Jude Michael Vellinga

Jude Michael Vellinga joined our family on February 27th at 11:45 pm. He was born on Ryan's Dad's birthday - so we gave him Michael for a middle name. And here is the long story:

Previous labor history for your enjoyment (very pertinent to the story): Crew was born at 38 weeks exactly, the day my water broke. I had seen the doctor earlier that day for my 38 week appointment and he had checked me to see if I was dilating  I was dilated to 1cm, and he said my bag of waters was bulging. Later that night at 1am I was just falling asleep and woke when my water broke. He was born 7 hours later. Jane was born at 37 weeks 6 days. I had been to the doctor earlier that day for my 38 week appointment. I was checked and was 2-3cm dilated. Labor started late that night. I labored all night at home, got to the hospital around 8am, and she was born around 2pm. Both of my children were born at 38 weeks, and I went into labor after my 38 week appointment. Both babies weight 6lbs 12 oz. So . . . you can imagine what I might have been expecting after the 38 week appointment with this baby. And, you are probably thinking - I bet she didn't get what she was expecting this time. Welp, I'm pleased to inform you that I got exactly what I was expecting! I went to my 38 week appointment when I was technically 38 weeks and 2 days. I was checked, found to be 2cm dilated. Labor pains started literally on the drive home from my appointment. Talk about standard birthing procedures! Apparently my body likes to do things the same way every time.  

I started timing my contractions around 4 pm on Feb 27th. They got pretty consistent really quickly. They were painful, but not too bad. I opted to head to the hospital when they were consistent about 3-5 minutes apart for over an hour. I figured we would just walk around a bit, and once the contractions were bad we would already be there and be able to head right in. I was hoping this would allow me plenty of time to get an epidural. When I had Jane I was admitted to the hospital for several hours before I was able to get an epidural, and dilated all the way to a 6-7. I was in a lot of pain, and I wanted to avoid some of that this time around if I could. Plus, I didn't want to feel stressed and rushing to the hospital. So we got there early, Ryan grabbed a bite to eat, and we just walked the halls for a while. Then I got bored of doing that. Ryan said, lets just go in and the worst they can say is that we should walk around a bit more before coming back. So we did. When I went in it was about 6-7pm, I was only found to be dilated to 3cm, and my contractions weren't hardly showing up on the monitor. I was really mad because they were real and hurting me, but I could tell that the nurses didn't really believe me. They said I should walk around more, and if they got worse come back, if they stopped to go home. 

I decided to go home because I was really annoyed. I had felt labor twice before, and I knew I was in labor. By the time we got home at 8:30pm, the contractions were getting REALLY intense. I tried to sit down and watch some survivor for distraction, but they started getting really strong really fast so I made Ryan drive me right back to the hospital. We got there around 10:30pm and when they checked me I was 5cm dilated. By the time I left triage and got up to the delivery room it was about 11:15pm. Ryan ran to the car to grab our camera while the anesthesiologist put in the epidural. At this point I was in EXTREME pain and agony. It was by far the most difficult laboring I had ever experienced. As soon as he was done and before he put any medication in, the doctor checked me and I was 9cm dilated. So in that 45 minutes I went from a 5 to a 9 totally unmedicated. I pretty much thought I was going to die. The anesthesiologist gave me a little medication that he told the doctor would last an hour, and left. Ryan came back in the room and the doctor said I was going to have the baby within the next 10 minutes so she broke my water. I was still feeling everything, I had no numbing whatsoever. I was begging anyone near me for relief. As soon as she broke my water the doctor left to go get dressed and get ready for the baby to come. That is precisely when things got crazy. All of a sudden I knew the baby was coming out whether I wanted him to or not. I started screaming because I couldn't stop it. Ryan told me not to push, but I wasn't pushing at all. My body was just getting him out. I could feel him move down so fast. His head came out as the nurse and Ryan just looked at me and waited for the doctor. I was screaming at this point. Pretty sure the doctor came running back because she heard my blood curdling screaming. She put on some gloves standing right next to me, grabbed the baby, and handed him to me. 

I was in utter shock and relief once that baby came out. He came so fast once she broke my water. The doctor wasn't dressed in her gowns, the bed wasn't broken down like they do, the baby nursing station wasn't even there or ready. Everyone came rushing in after he was out with all the supplies and things they needed. I was so embarrassed that I screamed so much. But really, it was so much pain, and everything happened so fast and unexpected in those moments that I was reacting, but not thinking at all. I was totally mentally unprepared. I kept repeating over and over, "I can't believe that just happened". I never thought I would be one of those . . . a screamer. But I was actually told that one of the residents down the hall said he had never heard anyone scream like that before. Proud to be setting records around Stonybrook. And later when they took me to my recovery room, my nurse said - oh yes, I heard the baby jumped right out of you. Pretty much true. I was sure there was no chance that he would be born on his Grandpa's birthday - but he made it by 15 minutes! And he came into this world perfect. . . 7lbs 7oz. We are so happy to have him in our family.

This was right before heading to the hospital. You can tell I feel dumb getting my picture taken.

The doctor told us he was a miracle baby. His umbilical cord was tied in a complete knot, which she showed to us. She said you almost NEVER see a baby come out perfect and healthy in a situation like that. It means he had to have made a loop and swam through it at some point when he was small enough to do that (early in the pregnancy). They sent the cord off to be examined and tested just in case.

More hair, and darker hair than Crew & Jane had at birth.

He was nameless for a few days. I even left the hospital without turning his papers in. I had Ryan run them back the next day because I was having such a hard time choosing a name. We had it narrowed down to 2 names, and the kids helped us decide on Jude. They were so happy to come see us at the hospital. Crew was especially excited about the new baby and wanted to hold him and sit with us.

Family of 5. Whew, I'm extremely puffy.

We love this little boy, and couldn't feel more blessed to have him in our family. There really is something special about having a newborn in the home. Its his new perfect little sweet spirit that puts a glow around him. Everything just kind of slows down, and you take each day one moment (and one diaper) at a time :)