The Murpheys : January 2015

I know there are a lot of people wondering or debating how Trajan is pronounced. Here's a link for the correct pronunciation: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/Trajan.

Here's the story how Tyler and I decided on our name. Tyler is a history major and I have an emphasis in art history. So naturally we decided to look back at history to find a name. We both took a Roman history class in the same year and thought it would be cool to find a name from Rome. Originally I really wanted Augustus. I love Augustan art and even though it was propaganda, it also showed power. However, Tyler thought people would only think about Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and people would call him Augustus Gloop. So that was definite no go. Eventually one of us stumbled upon Trajan. To this day we still debate who actually stumbled upon the name Trajan. Tyler swears it was him (and he's right!) but I (wrongly) think the same. We wanted a good emperor. Someone our son could look up to. I also wanted power because who doesn't want their child to be a leader? Luckily for us Trajan is considered one of the five good emperors of Rome.

The reasons are as follow:
1. Tyler studies History and I study art history so it was a unique name that reflected a common area of interest.

2. We really just liked the way the name sounded. I liked Augustus more for the powerful name, Tyler wanted a name that sounded cool, Trajan met both of those requirements.

3. When Trajan was selected to be emperor, he was busy in the battle field and told the senate they had to wait because he had business to finish up first. Showing his priorities were in line.

4. Trajan created cities for retired military personnel. If a person retired from the military, they were given land to build a home.

5. He created market places for the people of Rome.

6. Oversaw the greatest territorial expansion of Rome.

7. Merciful Ruler.

8. Pretty much created Roman social security.

9. He was a commoner and rose to become emperor.

In a nutshell, he put Rome before himself. He was philanthropic, but yet still powerful. The qualities he possessed are ones we want our son to look up to. Thankfully we found the name super early in my pregnancy because let's be for real, we could debate about names for a long time.

(Plus if our son gets Tyler's nose, he resembles Trajan even more!)

While writing this, Tyler read through it and we debated about who found the name Trajan. He SWEARS it was him, but I KNOW it was me. Just so you all know, it was Miranda who found the name Trajan. Tyler will say I had pregnancy brain, but he has daddy brain now.

This post is more for me because I hate writing about so many details and my handwriting tends to get sloppy.

Trajan was due on December 18th, 2014. However, Tyler and I thought it would be so cool if he popped out on 12/13/14 because it would be such a sweet birthday for him. We looked up every old wives tale to indue labor. Luckily I had a dr's appt on 12/12 for my 39 week check up. Our dr offered to strip my membranes and we said yes. So she stripped my membranes. It did not hurt as bad as I read it was going to. Tyler and I were both excited because our plan might actually work. We wanted our baby to have such a cool birthday. I also was pretty done with being pregnant. I thought the last trimester was hard but no one warns you about the very end of pregnancy. Sooooo many emotions. Anyways, we did every single old wives tale Friday night and Saturday. Friday at work I ate the most spicy Chinese food that has ever touched my mouth. I love spicy food and never have I started to sweat while eating except for that day. Hot wok sure delivered when I told them to make the food as spicy as possible. When I got home from work I drank some castor oil as well. And that was the worse combo and decision I ever made in my life. I was pretty miserable Friday night. Saturday came and went and not even a single contraction.

Me on my due date.

The following week was the week of my due date. Every single morning I woke up not in labor and no contractions (or so I thought) I got really upset. I cried a few times during that week. I really wanted to meet our little guy and also was really done with being pregnant. Pregnancy for me was like waiting for this really exciting trip. You know the general time when you will go but there isn't a for sure end date. So the closer it got the more anxious you get. And I was getting VERY anxious. I would get up everyday to go to work and be pretty upset that I wasn't going into labor. I didn't think I was having contractions either. So everyday at work I was upset. Eventually my due date came and went. I don't think I had ever been so mad than that day. I was kind of mad because I did start dilating about 3 weeks before and my body was not kicking our baby out. Thankfully we had our last drs appt the day after my due date.

Our (not really) last night as a family of dos.

At our 40 week (technically 40 weeks and 1 day) appt our dr asked if we wanted to be induced. I was all for that. She did strip my membranes again too to see if that would get me into labor. It didn't. Anyways, my induction was scheduled for 12/20/14 at 7:30 am. I was super excited because pregnancy (finally) did have a light at the end of the tunnel. I knew that sometime in the next 48 hours we were going to have our baby. Tyler was pretty excited too. I told Tyler that my pregnancy went by so fast after we scheduled our induction. Tyler laughed so hard after I said that to him. I did not feel that way the whole time I was pregnant. That night Tyler and I went to dinner to celebrate our last date as a family of two. We treated ourselves to Bdubs. I'm pretty sure we also rented a movie that night. I can't remember now... That night I also sort of had a meltdown. It was going to be the last night just Tyler and me. I was scared. This little person was going to depend on me for the rest of his life. I didn't know if I was everything he was going to need. I'm truly blessed to have a husband who is so good at listening and even better at comforting. He held me and told me everything I needed to hear. I went to bed feeling so much better. At 5 in the morning we got a call from the hospital saying to hold off on coming because they were busy and would call back when we could come in. At around 11 they called back telling us they weren't able to get us in that day. I was so mad. I'm pretty sure the nurse who called could sense that. She then told me we should go out to dinner and treat ourselves. In my mind I was like "uh what do you think we did last night?!" Tyler was scheduled for work that day so he went in. I sat at home all day. Binging on netflix and pouting. At least I got to repack my hospital bag. Which by the way pinterest was complete crap in that department and most things about pregnancy and delivery in my opinion. Anyways Tyler and I did get a full nights rest before we went to the hospital the next day.

On 12/21 we were able to go to the hospital. Tyler and I have a tradition of wearing ugly Christmas shirts during Christmas time, so we decided to wear those to the hospital.

All the nurses thought it was the cutest thing ever. We got settled into our room, then the nurse asked us about 100 questions and the process was set to begin. The nurse gave me an IV right away except I could only keep my hand in one position. It hurt so bad to bend my hand in either direction. After the IV the nurse checked to see how dilated I was and I was at a 5. I am pretty sure they had me walk a few laps to see if that would jump start anything. They asked if I had any contractions and I told them no. I read everywhere contractions were going to happen in the front and not be in your back.

If only I knew what was going to come.

Also, that's what they were asking when we were there. They broke my water after a few laps but I didn't get a gush of water because our son's head was plugging it. So we walked some more and I had like one contraction or so I thought. Eventually they started me on pitocin. They had me sit on a medicine ball and bounce on it. Except a few years ago I fractured my tailbone and during pregnancy it really started to hurt. So sitting on the ball was killing my tailbone. The nurse asked about my contractions and I said I could handle them. The IV in my hand hurt worse than my contractions. Eventually she fixed it because the IV was right against a valve in my hand. She only fixed it when she noticed the medicine wasn't going in as it was suppose to. After she fixed the IV, I won't lie I thought maybe I could handle a natural birth. I mean if the IV hurt more than contractions I was like I got this. Well it turns out the week before we got induced, I was having contractions. Except it was back labor. While sitting on the ball I was starting to have some really intense contractions. I'm proud to say I only got upset at Tyler and my mom once each. I think Tyler was shaking the bed I was leaning on which in my mind made the contractions worse. Then my mom was talking to the nurse about how she had silent labor, which I did not want to hear because my contractions were getting more intense. Eventually I asked to move to the bed. For some reason I got extremely cold while I was having contractions. Pretty sure our room was at 80 degrees. Eventually my contractions were rising in intensity. To the point I started crying and telling Tyler I couldn't do this and I didn't want to do it. It hurt so bad. It was honestly the worse pain I ever felt in my life. I honestly thought I was going to die. During the peak the worse contractions I did yell at my dad to get out. He was in the waiting room with my grandparents and he just walked in. I was in a lot of pain though. I also hate crying and didn't want anyone else to see that.

My birth plan was pretty much an epidural and whatever else they needed to do to get our baby out safely. Even if that meant c-section or an epsiotomy. I just wanted my baby out and hopefully healthy.

Eventually they wanted to check where I was dilated at but asked if I wanted the epidural first. I definitely wanted the epidural first. They told me the anesthesiologist would be right up and the procedure would take about 15-20 minutes. However, something held up the anesthesiologist and she was late. Right before she walked in the room I was crying and screamed where's the stupid anesthesiologist at. Kind of embarrassing but again contractions were the worse pain I ever felt. I have a lot more respect for people who have natural births. I could never do that. Anyways, I was super relieved when she walked in. The pamphlet they give you said the lidocaine would feel like a beesting and it would numb you to not feel the epidural. Yeah, right. I had to get poked three times. I swear they never leave enough time for the lidocaine to set it. I felt the lidocaine shot and the pressure of the epidural needle. And I'm pretty sure the pain of the lidocaine and epidural covered up the pain of my contractions. The anesthesologist said she needed to check to make sure they didn't hit a vein. Tyler told me she said that not to freak me out because he saw blood dripping down my back. So I needed to be poked again. The second time was just as good as the first. I was crying and trying to breathe deeply but I could feel everything that was happening. The pressure from the needle was excruciating. Thankfully the third time was a success. I almost during the all the pokings said forget it but I knew I wouldn't be able to take it.

I was so happy once I got the epidural. It did make me super sleepy though. I tried to sleep as much as possible but I swear that's impossible with all the nurses and visitors. During the whole time with the epidural I don't remember much because I was so tired and drowsy. I think like two hours after they started the pitocin I was dilated to a 9. Eventually I got to a 10 and they have you wait an hour so they baby can drop and probably to turn down the epidural. I think I only pushed for 20 minutes. They told us before that pushing usually lasts anywhere from one hour to three. The nurse had me start pushing and called so the other nurses could prepare, and then she eventually yelled at the triage station because she needed the Dr asap. The hospital we went to only allows two people in the room while pushing so I decided I would have Tyler and my mom be in there. When it came to pushing I was pretty focused. Tyler held my foot and counted for me. I think in total I had 4 sets of pushing and Trajan was out. He was born at 7:08 pm was 7lbs 3oz and 19 inches long. They did give him to me right away but he did have a bowel movement inside the womb and then had about 3 more after he came out. The nurses thought it was pretty funny he just kept pooping.

I can honestly say I was mesmerized the moment he came out. I felt accomplished. I never knew I could love someone as fast as I loved my son. I also didn't realize that I could love my husband anymore than I already did. Giving birth was an amazing experience.