The Terrifying, Surprising and Miraculous Birth Story of Grayson Knight Duganz, Part 1

*Note: This is a Birth Story - as such there are details about birth. If you don't want to read about things like dilation and cervix effacement, please skip this post*

There are so many preconceptions and expectations surrounding pregnancy and birth. Patrick and I spent months and months planning for, dreaming about and picturing Grayson's birth. We wanted a natural birth. We expected it to take between 12-15 hours (average for first-time mom). We expected Grayson to weigh around 8 pounds when he was born. We expected that it would be challenging but neither of us anticipated just how difficult/exhausting/terrifying it would be.

To start with, Patrick was sick. The sickest I've seen him in years. We took him to the doctor the day he started feeling badly - not the flu (thanks to the flu shot) - but some nasty bug going around. Because of this, I had stopped actively trying to go into labor (stomping around outside in the snow, eating spicy food, etc.) as I didn't want it to happen when Patrick was still feeling lousy.

But the morning of the 29th, four days after Grayson's estimated due date, Patrick started feeling better. My dad suggested that we go for a short hike to help labor get started.  So we drove up Hyalite Canyon and hiked the half mile trail to Palisades Falls. The drive itself was stressful enough - we even got stuck briefly in the powdery snow when the tires of Rhino (my sister's Exterra) got off the tire tracks a little. Luckily a group of about 15 snowshoers just happened by and helped push the vehicle out of the deep snow and back onto the road. 

Ready for the hike at 40 weeks plus 5 days.

The hike was pretty exhausting, despite it's "easy" rating. At the top of the hike, I sat down on a tree stump and watched the crazy people attempt to climb the waterfall.

Ice climbers at the Falls. 

As I sat there, I felt something a little different. I had suspicion that my water had broken, but I wasn't sure. We headed back down the trail and I brushed off the feeling that maybe I had started labor. We got back home and the evening progressed normally. After the long day, I went to bed early.

Around 10 pm,  I started feeling contractions. Or what I thought could be contractions. I wasn't sure since I'd been having braxton hicks for weeks. I told Patrick I thought this could be it, and we started timing the contractions. Eventually it became apparent that these weren't going away, that they were getting longer and stronger, and that I was in true labor. Patrick woke my family and let them know that this was it. He also called our midwife, who advised us to wait until the contractions were longer and a shorter time apart before heading in to the hospital.

Patrick made me a bubble bath and we rode out the early contractions. Around 4:30 am, they got to the point that my midwife had indicated would be a good time to head in. I figured after laboring at home for around 6 hours, that I was approximately half way, or a little less through the labor.

We arrived at the hospital and got set up in a room. I had already pre-registered and my midwife had called to let them know I was coming in so that part was easy. The nurse on call wanted to check me so she could let my midwife know how things were progressing. Like I said, I figured I was around a 5 or 6 cm dilation, or about half way there. She checked me and declared I was at 2 cm. I'm pretty sure I would have punched her in the face if I'd been able to.

She seemed ready to send me home as she figured this was false labor. Just to make sure, she did a test to check if, in fact, my water had broken. Sure enough, it had. This started the clock. Standard medical practice doesn't like the water to be broken for more than 24 hours before the baby is born. It can cause infection and possibly lead the baby into distress. So my midwife Cassie arrived, ready to get this baby born.

To Be Continued in Part 2....

37 Weeks

Short post tonight since it's getting past my bedtime. Baby Grayson now weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. We're doing away with the fruit/veggie comparison now as we've gotten to the point where he is really just baby size. We've started weekly appointments with our midwife and officially preregistered at the hospital. Also getting the hospital bag packed just in case.

So excited to welcome this week's guest stars - Jason & Maleea! They both made it safe and sound and are now just trying to adapt to this crazy cold snap we're dealing with. Despite the cold, right after we took this week's photos, we went to the Christmas Stroll downtown Bozeman. Got some good chai, roasted marshmallows and looked at the pretty lights.

After we the Stroll, we took Jason and Maleea to the Bacchus for some drinks (hot cocoa for me) and curry fries. While we were there, I started experiencing some painful Braxton-Hicks contractions. They were definitely the most intense that I have experienced so far. It really made me realize that the labor won't happen on any type of schedule and that I just need to be mentally prepared at all times. 

Exciting things coming up this week - it's my last week of work before maternity leave starts and my mom arrives on Saturday!

Grayson's auntie and uncle are here to stay!

Ohana Means Family

I am so thankful this year. Thankful for a good job, to live somewhere beautiful and inspiring,  to have great friends whom I can count on. But most of all this year I am thankful for my family. My own little family will be growing by one this year. If that isn't exciting enough, in a matter of days my sister will be here to stay!

I moved to Montana in the summer of 2007. I knew no one, wanted to go to school for photojournalism, and Montana sounded like a romantic and wild place to live.

To help me meet people I joined the UM Symphony Orchestra, the UM Equestrian Team and, most importantly, the staff of the Montana Kaimin. I built myself a little family with the people I met through these pursuits. When I met Patrick and we got married, my Montana family got even bigger.

Despite the wonderful family I had made, I have always longed to be close to my family of origin again. My mom lives in Hawaii. My sister and my dad live in Oregon. A trip to Oregon is obtainable, but just far enough away to not be a regular occurrence. A trip to Hawaii is even more rare. 

So when my little sis came up to Montana for the wonderful baby shower she planned for Patrick & I, my thoughts were focused on convincing her to stay. I felt a very strong pull to have family together since my own little family is growing. I'm not sure what Patrick or I said that actually stuck (possible nothing, as Mr. Grayson can be very convincing as well) but something did because MY SISTER IS MOVING TO MONTANA!!!

Me and sis at the baby shower.

I am so overwhelmed with happiness and general joy. Thinking about doing holiday traditions together, hanging out on weekends, going to Yellowstone, watching her play hockey (?), and most importantly, her sure presence at Grayson's birth/the beginning of his life.

Not to mention the fact that she's bringing with her Mr. Jason Owens, boyfriend extraordinaire. I know Patrick is thrilled to have a funny, smart and football-savvy guy like him around (not to mention his knowledge of beer!) and I just can't wait to have them both close.

In the meantime, here are this weeks bumpdate photos (check out that beautiful sky!). Our baby is gaining about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long (about the size of some bok choy). Only a few weeks left!

34 Weeks

Due to daylight savings time messing with our photo schedule, these pictures were actually taken at more like 34 1/2 weeks but it's close enough. Grayson now weighs 4 3/4 pounds - about the size of a cantaloupe - and is almost 18 inches long. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. It's hard to imagine that in just over a month we will finally get to meet him. 

Got a little overwhelmed again this week with how much there is left to do to prepare for his arrival. Thankfully one big component got taken care of this week - the car seat. Thanks to a very generous gift from Great Aunt Mary Anne and Great Grandpa Duganz, we now have a top-of-the-line car seat to bring Grayson home in. It's a relief to know that if anything were to happen early, we would at least be able to bring him home safely. 

Statistically, four out of five car seats are installed incorrectly. Luckily, the local fire department is certified in child seat safety checks. So next week we'll be making an appointment to ensure our car seat is installed correctly. It's a great service to the community and I'm excited to take advantage of it.   

23 Weeks

This week baby weighs just over a pound and measures the length of a mango. Definitely feeling the belly this week. I've had some people say my bump looks bigger than how far along I am, and some people say I look small for being past the midway mark. My midwife attributes my possibly "showing" sooner due to scar tissue buildup from an emergency laparotomy (what surgeons do when they have no clue what is wrong with you) when I was 20. Either way I'm feeling healthy and happy and just amazed at how much this little guy/gal is kicking these days. Baby kicked so hard this afternoon I actually had to pause for a moment to catch my breath. It's really such a unique and truly amazing feeling. 

The best Mango we could find living in a landlocked state.

New Personal Blog!

As you can see I haven't posted to this blog in quite some time as my new professional blog now resides at: www.alisiaduganz.com/blog (please check it out for updates on my wedding/portrait work!). Since I have some big personal news and am going to be posting lots of pictures, I thought I'd revive this blog and transform it into my personal photo blog. I am going to leave up my old Alisia D photography photos but everything I post here from now on will be of a personal nature, so don't say I didn't warn you!

In case you didn't know, Patrick and I are expecting our first child in December! December, 24th, to be exact. Since we passed the milestone week 12 (when the chance of miscarriage vastly decreases), Patrick has been taking weekly photos of my growing baby bump. Since I haven't posted any yet, there are going to be a bunch on this post. But from now on it will be once a week (hopefully).

You'll see that after week 13, each belly photo is paired with some kind of food. This is because I get weekly emails from various baby websites comparing the baby's length to various types of fruit/veggies. I thought it would be cute to incorporate that into our photo shoots, and so far I've loved the result! Some of the comparisons don't make a whole lot of sense to me, but it's been fun.

 At 13 weeks, the baby is the length of a pea pod from crown to rump. Finger prints are now formed on the baby's tiny fingers.

14 weeks, the baby is the length of a lemon and can make facial expressions.

Week 15, baby is the length of an apple (or Apple) and can now sense light.

Week 16, baby is the length of an avocado and its eyes and ears are nearing their final position.

17 weeks, baby is the length of an onion and its skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone.

18 weeks, baby is the length of a bell pepper. This week I felt baby move for the first time!

19 weeks, baby is the length of an heirloom tomato (or a couple smaller homegrown tomatoes?). Baby may be able to hear now. Lots of guitar playing and reading ahead.

Half-way point! Baby is now measured from crown to toe instead of crown to rump, around 10" long. Banana size!

Hope you enjoyed these photos! All photo credit goes to my wonderful hubby and second shooter extraordinaire, Patrick Duganz. Stay tuned for next week.