Charles "Charlie" Marshall Graham
Charles "Charlie" Marshall Graham
10/24/24
6:22pm
18.5"
5lbs 7oz
Chocolate
Marshmallow
Graham
Our sweet little s'more has finally joined us!
Over the summer we took a road trip with family. As we were sitting around the campfire making s'mores together, one of our nephews joked we should name the baby Graham Graham. Another nephew said it should be Graham Marshmallow Graham. My sister in law suggested we have a chocolate thrown in there. Like Choc, Chuck, Charles! Charlie. I mentioned my grandfather's name was Marshall and that Charles Marshall sounded very handsome. I looked at Thomas, chuckled a little bit, and we both agreed that the name sounded really great. Our niece joked that we thought we were done having kids, but we just needed s'more!
It all came together so perfectly. And that was when our little Charlie was officially named. Our very own little s'more! We are over the moon and so in love.
Our sweet nephew that helped name Charlie gifted us this cute onesie!
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On the morning of Thursday, October 24th, I went to one of my regular (high risk) appointments to monitor the baby's heart. I'd been going to these NSTs (nonstress test) twice a week. Having gestational diabetes, and therefore insulin therapy, meant I would have extra ultrasounds, NSTs, and general obgyn appointments. I had 5 appointments a week and went 3 days a week to the office for all the extra monitoring. I also had virtual appointments with a diabetic counselor once a week. It was a lot.
My blood pressure was also something we had to monitor. I had pre-eclampsia with my last two pregnancies so it wasn't a surprise when it developed even earlier with this pregnancy. I was monitoring it at home and a few times a week in the office. My levels were slowly creeping up but they weren't too alarming yet.
Around 34 weeks I had a high BP reading at a routine appointment. They sent me over to labor and delivery for more monitoring and labs. I was so upset. I knew it was for the health and safety of both of us, but I knew I wasn't having the baby that day and it felt like a waste of time. My labs came back perfectly and I left the hospital after a few hours with great BP readings. I'm glad they were being cautious but having more jabs and more tests (and more bills) was not fun.
On Thursday morning of October 24th my blood pressure was high. They retook it and it was even higher. My doctor came in very concerned and chatted with me for a few minutes. I was trying hard not to sob. I knew we were close to meeting our boy, but it felt very overshadowed by the concerned voices and swift movement of everything. They immediately sent me to Labor and Delivery and had me check in through the ER. By the time I got to the ER my BP was even higher.
"A blood pressure reading of 180/120 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher is considered a hypertensive crisis and requires immediate medical attention."
My BP was borderline of super scary. Seeing those numbers had me pretty spooked. You know it's bad when the nurse won't tell you what it was and you have to look yourself.
They quickly got me into a room and immediately started monitoring my BP every 5 minutes. Thankfully it lowered but was still within a concerning range. They started multiple IVs on me immediately. I was quite literally tied down with 5 punctures (with a few misses and resticks) and multiple cords and wires coming off of me.
They started me on magnesium to help prevent a stroke and seizures and other complications. I knew my situation was scary, but it really started to feel surreal when they padded the sides of my bed just in case I did have a seizure 😅 That's when it started to really sink in just how serious everything was. To be honest, everything around me seemed very surreal. I knew where I was and why I was there, but it didn't feel real. I had to almost disconnect any real emotion just to get through the hours without losing it.
I suffered with headaches my entire pregnancy. My first trimester was wrecked with nausea and exhaustion. My second trimester was better with the nausea, but my debilitating headaches persisted. By the third trimester I was taking Tylenol every 6 hours around the clock and it didn't even touch the headaches. I was honestly just in constant pain 24/7. It would wake me up at night. My high blood pressure would also wake me as well. If I finally had a decent night, a child or two would wake me. Needless to say, I wasn't sleeping much at all. Which didn't help the headaches either 🤪
Once we (me, Thomas, and my mom) all got settled in the hospital, we just had to wait. Hospitals are just a lot of waiting. I was only 2 cm dilated. They started me on Pitocin to help with speeding up dilation and cranked it up a little bit every hour or so. They wanted me to progress a little bit before we started the epidural.
Thomas jokingly asked if I could wait until after 5pm to have the baby. I was so confused and then remembered he had an important meeting that day. Thankfully it was only a couple miles and only 5 minutes away. He left for a little bit, but knew he needed to be on call just in case things happened faster than anticipated. But at the rate everything was going, I was pretty confident he would be back in plenty of time.
My headache was still pretty severe, so they gave me some meds. They weren't really working, so they gave me fentanyl. My mom took some videos of me where I am singing and then talking about how fentanyl makes me forget to breathe. Oy.
My mom and I were chatting about what it felt like when my water broke with Lincoln. Suddenly, just as I'm describing it, my water broke! It was so strange. Not to be too graphic, but it's a really confusing feeling. My nurse was laughing at me because I was nervous I had just peed myself, but I was already on the catheter so that was impossible.
We called for the anesthesiologist to give me an epidural ASAP.
Let me tell you: Pitocin with your water breaking is not for the faint of heart. I went all natural with Abbie on pitocin and it was not cool. I'm glad I did it once but I'll never do it again! Stick that needle into my back, kind sir. I want to feel nOtHiNg!
Angelo, my knight in shining armor holding that blessed needle, came in a few minutes later. He asked me a few questions.
"Any complications in pregnancy?"
"Nope!"
"Really? So why is your bed padded? And what about the diabetes?"
"Oh! 😬"
Honestly, I've never *felt* high risk, but I most definitely have been for every pregnancy 😆🤷♀️
I got the epidural (thanks for being my support person and holding my knees, Mama!) and then we waited some more. Thomas came back from his meeting and I got to tell him my water broke. Things were finally happening! The countdown was on. My blood pressure was still high but in a decent range. I was being watched very closely. Everyone is really good at playing it cool even if things look concerning. I was pretty unaware of what was going on sometimes, but my mom was very observant and definitely more aware than I was. I tried to be blissfully unaware because the stress was not great for my blood pressure!
I was only at 4 cm but progressing. Shortly after I was at an 8. That was very exciting and all happened within an hour. By this time it was about 5:30 pm.
Suddenly, we heard a commotion. "THERE'S A BABY ON THE BED!" Someone across the hall gave birth straight into the bed. It was chaotic for a few minutes as we listened to the excitement and disbelief that surrounded us.
Then we heard the cries of another new baby. And then another. And then another! 3 babies were born very close together. And I was next! I just didn't know it yet!
My contractions were still toward the front. I knew when they shifted more toward the back that I was transitioning and he was coming very soon.
I felt one big contraction in the back. Then another very soon after. A third. I called for the nurse and doctor. A fourth. I made them look to make sure I didn't have a baby on the bed! It felt like he was really right there. I was having flashbacks to when I had Abbie and the nurse was holding her inside of me until the doctor showed up a few long minutes later. That is not a fun time. 0/10 do not recommend!
The doctor came in shortly after I started to really panic. They got me all set up and told me to push as soon as I felt another contraction. I started to push when suddenly the doctor yelled at me to pull it back and stop. So I stopped. I didn't even give it half a push and he was suddenly here! The tiniest little baby I'd ever seen. He had a nuchal cord around his neck that wasn't super tight but a little tight, so I think that's why she told me to suddenly stop. She unwrapped it and then he slipped right out. All 5 pounds of him!
I couldn't believe how tiny he was. I had guessed about 6 pounds before we got the actual weight.
Charlie came out so fast that both my mom and Thomas said they almost missed it completely! Thankfully I had a mirror so I got to see the whole thing. Childbirth is seriously so cool. My epidural was perfect in that I could feel everything I needed to feel without feeling too much!
They put him on my chest and took his vitals. They had to monitor his blood sugar and get his temperature up soon after birth, so they took him to the warming bed to continue all his newborn screenings. The worst part about the whole thing was the doctor encouraging my placenta to detach. I had little to no pain from delivery but the bruising from the doctor was pretty painful.
Soon after, they returned Charlie to my chest and let me nurse him for the first time. A 36 week baby has just mastered the suck/swallow ability, so I was nervous he would struggle a bit. My other two 36 weekers struggled at first, but Charlie latched on like a champ. I was able to keep him on my chest for a full hour before they finished up his newborn shots and eye jelly.
When you're on magnesium you are stuck in bed for another 24 hours after birth just to make sure you don't have a postpartum event. It can also make you very nauseated. I was lucky and didn't have any side effects. My BP was looking good so they were able to stop the magnesium right after labor. My doctor admitted later that I probably didn't need it, but I told her I was glad it was available just in case. All of my labs had come back clear and within range, so I think I was lower risk than we originally thought. But I was okay with them taking every precaution and taking advantage of every preventative measure.
Angelo, my knight in shining armor holding that blessed needle, came in a few minutes later. He asked me a few questions.
"Any complications in pregnancy?"
"Nope!"
"Really? So why is your bed padded? And what about the diabetes?"
"Oh! 😬"
Honestly, I've never *felt* high risk, but I most definitely have been for every pregnancy 😆🤷♀️
I got the epidural (thanks for being my support person and holding my knees, Mama!) and then we waited some more. Thomas came back from his meeting and I got to tell him my water broke. Things were finally happening! The countdown was on. My blood pressure was still high but in a decent range. I was being watched very closely. Everyone is really good at playing it cool even if things look concerning. I was pretty unaware of what was going on sometimes, but my mom was very observant and definitely more aware than I was. I tried to be blissfully unaware because the stress was not great for my blood pressure!
I was only at 4 cm but progressing. Shortly after I was at an 8. That was very exciting and all happened within an hour. By this time it was about 5:30 pm.
Suddenly, we heard a commotion. "THERE'S A BABY ON THE BED!" Someone across the hall gave birth straight into the bed. It was chaotic for a few minutes as we listened to the excitement and disbelief that surrounded us.
Then we heard the cries of another new baby. And then another. And then another! 3 babies were born very close together. And I was next! I just didn't know it yet!
My contractions were still toward the front. I knew when they shifted more toward the back that I was transitioning and he was coming very soon.
I felt one big contraction in the back. Then another very soon after. A third. I called for the nurse and doctor. A fourth. I made them look to make sure I didn't have a baby on the bed! It felt like he was really right there. I was having flashbacks to when I had Abbie and the nurse was holding her inside of me until the doctor showed up a few long minutes later. That is not a fun time. 0/10 do not recommend!
The doctor came in shortly after I started to really panic. They got me all set up and told me to push as soon as I felt another contraction. I started to push when suddenly the doctor yelled at me to pull it back and stop. So I stopped. I didn't even give it half a push and he was suddenly here! The tiniest little baby I'd ever seen. He had a nuchal cord around his neck that wasn't super tight but a little tight, so I think that's why she told me to suddenly stop. She unwrapped it and then he slipped right out. All 5 pounds of him!
I couldn't believe how tiny he was. I had guessed about 6 pounds before we got the actual weight.
Charlie came out so fast that both my mom and Thomas said they almost missed it completely! Thankfully I had a mirror so I got to see the whole thing. Childbirth is seriously so cool. My epidural was perfect in that I could feel everything I needed to feel without feeling too much!
They put him on my chest and took his vitals. They had to monitor his blood sugar and get his temperature up soon after birth, so they took him to the warming bed to continue all his newborn screenings. The worst part about the whole thing was the doctor encouraging my placenta to detach. I had little to no pain from delivery but the bruising from the doctor was pretty painful.
Soon after, they returned Charlie to my chest and let me nurse him for the first time. A 36 week baby has just mastered the suck/swallow ability, so I was nervous he would struggle a bit. My other two 36 weekers struggled at first, but Charlie latched on like a champ. I was able to keep him on my chest for a full hour before they finished up his newborn shots and eye jelly.
When you're on magnesium you are stuck in bed for another 24 hours after birth just to make sure you don't have a postpartum event. It can also make you very nauseated. I was lucky and didn't have any side effects. My BP was looking good so they were able to stop the magnesium right after labor. My doctor admitted later that I probably didn't need it, but I told her I was glad it was available just in case. All of my labs had come back clear and within range, so I think I was lower risk than we originally thought. But I was okay with them taking every precaution and taking advantage of every preventative measure.
My headache continued on for a few hours after birth, but it was a different kind of headache. They gave me Tramadol. That was the last headache I've had. It is a very freeing experience to not feel the same tiring pain of a constant headache after spending a solid 8 months with one. I seriously felt like a brand new person.
The next day the kids, grandpa, and a cousin came to visit us and meet the baby. It was a wild few minutes. It was a really bizarre experience to see all FIVE of our children. It was a very humbling reminder that we did, in fact, have 5 children now. I'm still having to remind myself! So.many.children. The best part was trying to show Charlie to Tommy, our 2 year old. He was so oblivious to the baby at first. It was comical!
The rest of our hospital stay was full of more newborn tests, monitoring my vitals, and just waiting. We ate, watched The Office and Friends, and just soaked up our new baby boy. One of the nurses told us to enjoy our time with just one before we go back to our full house with the other four! That was great advice!
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