Our little baby boy sure wanted to come on his own schedule. He was due on September 26, and we decided to try to induce labor a week early, on September 20. I was admitted to the hospital early that morning, and started on pitocin to help start contractions. I was only about 3cm dilated, so we knew it could be a while before he came. The doctor checked me a few times that day, in hopes of being able to break my water and move things along. However, the baby was sitting too high to do so safely. All day, we tried walking and squats and anything we could think of to make him drop, but nothing worked. So we stopped the pitocin all night to get some rest, and started over in the morning. Saturday turned into another long day of waiting, and still no luck in getting him to drop. For one last attempt, that night we decided to try Cervadil, a drug to help thin out my cervix. It took 12 hours to set in, and we checked again in the morning. Still nothing. So we called it quits. After such a long, exhausting weekend, it was such a bummer to go home without a baby, but we realized he just wasn't ready yet.
Later that week, I went in to the doctor for my 40 week appointment. We monitered the baby, and his heart rate sounded great. Then we did an ultrasound to check fluid levels. Fluid levels were all good. Then we checked his estimated weight. Based on the ultrasound, our baby was going to be about 9lbs 4oz. Give or take about a pound. We were shocked! That was a big boy! So we decided I would come back to see the doctor early the following week to check things again. At that appointment, I was slightly more dilated, and we decided to try induction again. I went back to the doctor on Thursday, the day I was officially 41 weeks, to meet with the doctor who was going to induce. She checked a quick ultrasound, and he finally decided to drop a little lower. Low enough to break my water! So the induction was scheduled for the following morning.
We woke up at 5am on October 4th, and there was about a foot or so of snow on the ground. Landon stayed with my parents, and Nate and I got on our way to the hospital. We were admitted and started on the pitocin again. At about 9am, the doctor came to check me, and we discovered that the baby had moved back up some. Enough that we couldn't quite break my water. We were so upset! So we spent some time walking and stretching, and at about noon she came to check again and he was finally low enough! My water was broken at noon, and I started to have intense contractions quickly. I labored most of the afternoon without pain meds, until about 4:30, when I decided I needed the epidural. The anistesiologist was such a nice guy, and talked to me through the whole thing. Unfortunately, the first try only numbed my left side. So he adjusted it some, and it still wasn't working right. Then he took it out, and tried again in a different space. Still, only my left side was numbed. And I was getting dizzy and lightheaded from it all. So he decided to give me another drug to numb my right side, which finally worked. The only catch was that it wasn't going to last as long as the epidural. Luckily, it was almost time to push. My doctor came in, as well as two nurses and one neonatal nurse practitioner. We started pushing at about 5:30, and after about 15 minutes I could feel my right side again. But I didn't care, I was just ready for all of this to be over and to have my baby. At 6:06pm our little boy finally made his appearance.
9lbs 8oz and 22inches long.
For such a big boy, he had no problems, and I had no problems. He was absolutely perfect. We spent some time with him, just Nate and I, then Nate left to go pick up Landon to come meet his baby brother. He was so excited when he walked into the room. I couldn't believe how incredibly infatuated Landon was with him. He just stared at him and kissed his head and looked at him. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
My parents and sister came down not long after, and all got to meet our baby boy. We spent exactly 24 hours more in the hospital before they let us go home. We had some trouble nursing, but found out pumping worked for us and have been doing great since. We have been home for about a week and a half now, and things have been great! Nate went back to work after about 4 days, and I was very nervous about having both boys by myself. But Landon has proven to be a HUGE help and such a good boy. He's constantly smothering his brother with kisses, and helping to make sure he's happy. He sings to his brother, and talks to him all the time. I can't believe how lucky we have gotten with our two little boys!
This past weekend, Nate's parents came to visit to meet Connor, and brought his brother Taylor and our niece Lola. Landon was so excited to have his favorite person here to play games with him (Tay Tay), and everyone was so happy to spend time with our boys. We loved having everyone here, even though it was rainy outside and we didn't get to do much of anything.
Now, my house is quiet and clean. Nate is at work. Landon is watching Teen Titans, and Connor is on the floor looking around at things. Its snowing outside again, and I should be going to the grocery store. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to tackle the grocery shopping with two kids, alone, in the snow, just yet. But, I may get brave as the day goes on.
(Newborn Pictures soon to follow. I should be getting them back in the next few days, and I am so excited!)
