December 23, 2011 (part b)

After a pretty tough delivery, Jack finally made it, and on his terms! Not sure if it was the Mexican food for dinner, the hay ride at the Reindeer Farm, or the long talk we had the night before, but I started feeling good contractions at about 3pm. We called Peggy and told her that she might start heading this way, and were super excited to learn that Tom was home and could watch the big kids. Both moms/ grandmas were going to be able to be there for Jack's grand entrance!

We went to the hospital about 6 when the contractions were too much to talk through. With my history of quick deliveries, we didn't wait until they were five minutes apart like they say!

The nurse confirmed what I already knew... I was definitely in labor! Yay!! Once we were checked into our room, things progressed pretty quickly. My doctor's car was stuck in her driveway, so another doctor attended to us while she worked on getting another ride. By the time she arrived, I was in active labor and all too ready to be finished! But with Jack, I never got that "urge" to push. It was like he realized it was time, but I would have to make it happen. I remember the other doctor asking me at 9:45pm why I didn't want to push, and thinking that I just didn't need to yet... She told me that if I started pushing, that I would have my baby by 10, she just knew it. I pondered that for a few minutes and decided that holding the babe in my arms seemed a much more desirable way than the current one, and I started pushing. Meaning to hold her to her word, Jack entered this world at 10pm on the dot, weighing in at 8 pounds 2 ounces, and 20 inches long, and looking JUST LIKE his brothers and sister!

This picture totally cracks me up. I think someone just told him that Jack is coming home with us and going to take up even more of mom's lap space... UGH!!!

December 23, 2011 (part a)

This day began as most of the others had since we moved into our new home. I woke up and realized, sadly, that it was not contractions that had awoken me. Being the day before Christmas Eve, we decided to head over to the Reindeer Farm in Palmer and wish Santa's Helpers good luck as they prepared for their big journey. If you haven't been, I would definitely add it to the list! The reindeer are all super friendly, and there's a ton of stuff to do... including a hay ride that can put a lady into labor =).
With my twelve layers on... here is my last outdoor pregnant picture! There are some mixed feelings about that one!

Anticipation

To tell Jack's story requires going a little further back than his birthday. All looked like we were set to deliver a few weeks early, which we did our best to prepare for in the middle of our move. Without going into detail, I was having some signs, confirmed by the doctor I might add, and Jack was head down, engaged, and ready to go. I was most uncomfortable, and, like most 9 month pregnant ladies are, ready to hold my baby on the outside!

Each day started first with the let down that I woke up for reasons other than contractions. Two weeks before his due date, I slipped on the ice, total arse over tea kettle style so hard that it knocked the wind out of me. The whole time I was trying to catch my breath, all I could think of was... maybe??? But, no, not even then.

To my absolute surprise, as well as that of my doctor, I started my 39th week by actually UNDILATING and feeling amazingly less pressure as the baby moved back up into the womb. All that we could figure was that he had presented himself and knew that he wasn't in the right position, so he took his time to be meticulous and try again, this time doing it right.

However, my blood pressure was skyrocketing, and it seemed that we might need to give him a little nudge, meaning induction.

Now, as a general rule, I am not supportive of inductions. However, I had to have my water broken with two of my three babies to get things going, so I am open to the discussion when they are necessary for the health of mama or baby. So when the doc mentioned the word, rather than being horrified, I will throw the idea out there that I may have been ecstatic. When you are almost sure that the baby is going to come any day, and then three weeks go by, you are mighty anxious to say the least!

Then... my blood pressure stabilized. No induction. And no baby.

So we talked about an elective induction. Brian only had one more week off of work, and my mom was leaving in three weeks. We were ready. The appointment was set for Thursday the 22nd at 6:30am. Such a strange feeling to set your alarm to have a baby. My OB was open to the idea of breaking my waters to induce, and then we would use pitocin if I did not start having contractions.

The doc showed up at 7:00 to give it a try, but the baby was so high that she couldn't access the bag of waters! He wasn't engaged at all!! I tried to hold back my disappointment, and tried a few natural things to kickstart some contractions and get him to descend a bit. All to no luck. She suggested pitocin, but I just had a bad feeling about it all. I couldn't shake the thought that he just wasn't ready and that what we were trying to do to him just wasn't right. I think that Brian was as ready as I was, but after a long talk and lots of tears, we told the doctor that we were not anxious enough to use chemicals to make it happen. And we went home. It was such a let down... I had thought that I would come home with the latest addition to our family... and I am only mentioning my disappointment. Kailyn, Charlie, Aiden, and my mom were pretty bummed, to put it lightly!

But, I knew that I was doing the right thing by Jack, and that's our job as a mama, right? I knew in my heart that he would not stay in there forever... I went through all of my girlfriends that had been pregnant, and they had all delivered their babies at some point. So I went home, took a long shower, and loaded up the kids to go look at Christmas lights and take our minds off things.

And have Mexican food for dinner =).