Quentin Blaise is here!

Quentin is HERE! He was born October 12, 2017 at 7:40 am. He was 8 lbs 7 oz and about 21 inches long. Here is his birth story letter:

Dear Quentin,

We are overjoyed to have you in our family. It felt like we waited so long for you to come, and mommy had a really hard time during her pregnancy with you, but that made it so much sweeter to have you here. This is the story of your birth:

On Tuesday, Oct 10, I thought I felt my bag of waters leaking, but I wasn't sure. I went to bed and it seemed that during the night and the next day I was leaking, but I wasn't sure it was amniotic fluid, I thought it was maybe just the mucous plug. As the day wore on, I was more and more convinced it was amniotic fluid. It was a busy day, and I was trying to get laundry done, go shopping for last minute baby things (like the rock and play, which you love sleeping in), and picking the girls up from school. After school we went to the store because Alana has had a huge growth spurt and needed some new clothes. Charlotte had violin lessons with Cami Austin at 5, and she had a great lesson.

That night, October 11, the girls had activity days and Amy Chiodo offered to take Alana and Charlotte. She came early and brought pizza. That was funny because I had made pizza the night before, and we had a ton extra. But it was kind of Amy to bring dinner. Daddy was at school late because he was trying like crazy to get his dissertation done before the weekend. Anyway, while Amy was here I felt more fluid and I became sure it was amniotic fluid. I called the hospital and they said definitely to come in. I sent a message to daddy. Here is the google chat conversation:

I love you! I am 99% sure my fluid is leaking, but no contractions. Just small bits here and there. Either that or I keep peeing myself.
I am not sure if we need to go to the hospital tonight. I think they would just put me on pitocin, which I would rather avoid... Crystal

ok
Do you need me to take or pick up alana and charlotte for A days? If not, I'd like to work out real quick
Stuart • Oct 11, 4:52 PM 

Amy is going to
Crystal Oct 11, 5:08 PM
I think you need to come home now. I am pretty sure it is my water and baby isnt moving a ton

ok
do you think we need to go to the hospital?

Yes. I just called and they want me to come in even though I am not contracting

So I will get everything ready for the kids to go to Amys and when she brings the girls back we can head in. He isnt moving much even though I ate chocolate and had juice so Im kinda worried.

Will you please give me a blessing when you get home?

After that, I started bustling around to get everything ready for your sisters and brother to stay the night at Amy's house. I had prepared a hospital bag for you and I, but I didn't think about the kids.

When Dad came home he gave me a blessing. I was stressed because I knew that since my water was broken and I was having no contractions, the doctor would insist on me having pitocin, and I wasn't sure I would be able to make it through labor without an epidural, which I was willing to have, but only if necessary. Also, I knew that I would be in labor all night and I would be so tired. I am always scared of being tired because I don't function well with too little sleep. I get really crabby and say things I don't mean. In the blessing, Daddy blessed me to be able to give birth with no pain. I was annoyed at that because labor and birth are painful. BUT, it is amazing because actually later I did not have any pain when I was pushing you out. I will explain more about that.

Daddy and I waited because we wanted Amy to be home before we took Seth and Esther to the Chiodo's, but we ended up taking them because David was home. We chatted with him for a bit. I called my mom but she didn't answer. Then she called me back and I told her what was going on and she told me to just get the pitocin and epidural and try and rest. We realized we left some of the kids' stuff at home, so we went home and met Amy there (she had gone to the store after A days). Then we headed off to the hospital and to triage, arriving about 9:30 pm. I was already so tired.

In triage they assessed that my water had, indeed, broken. I wanted to make sure you were in a good position, and the doctor was ok with holding off on pitocin until 1 am. In hindsight, I should have just started it right away. We were admitted to a room around 11, and I tried to walk around but was just SO tired. I wasn't contracting yet either. I didn't really like the nurse. She was kind of rough and she was just so sure I would be a quick delivery. I probably would have if she hadn't rubbed me the wrong way, lol. Daddy and I tried to rest, but every time I would start to drift off to sleep, someone would come to check me, take blood samples, etc. It was annoying.

They started pitocin at 1 am, and by 3 I was ready for the epidural. I was having to focus and breathe through every contraction. I was dilating, but I don't remember the timeline for how fast I progressed. I couldn't get the epidural until around 4:30 because I had to have a whole bag of fluids to make sure the epidural didn't drop my blood pressure. It is not a pleasant experience getting an epidural, and afterwards I could still feel pain near my right hip. The nurse helped adjust me and I was able to rest a bit. She kept coming in and I would have not progressed as much as she though I would. She thought you would be born at 5, then 5:30, then 6. But you didn't come. The nurse went off duty around 7 and a new nurse come on. The new nurse was so happy and sweet and had an easy going manner. She came back in a little later and I was ready to push. I couldn't feel anything then, which was nice after how painful it was to have your brother Seth. Dr. Collins was able to deliver you. I had a contraction and breathed into the pushing, and you were out in 2 pushes! I couldn't believe it!

They put you on my chest and I saw your little hands and your fingernails were the same as Grandpa D's. That was my first thought, isn't that funny? You were kind of purple and not crying and the nurse rubbed you with a towel and you coughed up some gunk and started breathing. It was an amazing experience to see you come into this world! I got to cut your cord, which is really cool to me because it was the thing that connected us to each other for 9 months, and I love that I got to do that.

I am so glad you are here. I have more to write about our time in the hospital and your first week here on earth, but I will save that for another letter.

Love, Mommy