Garrett's Birth Story

(Note: This post is entirely about Garrett's labor and delivery. And it may be a little detailed at times. If that's weird to you, then you should probably stop reading now.)

Well, Garrett didn't exactly have the dramatic weather to make his appearance in like William did, but he certainly found another way to make his arrival a memorable one. Thursday morning (the 19th), Darrell and I went in for my weekly OB check-up. At this point I was two weeks overdue based on the due date calculated by my ultrasound, and twelve days overdue based on the due date calculated by my last menstrual cycle (although I was only five days overdue based on the somewhat arbitrary date of February 14th that my OB kept referring to). During my exam my OB shared that I was dilated to 3 cm (major progress from the previous week!) and that he stripped my membranes to help "speed things along", but he still wanted to move forward with scheduling an induction just to be safe. So he suggested we schedule one for the following morning. Darrell and I were majorly caught off guard, but, like always, trusted his judgement. So it was decided that we would arrive at the hospital at 9 am on Friday the 20th and get this baby out.

Since William was at a friend's house for the day, I spent the rest of the afternoon running some errands (aka walking around as much as possible) and mentally preparing myself to have a baby the next day. We went about our evening as normally as possible--dinner at 515, playtime until 7, bath and bedtime (for William) by 8. Shortly after seven I started noticing what I thought were contractions, but they were very intermittent, so I wasn't concerned. By 830, I was certain that I was having contractions, and downloaded an app to start tracking them. Even though they were still pretty spaced out, Darrell and I decided that the best course of action would be to take William to my parent's house, just in case the contractions intensified overnight (funny side note--I had actually suggested taking William to my parents for the night as soon as we found out about the induction so we didn't have to worry about getting him there in the morning, but Darrell thought it would be nice to put William to bed just the two of us one last time and I agreed). So we finished packing William's stuff for the next few days and Darrell left around nine to take him to my parents.

By the time Darrell left my contractions were close to five minutes apart. The "golden rule" from my doctor was to come in after contractions were five minutes apart for an hour. Since it seemed that we might actually reach that mark before my scheduled induction, I decided to finish getting our stuff packed while Darrell was gone so we could get it loaded in the car that night. When Darrell got home around 930, my contractions were averaging three to four minutes apart and getting fairly intense. We debated how long we should wait before going in--after all, I'd only been having contractions for an hour or two--but we figured that even if we arrived at the hospital and I wasn't fully in active labor they would probably still admit me since I had an induction scheduled for the following morning. And besides--by this point I was getting pretty ready for my epidural.

So around 1000 we headed to the hospital. Since it was after "normal" hours, our options at the hospital were to either go in through the ER or park in the parking ramp and use the skywalks to get to Labor and Delivery. Darrell is pretty familiar with the hospital campus, and since "baby wasn't coming out this minute" (ha! little did we know...) he decided that we didn't need to bother with going through the ER. So we parked in the ramp and made our way to L&D (side note--wheelchairs are not very comfortable to labor in. I almost wish I had walked. Almost). We got to L&D around 1015 and as we expected, once they realized I was the induction they had scheduled for Friday morning, they skipped the triage piece of things and took me straight to a room. I started asking for the epidural almost immediately, but they wanted to get my IV and the fetal monitor started first. Once they had me situated they checked to see how progressed I was, and one of the last clear memories I have is of the nurse telling me that I was 9 cm dilated and that I was going to have to get this baby out all on my own.

Darrell tells me that as soon as the announcement was made that I was already at 9 cm the room took off in a flurry of activity. They brought in the resident OB, and when he checked me again at 1030 I was fully dilated with a "bulging bag of waters". Apparently at one point the nurse (who--for the record--was great) was asking about the pain and if I was having any dizziness/blurred vision, to which I responded no. Darrell called me out on my answer, telling me that I had to actually open my eyes before I could answer a question about my vision. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I opened my eyes since the nurse told me I was 9 cm and not getting an epidural--and I don't think I opened them again until Garrett was born.

My OB made it to the hospital by 1045 (and dressed for the occasion in suit and tie--the nurses apparently joke that he must sleep in dress clothes because regardless of the time of day or night that's always what he shows up in for a delivery), and promptly broke my water (which apparently had some meconium in it, but thankfully Garrett didn't need any breathing assistance or time in the NICU from potentially aspirating on it during delivery). I'd been given the green light to start pushing prior to that--the resident stayed in the room and they had the on-call OB available at a moment's notice--but until my water was broken I never really had the urge to push (or if I did I was too blinded by the pain to care). But once they broke my water it was all hands on deck and I was basically ordered to start pushing with the contractions. Darrell tells me that I pretty much sucked at pushing through the first few contractions, but with some help from him and the nurse I calmed down (slightly), managed to take a few deep breaths, and delivered Garrett at 10:56 PM--a mere 36 minutes after being admitted.

I'd love to say all sorts of great and wonderful things about my natural labor and delivery, but Darrell would totally call me a liar. I was (apparently) using plenty of language my mother would not approve of (and rather loudly, as well), and I know that I resorted to begging for an epidural on more than one occasion (as well as asking my OB to just "pull" the baby out). However, I do feel a certain amount of pride for having made it through the ordeal (not that I really had a choice...), and can honestly say that my recovery has been pretty much a breeze. Given the choice, though, would I do the natural delivery again? Hard to say. I guess time will tell if/when we decide to add another child to our clan. For now, we're perfectly happy with our two boys--dramatic arrivals and everything.

Here at Last!

Well, it took the threat of an induction to make something happen, but Garrett Michael decided to finally make his appearance at 10:56 pm on Thursday, February 19th. He tipped the scales at 9 lbs 11 oz and measured 20 3/4 inches in length.

We're home now and adjusting to life as a family of four--aside from some sleep deprivation and (another) child with an insatiable appetite, things are going pretty well. Stay tuned for Garrett's birth story; it's an exciting one!

If the Shoe Fits...

While making a quick stop at the grocery store this morning, I took advantage of a special parking spot:

Granted, I would much rather be the former than the latter, but I'm pretty sure I fit the "expecting" criteria without any issue (plus I had William with me, although I don't think I can consider myself a "new" mother with a 22-month old). Normally I avoid these kind of parking spots; my stubborness (which apparntly WEBS inherited) makes me disinclined to accept accommodations like this "just" because I'm pregnant. Plus these spots tend to be conveniently located near the entrance to the store, which is great, except for the fact that if you need to take a cart out to the parking lot with you the place to return the cart is halfway down the aisle anyway. So you still end up doing the walking. But I figured today, in all my 40+ week pregnant glory, was as good a day as any to utilize this spot. Of course, it was totally anti-climatic because the spot next to me was open, and I could have parked there regardless of my "condition", but whatever. Here's to hoping next time I'm at the store I have the option of utilizing this spot because I'm a "new" mother, not an expecting one. Fingers crossed!

Sigh...

So last weekend we had what I assumed was our last weekend as a family of three, and it was wonderful. I was feeling good about what we did and what we accomplished, and was as ready as ever to bring Baby #2 into our family.

Whelp, here we are at another weekend--and still as a family of three. And sadly, I already know it will pale in comparison to last weekend. Darrell has to be out of the house pretty much all day today for an event with his El Riad Shrine Unit, which leaves (40-week pregnant) me home alone with William. Again. Don't get me wrong, I very much love the time I get to spend with William and feel so lucky that I can stay at home, but I desperately look forward to breaks and the extra set of hands on the evenings and weekends when Darrell is home--pregnant or not. Plus the weather is not supposed to be nearly as nice as it was last weekend, which makes it harder for me to work up the motivation to get us out of the house (which, trust me, is quite a chore with the size of my belly and a toddler who is set on asserting his independence).

Thankfully, we have no plans tomorrow (mostly because we pretty well assumed that by this point in the month we'd be home cuddling a newborn), so Darrell can make up some hours of Daddy time and I can get a break to run to the store (alone!) or something. That discounted Valentine's Day candy isn't going to walk itself to our house, after all. And given the rate with which this labor is progressing (or rather, NOT progressing), Momma's gonna need some chocolate. Because I may or may not have polished off those brownies yesterday.

No Shame

Saturday night, in a "I'm pouty about still being pregnant" mood, I made a batch of brownies (they were zucchini brownies, so they kind of count as a vegetable, right?). Darrell and I shared a piece that night in a brownie sundae... And then being pregnant and still at home happened. Come Tuesday night, this is what the pan looked like:

I wish I could Darrell helped with some of that, but that would be a lie. Aside from the piece we split Saturday night, that damage was all me (and WEBS). I hadn't even been nice enough to share them with William (although Darrell did last night and he LOVED them). I'm not the least bit sorry, either, and I won't even care if my doctor raises an eyebrow about my weight gain at my appointment tomorrow. After all, he was the one who told me last week that it was "unlikely" that I'd still be pregnant in a week. Looks like the joke's on him--baby doesn't seem to be interested in making a move any time soon!

Maybe?!?!

Two years ago, on the ninth day of April, we were dealing with the beginning of a massive winter storm. We'd had freezing rain most of the day, and as Darrell was coming home from work the freezing rain was turning into sleet (which would eventually turn into snow). At 7:00 that night, despite being instructed by Darrell to "stay put" for at least 24 hours, William decided to start his entrance into our lives by breaking my water.

Well, it is currently the ninth day of February--the arrival of WEBS is certainly near--and look what the weatherman has on tap for tonight:

Sure, it isn't nearly as ominous of a storm as we had with William, and quite frankly, it might miss us altogether, but still... Maybe?!? Could this be the trigger WEBS needs?

Wonderful Weekend

Would I have loved for WEBS to make his/her appearance this past weekend? Absolutely. Am I super disappointed that things didn't work out that way? Not exactly. Because even though we didn't get to be in the hospital meeting our newest bundle of joy, we had a perfectly fantastic weekend. Slightly bittersweet, as the whole time it was looming in the back of my mind that this will (hopefully!) be our last weekend as a family of three, but wonderful all the same. And did I take any pictures? Of course not. Oh well.

Friday night we headed downtown for their monthly "First Friday" festivities. As a part of the events, the children's science museum is free to the public. We've never gone before because I didn't know if William would be old enough to enjoy it, plus I knew the place would be super busy since it was free (and normally costs something like $15 a person). But, we decided that this was as good an opportunity to check it out as any, so away we went. And I'm glad we did. Yes, it was packed, and yes, most of the exhibits were geared toward older children. But there were still plenty of things that William could get hands-on with, and even though he probably didn't grasp any of the "science" concepts, he still had plenty of fun pushing the buttons and manipulating the materials. It's safe to say we'll definitely be heading back--maybe even next month with a little one in tow!

Saturday we had some gorgeous weather, so we decided to take advantage of it by heading to the zoo before nap time. I'd always assumed the zoo was kind of a bust during the winter months, except for the indoor museum part, but I'd heard recently from friends that it can actually be fun to check out the live animal exhibits during the cooler months. So we decided to give it a shot. And while there were definitely plenty of animals not on exhibit, there were also some that were way more active than they typically are in the summer--notably the wolves/coyotes, brown bear, penguins, and snow monkeys. I'm certainly glad we have a zoo membership because it probably wouldn't have been worth the daily admission for the handful of animals that we enjoyed observing, but now I'll definitely consider going any time of year (as long as the weather is decent, of course).

We spent the rest of Saturday just being lazy around the house, enjoying some more time outside, and Skyping with Darrell's parents. I also did some baking--I figure I'm going to need some sweets to get me through the next few days of being pregnant, and even if I do deliver sooner than later, it'll be nice to come home to some homemade goodies.

Sunday we went to my parent's house after church for lunch with the whole fam damily, which turned into an entire afternoon of lounging around and doing pretty much nothing (gotta love having all the extra hands around to help take care of William!). And, in keeping with the theme of the weekend, Darrell and I swore off productivity Sunday night in favor of watching a few episodes of one of our guilty pleasures, House.

So, now that we got that wonderfully nice and relaxing weekend as a family of three out of the way, we're definitely ready to start this family of four business. You hear that kid? Mama can't think of any good reasons for you to keep baking in her oven, so you might as well come join us in the real world.

Every Day

I love my son. I love that my son loves books. I do not love that he thinks he has to pull EVERY book off the shelves before he can start reading one.

We seriously go through this every day. And I'd get annoyed by it, but once he has them pulled down he'll sit there in his pile of books and read them for at least ten minutes. Multiple times a day. And those are precious minutes that I enjoy having to myself. Which makes it totally worth the five minutes it takes me to put them away after he's gone to bed. (We've tried teaching him to put them away himself, but there are too many and they fit too tightly on the shelves that he has a really hard time with it. And since this Mama loves books as much as her little boy does, that's a problem that won't be going away any time soon.)

Mama's Ready!!

Sweet little babe, whenever you (finally) decide to make your appearance, Mama is all ready to bring you home from the hospital.

The fridge is stocked:

The wine rack is full:

And the liquor cabinet is ready and waiting:

Let's get this "family of four" show on the road!


Disclaimer: With the exception of the beer, pretty much all of that booze has been in our house since before we found out we were pregnant. Shockingly, we I haven't been doing much drinking in the past nine months. And since I will be breastfeeding, I still won't be able to indulge that much even once we get home with WEBS. But some is better than none, right? And this way I have my bases covered--who knows what Mama will be in the mood for after (what will likely be) crazy days wrangling two small children.