Lucas is here!

Well after 9 months of waiting, our sweet baby boy decided to make his appearance on Tuesday. He came exactly on his due date just like his big sister. I read the other day that only 5% of babies actually come on their due date. I imagine having two children do it is more like .5% :)

Here's the birth story:

Tuesday when I hit 40 weeks I had my final appointment with my doctor. I went in very anxious and ready to get the show on the road. My induction was set for Oct 30th and I was hoping to move it up to the 26th. The doc changed the induction date and gave me a very thorough membrane sweep. At that point I was 4cm, stretchy to a 5, and 75% effaced. She said she'd be shocked if I made it past 48 hours, but she'd been wrong before.

I went home and played cards with my mother in law and made lunch. At noon I started having contractions ranging from 4-6 minutes apart. The doctor told me to go in to labor and delivery if I had contractions 5 minutes apart for an hour since I was fairly progressed already, she suspected I would go quickly.

I timed the contractions, not dare hoping that they'd stick around but sure enough an hour hit and they were still coming. We got ready to go and my father in law drove me in since Kolt was at work. I headed up to L and D and just knew they would fizzle out by the time they hooked me up. They kept coming and were about 4 minutes apart, but when they checked me I was still 4cm and 75% effaced. The doctor said because I wasn't making any progress they may send me home and she went to go talk to the chief resident. After several minutes the nurse came back in and said "From the three options we discussed earlier (staying, going walking for 2 hours, or going home) which one did I want?" So I said "well I'd like to stay." And she said "Ok, lets go get you checked in." I was so relieved. I did not want to go back home and wait for them to get closer. We went onto the unit and Kolt went to go tell his family what the plan was. While waiting for him the doc came in and we discussed options. She said because I was due and the contractions were regular they were going to keep me, but because I wasn't progressing they would start a low dose of pitocin. I had been hoping to have a med free birth and asked her if I could walk around and then maybe could they break my water. She said that would be fine, so I left the unit to go find Kolt with instructions to come back at 5pm (it was 3:30 at that point). We walked down to the cafeteria and got everyone but me dinner and I paced the room. The contractions weren't getting any closer but they were getting stronger. At 5pm we went back upstairs and I got checked in. Around 5:45 they checked me and low and behold, I was pretty much the same. 5 cm and 75% effaced, -2 station. She said the baby was too high to feel comfortable breaking my water so she wanted to start pitocin. I said I trusted her judgement and I waited to get my IV.

With Leila it ook 4 sticks to get it in, thankfully it only took once this time. They started my pit on 6 (I guess it goes up to 40) and I handled it really well, it hurt but was manageable. After about an hour (so around 7pm) they came in and checked me again. 5cm 75% effaced, -1. Because he'd moved down some they decided to break my water. I knew this was the point where it would probably start to hurt really badly. The nurse told me that I'd need a bolus of fluid prior to getting the epidural, so if I wanted it she'd need to do that. I decided to try out a couple of contractions and see how it went and then asked how long the bolus took. She said about half an hour. Right then I got a contraction and it was every bit as awful as I remembered it with Leila. I asked for the bolus and to get anesthesia in there for the epi. I was in no way ashamed or disappointed that I'd need it. Pitocin on a broken water is just simply too much for me or most women to handle. No shame in that at all.

I got my epidural around 8pm and at that point we were trying to decide what to do with Leila. She had been there with my in laws but was getting tired. We wanted her there to meet the baby as soon as possible, but didn't want her to be overly tired and grumpy. Around 9 we called our friend to come and take her because I wasn't moving along very quickly. Shortly after that a nurse came in and asked if I was feeling pressure. I said I was but no pain, so she left. I noticed the next few contractions after that were starting to hurt. Then I felt like my body was pushing, even without my trying to. I told the nurse to come back in because I felt like it was time. She took a peek to see if the baby was coming out, he wasn't and said she'd go get the doc to check me. It took a few minutes and I was starting to think he was going to come out on his own if they didn't hurry. The doc came in and checked me, said I was ready to push and asked me to do a 'practice push'. I did and he said 'ok let's have a baby.'

He gowned up quickly and everyone was getting ready for his birth. They had me push and about 5 pushes and a few minutes later at 9:38 pm, Lucas Thayne Harris was born. I felt him come out, there was a fair amount of pain, enough that I feel like I got a semi natural birth, and I'm perfectly happy with how it went. They placed him on my chest and he screamed right away. They cleaned him up and he looked great. He weighed in 8lbs 10 oz and was 21" long. We were all shocked at how much he weighed, he didn't look chubby or huge to me, but he's a big baby!

Because I could feel a lot during the birth, when they came at me with the needle to repair one minor 1st degree tear, I panicked. I looked at them and said, "Um, I felt him come out, please make sure I'm numb enough for that!" The doc checked and thankfully I couldn't feel it so they proceeded. Funny how you can push a human out of you and it doesn't scare you, but see that needle and a big "oh hell no!" came over me. Haha.

His birth was pretty fast and furious once it all went down. He's such a great baby and we're home now. Leila was a little upset when she first saw him because she was pretty tired but she absolutely adores her baby brother. A little too much and she feels like she always has to hold him, which is a little difficult. I'm sure she'll get over it and eventually not need to touch him every second, but I'm grateful she loves him. I was afraid she would hate him, so this is working out well.

I can't believe how much I love this little boy. He's such a sweet heart and so tiny (no matter what they said up on the floor, he's itty bitty compared to Leila!) and loves to snuggle. He's got lighter brown hair and blue eyes, very different than Leila. He has SO much hair, I can't believe it. I plan on getting some new born pictures this weekend and will post them as soon as I can. All I have for now are pictures on my phone so for now this is the best I can do.

The very end of pregnancy is torturous for many reasons. First because the baby you've been growing for nine months is huge and takes up all extra room and makes you miserable. I attempted to put on shoes with laces the other day, what a joke. This is why I wear flip flops 95% of the time. It was like trying to bend over a bowling ball. As the baby 'prepares for delivery' he drops, which puts an insane amount of pressure on your bones and pelvis and hurts like nothing else. And there's no relief. Lying down in bed only works for a little while before the weight of the baby puts enough pressure on my blood vessels and nerves that I go numb on that side and have to flip over. THAT is a laughable event all it's own, turning over to my other side. It goes on like that all night long so that the longest amount of sleep I've gotten at once in months is 2-3 hours. I actually look forward to sleepless nights caused by breast feeding, instead of pain and discomfort.

Aside from the physical agony, the emotional agony is equally awful. Hoping every pain is the start of labor, wondering constantly when the dang kid will get here, EVERYONE you know calling, texting, facebook-ing you and asking 'had that baby yet?' Do you honestly think I'd have the baby and NOT tell the entire free world? Really??? This baby is going to be gorgeous, you'd better believe I'll be spamming everyone with pictures. Thanks for asking and reminding that I'm still pregnant with no end in sight though. I appreciate it.  (I know it's all in innocence and excitement, but gosh it gets old).

I spent most of last evening/night thinking I was finally going into labor. (This experience is new for me because I never actually did with Leila, my water broke without me having contractions and so they whole timing them thing is foreign). I went to the store and noticed a TON of pressure walking around. I was anxious to get home and go for a walk to 'get things going' and we did. Following Kolt's walking  pace is no easy task when not pregnant, imagine trying to keep up with that man 9 months pregnant (think quack quack quack, waddle waddle waddle). He kept me speed walking for about half an hour and then we went home to watch the debate.

I wasn't having any contractions but had a lot of pain and pressure. I got Leila to bed and went to bed myself and around 11:30 felt my first contraction. I ignored it, figuring if it was really starting, there would be more and whenever I bust out my contraction counter app, inevitably they stop. After several more contractions I decided to start timing. They were about 10 minutes apart and I was starting to get excited, thinking this was possibly the start of it. This continued for about three more hours when I finally realized that they were slowing down and then I fell asleep. This morning I was still in a lot of pain but no more contractions. Blah. Stupid false labor kept me up all night long for no good reason.

I have my next appointment on Friday and then another appointment on the 23rd, my actual due date. If I make it to the 23rd we'll schedule an induction at that point. I'm hoping I don't make it that far and even though last night's 'excitement' wasn't the real deal, it's my body gearing up and baby will be here this weekend. Fingers crossed any how.

And I promise, you will all be getting texts/pics/info if something legit is happening. I won't let anyone know until I'm admitted and we're certain it's going to happen. If it's the middle of the night, we'll let everyone know at an appropriate hour the following morning. Hopefully it happens soon.