The 5 Cranes: Mason David Crane

Mason's Birth Story

On Tuesday March 1, I went in to see my OB/GYN, Dr. Kinghorn. My mom was in town because we had moved the Saturday before (!!). We had been walking everywhere. Like a few miles everyday. I was so shocked that I was still pregnant because Caleb came 3 weeks early and I was having pretty hard contractions but they weren't consistent. I had my doctor check to see if anything was progressing and nothing had changed since the previous week. Nothing. I was about 3 cm and 90% effaced. We had discussed being induced because my mom was only going to be here a short while and I really wanted her to be here for the birth to help with Ellie and Caleb. So we scheduled an induction for Friday morning. I was absolutely terrified of being induced. I loved the natural birth I had with Caleb and how quickly I recovered afterward. I desperately wanted to have the same experience this time around, but I knew that the contractions from the Pitocin are super super intense. I had been through that with Ellie. Not fun. Thursday night I asked Danny to give me a blessing (like a special prayer) to help me find the peace and strength I needed to give birth to our baby. I went to bed filled with anticipation and could not stop thinking about how I would be holding my baby at that time the next day.

Friday morning I called the hospital at 6:00 to see what time they wanted me to come in. They said everything was full, but to call back in a couple hours. So we busied ourselves around the house until 8:00 and then I called back. They told me to come on in and be there at 9. The drive from our new house to St. Marks is about 40 minutes, so we hustled getting ready and grabbing everything we needed. Thankfully I had packed my hospital bags weeks before so that was good to go. We got to the hospital a little after 9 and were taken to my Labor and Delivery room. We did all the checking in stuff and answered all those fun questions and then I put on the stylish hospital gown and settled in on the bed. I had 2 wonderful nurses that helped me so much. They were awesome! One of them had been in a snow blower accident where some of her fingers had been cut off a couple weeks before so she couldn't use her left hand. That was kind of awkward when she went to put my IV in, but overall I was really impressed with her one-handed skills!

About 10:30 they started me on Pitocin. Danny and I settled in to binge on The Blacklist. Every half hour, the nurse came in to increase my Pitocin. My doctor came in and talked with us and checked me at 11:30. I was still at the same point as I was on Tuesday. Not much progress. I was able to labor just sitting in bed until about 2 then Danny and walked around the halls for a while. Just back and forth, back and forth. When we got back to my room, I bounced on the birthing ball for an hour or so. Love that thing. The nurse told us that Dr. Kinghorn would come back to check on me about 5:30 and we would talk about breaking my water then.

A little before 5:30, my doctor checked me. I was only 4 cm! That's it. After laboring all day long, walking those halls, bouncing on the ball, enduring those contractions, I had only progressed 1 cm. I was pretty ticked. So I decided to have her go ahead and break my water. I knew that contractions would be extremely intense once my water broke because that is how things were with Caleb. After she left, I got up to go to the bathroom and could hardly walk back to my bed. Things were insanely intense, insanely fast. I made it to the birthing ball and sat on it while Danny and one of my nurses rubbed my back. By the way, Danny was a gem through this whole process. Each birth has been different and he has been there for me throughout each of them. Danny pretty much spent the day pushing around my IV, making sure I didn't get tangled up in all the cords. He's got that thing down to an art now.

Eventually I was just sitting on the ball and leaning over the bed. I was exhausted. I told my nurse I was so tired and I couldn't do this anymore. I wanted that epidural. I was thinking I would be in labor forever because I was just not dilating. She started to put together the order for the epidural and I immediately felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. She knelt down by me and asked if it felt like I had to poop (haha). I told her yes and she said, "Is it ok if I check you first because it might be your baby?" After that contraction, I pretty much jumped on my bed. She checked me and told me not to push. We were a go! She called for my doctor, who came sprinting in along with all the nurses. My doctor said to push. I pushed 3 times and he was here! As she held him up, I exclaimed "It's a boy!" and just cried tears of joy and excitement that he was finally here and healthy. Such an awesome, beautiful moment. They placed him on my chest and I was in love. He was so perfect. Danny cut the cord and everyone and everything else just faded away. This is my favorite moment after each of my births, just snuggling and loving that baby for the first time. There is nothing better!

He was born at 6:15 (45 minutes after they broke my water) and weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. As they were checking out Mason, they noticed he was breathing kind of fast. Because they didn't want him to choke, I had to wait to feed him until his breathing slowed down. He had to wait for about 45 minutes. He was not happy about that. By the time we were in our recovery room, he had given himself a huge hickey on his arm. Poor baby! But his breathing slowed down and he's been a fantastic eater ever since.

Ellie and Caleb came to meet him on Saturday. Ellie was immediately head over heels for her little brother. She was so careful and sweet with him. Caleb tried to press every button he could see and didn't really pay much attention to the baby in the room. But he has done so well with the transition...maybe because he's in denial about not being the baby anymore. We stayed in the hospital for 2 nights (I hate that!!) and came home on Sunday. So grateful to be a family of 5!