive.  And he made it!  He was so incredibly healthy.  The nurses were amazed with how huge he was!  (As a side note- he was not huge.  He was 8 lbs, 20 inches.  He was exactly in the 50th percentile.  As average as can be.  But apparently they are used to very tiny babies here.)

After a few minutes of snuggling, he was taken off to be weighed, cleaned up a bit, measured, etc.  Steve went with him, and the doctor worked to get me taken care of.  Unfortunately, I had a large tear that had to be sewn up.  It took nearly an hour and a half.  Remember how I didn't have an epidural.  Yeah.  Birthing the baby was so much easier than getting sewn up.  Watching the nurses' faces as they watched the doctor working was very disconcerting.  My nurse kept whispering to me- "It's bad.  Very bad."  Steve and baby came back into the room.  They asked if I wanted to hold the baby.  I had to say no.  I was in so much pain that I was scared of what I may do to the baby on accident.  Finally, the doctor finished up and I was prepared to move back into my recovery room.  My dad snapped this picture of me as we were wheeled back in.  I think it's one of my favorite pictures of that day.  I love that I look so happy (and maybe a bit delerious!).  The pain was awful, but it was absolutely worth it.  I love my little man SO much and I am so grateful to be his mommy.

So world- here is baby. Henry Verdell Corry. Born March 11, 2015 at 11:37 am in Qatar. 8 lbs, 20 in.  I love him.