'Mister's' First Days

Hours after 'Mister' was born, we were taken to our private (thank God) room.  I was so exhausted and my epidural had completely worn off right about the same time 'The Littles' walked in.  Perfect timing. 

 'The Boy' was so excited to meet his new brother.

'Munchkin' wasn't really sure of what was going on.

We always have the new baby give presents to the bigger kids when they come to visit just to break the ice a little. 

She held tight to Pop and opened her new book.  We start potty training soon.

'The Boy' tore through his, tossed aside the book and asked if we could watch his new movie.  Haha!

'The Littles' had brought 'Mister' his new blanket all wrapped up.  'The Boy' was so proud that he picked it out at the store.

They were excited to see me and I tried desperately to hold it together.

But I was miserable!

My mom ended up taking me to the bathroom and I hung out in there trying to pee until they were just about to leave.  I was in so much pain (worse than the other two) and I didn't want them to see me crying.

'The Hubs' held down the fort. 

Later that night, we were told that 'Mister's' billirubin levels were high and he'd need to spend the night in the nursery under the lights.  Sounded familiar.  'The Hubs' and I have different blood types.  He's negative.  I'm positive.  'Munchkin' and 'Mister' are negative and my positive blood cells were still running around in their blood stream after they were born causing the jaundice. 

He went under the phototherapy lights and we went to sleep for a few hours before paying him a visit and trying to feed him.  The nurse was so nice.  She let us sleep until morning before bringing him back to us.

He got to continue his tanning and wear his fancy sunglasses for the next 24 hours.

And while he tanned, I got some rest in.

I hated that I couldn't snuggle him all day but at least I got my time in when I fed him.

That day was filled with more visits from family and waiting for 'Mister's' billirubin levels to stabilize.

'Munchkin' took a nap in my hospital bed.

When she woke up, we showed her the baby.  She was way more interested in that apple. 

She like him much better when he was tanning and none of her people were holding him.

'The Boy' loved seeing him and to several breaks from Angry Birds to see and kiss him.

The next morning we got the good news that 'Mister's jaundice had cleared up enough to go home. 

We finally got rid of that silly lamp and got our cuddle on.

Me and my three 'Littles'.  One is super excited, one isn't so sure about the situation and one is just pissed.  I have a feeling I'll be seeing some combination of this on a daily basis from here on.

Little 'Mister' all dressed and ready to go home.  The beanie I crocheted for him fit...I was so happy.

Just as we left the hospital parking lot, all three fell asleep.  The calm before the storm.  We headed home (in peace and quiet) for the first time as a family of five.

Mister's Birth in Pictures

Just arriving at the hospital.  I am in some serious pain here and could not believe that we were taking pictures of this part.

My coaches, drinking Starbucks coffee and eating breakfast.  Must be nice.

Waiting for 'Mister'.

My mom and Mother-in-law, chatting and waiting.

After the epidural.  So sleepy.

Getting ready for pictures.

 So ready to meet our little man.

Here he is!

Such a good crier!

 Poor guy was so swollen and bruised.

'The Hubs' and his little guy.

Me and 'Mister'

Poor little bruised face.

 So in love!

Another Birth Story: Part Two

This birth experience was ridiculously wonderful in comparison to that with 'Munchkin'.  I was totally surprised by my body's ability to withstand pain, my positive attitude during the whole process and the excellent staff at the (totally different) hospital.  Completely the opposite of my last experience.

Just as I had settled into my hospital bed, I politely ordered my epidural only to be told that the anesthesiologist had just gone into a C-section.  I was told that I would have to wait until 9:30.  It was 7:30.  I panicked for a brief moment thinking that, if things progressed quickly, I may not be getting relief at all.  My fantastic nurse offered me pain medicine for in the meantime but I declined.  I remember what a good friend had said about natural childbirth.  God had prepared my body to handle this and it was nothing that I couldn't get through. 

For the next two hours, I breathed (the hee-hee, hoo-hoo kind) cried, trembled, and moaned through each contraction.  'The Hubs', my mom and  my step-dad enjoyed their breakfast and coffee with eyes glued to the contraction monitor, foreshadowing each painful peak and announcing every decline to relief.  And just when I thought I could take no more, my angel of an anesthesiologist walked through the door.

The insertion of my epidural catheter went without a hitch and with in a half an hour, I was numb.  On both sides.  And, I remember telling the anesthesiologist that I loved him.  Because I did.

For the rest of the morning, I watched TV, chatted with 'The Hubs', my mom and my mother-in-law, took a nap and waited to meet our son.  We each predicted what time we thought he would make his arrival.  'The Hubs' ended up being the closest.  I progressed slowly but wasn't bothered because I felt so good.  I was just a little hungry. 

In the early afternoon, my nurse announced that I was 10 cm dilated.  But, my water still hadn't broken.  She had me do a few test pushes to see if I could break it myself.  She tried to break it with the hook like contraption.  Nothing.  She joked that I needed Edward (you know, the vampire) to rip open my amniotic sac. 

A half an hour later, it still had not broken.  My doctor was just finishing her day in the office and was headed over to try to help break it.  Just before she walked in, it broke on its own. 

Dr. D. checked me when she arrived and thought the baby was still a bit high so we waited another half hour to see if gravity would help him come down.  And that is when my epidural wore off.  Nothing, not even a booster dose, was able to compete with my continuous contractions.  In the end, I felt the whole thing.  At least I got a little break in between.

The baby only came down very slightly so Dr. D. had me try a test push to see if he would come down.  And he did. 

The actual delivery is a painful blur.  I pushed for what felt like forever and, for the first time, screamed through the whole thing.  I felt my body rip in half as he was born and wondered if he had an abnormally large head.  Turns out, he had his hand on his head and his arm on his face as he made his arrival.  I was shocked when they placed this huge, bruiser of a baby on my chest.  He looked humongous compared to my other seven pounders.

And just when I thought I didn't know how I would handle our little surprise being here...I fell in love with my child for the very third time.

Another Birth Story: Part One

In the wee small hours of the next morning, I began to feel contractions.  Nothing I hadn't felt over the past few weeks.  So, while it woke me, I thought it was just false labor and went back to sleep. 

For seven minutes.

Then, I felt another.  Stronger but, I still felt that it was just a tease.  So, again, I went back to sleep. 

I remember having a dream in which I was having regular contractions and trying to decide whether or not to call the doctor.  It was interrupted by a contraction so intense that I sat straight up and realized any contraction that I had in the past was not really a contraction at all. 

I was finally in labor.

I woke 'The Hubs' from his sleep about ten minutes later and told him that I was calling the doctor.  He asked me if I had been timing the contractions.  I told him that I didn't have to.  They were so intense and lasting for what seemed forever and coming faster than I could press the start button on my IPhone app.  I called Dr. D. and she said, at this point, if I had so much as a gas bubble I should go to the hospital. 

What happened next was exactly what happens in the movies when the mom says "it's time".  

'The Hubs' started racing to get the few things we had brought in from the car together. I ow-ow-owed my way through a super quick shower.  We got dressed and ran out the door, so thankful that 'The Littles' were not at home.  I called my parents and told them to hurry up and meet us at the hospital and 'The Hubs' raced us there (though I swear I had never seen him drive any slower).

We arrived at the hospital at 6:15 am.  I had to stop in the lobby to breathe through a contraction.  We were escorted to the labor and delivery unit and told to wait for a nurse to take us to our room.  My parents arrived five minutes later.  We chatted.  I winced and breathed through the pain which was getting more and more intense. 

Thirty minutes later, the nurse who had wait listed me the night before showed us to our room.  She told me that she was so glad I was the one in active labor because she wasn't looking forward to calling me to let me know that my induction had, again, been postponed. 

I got into my gown, hooked up to the monitors and took in the room where we would meet our son.