Haven Decker Gulbas

Haven Decker Gulbas

Born at 11:23am on June 23

8.0 pounds  20" long

Haven is here!!  He is SOOO perfect, adorable, sweet, calm, and precious!  We can't believe we are parents of two now and we have a SON!!

Here is Haven's birth story.... this is a really long post and probably contains WAY to much information, but I want to remember everything that happened, so here it is:

My original plan was to let Haven come on his own time.  Starting at 36 weeks my body was already progressing so I thought maybe he would be coming a little early.  Every week I'd go in and get checked and I would have progressed further.  By 38 weeks I was almost 4cm dilated; I was sure he was coming soon.  Nope.  He was way too comfy.   On Monday, June 20 (39 week appt) I was unbelievably uncomfortable and we decided that if Haven hadn't come on his own by the Thursday the 23rd I would get induced.  Everyone in my family thought he would come on his own that week, but he didn't!   

I had intense braxton hicks the final months of my pregnancy and so many times I'd think 'this is it!' but they never got consistent enough.  The final weeks before he came I would at least 20-30 contractions each day.

Just hours before Haven arrived!

My induction was scheduled for 7am on Thursday, so my mom slept over Wednesday night so she could take care of Jillian that morning since we had to leave at 6:30am.  Thursday was the perfect day to have Haven come - Jillian had school that day from 9-3 so my mom got her to school and then my parents were able to spend the bulk of the day with us at the hospital!  

By 8:45am all my IV's, epidural, etc were in place and Dr B broke my water.  Before he broke it, I was at 5 cm dilated!  I was shocked!!   I had no idea a woman could be that progressed and NOT be in labor.  They started with the smallest amount you can give of pitocin, and after 30-45 minutes they turned it off because my body was taking over.  (We think Haven would have come that day or the next) 

The next couple hours were a little bit of a blur.  We kept our families and friends up to date as we were told we'd have Haven before lunch.  My mom and dad arrived at the hospital around 10:15, and after talking with them for only 30 minutes or so, it was time for them to wait in the waiting room because Haven was coming!  The nurse had me try one test push and we were ready!  I think I only pushed one or two more times before she called Dr B.... and then it got a little hectic.  Apparently my body was in overdrive trying to get Haven out, and it would take the Dr 5-7 minutes to arrive.  Haven's heartbeat dropped quite a bit and 3-4 additional nurses came rushing in.  They were discussing if they should give me a certain drug to completely stop my contractions.  That is NOT what I wanted.  I didn't want to stop my labor right at the end, so thankfully another nurse suggested repositioning me while we waited and it worked!  Haven's HB jumped back up to 120's.  YAY!   Once Dr B arrived it was less than 5 minutes and Haven was born!  He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, so that explains why his HB was dropping.  Poor guy.  I had a strange feeling at the end of the pregnancy that the cord might be around his neck.  

They took Haven over to the table and a NICU nurse thoroughly cleared out his throat/lungs because they saw meconium when they broke my water.   Thankfully they got it all out before he was able to breath this in.  Thank you God, we didn't want out little man getting an infection!   He scored 9/10 and 9/10 on the APGAR test - he was healthy!   They cleaned Haven up and checked him for about 10 minutes then handed him off to Jeff.   I was itching to get my hands on him, but Dr B was having trouble getting my bleeding under control.  After what seemed like an eternity of pumping me with pitocin, giving me shots in my legs, taking medication orally, etc my bleeding was under control.   Jeff and I breathed a sigh of relief, we were both starting to get quite nervous.  The next day Dr B told me I lost twice as much blood as a normal delivery, roughly around 1,000ccs.  (I have no idea if that's a lot of not, but 1,000 of anything sounds high to me :) )

A little after 12, I was able to hold sweet Haven - FINALLY!  

He was SO precious, just looking around quietly.  I kept kissing him and couldn't take my eyes of him.  I also gave BOTH of his little feet extra kisses - those little bears gave me 24 hour/day back pain.... totally worth it!!   I then tried nursing him, but he wasn't interested, which sadly was just fine with me.  After holding Haven for only 10 minutes all the blood lose caught up with me and I felt terrible.  I couldn't hold him any longer; I had to rest.  

My parents were finally able to come in and meet Haven!!  The nurses let us spend about 30 minutes with Haven before they took him to the nursery.  My parents and Jeff had the best time holding Haven and loving on him!!

That afternoon they brought Haven to our room around 3, a few minutes before my parents got back to the hospital with Jillian.   I can't explain how surreal it felt having TWO kids now!  Jeff and I were filled with so many emotions, mostly thankfulness for these perfect gifts from God!

Jillian spent about an hour with us, and was on perfect behavior.   She would sit in my lap and cuddle for a couple minutes, then she'd get right back to playing with all the equipment.  Thankfully what kept her the most occupied was the in-room phone... hey, it's better than my IV's!   She was curious about Haven and wanted to see and touch him.  I think she even asked to hold him (since we have returned home, she makes this request constantly).  

Jeff's mom and grandma arrived at the hospital around 6 to love on Haven! 

That night Jeff and I took full advantage of the nursing staff and actually got some decent sleep.  They'd wheel Haven in every 3-4 hours for a feeding.  Going this long between feedings was NOT like Jill, they would wheel her back in after 1.5 hours because they couldn't calm her.  Sweet Haven, he was so content, we're hoping this continues at home but I can already see his 'witching hour' forming.  Ugh.

Friday was a fun, relaxing day at the hospital; we soaked up every minute of Haven and didnt let the nurses take him all day.  We had a steady stream of visitors, but nothing overwhelming which I was thankful for.  I was still so exhausted from the previous day.   My parents brought Jillian up again...

Asking to hold him. 

Saturday morning Haven weighed 7pds 10oz, not too bad!  (Side note: We had a 'Color and weight' check 3 days later on Tuesday and he weighed in at 8pds 3oz!  The Dr was shocked!  We have another healthy eater in the Gulbas household!)

Saturday at 12 were we discharged from the hospital!  Haven was coming home!!!  Jeff's family took Jillian to breakfast and the Aquarium downtown Saturday morning - she had a blast!  I was so thankfull they took care of her - she got LOTS of attention plus Jeff and I were able to focus on getting Haven home.  This also freed up my parents so they could come to the hospital and document us bringing our son home!  Everyone arrived back at our house close to 12:30. 

Sunday morning Jeff's family took care of Jillian again - what a lifesaver!  Jillian again got lots of one-on-one attention and had so much fun.  This also freed up Jeff and my mom to help care for me and for Haven.

Holding Haven for the first time!! 

My mom stayed with us until Tuesday, and what a blessing.  She helped us out in so many ways - the laundry, dishes, entertaining Jillian, rocking Haven, cooking, cleaning, running errands, etc.  Thank you SO much mom! 

While I'm on the topic of how helpful people have been, I have to say Jeff has been my rock since I got home.  He has been my true support and cheerleader.  He took off most of last week from work to stay home with us... and I truly could not have done it without him.  He took care of Jillian every single day.  He did the dishes every single day.  He folded laundry.  He organized Haven's closet.  Prepared Jill's meals and gave her a bath daily.  He also took Jillian on countless errands to Home Depot, Gymboree, the Flight Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Chuck-E-Cheese, etc so I could rest at home while Haven napped.  He let me cry on his shoulder and support me when my crazy hormones were out of control.  The first 2-3 nights at home he woke up and sat with me and talked during every night feeding and changed Haven's diapers.  I will be so sad when Jeff has to go back to work on Tuesday, we have been such a great team these past 10 days.   There is no one else I would ever want to take this journey with.  Jeff has been the perfect husband and father!  I love you Jeff!