The Story of how we met {Part 3}

Read Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.

We got settled in to our postpartum room and around noon my mom made it and came to see us. She drove in from out of state to come and help with the 'big' littles. She now has a birthday buddy, Itty Bitty was born on her birthday!

After a quick visit she headed to our house to pick up the kids and bring them to meet their new baby brother!

They both did very well and were excited to see him! Little Lady came in to the room and said "Where is baby Eli?!" She couldn't wait to hold him and she just ooo'd and aw'd over him. She was also very excited to see mommy and daddy. And we loved seeing our first born, she'll always be my baby girl! I know she will make a great big sister to BOTH of her little brothers.

And Little Dude, I'll be honest I thought he was the one going to have a hard time but he did really good! He's so excited about the "bee bee" that he wants to grab and point out his nose, eyes, etc. Most of the time he doesn't seem to notice Itty Bitty, but he's very enthusiastic when he does! He's only had a couple of moments when I was holding Itty Bitty that he got jealous, but each time he had either just fallen down and hurt himself or he was really tired. I can't wait til he has another friend, his brother, to play with!

And we took our first picture as a family of FIVE!!

We had planned on heading home the next day but we got hit with a blizzard and decided not to risk it and just stay another night. I wasn't looking forward to being away from our 'big' littles another day but it was a blessing from the Lord! Hubby and I hardly knew what to do with ourselves only having one child between us, and a sleeping one at that!! We both took naps and just hung out together. It was a delightful day!

So the following day we packed up and headed home with our newest little! 

We are overwhelmed by the love we have for all three of our sweets and even more overwhelmed by the love our God in Heaven has for us! We are thankful that He chose us to be their parents!

The story of how we met {Part 2}

Read Part 1 HERE.

Gradually I started to have contractions but they were not very painful. It felt like everything was going really slow. Hubby had crashed on the pull out couch so I decided to try and get some sleep too. Around 2:30 am the contractions were painful enough that they woke me up. About that time the nurse came in to check on me and I decided to get an epidural going.

At this point I was so emotional and really struggling with how things were going as opposed to how I thought they should be going. I was hard on myself about the decisions I was making and just broke down for a good cry. Hubby was an amazing support to me and just held me while I let it out.

My OB checked me again and I was just at 4 cm. I really felt deflated after learning that. At least one positive about having the epidural, besides not feeling pain, was that I was able to get a little more sleep. At around 4:30 am the nurse came and woke me up because she wanted to put the baby on an internal heart rate monitor. Because of how I had to lay with the epidural they weren't able to get a consistent reading externally. I really didn't want her to put the monitor on internally but it didn't seem to matter. She tried to do it anyway, but an answer to prayer, she wasn't able to get it to stay on. So she gave up and instead had another nurse help get a better reading externally.

At that point she said I was measuring about 5 cm. I kept thinking that it was going really slowly. Shortly after that I started feeling really short of breath and nauseous. Little did I know that I was having contraction on top of contraction. It was around 4:50 am that I told hubby I was going to be sick and he ran to grab a bucket for me.

As I threw up I immediately felt pressure and pain down below. I knew something was up because I couldn't feel any thing else. We called the nurse and I told her about the pain. She checked me again and said I was fully dilated and it was time to have a baby!

Right after he was born!

My OB was in just a minute or two later. I pushed through one contraction and the next thing I knew I was holding my precious newborn son on my tummy! He cried and cried and cried. More than either of the others. It might sound bad to be happy about that but the thing is I had heard many stories about epidurals and how they effect the baby being alert and I worried intensely about how my decision would effect my little one. But God is good and He is always reminding me that He is bigger and He is greater than all things.

After the nurse weighed and measured him, she gave him back to me and I was able to nurse him. He actively nursed for almost an hour! Another praise that assured me that God is bigger than statistics. He's even bigger than any decision that I could make. Shocking, I know! ; P

Part 3 coming soon!

The story of how we met {Part 1}

I need to tell our story even though I wasn't sure if I would share it as it was happening. 

It wasn't how I imagined it happening at all. Then I remembered that it happened just the way He knew it would happen and there are sweet blessings through out our story that He wrote.

Wednesday morning I went to my scheduled OB appointment and I hoped for news of progression in how dilated I was. I knew our little guy had "dropped" {basically his head was in position to engage the birth canal} just a few days earlier. I didn't want to get my hopes up but being that Little Dude came at 38 weeks, it was in the back of my mind that maybe Itty Bitty would follow suit.

I was first informed by the nurse that my blood pressure was elevated and there was protein in my urine. She explained that those are signs for preeclampsia. Immediately thoughts of fear and imagining the worst came to mind and since I was already feeling emotional the tears were welling up in my eyes.

My OB decided to have my fluid level checked by ultrasound and also do more in-depth testing. She told me she'd call when she gets the results. If anything came back abnormal she wanted to induce me that night or in the morning. She explained the risks of it turning in to eclampsia and the advantage of me being almost 39 weeks was that the baby was considered full-term and had high chances of being just fine.

I left the office felling very uneasy and got to my car and bawled. I didn't want to be induced but rather go into labor naturally. I was excited to have and meet our baby but had mixed feelings about doing it this way. I trust my OB and knew she understood how I felt about wanting to give birth naturally, but she wanted to do what was safest for the baby and for me.

I called hubby and told him the information I had received. Waiting to hear back from the doctor was difficult and I struggled with feeling anxious. Part of me was excited about the thought of meeting our son with in the next 24 hours. The other part of me was so nervous about the decisions hubby and I would have to make, if they would be the 'right' ones.

That evening a little after 5 pm, my OB called and gave us the results of the tests I had done earlier in the day. They indicated that I did have preeclampsia and she wanted to go ahead with inducing me into labor either that night or first thing in the morning. She did give me the option of staying on bead rest for a few days and then re-testing, but having the two littles to care for I knew that bed rest was not a real option for me.

After weighing all the factors involved for our entire family, hubby and I decided to go in Wednesday night after we had tucked the littles into bed. So we finished packing some things and headed to the hospital.

We checked in to the ER just before 9 pm and went to the labor and delivery floor. The feelings of nerves and anxiousness clashing with excitement and anticipation were almost enough to make me break down. I don't think I stopped talking the entire way to the hospital and all through out our wait. Poor hubby was probably a little bit annoyed, although he did a great job of humoring me and just being a good listener.

We had to wait for a room {round two of "there are no rooms at the inn" like we experienced with Little lady's birth, although I didn't have to labor in a triage room this time so that's a plus!} and hubby did his best to distract me with a game of Cribbage. Around 10:30 pm they got me settled into a room. At this point I wasn't having any contractions and I was dilated to 3.5 cm. My OB was in surgery so the nurse put my IV in and started me on Pitocin.

When my OB arrived I requested that she break my water in hopes of getting my body to start laboring on it's own. At 11:30 pm she broke my water and the waiting game continued...

Love story.

Our newest addition joined us early Thursday morning!

We were surprised that he would come so soon but we are so excited to have him in our arms and he's quickly worked a permanent place in our hearts.

So what is the story?

Little Lady and I were at home, she had just woken up from a nap and I was getting a few things tidied up around the house. I had been feeling a tugging and tightening feeling in the lower part of my uterus. I was standing in the kitchen when my water broke... and I had an instant rush of a "This is it!" feeling. I called Stud Muffin at work and told him my water broke, he was so excited! I told him to drive safely but hurry! :)

Next I called Nana so she could get on her way out here. Then it was Lolli, a great family friend who is like family to us, to come and take care of our Little Lady. I knew she would be in wonderful hands while we were away, but it was difficult to leave her. Little Lady had a bug that had her throwing up and gave her diarrhea. Later I learned that she'd had a rough night but she was in great care and very well loved. I really missed her though!

Lolli and Auntie Rae came right over and as soon as SM got home we finished packing a few things and headed to the hospital. I had called my dr office before we left and they told me to go straight to labor and delivery and get checked in.

By this time the contractions were very spaced out and fairly mild. I could still carry a conversation and walk through them with out too much trouble. We checked in at the hospital and after an exam I was told I was about 5 cm dilated.

They wanted to put me on the monitor for a little bit and see how baby was doing as well as see where my contractions were at. After about 30 minutes of being on the monitor I decided I wanted to walk around and hopefully get everything going. So we walked... and walked... and we walked. Finally the nurse asked if I would go back on the monitor and the Ob wanted to do an exam to see my progress. 

Talk about frustrating and discouraging when I had only progressed to a "stretchy" 6 cm. And not only that but my contractions had weakened and grown farther apart.

That was at 5:30. Because walking seemed to have the counter effect on my contractions I decided to stay in my room and try different positions and such. I agreed to stay hooked to the monitor as long as it didn't interfere with how I was wanting to labor.

Another couple hours went by and still not regular or gaining intensity... After a quick check by the OB - still 6 cm. I was really feeling bummed. My Ob decided it was time to start talking options for progression. She explained pitocin and how I could start out on the lowest level and see if we could just get me over the hump I seemed to be at. 

She explained it to me this way:  I could keep doing what I was doing and end up stretching out the time I'm in labor and pain. Or we could use this to get moving and if my body picked up on it's own then we could turn it off and let it do it's thing, hence shortening the amount of time in pain even though the intensity of pain would no doubt increase. 

I was really stalling in making the call simply because I know I'm a wimp when it comes to pain and I figured if I started pitocin the chances I would given and get an epidural were much higher. That's just me.

But in the end the anxiousness to meet my baby and get things going won out. She had the nurse start the pitocin at a low level. It wasn't long before it kicked in. And pretty soon I was having several contractions back to back.

The nurse came in and bumped it up a level a couple times. By the time it was up to a level 6, around 12:30a, I thought I was going to die. I had dilated to 7cm finally but the pain was awful, I knew I wouldn't be able to take it much longer, especially when they were back to back with no break sometimes.

I decided I wither needed to turn it down or I needed to have some pain relief, most likely an epidural. I waited through a few more contractions. I had the pitocin bumped down a notch, to a level 5.

Somewhere between 1 and 1:30a I began throwing up during and after several contractions. I decided I didn't want to slow down the labor anymore but I had to get an epidural to make it through to the end. 

I went through my whole pregnancy desiring to have an all natural, no pain management medicine, labor a delivery. I understand and know the risks of getting an epidural and I know the benefits of having a baby all naturally. I had gotten one when I had Little Lady and everything went smoothly. But I really beat myself up. I felt guilty and like I had failed my daughter and my husband, even God. It might sound extreme but I really struggled with it for a long time. 

God has shown me that it wasn't that I have weakness or that I set out to do something and wasn't strong enough to accomplish it. It was really my pride that I was struggling with. And I decided to surrender it to Him. He is capable when I am not. He takes care of us and has our best interest in mind. 

So although I won't be able to say that I had my daughter and my son with out an epidural, I can say that they were born healthy and happy, I am healthy and really how could I ask for more. 

Don't get me wrong, I truly admire each of those who have delivered without pain medication. I have gone as far as I possibly could handle in labor and I commend them for going all the way!

If we decide to have any more babies I will continue to strive for that goal. But I know there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Praise God!

The anesthesiologist came in and some time around 2:00a I was finding some relief. I could still feel the contractions but it really took the edge off.  I was fully dilated to 10cm by 3:30 and my OB came in to prep and deliver our baby. 

I started getting really nervous about pushing. The dr was ready and thru rolled me to my back. I told them I was feeling really light headed and that I needed to throw up. I couldn't hold my head up anymore. I was trying to breath deep. Later I learned my blood pressure had dropped to 70/40.

I got oxygen put on and finally regained my awareness. The nurse pulled my leg back and told me to push, I started groaning and she said don't make any noise, just push. So I did and the babies head was right there so I gave one last umph he was out. 

Stud Muffin said 'It's a boy!!' and he was so excited!! I was thinking 'I knew it!!'

They laid him right on my chest and wiped him while I held him. We wanted to delay the cord cutting until it stopped pulsing and then daddy cut the cord!

I was able to get him latched and nurse almost immediately and we just spent the next few hours in baby heaven!

Caleb Brandon, from here on out known as Little Dude, was born at 3:51am and weighed 6lbs 10oz and was 19 in long. He is absolutely perfect and he has his daddy's laid back temperament and his feet! 

He is one handsome dude!

Highlights:

- My mama was able to make it from KS in time to see Little Dude born.

- I didn't tear and my recovery has been so quick because of it.

- So far nursing has gone so smoothly and we are so grateful after so much hardship at the beginning with Little Lady.

- I am finally home with my TWO babies and life is good!

A few more photos of our Little Dude.

*I never expected to have a 6 lb baby so I didn't bother even buying newborn size clothes, since Little Lady was 8lbs 6oz and only wore her newborn stuff for a week. He was swimming in everything I brought for him!