jesse's girl: Birth Story: Reese

Oh little Reese. He did not want to come out. At my doctor's appointment the day after my due date (a Friday), I was still only 1 cm. My doctor swept my membranes, and I really thought we'd have a baby that weekend. But just in case he didn't come, we scheduled an induction for the following Wednesday, and of course my doctor was out of town that whole week.

Tuesday night came and I just hoped and prayed I'd go into labor before the hospital called. I could not sleep at all. I finally fell asleep around 3:30, and of course the hospital called at 4:00. With Evelyn they had been so full they didn't end up calling us in until after lunch, so I was kinda hoping for at least a 6 or 7 am call. Oh well. We got up, got dressed, I ate a bowl of cereal, and we hit the road.

We got to the hospital around 5 and got checked in. The nurse got me set up, checked me (still a 1), and got Pitocin started at 6. I was already losing hope of a natural delivery at this point, but I held on. Within the hour, the contractions started getting really painful. I got up to pee and then they slowed down for a while. Then it all picked back up and got really painful again. My nurse kept getting sent to the OR and I never did see a doctor in the morning. I was feeling super nauseous and wanted my chicken broth I ordered for lunch, so I continued to hold off on the epidural, knowing I'd probably ask for it right after I ate. Around noon I threw up. A little while later I got up to pee and at this point my contractions had been awful for quite some time. I thought I was dying. While I was in the bathroom, Jesse told the other nurse that I wanted an epidural. At first I was upset because I still hadn't gotten my broth and I knew the epidural would make me sick. But after a few more contractions I figured I'd be sick either way and at least I could get rid of the pain. The nurse checked me and I was only a 4! after like 7 hours! I was so upset. At this point with Evelyn (death contractions) I was a 7. How could I only be a 4?! I lost it a little bit. This was not the birth I wanted.

The anesthesiologist came in a little after 1, I think. It took him forever to put the epidural in. He messed something up and moved it around several times (not a good feeling). I had like 5 or 6 contractions before I finally got the epidural and got some relief by about 1:30. I felt so warm and nice.

At 2:00 Dr. Sundstrom came in to see me for the first time that day (they were super backed-up). He said he could go ahead and break my water. He checked me and I was a 7! Apparently epidurals speed things up for me. Same thing happened with Evelyn. Since I was a 7, he said breaking my water would move things really fast and he had a c-section he had to perform first and didn't want to miss my baby. I was totally fine with that because I was so freaking tired and I just wanted to rest.

I threw up again, but I wasn't surprised. I kinda dozed off and on for a while, but I was so nauseous it was hard to sleep. At 3:40 my water broke on its own. It was weird but cool. I'm glad we let that happen. I called the and let them know. My nurse checked me and I was a 10! Baby wasn't quite ready to come out, but that was fine. Dr. Sundstrom hadn't finished the c-section and I wasn't feeling the urge to push.

I guess Dr. Sundstrom came in a little after 4. My nurse had already set everything up. They broke the bed down and we waited for a contraction to push. After two contractions, Reese was out, and Jesse said
"it's a boy!" That part was really cool. We thought it was a boy for most of the pregnancy, and once he was out, it was like we always knew he was a boy.

We did skin-to-skin for a good hour, and he nursed well. When my nurse weighed him, we were surprised he was 8 pounds 7.5 ounces. He didn't look that big. He was actually a lot skinnier than Evelyn when she was born. Even though he was my biggest baby, he was definitely the easiest, quickest delivery and I barely tore. His head was also smaller than Evelyn's, so that probably helped.

He did great the first night. Day two he was circumcised and had his first bath and lots of tests, and he was more cranky. As long as I held him he was fine, though. I did not get much sleep that night. He nursed great and didn't have any jaundice! I never even needed to use a pump at the hospital. We were thrilled to be going home Friday afternoon, less than 48 hours after he was born. As much as it sucked going almost a week late in the summer, I think it was worth it to not have any issues.

The kids got to meet him that evening and they were so excited. Evelyn wanted the baby, not me. Nate was mostly interested in all the buttons on my bed, but he was excited to meet Reese, too.

We love our sweet boy and are so glad he's here!