Preston James Finlay-Birth Story

Basic Details

Preston James Finlay

Born Monday, June 10, 2013 at 5:18pm

9 lbs 1 oz

20.5 in

Induced at 37 weeks, 2 days (due to ICP)

on the way to the hospital, our last picture as a family of 4

Full Story

First, a brief synopsis of the ups and downs of this pregnancy:

1st Trimester-normal pregnancy symptoms to complain about.  Fatigue (falling asleep on the chair trying to read stories to kids every afternoon), nausea (mostly just dry-heaving, only actually threw up a few times...I’ve learned taking my vitamins at night eating every 2-3 hours helps) and frequent headaches were the worst of the symptoms.  I still felt good enough I was able to stay active and felt good overall.

2nd Trimester-came at the perfect time.  We traveled to Utah for Christmas and my brother’s wedding.  I felt really good, was able to play and help and enjoy time with family without the annoyance of the 1st trimester symptoms.  Right knee started hurting as it has with my other pregnancies (doctor said most likely my cartilage doesn’t like pregnancy hormones), but it was only bothersome if I had to sit without being able to stretch out my legs.  Some other pregnancy annoyances lingered like constant congestion and acid reflux, but for the most part it was an exciting time.  Started feeling baby move at about 15 weeks, got to see the baby a couple of times with ultrasounds and found out the gender at 20 weeks.

3rd Trimester-pregnancy adds some curveballs to make it more exciting.  Diagnosed  at 28 weeks with Gestational Diabetes (which was a big surprise, although I found out there is a high correlation with people that get cholestasis that also get gestational diabetes), tried to manage with diet and exercise but morning glucose levels wouldn’t cooperate so had to start medication for that.  Started the classic ICP itching at 34 weeks so went in to test for cholestasis (since I had it with Ethan, it was very likely to get it again).  Managed to confuse the doctors with some results coming back elevated but not others.  So, in an effort to figure out what was going on the doctors ordered all kinds of blood tests, urine tests and ultrasounds.  I was put on the medication to treat for ICP, which should have helped lower my numbers, but after a retest of my bile acids they had risen out of the normal range despite the medication, so the doctor gave me the official diagnosis and scheduled an induction.

getting cleaned off in the bath

The Birth

After dropping Brielle off at school and Ethan with Megan and Annie to take care of him, James and I went to the hospital. We checked in at 9am, then took forever in answering questions and getting all set up.  Midwife checked me and said I was about 3.5 centimeters dilated to start so recommended pitocin.  Got started at 10:30.  Contractions started up soon after and were regular and strong, but more pressure than pain.  I expected a hard and fast labor like Ethan's, but this baby didn't want to come out. James and I watched a movie, talked, played games, and rested waiting for something to happen.  I had asked the doctor if I could stop the pitocin once labor started progressing to see if my body would do it on its own. She agreed to that, and and also let me go off monitors for about 20-30 minutes at a time to move around which was nice.  After about 6 hours with not much happening we decided to have the doctor check my progress and break my water to get things moving.  With my other kids, contractions became much more intense after the water broke, so I geared up for the hard part.  At that point I was dilated to a 5 or 6 and baby was still at stage 0.  Right after water broke contractions picked up in intensity by a lot.  I was having to focus more to get through them.  I went to the bathroom, came back to the bed to be monitored, and soon after told James to let the nurse know I was ready to have pitocin turned off.  The nurse came in and I told her I was getting close to pushing.  Then the next couple of contractions I was ready.  She freaked out and called for the doctor and back up and yelled at me to stop pushing.  I remember saying 'I can't'. Contractions were right on top of each other, extremely painful, and it was time to push him out. She finally got in position to catch him after the head was out.  The doctor came in the room after it was all done.  She delivered the placenta and fixed a couple minor tears.  So, it was only 45 minutes after my water broke that I went from 5cm to holding my baby.  He was born at 5:18pm weighed 9lbs 1oz and was 20.5 inches long (although James said that length didn't look like it was accurately measured).

He was immediately placed on me and was very interested in nursing.  James got to hold him as well while they got me cleaned up.  Because I delivered before anyone was ready, I made a huge mess all over the bed and floor.  There was water and blood everywhere!  I felt really bad as they cleaned it all up, but was relieved to have baby out and healthy.

There was some concern in the beginning with his blood sugar being too low, but he was fine other than that. The pediatrician recommended to give his some formula to help raise his sugar levels, then the nurse said to keep him skin-to-skin all night and nursing as much as possible. That seemed to do the trick. All of his next tests were in normal range, so by 24 hours after being born we were able to be discharged to go home.

Brielle and Ethan come to meet their new brother at the hospital

The Name

We had talked about different name options throughout the pregnancy, but hadn't settled on anything. With our other kids we waited for them to be born so we could meet them before choosing their name and figured we would do the same for this one. We had 2 middle names picked out, and had narrowed it down to about 5 options for a first name. After meeting this baby we quickly settled on Preston for the first name, but the middle names we had chosen and stuck with for the full pregnancy didn't seem right anymore. Preston James was actually the top name choice we had for Ethan throughout most the pregnancy 4 years ago, but wasn't right for him. It seemed to fit this baby, so we filled out the paperwork and made it official.

The hospital-Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center

Spring-Time Swimming Lessons

We love spring in Southern California! 

The kids had a 2-week session of swimming lessons in May.  It is a great way to review their skills and get ready for a full summer of swimming.

They have the kids lay on the deck to wait their turn for the diving board.

Diving board day is the last day of each week, the kids look forward to it.

These kids are getting to be pretty good swimmers.

And they love that they get to be in the same class with their cousins.

Ethan jumping off the Diving Board


Gavin and Brielle jumping off Diving Board

Fly On The Wall-A Thursday

It's the last Thursday of only having 2 kids in our family and the last Thursday of this school year...so life is going to change.  Once again, not a typical day...but this is how we spent it.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

6AM-Getting Ready
Didn't walk/run this morning, because I had to fast (food and drink) for lab work today and didn't feel it was a good idea to exercise without being able to drink water.  I'm getting ready before the rest of the house gets moving.

7AM-Breakfast
Made pancakes for James and the kids since I wasn't eating. (I don't care for pancakes, but they all like them.)  I'm working on getting everyone's lunches ready to head out for the day. (Ethan and I need one as well since we're planning to be gone all day.)  James is about to head out on his bike to work.

8AM-Heading to Doctor
Dropped Brielle off at school.  Ethan is with me going to the 1st doctor's visit of the day, a checkup with my OB.

9AM-In Doctor's Office
Ethan is playing with one of his current favorite entertainments...silly putty.  He loves to try it on different textures.  He is currently using coins to stamp his putty and then turning the whole thing into different animal shapes.

10AM-At the Park
We had some time between one appointment and another, so I took Ethan over to play at the park until we had to go back to the doctor again.

11AM-Getting an Ultrasound
Doctor wanted me to get an ultrasound to check my liver since my liver functions have been elevated.  The technician is having a hard time getting to what she needs to see since the baby has pushed it all up so high my liver is under my sternum.

12PM-Running Errands
Ethan and I are having a picnic and taking care of a few things (bank, library, etc.) before it is time to get Brielle from school.

1PM-Picking up Brielle and Gavin
Thursday is short day, so they get out at 12:55.  They had field day today and are both very talkative about the activities at school.  Usually it is hard to get them to tell me about their day right after school, but today was obviously so exciting I'm trying to listen to both of them at once.

2PM-Back at the Doctor
Doctor wanted me to go in for a non-stress test today, but kids aren't allowed.  Aunt Megan is watching kids while I go back to the doctor to check on baby again.  Laying on the bed listening to baby's heartbeat.

3PM-Picking up Kids
Kids got to swim at Grandma's house while I was at the doctor.  They had a great time and didn't miss me a single bit.

4PM-Picking up James
James is teaching a class at the local College tonight, so needs the car.  I'm getting him from work early so he can take us home and use the car to go teach his lecture.

5PM-Prepping Dinner
Spaghetti, Watermelon and Zucchini   Going to eat early tonight since James won't be home and kids are worn out and hungry from busy day.

6PM-Reading with Kids
I think they'd fall asleep right now if I put them to bed, but I don't want Ethan up quite so early in the morning so we're reading stories to stay up a bit longer.

7PM-Writing in Journal
Kids are in bed, James is still gone.  I'm writing in baby's journal about updates from today's doctor visit.

8PM-Folding Laundry
James is home and eating dinner.  We are watching a show (The Office) while he eats and I fold laundry.

9PM-Bedtime Snack
With the gestational diabetes I'm supposed to eat a snack at 9pm every night.  It's supposed to be 2 carbs, 1 protein and 1/2 glass of milk.  It use to be a ham sandwich was the only thing that would keep my fasting sugar levels down, but when that stopped working and I had to take medication I've found it works well to have peanut butter and crackers.

10PM-Getting Ready for Bed
Done with another day, ready for some rest.

Preschool U, V, W

 2 pictures from each week as a representation of what we've been learning about...

U for Under and Umbrella

for our movement time we found all the different spots in the house we could climb under.  

And used this idea to make rainy day umbrella pictures.

V for Volcano

we used kits that Gavin and Brielle got for Christmas to make volcanoes.  It was a big hit!

I drew different letters and had the kids spray find all the V's and squirt them with water.  We made lots of baking soda and vinegar volcanos during the week.  And turned our food into volcanoes (i.e. mashed potatoes with lava gravy and rice crispy treats shaped into volcanoes with red frosting for lava)

W for Water

what better way to learn about water than to play in it!

We did lots of different experiments with water, learned about the water cycle and did water color painting.

Soccer

We decided to let the kids try out soccer this year.  It worked out that the kids could be on the same team. (there was a 4-5 year old league; Ethan had just turned 4 and Brielle was not quite 6)


They both loved playing goalie and every time the coach asked who wanted a turn in that position their hands would shoot up in the air.


Ethan mostly loved the chance to hang back and practice cartwheels.  He also spent much of his time on the field dancing and picking dandelions.

But every once in a while he would actually catch or kick the ball.  And then would run off the field to announce to me that he had done it!

Brielle usually payed a bit more attention to the game when she was goalie.

And by the end of the short season she had made big improvements in learning to play.

Direct quote from Brielle's journal: "I like soccer, because you get to have 3 water breaks or maybe 2...I can’t remember.  I like soccer.  I love soccer.  I like to dribble the ball; it’s my favorite thing in soccer. "

Mother's Day

Sunday morning we got together for breakfast as a surprise to Margaret to have all 5 of her kids, spouses and grandkids together.

Annie made the Mother's Day banner in the background.  It worked out that we have the exact number of people in the family right now to spell out Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday Evening all the men in the family were put in charge of dinner.  It was a fantastic meal with steak, chicken, salad, asparagus, corn on the cob and twice baked potatoes.  

I don't have a pictures, but they also made amazing appetizers and dessert.

Ethan kept wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day....close enough.  I think all the women felt loved.

Brielle's 6th Birthday

Brielle celebrated her birthday not just on the day of, but all weekend.  She really wanted to have a sleepover at Grandma and Papa Finlay's house, so invited her cousin Elise for a girl's night.  They were treated like royalty.  They went swimming, had dinner, went  out for frozen yogurt and went to the dollar store to pick out their favorite item.  She then had chocolate chip pancakes, made by Papa for her birthday breakfast.


Saturday night (Brielle's actual birthday) we went to see the BYU Mens' volleyball team play in the finals.  We've been to a few games this season and Ellie has really gotten in to them.  She was excited for the game.

Sunday we celebrated with a family birthday dinner.  She was very specific with her menu request.  Pita Chips and Hummus for appetizer.  Lasagna, Caesar Salad, Breadsticks and Fruit (pineapple, raspberries and blackberries) for dinner.  Chocolate cake with homemade ice cream for dessert.  With contributions for extended family members we pulled it all together.

Brielle decided she wanted a candyland cake this year.  Because it was going to be so covered with candy, I made a pan of rice crispy treats to decorate and then the requested chocolate cake (a texas sheet cake) to eat.

Brielle was very thankful for all the cards and gifts.  She took time to read each one.  Thank you to everyone for making her feel so special!