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(Started on April 15th... finished on April 17th, you know... because with a new baby things never get done all at once anymore.)
I'm currently sitting in a ginormous hospital bed (like seriously, it's at least a full size bed, St. Elizabeth's doesn't mess around), next to the hubby who is munching on a cherry slushy, with the new babe sleeping away in his little bed right next to us. I guess it is no secret now that we are a family of four and we could not feel anymore blessed! Alexander, whom we are calling Xander, Paul was born yesterday on April 14 at 1:55pm. He weighed in at a hefty 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21.5 inches long and is honestly pure perfection.
We definitely didn't think that he would weigh more than his big brother, who weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. at birth, but he surprised us all. I don't remember how long Ayden was when he was born, but I'm thinking he was probably a little shorter as well.
So, before I continue on and on about how much we are in love with the new tiny man that has invaded our lives, let's rewind a little bit and talk about his entrance into the world. FYI, because I'm definitely a detail person, this may be TMI for some people, but I will do my best to keep it not too graphic or gory.
My doctor and I had an induction date set for the 14th for some time. I was originally due on the 17th, but let's be honest here, I thought that 4-14-14 would make a pretty darn cool birthday and it worked out for my doctor and with Ayden and the dog, it kind of worked out best having something on the books because then we wouldn't have to scramble at the last minute for sitters and so forth. Of course, we knew that something may come up and he could make an appearance earlier, but he stayed put.
And you know, because I was saying it the entire pregnancy that we wouldn't have any bad weather because we were already in the middle of April, it snowed out the night before and our drive to the hospital on Monday morning was slower than normal. Seriously, Mother Nature is still being a hag! Can't she make up her mind as to what season she wants it to be right now? We had such great weather last week and this week it is cold again! We made it to the hospital only about five minutes later than I would have liked, but it was okay.
We checked in and made our way to the labor and delivery floor where we got settled in for the day. At my last doctor's appointment the Friday before, my doctor had said that I was about 3 cm dilated already and she wouldn't be surprised if she saw me in the hospital over the weekend ready to have a baby. Unfortunately, over the weekend I just continued to have irregular contractions that didn't really lead any where. By the time they got me all hooked up to the monitors on Monday morning, my nurse said that I was already contracting about every 6-8 minutes. I could feel them, but to me they just felt like the uncomfortable ones I'd been having for about a week by that point.
My doctor came in about an hour after we arrived and was going to start the induction process then, but when she checked me, she said that I had progressed to 4 cm dilated and that because my contractions were starting to come pretty regularly by then, albeit still not super close, that she was just going to break my water and see what that caused. If we could get things rolling without any extra intervention all the more better. She broke my water and there was definitely no turning back from that point. That certainly got things moving along!
It wasn't long after that that the contractions started to pick up! Going into the day I had every intention of getting an epidural. I don't remember the exact pain from Ayden's birth, but I know my body and my pain tolerance and like I said in my last post, it was something that I knew I was going to need in order to get through Xander's entrance into the world and I wasn't ashamed by that. After my doctor broke my water she said that I could pretty much get the epidural whenever because I was already dilated far enough for it, but I wanted to hold off a bit because I wanted to make sure that it didn't wear off before I actually to had push him out. I didn't want to feel that pain, haha! So, before requesting it, Jay and I walked around the halls just a bit to have gravity help things along. Because I was unaware of how big the actual labor and delivery floor was, we didn't walk too far or for too long outside of the room, but that was probably a good thing because by the time we got back to the room I had another huge gush of fluid and left a nice big puddle on the floor, haha! I know, another TMI moment. It was rather funny though! And then the contractions started to get pretty uncomfortable.
My water was broke around 8am, and around 10am I requested the epidural because the contractions were starting to get to the point where they weren't unbearable, but I knew that it was going to take some time to get the doctor in there to administer the epi. And I was right, because before I could get the epi, I needed a bag of fluid. It wasn't until about an hour and a half later that I got the epidural and by that point, boy was I ready for it! I labored through the contractions with the help of Jay. He was great at rubbing my back for me during them. Getting the epidural wasn't painful or anything for me. I was just ready for the pain relief at that point and when it kicked in, oh I was in heaven again, haha! After I got it and was more relaxed, the nurse checked me and I was already at a 7... and at this point it was just around noon.
It was maybe 45 minutes to an hour later when my doctor stopped back in to see how things were progressing and she checked me again and said that it was pretty much baby time. By this point I was no longer feeling any pain... just the pressure of the baby moving down. My doctor said that since I wasn't having any pain that she would let me 'labor down' for a little while yet while she finished up a meeting. She was back in about a half hour and it was go time!
At this point it was becoming real to me. We were about to have a baby! After nine long months my second son was about to enter the world! With Ayden I ended up pushing for about 2-2 1/2 hours and needed the vacuum assistance to help deliver him. I was worried that the same was going to happen with Xander and that the epidural was going to hinder my pushing abilities because I really couldn't feel the contractions coming. I could certainly feel his head getting lower, but it wasn't painful, so when I was pushing I didn't know if I was being effective or not. Apparently I was doing a good job though because everyone said I was. The situation/environment was so calm though... much calmer than I remember with Ayden, although when the vacuum is involved they often bring in a lot of other doctor's and nurses. This time it was just me, Jay, two nurses, my doctor, and a resident.
Unfortunately, as I was pushing, Xander's heart rate would drop and my doctor wanted to get him out asap. Thankfully when I wasn't having a contraction his heart rate went back to normal. She thought that maybe his cord was just getting compressed some as he was descending. It was just under a half hour after I started pushing that the tiny man entered the world and I couldn't believe it! He was beautiful!
There's a bit more to the story, but baby is calling!
CIAO! LOVE ME!
My doctor came in about an hour after we arrived and was going to start the induction process then, but when she checked me, she said that I had progressed to 4 cm dilated and that because my contractions were starting to come pretty regularly by then, albeit still not super close, that she was just going to break my water and see what that caused. If we could get things rolling without any extra intervention all the more better. She broke my water and there was definitely no turning back from that point. That certainly got things moving along!
It wasn't long after that that the contractions started to pick up! Going into the day I had every intention of getting an epidural. I don't remember the exact pain from Ayden's birth, but I know my body and my pain tolerance and like I said in my last post, it was something that I knew I was going to need in order to get through Xander's entrance into the world and I wasn't ashamed by that. After my doctor broke my water she said that I could pretty much get the epidural whenever because I was already dilated far enough for it, but I wanted to hold off a bit because I wanted to make sure that it didn't wear off before I actually to had push him out. I didn't want to feel that pain, haha! So, before requesting it, Jay and I walked around the halls just a bit to have gravity help things along. Because I was unaware of how big the actual labor and delivery floor was, we didn't walk too far or for too long outside of the room, but that was probably a good thing because by the time we got back to the room I had another huge gush of fluid and left a nice big puddle on the floor, haha! I know, another TMI moment. It was rather funny though! And then the contractions started to get pretty uncomfortable.
My water was broke around 8am, and around 10am I requested the epidural because the contractions were starting to get to the point where they weren't unbearable, but I knew that it was going to take some time to get the doctor in there to administer the epi. And I was right, because before I could get the epi, I needed a bag of fluid. It wasn't until about an hour and a half later that I got the epidural and by that point, boy was I ready for it! I labored through the contractions with the help of Jay. He was great at rubbing my back for me during them. Getting the epidural wasn't painful or anything for me. I was just ready for the pain relief at that point and when it kicked in, oh I was in heaven again, haha! After I got it and was more relaxed, the nurse checked me and I was already at a 7... and at this point it was just around noon.
It was maybe 45 minutes to an hour later when my doctor stopped back in to see how things were progressing and she checked me again and said that it was pretty much baby time. By this point I was no longer feeling any pain... just the pressure of the baby moving down. My doctor said that since I wasn't having any pain that she would let me 'labor down' for a little while yet while she finished up a meeting. She was back in about a half hour and it was go time!
At this point it was becoming real to me. We were about to have a baby! After nine long months my second son was about to enter the world! With Ayden I ended up pushing for about 2-2 1/2 hours and needed the vacuum assistance to help deliver him. I was worried that the same was going to happen with Xander and that the epidural was going to hinder my pushing abilities because I really couldn't feel the contractions coming. I could certainly feel his head getting lower, but it wasn't painful, so when I was pushing I didn't know if I was being effective or not. Apparently I was doing a good job though because everyone said I was. The situation/environment was so calm though... much calmer than I remember with Ayden, although when the vacuum is involved they often bring in a lot of other doctor's and nurses. This time it was just me, Jay, two nurses, my doctor, and a resident.
Unfortunately, as I was pushing, Xander's heart rate would drop and my doctor wanted to get him out asap. Thankfully when I wasn't having a contraction his heart rate went back to normal. She thought that maybe his cord was just getting compressed some as he was descending. It was just under a half hour after I started pushing that the tiny man entered the world and I couldn't believe it! He was beautiful!
There's a bit more to the story, but baby is calling!
CIAO! LOVE ME!
1 comments:
Glad things went smoothly! Just for the record, it is not lost on me that Xander was born on my Gramma's birthday (the one who raised me) and that that was the name we planned to name a son- if we were to ever have more kids. Makes it very special! :) He is such a perfect peanut and I've enjoyed all of your pictures! The next best thing to having your own baby- is watching your friends and family raise their own with love and joy. And there is SO MUCH love in your house! Can't wait to meet him. :) Hugs from me to you, Ashley!
Sarah
www.thinfluenced.com
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