My last bump picture! 40 Weeks!
It's been two weeks since Hogan entered the world...time
is flying by. Before I know it, he will be one and I am already crying
just thinking about it.
I need to write down the
details of Hogan's birth before I forget..and plus, who doesn't love a
good birth story!? Mine was pretty uneventful, but still special and I
absolutely loved it. Hope you enjoy!
Starting at 37
weeks, my doc usually checks to see if I am dilated/effaced etc...to my
surprise, I was already 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced! Holy cow, I was so
surprised I was already progressing! So then for my 38 and 39 week
appointment, I had gone from 2-4 cm and almost 80% effaced. I just KNEW
he was going to come early. HAHAHA I don't know why I always think
that, because it's not been the case yet. I need to get it out of my
head that I'll ever have an early baby.
So the day
before my due date, I had my 40 week appointment. Still around 4cm and I
was determined to make this baby come. My doctor told me if I wanted
to, that since I was already 4cm, he would go ahead and admit me and
then break my water to hopefully start the "good strong" contractions. I
told him heck yes please do because let's be honest...I was not
sleeping AT ALL, my mom and stepdad were already in town waiting for the
call so they could watch Winslow, and when you have NO family who lives
in town, you kind of want to "know" when baby comes..at least I did.
It was kind of nice to have an idea of when he was coming and I did NOT
want to wait 9 days past his due date like I did with Winslow. Plus, I
had some good strong contractions all day and so I really thought I
might go into labor that night. Not the case...the contractions stopped
around 10pm and I didn't have any more. BOO.
So, on my
due date, we woke up early and headed to the hospital. I was very
nervous, but excited to know that more than likely, we would be meeting
little Hogan that day. My mom and stepdad were at my house with Winslow
and I kissed him goodbye while he was sleeping and off we went.
We
got to the hospital and got admitted. My doc came in and broke my
water around 8am and said it may take an hour or so for the contractions
to come, if they would. With Winslow's birth, my water broke on it's
own and within 10 minutes, my contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and
super strong. I kind of expected it to happen like that again. Well,
an hour passed and I didn't have ONE contraction to write home about. I
had a lot of small irregular ones but nothing big. 10am came and still
nothing so my doc came in and asked if I wanted to be put on pitocin to
speed things up. To be honest, I did NOT want to be put on that because
I know that the contractions can be super strong and I wanted my body
to do it's own thing. But he said we might could be there all day and I
really wasn't hopeful that anything would happen. I agreed to be put on
a tiny small drip and so they started the medicine. Another hour
passed with nothing happening. I just knew he wasn't going to come that
day and I'd have like a 20 hour labor. (My labor with Winslow was only 6
hours from start to finish!)
So around 11:30 or so the
contractions started. They weren't that strong and I could talk through
them so I sat on the birthing ball just chatting with my nurse,
Suzanne, and Seth. Let me go ahead and say my nurse...oh my nurse, she
was STRAIGHT from heaven. Such an angel and a huge support for me. I
wish she could be there for ALL my future births. Goodness, she was
amazing. So around 12 o clock the contractions were STRONG and hurting
pretty darn bad. I labored for another few minutes and finally I knew
it was time for the epidural. Contractions while on pitocin are SO
different than when you are not on it. So much stronger and deep, at
least to me. With how strong they were, I thought I was going to be 8cm
dilated, but nope. I was only 5.5-6.The nurse stopped the pitocin since my body responded well to it and I continued dilating and contracting.
Well, let's
review back to Winslow's birth for a moment, shall we? When I got my
epidural with him, the anesthesiologist inserted the needle or tube or
whatever the heck they stick back there INCORRECTLY. So I really had
nightmares/horrible thoughts about getting one again, but I knew I
didn't want to go without so I was already super scared about getting
it.
The worst part about the whole thing is 1) Seth
can't be near me due to the "sterile environment" that has to occur and
2) it takes like 15 minutes to prep your back so my anxiety is through
the roof during the entire process.
So my nurse was
holding my hand and telling me it was going to be okay and I was praying
out loud and she was encouraging me to be strong. The insertion part
was bad, but not as bad at with Winslow. It hurt (everyone says they
just feel pressure) but mine always hurts..maybe my back is whacko.
ANYWAY, that was over with and I nearly passed out, but I MADE it. NO
MORE PAIN. Praise the Lord, I was feeling good.
From
12:30-1:30 I went from 6cm to 10cm and around 1:30 I was ready to push!
Mom, Gerard, and Winslow came by for a visit and my nurse had to kick
them out in order for me to push!
and viola. Ten minutes later, Hogan Graham entered the world. He arrived at 1:41pm.
Oh
my gosh, this was really my dream delivery. There were 2 nurses and my
doctor. And then Seth of course. Quiet and intimate. I got to feel
Hogan's head and that was so AWESOME. I didn't think I wanted to at
first, but it gave me the energy to finish pushing so I could meet that
little man! My doctor delivered him as slow as he could in order that I
wouldn't tear badly (TMI...oh well). When he arrived, he was placed
directly on my chest, I cried, Seth cried, it was so beautiful. I
didn't know what to expect because when baby #2 comes, you sometimes
have doubts and worries...how will I love him the same as Winslow? etc.
but of course, the Lord allows your heart to expand and the love is
exactly the same! What a blessing. It was as if I had never even done
this before, the joy and emotions. He took his first cries on my chest,
looked me in the eyes, and I just cried. They let me nurse him, they waited for the cord to stop pulsating (delayed cord clamping..look it up!!) Seth cut the cord, and we cuddled him for almost two hours before they weighed and measured him.
8 pounds 2 ounces (one ounce larger than his brother) and the exact same height, 22 inches! I was so surprised he was that big!
I
am so grateful to the Lord that everything went smoothly and that Hogan
has joined our family. He is the redeeming love that I needed after
our miscarriage last year. Which by the way, the way the Lord
orchestrated his arrival was awesome- he came the exact same time I
miscarried a year ago. I found out the horrible news on Feb 17, 2015 and
Hogan was born one year and one day later. Thank you Lord, for this
little miracle of life that I get to have.
Hope you enjoy the photos :)