Our Hospital Stay

My two little loves! I can't believe it has been a week since our little man joined our family! Time really does fly by. Steven did a great job posting the most important stats of Braden's birth, but I thought I would write about the birth story for any of those who are interested. I started going into labor on Monday night, Tuesday morning. I started having some more painful contractions around 12:30am, but didn't think much of it. I tried to sleep, but the contractions were strong enough to keep me awake, so I decided to take a bath to see if they would go away so I could sleep. I was sure I wasn't going into labor, so I thought I needed to try something to help me sleep. I had been having braxton hicks, so I was convinced that was all I was experiencing. After my bath, the contractions still wouldn't go away, so I decided to take advantage of being awake, and clean the downstairs. Yes, it was 3am, but I was starting to think this might actually be it, and we had left the sun room a mess b/c I was too tired to clean up that night, so naturally I had to clean it up :)...that was definitely the nesting/surge of energy, whatever you want to call it, that happens before a baby comes. Also, my rush to get everything cleaned helped to keep my mind off of the contractions, so it really wasn't bad. I finally finished what I wanted to get done downstairs by 4, and decided to go up stairs and sit in the glider in the nursery and write a list of things we needed for the hospital. Steven still hadn't packed his bag, and I hadn't really thought too much about what we would need to bring. I also wanted to time my contractions b/c I hadn't been paying attention to how close they were coming. They were about every 5-6mins at that point, and I decided to try to lay down and go back to sleep, hoping that I could get some rest if this wasn't really labor. (Why I wasn't convinced I was in labor is beyond me...I am a labor and delivery nurse, but I am sure I was just in denial). At 5am I had a really painful contraction and decided it was time to wake Steven up. I woke him and told him I thought I was going into labor. He asked if I had taken a bath yet, and even though I said I had, I decided it might be good to take another one. I got in the bath again, and Steven came in to time my contractions and try to figure out what was going on. I told him that I thought they were coming every 6 mins, but after timing them, Steven said they were coming every 3mins, so at this point I told Steven he needed to pack his bags...we were going to the hospital. Steven then realized he had two large toilets in his car that he was planning on replacing our old (wooden seated) toilets with, and so he had to haul these 100lb toilets inside. By the time he finished doing so, I quickly informed him that he needed to call my mom and Dr. W b/c the contractions were coming faster and were beginning to get more painful. When I talked to Dr. W on the phone at 5:40, he told me that he needed to shower and feed his dog (but of course) so he could meet me at his office at 6:30 to see if I was really in labor or not. (he also gave me a hard time for waking him so early...haha...I love that doc). I sent Steven to get breakfast at McD's when my mom came over around 6 b/c I knew I didn't want to stop on the way to the hospital, but during the time he was gone, I started going into transition (the final stage of labor) and the contractions became almost unbearable. As soon as Steven got home, we got in the car, and I rode the whole way there facing backwards and groaning through contractions. When we got to Dr. W's office, I knew that if he wasn't there, we were going to have to rush over to the hospital, b/c I felt like this baby was coming. He was there, and when he checked me, he informed I was fully dilated and we needed to head to labor and delivery quickly so I could start pushing. As soon as I got to the room, I started pushing, and 40 LONG minutes later, our little man was born. No time for an IV, epidural, or any pain meds. Not what I was planning, although I wasn't planning on anything really, but in the heat of pushing, I would have paid a million bucks for some pain meds. It was over quickly, though, and I was so happy to have my little man in my arms. Adelyn was swept away so quickly b/c she didn't handle the delivery well, so it was such a treat to have our sweet Braden in the room with us. We feel so blessed by this sweet boy and just can't believe he is already here with us! Thank you for all the sweet messages, food, gifts, etc. We also feel so blessed to have such an incredible support system. Here are some pictures from the hospital. There are several more, but these are some of my favorites. Lots more pics of our 1st week home to come! Sweetly patting her baby brother. Cuddling after a long day Addie has loved getting as close a possible to Braden from the beginning. We now have to be careful to not leave her alone with him for more than 30sec b/c she will try to crawl on top of him only to give him hugs and snuggles. It is sweet, but keeps me on my toes! Headed home from the hospital. My mom bought Braden those booties b/c Steven was complaining about how much Carolina blue (not baby blue of course) I put him in. :)