We welcomed Boyd Carroll on March 6th, 2020 right before the world shut down. I was so good about documenting Flynn’s monthly progress especially over the first year and did fairly good with Cora but admittedly have done horrible with Boyd and am now just sitting down to write his birth story. Life with 3 is no joke. But I was reminded recently how important it is to write a birth story (even if it’s late!) and I am determined to at least have this documented for our sweet Boyd. So here goes!
Medically I had an easy pregnancy and though I continued to be high risk due to my early delivery with Flynn, everything went pretty smoothly. I did have to get a cerclage placed at 13 weeks and received weekly progesterone injections but my cervix never did shorten. This was definitely my hardest pregnancy physically for me. I was really nauseous the entire first trimester and sporadically throughout the rest of the pregnancy. Around 16 weeks I developed issues with an umbilical hernia due to my expanding uterus. This issue peaked at 4-6 months of pregnancy and I had to stop exercising because of it. I would randomly have the sensation that something was slipping through my ab wall (some intestine I believe) and would have to manually push it back in (which was pretty painful). A few times it got stuck out and I had to lay down and just ice it until it went back in. Fortunately as my uterus got bigger it essentially blocked anything from coming out. My belly button was fully popped out for the third trimester and I really feared it would never go back. It did, thankfully! Besides that fun issue I just had a lot of aches and pains. The third time around it definitely felt like my body was just TOO ready for delivery. At about 20 weeks on I had terrible pubic and pelvic pain. If I got out of bed in the middle of the night it was hard to put weight on my right leg at all. Since I had a vaginal delivery with Flynn and a c-section with Cora our doctor was agreeable to either delivery method. From the start I told her we would do what was safest. With Flynn, I pushed for 2 hours and I did have a small tear but he was only 4 lbs 3.7 oz. I really wasn’t sure what my body would be capable of delivering and I definitely did not want to push for several hours only to end up having an emergency c-section and then be faced with recovering from both. Boyd ended up making the decision for us. At 28 weeks and 32 weeks he was a healthy sized baby a little on the larger size but his head was running 6 weeks ahead. At 36 weeks he was measured at 7 lbs. 10 oz and his head circumference measurement listed on the US was OOR. Our tech looked confused and Eric guessed “out of range”. Oof. I would say it was a hard decision but really it wasn’t. I really didn’t think I could deliver a baby twice the size of Flynn and with a head circumference the size of a 2 month old. So we planned for a c-section and it was scheduled for March 6th at 39 weeks and 2 days. We originally had asked for March 10th to give baby some more time to cook but our doctor was going to be out of town so we opted for the next latest option and the day after my birthday.
All throughout the pregnancy I was working remodeling my closet and we also had wood flooring installed upstairs after some water damage from a leaky toilet upstairs on new years eve. We decided to save some money and do the quarter round to finish ourselves. At 38 weeks (on leap day, of all days) I was jogging down the stairs with a measuring tape in hand to go cut the next piece of quarter round for my closet when I tripped and fell down the stairs. I was about 5 steps from the bottom and my feet just got tangled and the next thing I knew my body was being launched horizontally. I did my best to roll to my right side mid-air and hit the floor hard. Of course I was really worried about the baby but I also had severe pain in my right ankle and was pretty sure I had broken it. It immediately swelled up and bruised. Eric was down the road getting his oil changed and I called him and told him to come home immediately. I have a doppler ultrasound and he quickly checked on baby and we were relieved to hear a steady heart beat. So we went straight to the ER and I was monitored for the day. Baby was perfect. Xray was negative for a fracture, it was just a really bad sprain. I’ve sprained my ankles dozens of times but this sprain was a lot different. I had a ton of pain and I couldn’t bear weight on my right foot at all for about 3 days, even with a walking boot. By the time we got to Boyd’s birth day 6 days later I was comfortably walking with the boot and no crutches and hobbling pretty good without the boot. I was so relieved to not still be using the crutches because I knew recovering from the c-section would be hard enough.
We had a hard time deciding on a name and finally decided on Boyd just the night before. I was determined that we were not going to be those parents who still don’t know the name at the birth but we very nearly were. Boyd means blonde or “son of the yellow haired one” and is more popular as a Scottish surname, similar to Flynn, a popular Irish surname meaning “son of the red-haired man”. 
It was a very calm morning and we arrived at the hospital bright and early for our 7:45 c-section. I was really nervous about the epidural because I’ve had 2 bad ones during both of my cerclages. With the cerclage for Cora the anesthesiologist hit a nerve and I passed out from the pain. The medicine didn’t circulate right because of me laying down so quickly and I felt most of the procedure and then went very numb just as I went to the recovery room. With the cerclage for Boyd I had the same anesthesiologist and I requested to lay on my side. It took her several attempts (ouch!) to get it placed but thankfully, it did work and the procedure itself was painless. So going into the epidural for the c-section I was nervous and hoping that it would go smoothly. I have to say I was happy to see a different anesthesiologist there! He did a great job and it went perfect. After I was fully numbed up my OB began removing the cerclage. Suddenly I realized I wasn’t feeling too great and about that time could hear my heart rate on the machine slowing down. I knew I was going to pass out. About then, the anesthesiologist came to me, likely realizing the same thing and I told him, “I don’t feel too good. I think I’m going to pass out”. Luckily we had a conversation prior about my vasovagal syncope issues and he must have had some meds on hand. I tried to concentrate on my breathing and stay awake. After a minute or two, I realized the beeping in the background (my heart rate) was really fast. I glanced over at the monitor – 190. I felt better but I was zapped of energy which always happens when I have a vasovagal episode. About then, Eric was let in to the OR. He immediately knew something was up and I told him what had happened. My heart rate settled down some after a few minutes.
The next thing I remember is hearing him cry. He came out head first screaming. My OB said he was crying before they even pulled him out. That was such a relief to hear. They walked him over and I got to get a good look at him before they took him to the table to suction him out. 
We couldn’t believe he had red hair just like his sister. What are the chances.
8 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. Not our heaviest baby but our longest. And his head circumference was 15.25 inches – off the charts.
When we got back to the room he was so alert. We had a good hour or so to ourselves to meet and to nurse. Our nurse checked his temp and it was a little low so she helped us get skin to skin to snuggle. There is no greater feeling than this right here. I told Eric, “Take a picture. I want to remember this moment.”
The kids came to meet their brother. They were both so excited but especially Flynn. We had been stressing the importance of not touching the baby’s face long before he was born. In the picture below it looks like Flynn doesn’t want to be near him but he is actually just trying to get his hands away from his face because he didn’t want to get germs on him. Boyd had some presents for his siblings to open, some sticker color by number books for Flynn and for Cora a boy baby doll with a mini ergo carrier.
About an hour after the kids left the nurse informed us that the hospital had just announced a new policy going forward of no visitors under the age of 12 and only 2 visitors at a time. At that point, COVID-19 was just beginning to appear in the US and there were still no reported cases in VA. Less than a week later schools closed and we went on lockdown the next weekend. 
From day 1, Boyd has had a steady, calming presence. We fell in love with his sweet and cuddly soul, piercing blue eyes and that small tuft of spiky red hair.
Welcome to the family, Boyd Carroll!
Saving Flynn 