Jacob Fenly Rhoton

 Our baby Jake has finally made it! But, like all of my pregnancies, there is always some kind of drama. On Friday, October 26 (34 weeks, 3 days), I was not feeling good all day. I wasn't having contractions, but I was feeling a lot of pressure and really crampy. I drank a ton of water and laid flat the entire day, finally around dinner time I decided to call my doctor. She said try to do all the things I had already been doing.  I told her something just wasn't right, so she had me come into the hospital. I went in and they did some tests, one of them was a fFN test (it tells if you will go into labor within the next 2 weeks). The fFN came back positive, so they kind of freaked out. I wasn't too worried because I had been told that they aren't that accurate. Then the doctor checked if I was dilated. I was 3 cm dilated, so then they really freaked out. Since the hospital here can only handle babies 36 weeks or later they decided to send me to TMC in Tucson. So I got to take my first ambulance ride. I hope I never have to do that again!

 

I was having a lot of contractions by the time I got to Tucson at midnight. But once I got all checked in and was able to sleep they stopped. Since nothing was happening I got to be put in an Antenatal room. I was really happy about that because the labor and delivery beds are very uncomfortable. It was hard being away from Miki, but luckily she could come and visit.

 

 

 

 

 

At 34 weeks and 6 days I got another ultrasound. I was pretty excited about it because not only had I not seen him for awhile, I got to get out of my room!

 

 

At 35 weeks 1 day on October 31, I was able to be released from the hospital as long as I stayed in Tucson until 36 weeks. So Jory came down and we stayed at a WorldMark resort. On Sunday November 4 (35 weeks 5 days), I was having contractions and feeling pressure again, so we decided to head to the hospital. I got checked out and put on the monitor. I was having contrations 2 minutes apart and in an hour I had dilated to 5 cm. So I got sent to L&D again. We were sure we would be having a baby that day. But not to long after that the contractions stopped again.

 

 

 

Since I was dilated so much and had a bulging bag of water I was told I would be in the hospital until I delivered the baby. My mom, dad and Miki came down because they figured I would be having the baby right away. I got put in an Antenatal room again and stayed there for a while. I made it to 36 weeks 1 day and still nothing was happening. Finally a different doctor came on and released me.

 



 

 

I got released and was able to go home. I was scared the entire 2 hour drive I was going to have a baby on the side of the road. 

 

 

On Wednesday, November 14 (37 weeks, 1 day), also my parents 27th anniversary, I was feeling pretty good, except for the fact I felt like I was walking around with a bowling ball between my legs. In the afternoon I started to have contractions. My doctor told me if I have 5-6 contractions in an hour to head to the hospital. Well I had about 10 in an hour so I figured it was time to go. I got there about 3:30 and was put on the monitors. I was having contractions, but nothing I couldn't handle. I started thinking I could do everything natural. I waited around until 5:30 for the doctor to come. She checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm. She told me I could just wait it out (they wouldn't release me) or she could break my water. I decided to let her break my water. She was going to do it right then, but the nurse started freaking out because I didn't have an IV or my blood drawn yet. So they put in the IV and broke my water at 6:30. I still didn't have my blood drawn yet and if I wanted an epidural I needed to tell them right away because they had a C-Section scheduled for 8. After 2 contractions I knew I wanted an epidural. So I called and waited and waited for them to come draw my blood. Finally a nurse just decided to do it. By the time the anesthesiologist came I was having very close and very intense contractions and dilated to 9. It was too late. So I did it all naturally and I never want to do that again! That is the worse pain I have ever experinced. After 3 pushes Jacob was born at 7:31 pm. He had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, but there was no evidence of it before that. He weighed 7 lbs and was 19 1/2 inches. We love our little guy and so happy he is here and healthy!

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

We were lucky to have a very healthy baby and an easy recovery for me. We were released 24 hours after he was born. 

 

 

 

Luckily for me he is a good sleeper and eater. We all love him, especially Miki!

Baby Update

This pregnancy had been going pretty good. My cervix was staying pretty strong. It was getting smaller, but not too bad.

24 weeks
Cervix 3.4 cm



26 weeks
Cervix 3.1 cm

At 28 weeks, I went in for my appointment my cervix was measuring in between 2.4-1.9. It was fluctuating which isn't good either. If it gets below 2.5 that is bed rest zone. So I was put on strict bed rest. I had a feeling that was going to happen, so that morning I cleaned my house really well. Cleaning had become a struggle anyway, because I would get tired fast or start hurting.So doing that probably was really bad for me. The night before we went to a Night Out thing and I had walked a few blocks and I knew it wasn't good for me. So I knew I had just done too much.

28 weeks

At 29 weeks (I had to go in a week later to check) my cervix was measuring 2.6 cm. So it had improved, but not good enough to take me off bed rest. The baby was looking good though and weighed 3 pounds 5 oz.

29 weeks

I have been on bed rest almost 4 weeks now and it is surprisingly going by pretty fast. I still have issues getting infections. I asked the doctor why it keeps happening and she didn't know. She told me my body just might not like being pregnant. She told me her goal is for me to make it to 34 weeks. My goal is now 36 weeks, which I think I can do. I am a lot better off right now then I was with Miki at this point in my pregnancy. If I have a baby before 36 weeks I will have to be flown to Tucson because the hospital here can't handle babies smaller then that. As much fun as I would be to go on my first helicopter ride, I don't want to be in that situation!

Madison and McKenzie's 4th Birthday

On August 25 and 26 was Madison and McKenzie's 4th Birthday. I can't believe it has already been 4 years! Miki knows all about her big sissies and is always excited to go visit them.

Vegas Vacation

 At the beginning of August my parents planned a family trip to Las Vegas. It's the first time in a long time that everyone was able to go together. Of course, like every vacation we take we had some kind of problem. Luckily it wasn't too bad this time. We were taking boats and jet ski's for the boys to go to Lake Mead, but the boat trailer's lights weren't working. Luckily, Jory is smart and was able to figure out the problem and fix it.

 

 

It was over 100 degrees and it was night time!

The pregnant girls. I think this is the only picture we have taken together since being pregnant.

We spent a lot of time swimming. Miki loved it and so did I. Especially since it was a million degrees outside and I was hot!

We bought her some new floaties and she loved them. She would swim all over the place with them on.

The river pool. Miki's favorite.

Cute little girl

One night we went to "The Tournament of Kings" at Excalibur and played some games before the show.

Since she was the only kid there, everyone would win prizes for her. She is spoiled!

Tournament of Kings

Of course, we went shopping while we were there. One stop was the M&M Store

Miki loved all these M&M people everywhere

 

At the mall on the carousel

Since she didn't get as much sleep as she was used to, Miki had an attitude the entire time.

We also went to a Criss Angel show, but we couldn't take pictures. It was a fun trip, but I decided next time I don't want to be pregnant when we go. It's hard to walk around that place!

July

On July 5th I had an ultrasound scheduled in Tucson, since July 4th was a Wednesday the ultrasound people weren't coming that week. The doctor said she didn't want me to go 3 weeks between ultrasounds so I said I would go to Tucson. We left on July 3rd and stayed in my parents resort. They also decided to come with us for a mini vacation.

 

On the 4th we took Miki to Tucson's Children Museum. I was so excited to take her because it looked like a lot of fun, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. Miki had a lot of fun though!

This area was probably the most fun. It was a little grocery store. But it was so crowded Miki was afraid to do anything.

As soon as we walked out all Miki wanted to do was run around in the grass. We should have just took her to a park!

Toward the end up July my parents got a resort in Tucson for a whole week, so my mom could take my dad to all his doctor appointments. Some of the kids got to come for part of the week.

It was fun just being able to swim whenever we wanted! Miki loved it, especially after 3 weeks of swimming lessons with her Aunt Bri.

June

At the beginning of June, my dad ended up in the hospital. He got home from selling a car and didn't feel good. Luckily, Dani, the nurse happened to be in town that day. She checked his pulse and couldn't find it, then checked his blood pressure and it was really low. She told him to go to the ER, but he wanted to lay down for a while. Finally, he decided he needed to go to the hospital, but he couldn't get up to go. So, Dani had to call 911 for an ambulance. I happened to be driving up to my parents house at this time and me and Miki saw the ambulance parked in front of the neighbors house. Miki thought it was a fire truck and wanted to go see it. So we started walking towards it. Then I noticed my dad coming out on a stretcher. That was a scary sight, since I had no clue what was going on. At the hospital, they put in a temporary pacemaker, so his heart would keep beating and then flew him to Tucson. He ended up having to much potassium in his system and it was killing him.

At the hospital in Safford

Getting ready to fly him to Tucson

My dad has always wanted to ride in a helicopter, just not this way!

Out of the ICU in Tucson.

He was able to come home a few days later and luckily didn't need a pacemaker like we all were thinking.