Welcome Little Layton

Life still goes on! Soccer games on a Saturday afternoon then ice cream at the hospital before taking mom and Layton home.

Layton's coming home outfit!

Layton Burton Springer was born on 9/11 at 7:23 pm weighing a whopping 8 pounds 3 ounces and measuring in at 22 inches long. This was by far our biggest of the bunch! Layton out weighed his sister by 2 1/2 pounds and his brothers by 1 1/2 pounds and stretched past them all by 4 inches!!! I knew he was a bigger baby because I was so terribly uncomfortable in the last month of my pregnancy, but I didn't anticipate this much bigger! He came in with a bang as well, here is the full story....

I went in for my weekly Dr apt. with Dr Fine at 11 am on 9/11. In the course of Dr Fine checking to see how far I was dilated my water broke. He was as surprised as I was as this had only happened 2 other times in his entire 9 year career. He did manage to determine I was already 4 1/2 cm dilated and said that with how easily my water had broken it probably would have broken walking out to my car. Good thing it broke when it did because Scott and I had plans to go to lunch after the apt. So instead we got lunch at the hospital, Dr Fine wanted me to check in ASAP. So by about 1:00 I was checked into the hospital and cruising the halls trying to get my labor up and going. They were calling me speed racer by the end of the hour, I was determined to get this baby moving along! The contractions started coming more regularly and I was glad that labor had started on its own. I had never had any drugs/interventions with my previous births and didn't want to start on this one (little did I know what would ensue). Labor progressed fast and well as I was dilated to a 7 or 8 by about 5:00 pm. Dr fine came in about 5:45 and broke my water AGAIN, I had soooo much fluid. The nurses and Dr Fine said it was the most fluid they had ever seen. No wonder I was so uncomfortable during the last month! After my water broke the contractions started coming even harder and faster and I was starting to feel the urge to push. Dr Fine checked me again at about 6:30 and determined that Layton's head was resting against my right side pelvic bone and his head was turned looking toward the left hip, not only that his forehead was tipped up and with each contraction was bumping into my pelvic bone and swelling, making it more and more difficult to adjust his position. So during hard contractions and feeling the urge to push Dr Fine tried to manually move him into the birth canal. OUCH is all I can remember. During all this Scott was incredible! He was right there with me encouraging and supporting me in whatever way he could. He was my calm spot in the middle of the storm and I couldn't have done it without him. He was totally aware of my needs and made sure I was in the best place I could be.

After several attempts at manually turning Layton (OUCH OUCH OUCH) we decided that it would be better to get an epidural and be more aggressive at turning him than have a C-section. As a side note, I KNOW I had extra help during this entire experience. After going through three natural childbirths I know the mental state I am in during the pushing/transition stage and it doesn't usually involve any sort cognitive thought. During this entire experience I was able to think clearly about what my options were. I felt extra strength in handling all aspects of what I was experiencing as well as what was to come.

So, on with the saga.... I waited for the epidural guy which seemed like at eternity (especially considering all I wanted to do at that point was push the baby out! All you moms out there know the sensation!) I got the epidural (GROSSS, I know now why I never had one before; it was horrible, it did help the pain but the sensations were so weird!) Dr Fine tried a couple of times again to manually move Layton but after only a couple of minutes my blood pressure and heart rate and Layton's blood pressure and heart rate plummeted! At that point it turned into a scene from ER, all I remember was Dr Fine saying "I'm sorry, Misty I know this is not what you wanted but we need to get this baby out now!" All of a sudden I had an oxygen mask, shots left and right, an IV hooked up, monitors stuck to my skin and in the middle of all this all I could think about is what is happening and where is Scott (he was whisked away to get scrubbed up). I also felt the calming reassurance and extra strength once again. In a strange sort of way I felt like I knew this was going to happen, it is hard to explain, but I had never even considered C-section with my other kids, but with this pregnancy I found myself thinking about what I would do if a C-section had to happen. In the calm moments after birth I was reminded yet again of how lucky I was to be in a hospital, with an OB that could take care of the situation quickly and keep me and the baby safe and out of danger.

So C-section happened, if I thought epidural was weird I was in for it with a C-section. I am strapped to an operating table, totally numb from the ribs down and pumped so full of meds I hardly care. Then I feel the pull and tug of the incision, the pushing and prodding of who know what and then a great big pushing and prodding with lots of pressure and Dr Fine announcing, "this guy has a lot of hair" Scott peeked over as he heard the Dr say this and watched as they pulled Layton out of the womb. They quickly showed me my baby and he and Scott quickly went to determine that all was well.

I recovered in the hospital, not nearly as quickly as with my other births, but every day is a little better. We are so glad Layton is here and healthy. He is a good baby and so calm as you can tell from the pictures. He is joy to our family and has already added so much love to our home. We are blessed to have him in our lives!