Declan's birth story

What? He's only 2 weeks old. I'm not THAT behind. Things are going well here - not getting a ton of sleep but it's not awful either. Declan (you pronounce it DECK-lan) is a good baby overall. Slightly fussy, but we're now trying soy formula instead of regular to see if that helps with the fussies. If you read this today (Thursday Jan 31) please say a prayer for us - I'm not yet ready to share but tiny man has some possible complications. I'll share when I can - we don't know anything for sure yet...we just could use prayers as we wait for test results today.

We got to the hospital around 6:30 Thursday morning, Jan 17. Our dr was back in OB already and by 6:55 the IV needle was in my arm (just in case I wanted pain meds) and I was laying back, ready for him to break my water. Now with Avery, I was dilated to 3 and one swipe with the amniohook and we had a gush. Holy smack, not with Declan. Our doc had to try at least 5 times, with a break in between because I was not exactly cooperative at times. He said he'd try one last time (I was a -2 station so D's head was WAY up there) and then we'd start pitocin, which I didn't want. The last time he did it, and there was a gush. YAY! Except OW, I'm serious, that was probably the most painful part of the day. So literally, nothing happened for hours. From 10-11 I had some regular contractions, but I know myself and they weren't that bad. We tried walking, changing positions, etc. At around 12:30 my dr checked me again and I was still dilated to 4 with the same effacement and -2 station. He said we needed to start some pitocin - dangit. So they started a very small dose, upped it after about 15 minutes. An hour later my dr was back and he said to crank the pit. Nice. So they did that around 1:30 and that's when things flew. I don't remember the exact timing of the events, but I know I had my first dose of Sublimase (pain meds, yep, I didn't make it, lol) at 2:10 or so. I was able to relax a bit between contractions with that and by 3:00 I was asking for more pain meds. The nurse gave a 1/2 dose at 3:05 and by that point I was 8-9 and feeling WAY pushy. At 3:10 my dr was running down the OB hallway (my SIL was working and gave me the outside play by play) and I was complete. The nurse had called him 10 minutes before to say I was 6-7 and feeling pushy, so she called him again just before 3:10 because I was asking, "IS HE COMING?????"

So I started pushing and here's where things get dicey. With the first push his head crowned, and it's usually at this point that I push again and the whole head comes out. Easy peasy. Not so this time. I pushed, and pushed, and pushed and that stinking head wouldn't come further. James was sweetly coaching me along, "He's almost here honey, I can see he's got lots of hair!" but dangit if I couldn't get him to come out. And, interestingly enough, my contractions QUIT. I pushed because I knew I had to to get him to keep coming. The dr kept saying, "Another push and we'll have a baby." and nada. I was SO frustrated. So I finally gave it EVERYTHING I had and just pushed like mad and his head came out, cord wrapped so tight they couldn't slide it off. So it had to be cut with just his head out. Then I gave a gentle push and delivered the rest of him at 3:25 (so only 15 mins of pushing, but it felt like forever), and they whisked him to the warmer and started assessing him. He did have a heartrate and his color was ok, but there was nothing else. His first APGAR was 3 and they started giving him oxygen to get him to start breathing. I was trying not to freak out and just giving it over to God, but Caden did the same thing to us at birth (his first APGAR was 2) and it's just plain scary. I hate it. I told James it almost makes me think we're done at 3 with the way these deliveries go for our little boys. That and the amniohook ordeal this time, shudder. He came around though...they had to give him narcan to counteract the effects of the sublimase I got so close to his arrival. That was most of the problem - I got that drug so close to the time he was born (and not a lick bit of good it did anyone, either). Once that drug made its way into him he started breathing on his own and everything, so that was good. So slightly scary but overall a very fast labor again! Once that pitocin got cranking we were flying.

Declan is now SCREAMING so I must go. I WILL post pics very soon. I promise. He's so cute!



Edit - ok, he stopped screaming for the moment. Here's a pic of him as we're getting ready to leave the hospital on Sat the 19th:

The new ticker tells it all...

our baby has been born! Declan Gareth was born on Thursday, Jan 17 at 3:25pm CST. We are thrilled to welcome him into our family and he is already well-loved. Pictures and story to follow soon!

An amazing moment

You have those moments with your kids, moments where you see who they truly are, their character. Sometimes I joke that Avery is truly a drama queen, and honestly the jury is still out on that one, but last night at bedtime the moment was all about Caden. It's rare Caden gives us a big view of what he's thinking. That's one thing that's hard on your heart about his delays. Whereas Avery can tell us why she's crying and what might make it better, Caden usually just dwells in his own world and we all glean what we can from what we have in that moment. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get it wrong. Last night, Caden simply gave it to us. In spades.

Our usual bedtime routine is changed up a little bit since mommy no longer has a lap to speak of and simply cannot get down on the floor to sit, but here's the general gist: All 4 of us go into their shared bedroom and each adult takes a child to change into jammies. Sometimes we brush teeth, lots of times we don't (tell on me and I'll tell something on you, lol). It's usually lots of laughing and tickling and talking about our day, things like that. We have a good time with it. After jammies are on we sit on the floor - Caden on mommy's lap and Avery on daddy's lap - to read from our devotional book for kids. Then we say prayers. Recently both kids have been sitting on daddy's lap while mommy stands. It's really much nicer, plus the visual of me getting up off the floor at this stage of pregnancy is enough to keep both kids awake for the rest of the night and NOBODY wants that. At this point it's time for getting into cribs (yes, both kids are in cribs and no one's complaining so we're leaving it alone!) and it's also time for possible meltdown from aforementioned drama queen.

You see, this is the time for turn-taking with certain toys that are allowable in bed. However, Avery sees this as the time for bartering and winning. We have 3 Learn Through Music toys. These are toys that you slip a large cartridge into and it will play music, learning games, etc. It's interactive via a touch screen...let me find a picture.

So there it is. Each child gets one, and we have several cartridges to go around. Problem is, the cartridge of the month is Elmo's All About Numbers, seen above. Affectionately known as the "yellow Elmo", this bad boy is dearly wanted by both kids. We have, in the past, taken it completely away and made it off-limits for bedtime, but recently things were going better and we offered it back. There are 2 coveted things before getting into cribs. First is getting the yellow Elmo. Second is being the one to push the button on a toy up on a high shelf that shows a glow-in-the-dark picture show and tells a story. Last night, it was Caden's turn for yellow Elmo and it was Avery's turn to push the button. Avery pushed the button, but then decided she also wanted yellow Elmo. A lot. Enough to start a screaming fit about it in her crib. We were walking out of the room to leave her in her dark despair when Caden grunted at us.

He pointed to his yellow Elmo, signed Avery, signed "cry", pointed back to yellow Elmo and thrust his hand toward her. It was a sentence, and it was heard plain as day, even over all of her screaming: "Avery's sad because she doesn't have yellow Elmo. Give it to her." We asked him, "Caden do you want Avery to have yellow Elmo?" Nod yes. Never have I been so touched by something so seemingly small. His little heart is huge. He doesn't want his sister to be sad, instead he'll give her something cherished when it is HIS turn for it just to make her happy.

Sometimes I underestimate him. Sometimes I think he "doesn't get it." He gets it alright, and he cares a lot, too. There's something about him that is just so perfect, so right, so "with it" and I am trying a lot harder to make sure I see that about him. I am thankful for this little man, my little gift from God. He is a daily reminder that all is right with the world.

We have a date!

Induction is now scheduled for 6:30am on Thursday, January 17. I really wanted the 16th due to 2 friends having birthdays that day, but it wasn't possible with our OB department, so the 17th it will be. We'll do it the same way we did Avery - go in to the OB and my doctor will just break my water and it's off to the races!

Any predictions on how fast this time? With Caden from the time my water was broke until the time he was here was 2 hours 45 minutes - but we had used some meds to start my labor hours before my water was broke with him. With Avery it was just over 3 hours from water breaking to her delivery. We're praying it goes just as fast if not faster this time, too!

Caden and Avery are excited. We're all excited. Here's a pic I captured of the two of them early this afternoon - they're practicing up!

Today's the day!

Due date, that is. And, in typical our-baby fashion, he's still cooking in there. I am not complaining. I have no pie-in-the-sky fantasies about how easy and flawless this is going to be now that the little ones will outnumber the big ones. Sure, I want to meet him and see him and snuggle him and all of that, but he's OHHHHH so easy to carry around in utero. My joke is that we overcook them in our house - they still come out tender, but they're "well done." :)

Still, a due date comes with such anticipation. It's like a birthday you never knew existed, one you've been planning for for months...and here it is, with no hoopla at all. I was 6 days late with Caden and had to be induced, and was induced with Avery just 2 days before her due date. My labors tend to go quite quickly, so once the water is broken it's time to go go go!

I've gotten a lot accomplished. I am more "ready" for the baby than I have been for any others. There are actually meals made and frozen in the freezer. The house is clean(ish), lol. There are gifts bought for each of the kids from the baby, and from the kids to the baby. Maybe the 3rd time's the charm, or maybe I just realize - "Get cracking lady! You aren't going to have MORE time once he's here!" Nesting is always fun for me though - sort of like a small blast-from-the past of being manic without the negative side effects. I wonder if I could market that. *giggle*

No baby yet....

and I barely remember that I have this blog. Someday I'll get into the swing of things. I am, however, nesting a good deal of the time and getting quite a bit accomplished with the spurt of energy comes around. It's hard to get physically in positions to clean things well though - I mean, I can get DOWN to scrub the floor but getting back up is quite the sight. I shall spare you.

Today I got my hair cut (trimmed really) and Avery's hair WAY cut. I think we probably took off a good 6-8 inches. I thought I might freak out or at least do a little hormonal crying but it's really cute and she wasn't in the least fazed by it, so that was great. I have pics - I hope to get them on here when I feel like figuring it out.

So my next drs appointment is on Friday and I'll know more then. Until then......