Charlie Orion | Week One

The last two weeks of pregnancy required a lot of patience. I felt like this baby would be coming at any moment and couldn't imagine making it to my due date. My doctor felt the same way based off my physical exams. It was difficult to not play out every day as if baby were about to come- making sure there was never any dirty laundry or undone chores, keeping up on grocery shopping, that sort of thing. I did my best to make the most of the spare time we had but found myself literally sitting and waiting around for something to happen.

Assuming I went into labor on my own, the plan was to notify my mom right away and then send Evelyn off with our dear friend Chelsea until mom arrived from San Diego (4 1/2 hours away). Mom had been on standby texting and/or calling me every day asking for updates. On Saturday afternoon [January 21st] based on what I had been telling her as far as my physical progression over the last week she also felt confident baby was coming soon, so confident that she decided to drive up that evening. Steph was preparing for a big move from San Diego to Provo and it was looking like it would all work out for her to come up to Vegas with Mom on her way up to Utah. I thoroughly enjoy having them around anyways but at this particular time it was such a relief to have their company and support. 

January 24th. My due date had come and gone. I began to feel really discouraged and doubtful this baby would ever come on his own and I would need to go in for a scheduled c-section on Thursday. I needed to fight a little harder for a VBAC before I could feel good about having another c-section. That day I left a message with my doctor requesting that he see me one more time to discuss all my options. Unfortunately my phone call was never returned which only added to my discouragement. That night Jay gave me a priesthood blessing of comfort. But I went to bed in tears mourning the loss of my chance for a VABC, knowing that something could still potentially happen in the next 24 hours, but so doubtful.

Tuesday night [January 24th] I fell asleep around 10:00pm. At 11:50pm I woke up with an upset stomach. It was no surprise since my stomach had been a little finicky all day but something about this was different... Within a few minutes of waking up I experienced my first contraction. This was IT. It had to be. My body shook uncontrollably as I tried to wrap my head around the fact that this was actually happening- labor was starting! It was totally thrilling and a bit scary. I woke Jay and then rushed to the guest room to tell mom. She encouraged me to get some rest and wait until the contractions were closer together. Falling asleep was impossible. Instead I sat up in bed and made a note of every contraction over the next hour: 11:54, 12:02, 12:06, 12:13, 12:19, 12:30, 12:37, 12:44, 12:52. They averaged out to be seven minutes apart with some stronger than others. Meanwhile I texted Jess who celebrated with me and offered reminders on how to bare through the contractions. Not really knowing when to go to the hospital, I gave them a call and a labor and delivery nurse suggested I head over. Jay and I were out the door and on our way by 1:30am. The roads were clear and it was a smooth 30 minute drive where I only had to bare through three or four moderate contractions. 

We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and then went into triage at 2:40am. I was dilated to a three, completely effaced, and had been leaking amniotic fluid since the start of labor. After the nurse broke my water contractions got stronger and closer together. The epidural was an important part of my birth plan but I was hesitant to get it too soon for fear that it would slow down labor. The nurse admitted that sometimes the epidural can slow things down but more often than not it moves things along as it helps mom and baby to stay relaxed so the body can progress. She suggested even IF it slowed down labor, why not be comfortable for longer rather than uncomfortable at all? Makes perfect sense. The nurse put in an order for an epidural and then wheeled us off to a delivery room around 3:30am. At 4:00am the anesthesiologist came in and the timing could not have been better... Contractions were unbelievably intense. It was painful obviously, but such a thrill to experience something so powerful, something I didn't think I'd ever have the chance to experience. Though I wasn't exactly up for walking around once the epidural was administered, I was relieved to still have some movement in my legs and be able to feel the contractions without the pain.

With nurses popping in and out of the room I could never fall completely asleep but I was relaxed and at peace. Jay and I took this time as an opportunity to finalize our decision on a name for baby boy. We had been discussing it for months and were incredibly indecisive but it was time to get serious. The names we had been tossing around: Thomas, Jonah, Micah, and Charlie. Thomas has always been on my list of favorite boy names. And Charlie is one that I threw out to Jay months ago but he wasn't feeling it. Somehow at the last minute it made its way to the top of Jay's list. It was decided depending on how we felt once he arrived, baby boy would either be named Thomas or Charlie. His middle name would be Orion, a family name on Jay's side that goes back five generations and also happens to be Jay's middle name.

At 8:30am I was dialed to a seven. Within the next hour I began to feel intense pressure on my pelvis with each contraction which was a sign that it was almost time to start pushing. At 9:30am I was at a nine. Being awake all night without being able to eat anything in the last 12 hours (biggest mistake to not eat before going to the hospital) caused me to feel skeptical about the amount of energy I would have to push my baby out. Jess, my nurse, instilled confidence in me by explaining that we would take it one contraction at a time with three pushes during each contraction and then rest up between contractions. Sometime around 11:30am I was fully dialed and ready to start pushing! My labor had progressed quicker than anticipated which gave me hope that delivery would also be somewhat quick and smooth. 

Pushing was for sure the most difficult part of my labor and delivery. Jay was an amazing source of support and encouragement and my nurses were incredible cheerleaders instructing me on how and when to push. They say to push as if you're having a bowel movement which sounds simple enough, unless you've got an epidural numbing most of your senses down there. The stronger the contraction the easier it was to figure out, but I was constantly asking Jess, "How was that? Am I doing it right?" In search for some direction and motivation I requested a mirror which was helpful as well as fascinating and not totally gross as I always assumed it would be. There's a certain way a baby's head needs to rotate in the birthing process but my baby was being stubborn. While patting me down with cold rags and feeding me ice chips between contractions, the nurses assured me we were close and I was doing everything right, baby just wasn't turning. 

It was two and half hours of pushing before my doctor swooped into the delivery room. From there everything was moving a million miles a minute. After a couple pushes the doctor said my body could only handle so much more swelling and would need an episiotomy to get baby out. He made the incision and I proceeded with a couple more pushes. I was urgently instructed to stop, then the doctor used a vacuum to redirect baby's head which prevented my body from tearing any further. At 1:24pm the doctor instructed me, "Ok now reach down and pull out your baby." Pull out my baby?? There wasn't any time to question his orders so I reached down to grab my baby boy then pulled him up onto my chest. He was here and in my arms at last! But not for too long... Little guy swallowed a good amount of amniotic fluid on his way out which called for some immediate care. Since the doctor had to intervene with a vacuum, three more doctors came in circling around baby boy just as a routine precaution. Eventually a nurse brought baby boy back over to me for a few more minutes before taking him to the nursery to be monitored. It was then that for whatever reason, Jay and both felt strongly that no name suited him better than "Charlie".

Helplessly lying in a bed with my legs sprawled out, getting stitched up while a room full of doctors tended to my newborn baby whom I had only gotten to see for a short minute, was not exactly how I pictured Charlie's birth would be. But my boy was finally here and he came through a successful VBAC delivery. It required some medical intervention but it was successful in that Charlie and I were alive and healthy. Honestly I had a hard time wrapping my head around everything that had just taken place and felt more exhausted and overwhelmed than anything. Once the doctor finished stitching me up the room cleared and Jay followed Charlie up to the nursery. Jess spoke reassuring words, telling me of what an amazing thing I had just done. Mom, Steph, and Evelyn came a couple hours later. Charlie was still in the nursery and I was getting impatient and anxious to soak him up, start breastfeeding, and to have my two babies in the same room! After being monitored for a couple of hours Charlie was reported healthy and brought back to us in the delivery room. 

Seeing Evelyn interact with Charlie for the first time was an unforgettable moment. She wore the biggest smile the entire time and kept repeating in her sweet raspy voice, "Baby brudder, baby brudder! Aww baby brudder go nigh-night." She was incredibly gentle as she pointed out all his little features and rubbed his fuzzy head repeatedly.

Finally I got to breastfeed my boy, a moment I had been looking forward to just about as much as his actual birth. Evelyn was crawling around on the bed right next to me which probably wasn't ideal and made the first minute of breastfeeding Charlie a little stressful. Once Charlie latched on it was smooth sailing and has been ever since. 

The healing process began and I was in severe discomfort the rest of the evening. Bleeding, cramping BAD, and serious sleep deprivation. Then nurses accompanied me on my first trip to the bathroom where I nearly passed out. Jay and I desperately needed sleep but held off because we were told they'd be moving us to a postpartum room soon. It wasn't until after 10:00pm that we were finally moved to our room across the hall. And then once we got to the room it took forever to get settled, meet our nurses, and go over the schedule for the next day. Between constant interruptions from nurses, feeding Charlie and keeping track of every feeding and dirty diaper, it was a long night where I was only able to get about 40 minutes of sleep at a time and probably only ended up with a total of two or three hours. Aside from the physical and emotional trauma, we were completely smitten with our little bundle of joy.

Charlie Orion Jensen
January 25, 2017 1:24pm
7 pounds | 19 1/4 inches

When Evelyn was born Jay and I took advantage of the extended hospital stay that comes along with a c-section and loved every minute of it. But this time around we were ready to go home the following day. Though I was still very sore and needed medication and lots of rest, it wasn't anything that couldn't be taken care of at home and in my own bed. After getting clearance from my doctor, getting special instructions for a successful recovery, filling out paperwork for insurance and Charlie's birth certificate, and once Charlie completed all his routine health checks, we were out of there!

At 5:00pm we came home to Steph who was caring for Evelyn (mom drove back home earlier that day) and my dad who had just arrived from San Diego. We got to enjoy a night with dad and Steph before they left for Utah the next morning. 

"Baby blues" set in and the next few days were incredibly emotional. Charlie was an angel and sleeping like 20 hours a day as most newborns do, Evelyn loved her baby brother and didn't seem at all effected in any negative way by this new member of our family, and Jay was going above and beyond taking care of Evelyn and me. We also had some extra help from Kari for a day and a half, and kind church members were bringing us food. I trust Jay 1,000% with Evelyn. I love how he takes care of her and how they love each other. I am SO grateful he gets to set aside all his work duties for two and a half weeks to take care of us. Everything was going so well and I knew these intense emotions were completely normal and would soon subside as my hormones leveled out. But little things like hearing Evelyn call my name through the monitor in the morning and not being able to grab her from the crib and carry on with our morning routine broke my heart into a trillion pieces. The fact that Evelyn is no longer my baby hit hard and as I reminisced about our time together over the course of her little life it felt like I was experiencing a loss and needed to grieve. It quickly became clear that it was anything but a loss. Our family and our hearts had grown in size and while we have so many treasured memories with Evelyn as the center of our universe, we have SO many memories to look forward to with our two babies. And they have each other, which is one of the greatest gifts Jay and I could give them. 

Besides the emotional stuff, physical recovery was brutal. I was horribly sore. More sore than I remember being after my c-section. Or maybe it's just a different soreness. Either way it was awful and I seriously questioned my decision for a vaginal delivery. I had been told that overall recovery from a vaginal delivery is better than recovery from a c-section mostly because recovery time is so much quicker. I held on to that and tried to be patient as I noticed little bits of improvement every day. By Monday I was feeling pretty darn good. Pretty sore still but compared to day one I had come a long way. And emotionally I felt pretty sane. We were on way to getting into a normal routine and it felt so good. 

Before coming home from the hospital on Thursday we were told by our nurse that Charlie's bilirubin level was a little high and it was recommended we make an appointment with our pediatrician for the next day to get it checked again. After a blood test at the pediatrician's office we learned that Charlie's bilirubin level was at 11 which wasn't concerning. However, the doctor was concerned about the fact that Charlie had lost 10% of his birth weight. He was 7 pounds at birth on Wednesday, and on Friday at the doctor's office weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces. Our pediatrician highly recommended I supplement with formula over the weekend and come back on Monday for a weight check. I am all about breastfeeding exclusively and the idea of supplementing didn't settle. Thankfully my mom backed me up reminding me that Charlie was only a couple days old and jumping into supplementing before my milk had really had a chance to come in could potentially take a toll on my milk supply. I dedicated the weekend to breastfeeding and by Sunday it was clear my milk had come in. Charlie was still latching and eating well, his diapers were full, and I felt confident he was getting what he needed. At his weight check on Monday he weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces, which confirms that mommy intuition always wins! 

The doctor was pleased about Charlie's weight gain over the weekend but we had both noticed that his skin looked more yellow than it did on Friday.

Charlie had his blood drawn again to check the bilirubin level, then we were told to expect a phone call later that day with results. The doctor called while Jay and I were eating dinner and when we tried to call back the office was closed. My mom is listed as an emergency contact for Charlie and luckily was around to pick up when the pediatrician called her. Mom then relayed the information to us: Charlie's bilirubin level was 22 and we needed to take him to the emergency room. The anxiety and panic I felt in that moment was almost too intense to bare. Since I already had a hunch about the jaundice I had done research and felt assured it was something that could pretty easily be cured if it did become a problem for Charlie. But here we were eating our dinner, me feeling more healthy and normal than I had felt since returning from the hospital, and now I was supposed to pack up with my innocent newborn and rush back to the hospital leaving Evelyn? It was an dreadful thought but obviously it wasn't a question- we wanted our boy to be healthy, and so Jay and I proceeded to get ready. Finally I got in touch with a nurse who instructed us on where to go. Chelsea lovingly and willingly stayed at our house from 7:00pm to 12:30am while Evelyn slept and Jay, Charlie, and I rushed off to the hospital. 

From 7:30pm til 12:45am we sat in the emergency room where the doctor examined Charlie, gave him an IV, and then drew his blood to test the bilirubin level once again. Every time they test his blood it takes at least an hour for results to come through. While waiting they wasted no time on treatment and got out a bili light. Charlie's blood indicated his levels were still at 22 which meant he needed to be admitted.

Chelsea offered to stay the night with Evelyn so Jay could stay at the hospital with Charlie and me. The hospital wouldn't have enough space for both of us to stay with Charlie and obviously since he's breastfeeding, I wasn't going to be the one to leave him. Jay went home at 12:00am. Finally by 1:00am Charlie and I were wheeled up to the pediatric floor and all settled in our room by 2:00am. I wouldn't be able to feed Charlie directly from my breast while he was under the bili lights but they provided me with a pump and instructions on how to track his feedings and dirty diapers while he was being treated. The bili lights break down the bilirubin in Charlie's blood and then it is flushed out through his urine and poop. So it was important that Charlie got frequent full feedings which thankfully with my milk supply was not a problem and Charlie was a pooping and peeing machine. Later that morning [Tuesday] at 11:00am Charlie's level had dropped from 22.3 to 16.2 which was great news! 16.2 was still in the high range but it indicated that Charlie was responding well to treatment. The plan was to keep Charlie under the lights for another night and test again in the morning.

By 2:30pm on Tuesday I hit a wall. I had been awake for over 24 hours straight, I hadn't properly brushed my teeth (I forgot to pack toothpaste), I desperately needed a shower, and I just wanted to be home snuggling and breastfeeding my baby, not watching him lay helplessly on a table under  bright lights with most of his face covered, and feeding him through a bottle. And I missed my Jay and my Evelyn! Renee saved the day when she drove up that evening from Corona to stay with Evelyn so Jay could be with Charlie and me at the hospital. He brought me snacks, a Zupas sandwich and dessert, and toothpaste. After eating I took a shower and then slept two hours while Jay took over monitoring and feeding Charlie.

Jay went home to get some rest at 12:00am. The rest of the night was another long one but I did manage to get just a little more sleep than the previous night. Jay returned to the hospital first thing Wednesday morning and stayed long enough to hear the results of Charlie's blood test. His bilirubin level went from 16.2 to 9.3! 9.3 was not at all a concerning number but the doctor wanted to do ONE more blood test- a rebound test. If Charlie tested anywhere below 10.5, we would get to go home that day. But any number above 10.5 would mean another night of treatment at the hospital. The good news was that Charlie could be freed from the lights at least until we got the blood test results, which meant Jay and I could hold him and I could breastfeed again.

I had a hunch that Charlie had jaundice a few days prior to being admitted to the hospital. But I didn't realize just how bad it really was until I held him after he had spent 36 plus hours under the bili lights. I loved him even with that yellow-tinted skin, but it made me so incredibly happy to see him healthy.

Blood was drawn for the rebound test after a few hours of being out of the bili lights. An hour later the nurses came back with results. 8.1! Such a miracle that not only did his level go down, but it went down without the help of the lights. Jay had left the hospital a few hours prior to be with Evelyn since Renee had to head back home. Once I spoke with the nurse I called to tell Jay the news. He and Evelyn booked it over to the hospital and we were discharged.

Charlie has already blessed our lives greatly. His first week of life had been a total whirlwind. But we're hopeful most of the hard stuff is behind us and we can now focus on recovering and getting better acquainted with this new life as a family of four. And needless to say, Evelyn is thrilled to have "baby brudder" home.