Baby Bullet

One of my favorites!

I’ve thought a lot about the birth of Addison and Hudson the last few weeks probably because it’s almost time for me to give birth to the twins.  So it seems appropriate that I’d choose now to share with you the story of Hudson’s birth.   It’s a short one.

The thing is Hudson came into this world ready to rock ours.  I just had a feeling in my gut that he’d be born quickly.  I imagined having him at home in the kitchen with a 3 year old watching.   I asked to be induced and so the day before his due-date we went into the hospital. Best call ever!

To induce labor they first gave me a pill.  I had a bad reaction to it with Addison but they said “oh that would NEVER happen again”.  Well it did.  20 minutes later he went into distress and they stopped labor.   I begged my Dr “please just break my water – I promise I’ll go into labor”.   Finally she agreed and then she left.   I remember her saying “I’m three minutes away – just across the street. If anything happens I’ll be right here.”   She didn’t make it to Hudsons birth.

20 minutes after breaking my water I was allowed to get off the bed and I got up for a bathroom break.  I had two BIG contractions and I thought THIS IS IT!  I was so excited it was starting – I was imagining a similar birth to what we had with Addison.  It was beautiful and Scott was at the foot of the bed and he announced the sex in front of everyone.  Ha – no that’s not how this story goes.

So I go to the bathroom and low and behold I scream “It’s a head.”  My mom thinks I’m joking but then once she gets to the bathroom she starts yelling for the nurse.  My mom is now in position to catch the baby and I’m holding myself up off the toilet by the grab bars on the walls.  The nurse calls my Dr quick and then all these nurses rush in with towels that they throw all over the bathroom.   My mom got pushed into the bathtub somehow and Scott was peeping in through the bathroom door. He was responsible for announcing the sex so he was trying his best to check out the baby parts through all the commotion.  “It’s a boy!” he announces about 2 minutes later.   I remember thinking to myself in a panicky voice “A boy? Holy @#$# your telling me I just had the baby??  On the toilet!!”  He looked SO much like Addison!   I’m pretty sure I was in shock.  First of all, I ‘d just had a baby on the toilet after two contractions and second, couldn’t figure out how I’d just given birth to Addison??

Hudson’s fast birth meant he had a lot of bruising on his face.  At least that’s what everyone told us.  One nurse said “when they are born that fast it’s like hitting a brick wall – I’m not surprised he’s bruised.”  About 10 months later we learned from infectious diseases that “bruising” was actually called Petechiae.  He was actually covered in hundreds of broken blood vessels, which should have been the first clue he was born extremely symptomatic for CMV.   Had the staff been aware of CMV and it’s symptoms Hudson could have been given anti-viral medications.   I also believe his fast birth was because he had a small head – at four months old we got a label for that called Microcephaly.

Pretty soon it seemed the story of Hudsons birth had spread and so his nickname became Baby Bullet.   “So this is baby bullet” the new nursing shift would say when they walked in.   Multiple people wanted us to change his middle name to John (funny – but no, we did not).

Now being pregnant again I’ve also realized I probably have toilet PTSD.   I’ve gone into labor and delivery twice now with pre-term labor and sitting on those toilets is seriously terrifying!   Even Addison yelled at me once – “Don’t go in there – you’ll have the baby!”

Hudson has not stopped surprising us since.   His birth was truly the beginning of this wild and wonderful ride. 

“Motherhood is about raising and celebrating the child you have, not he child you thought you’d have.  It’s about understanding he is exactly the person he’s supposed to be.  And, if you’re lucky, he might be the teacher who turns you into the person you’re supposed to be.”  – The Water Giver