The Family Rasolo: Tristan Douglas Rasolo, Birth Story

Here is the story of how Tristan Douglas Rasolo arrived to be part of our family. My due date was Friday, March 29th, 2013 and the beginning of that week, starting on Monday, I would have random contractions in the evening that would always stop as I would lay down to go to sleep at night. Wednesday night, the contractions lasted about 2 hours and were every 15-20 minutes, so I thought maybe that night something would happen, but I fell asleep and woke up the next morning to no more contractions. So on Thursday, May 28th, I stayed home from work and decided to try and "walk" this baby out. So I went on a 30 minute walk in the morning and whenever I was walking, I felt like I was having contractions, but as soon as I would stop walking, the contractions would stop also. Hari came home from work that day at noon and we went on another long walk after having lunch. I had my appointment with the OB at 4:30pm that afternoon and was really hoping that the walking had made things favorable enough for him to consider inducing me. I had gestational diabetes (diet-controlled) throughout the pregnancy and so was anxious to not go too past my due date for fear the little guy wouldn't be so little ;)

At the OB appointment, we received happy news that I was 90% effaced and dilated to 4cm, so my OB gently (ha ha) stripped my membranes and said that if I didn't progress on my own that night, that he would induce me the next day. So we went home and I tried to rest as much as possible and to enjoy my last full night of un-interrupted sleep. I had some contractions on and off, but nothing consistent, so the next morning, we got ready and headed to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem to begin the labor induction process. I have to admit, it was really nice to just know when we needed to go to the hospital and to be able to get everything ready without any extra panic or stress. So we checked in to the labor and delivery unit at 10:30am, by noon, I was all hooked up to the Pitocin drip and starting to feel some mild contractions. At 1pm, my OB came by and broke my water and at 1:30pm the anesthesiologist came by and placed my epidural. So I really didn't feel strong contractions for more than 30 minutes.

Hari and I tried to rest after that while we waited for my body to be ready to start pushing. We watched "As Good As It Gets" on TV and I ate granola bars that Hari would give to me when the nurses weren't looking, ha ha. By 5pm, I was deemed ready to push - I couldn't believe how quickly and easily everything had gone so far, so when they said I had to start pushing, I thought, this is where it's going to get hard and boy was I right. They had me push for 2.5 hours - at first it was okay, and I felt like I could do this, but as the minutes turned to hours and my energy levels dropped (from the lack of food, seriously...whoever decided that women shouldn't eat while in labor are crazy, I really think I could have pushed more effectively, if I hadn't been starving), I wasn't sure how I was going to get this baby out.

Thankfully the OB on call was an older, very experienced OB and when he came on shift and checked on me, he offered to help me get Tristan out by using forceps. I was more than happy to accept this help, because I had no strength left. So it was decided at around 7:30pm to do a forceps delivery. The OB assured us that there was plenty of room to place the forceps and that little Tristan was very close to being born. So the OB did his thing, placed the forceps and I pushed through 2 more contractions and our angel was born at 7:53pm weighing 8lbs 6oz and measuring 20 inches long. The relief I felt when he was finally here, is almost indescribable. I was so relieved to not have to push anymore and to have him here with all of his fingers and toes. He was so beautiful with a full head of dark hair. The whole time I was pushing, everyone kept commenting on how he had so much hair and I just couldn't wait to see him.

Hari was amazing in the delivery room, he was so supportive and helped me so much. I am so proud of him for being such an amazing husband considering that when we first found out I was pregnant, he was hesitant as to whether or not he even wanted to be in the room for fear he couldn't handle seeing me in pain. But he did amazing and he was so excited to see baby Tristan. When we left the hospital, it all became so real that we were parents and I pretty much cried the whole way home and even now as I am remembering all of these events, I get teary.

So that is the story of our little one's arrival. He's now just over 1 month old and I can't believe it - he's changing and getting cuter every day as he smiles and coos at us. We feel extremely blessed and humbled to have this precious spirit in our home and hope that we can always do what's best for him. Now if we can just get him to sleep through the night - ha ha, then our lives would be perfect. I have to say, I think the sleep deprivation has got to be the biggest adjustment so far, but he's getting better at sleeping during the night and when he wakes up, it's usually just to eat and then he's right back to sleep, so I know I need to be grateful, because it could be worse.

Thank you also to everyone who has helped us with meals and visits since we've been home from the hospital, we really appreciate all that everyone has done to help us with sweet baby Tristan :)