At my 40 week checkup I was showing no signs that our baby was going to make his appearance anytime soon. My doctor was on call the weekend of my due date and offered to schedule an induction. Fun fact: I got to pick Jett’s birthday (give or take a couple days). I love odd numbers & I wanted him to be born on March 7th. So, my doctor scheduled my induction for the night of March 6th. A few days before, I had to go to the hospital and get a drive-up Covid test. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. Then, I was instructed to check in at 8:00pm on Saturday, March 6th. It was kind of nice to be able to pack thoroughly, make sure the house was clean and that we had everything we wanted to bring and not rush.

March 6, 2021

I went into the hospital to get induced on Saturday, March 6, 2021 – Jett’s due date. It wasn’t at all how I envisioned going to the hospital; I always thought it would be this dramatic moment where my water would break in the middle of a meeting and we would rush to the hospital while screaming (you know, like in the movies). Instead, we were given instructions to check in at 8:00pm Saturday night, so a few hours before, we dropped our dog off at a family member’s house, got dinner at our favorite local taco place (Crush Taco), then went to the drive thru at Chick-fil-A because I wanted a cookie. I couldn’t eat or drink anything until after the baby was born so I wanted to make my “last meal” a good one. Then we arrived at the hospital. We were early, so we sat in the parking lot until it was time to go in. All of a sudden, I got super nervous and started crying. Funny/random anecdote: I asked Spencer to find a YouTube video of someone in worse shape than me who was able to give birth, because in my mind – if they could do it, I could do it. He found a video of a 600 lb lady who had a baby. It lightened the mood & weirdly gave me some confidence that I could do this. I also had him read me some birth affirmations I had saved on my phone to pump me up.

7:50pm rolled around so we got our hospital bags and walked into the hospital. We had to get temperature checked & put masks on due to Covid at a separate desk before we entered. Then we went to the check-in desk, and a nurse walked us up to our room where they started me on some meds & hooked me up to all my IVs.

 

March 7, 2021 – Jett’s Birthday!

4:00am – Around 3-4am my water broke (I didn’t even know) and they started me on pitocin around 4:30am Sunday, March 7.  The meds made me extremely shaky and cold. I was like this all day & in so much pain. Then my jaw hurt from my teeth chattering so bad. By this point I was dilated to a 3. *For anyone who doesn’t know, you have to dilate from a 0-10 to have a baby* I came into the hospital at 0.5 so I had a long way to go – hence the induction.

6:30am – The pain was severe enough that I was requesting an epidural but the nurses had a shift change & I had to wait. My doctor came in at some point (I’m a little fuzzy on the times) broke my 2nd bag of water (I had no idea there were 2?) and said things were progressing great and gave the ok for the epidural.

9:00am – Sometime before 9am I got the epidural. I don’t do well with anything medical. It was pretty scary & painful but my nurses were amazing! The epidural definitely helped, but the contractions were still so strong & painful. Getting the epidural was one of the worst parts.

12:00pm – By noon I was at a 7. Things were progressing quickly & I thought we’d have an early afternoon baby. I had a grape popsicle & some ice chips for breakfast & lunch. Mmm.

1:00pm – By 1:00pm I was at an 8 and things went downhill from here. From 1:00-7:00pm there was no progress. They flipped me in all sorts of different positions to try and get the baby to move (he was sunny side up) but he was not cooperating. By this point I was so hungry, in so much pain, and frustrated. Baby was stressed & he needed to come out.

The worst parts about the whole labor & delivery process for me were the strong forced contractions, not being able to eat (I couldn’t eat for 36 hours), getting the epidural, and the emotional stress, exhaustion, and frustration of the induction failing after so many hours. Spencer was a rockstar and the best support system & encourager through it all. The pregnancy really brought us together 😉

7:00pm – Around 7pm my doctor came in and said we needed to do an emergency C section. They said it would only take 5-10 minutes, and baby would be out. I was totally fine with that and wish we could have done that sooner! Spencer quickly scrubbed up, they gave us some super cute hair nets & then wheeled me into the OR. I was nervous I would pass out at the thought of what they were doing & had Spencer talk about anything to distract me. They gave me lots of numbing drugs & I looked up at the ceiling to try and avoid seeing anything, even though there was a drape up. I was so worried I would pass out during the operation. I caught the reflection of my stomach in the overhead light before they cut me open & told the doctor – umm I can see myself! Their solution was: don’t look! The whole procedure was fine, it just felt weird to feel all the tugging but not to feel pain or anything.

7:36pm – They got the baby out in 5-10 min and baby was born at 7:36pm! They held him up over the drape for me to see. It was a crazy feeling! I didn’t think I would cry, but 2 tears (1 each eye) streamed down the sides of my face, since I was lying on my back. I was so relieved that he was here & that he looked healthy. I couldn’t believe that came out of me! They stitched me up & my doctors were talking about the royal family drama & it was a very upbeat vibe in the OR. My doctor said I got her out of dinner with her in-laws (she was on call that night).  There were tons of people in the OR and it’s all kind of a blur, but it went by fast and everyone was so nice. Meanwhile Spencer went over and got to hold our baby & get his footprints on his shirt as a souvenir. They took his measurements. 8lb 11oz and 20 in long. Our baby was perfect!

After the operation, I got wheeled back to the recovery room and had to be there for 2 hours. I don’t remember much after this. I was so tired and loopy; I kept falling asleep as the nurses were talking to me about my instructions. I got to hold my baby for the first time after regaining feeling in my arms & got monitored before they brought us to the postpartum room (Room 257) where we stayed until Wednesday morning. I was out cold. Apparently I missed our baby’s first bath that they did at my bedside in the postpartum room. Thank goodness Spencer took pictures! I was so tired and exhausted from Saturday/Sunday but was finally able to soak everything in and get excited by Monday afternoon. All through the night Sunday and Monday morning, people were coming in and out of our room – it was pretty frustrating. All I wanted to do was hold our son & sleep! I didn’t have time to process everything, or even tell anyone yet, but that slowed down by Monday afternoon. I don’t think I even looked at my phone from Saturday night until Monday afternoon.

I finally got to eat Monday morning. My aunt brought us Chick-fil-A & Starbucks for breakfast (my favorite!) and Spencer was able to go out to the parking lot to meet her. No visitors were allowed due to Covid regulations. It was the best meal after not eating since 6:30pm Saturday night! I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday enjoying our new little addition, taking pictures, resting, ordering room service, taking meds & making sure everything was recovering properly. I was able to shower Monday morning, do my makeup & walk around a little bit. After 4 nights in the hospital, we got to go home Wednesday morning with our sweet baby boy! We love our little bundle of joy so much, and are thankful for a relatively smooth birth.

Jett Radnor Roloff
March 7, 2021
8 lb. 11 oz. 20 in.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:13-16

Jett’s Name: 

We’ve had a girl name picked out for years, but did not have any boy names in mind. It honestly took us until the week of his due date and even at the hospital after he was born to fully commit to a name. We only had the combo of Jett Radnor picked out a couple weeks before!

We wanted a name that wasn’t super common, but nothing too funky.

Jett – I can’t remember where we came up with it, I think it was Spencer’s idea. We weren’t sold on it at first, but it was in the running. Then we thought of the combo of Jett & Radnor and liked those together.

Radnor – named after Radnor Lake in Nashville, TN where Spencer & I went a lot while we were dating. Radnor Lake is a peaceful state park in Tennessee with wildlife and beautiful hiking trails surrounding the lake. It’s prettiest in the fall. It’s a special place to us, and now somewhere we can take our little guy when we go back to Nashville!