Thad's Birth

WARNING:  Long post.  But what did you expect?

 



 

This whole having-a-baby process has been the most different experience of the four.  On my due date, one of my OB's told me that I'd be induced the next day (Friday) but that Rex Hospital would call me that morning between 5 and 7 AM for the appointment time, depending on when they'd be least busy.  What neither of us knew, was that apparently every pregnant woman in the area decided to go into labor right then and for the next couple of days.  Not knowing this, Ben and I picked up Lily from school a little early so we could drop off all the kids at my parents' house and then Ben and I went back home to finish up last minute things like packing a hospital bag. 

 

We went to sleep, but not really.  Our house has almost no cell phone reception and so we were worried we'd miss the call.  No call came between 5 and 7.  My OB had said that if they were incredibly busy they'd call me by noon.  No call.  So I called my OB.  They told me to wait by the phone all day.  It could be any time.  So Ben and I stayed home.  With nothing to do.  And we started going crazy.  Ben couldn't handle it so he started working from home and I tried to get some sleep since I hadn't in the past 2 nights.  By 3:30 we were so discouraged we decided to go to my parents' house to be with the kids.  We felt better instantly.  We finally got a call at 8:30 PM.  The Rex nurse told me about how every single one of their rooms was full and that they should be able to get me induced at 12 or 1 AM.  AM????  I'd never heard of a middle of the night induction but I was so excited.  She said she'd call me closer to then to tell me the exact time to come in.  So Ben and I decided to stay at my parents' house until it was time to go in. When I hadn't gotten a phone call by 1:30 (and couldn't sleep -- again) I called her.  "It won't be until at least 5 or 6 AM."  And so on and so on and so on through all of Saturday.  FINALLY at 7:30 PM I got a call from my OB, Dr. Breazeale, saying to come in in an hour.  I have never been more excited to get somewhere in my entire life except for maybe the temple when we got married.

 

I got hooked up to Pitocin almost immediately.  And this was my first time where the nurse was not messing around with the drugs.  She started it high and bumped it up constantly.  Since I've had regular contractions since 22 weeks, the contractions I had didn't really faze me.  After a few hours on Pitocin, my nurse suggested I get checked again and have my water broken.  I hadn't dilated in all that time!  I was still a 3!  WHAT?  So Dr. Breazeale broke my water and immediately, huge contractions started coming.  The anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural and had to do it three times.  (My back still likes to remind me of this.)  Even after the three attempts, it still only really made my right side numb.  Oh well.

 

So I figured since it was past 3:30 AM at this point it would be a good idea to get some sleep since I hadn't in the last few nights.  I was only 3 cm dilated and who knows how long this was going to take?  So Ben and I passed out.  But I couldn't really sleep because, for some reason, I could still feel every contraction.  So I had my nurse come in at 4:30 AM to check me.  I was at a 7 even though I was a 3 just an hour before.  And since this is my 4th delivery, I knew how my body works and we had already told our nurse that at this point, it was a matter of minutes.  So the nurse immediately started getting everything ready and that's when I realized we had forgotten our camera in the car.  I told Ben to run and I meant it.  Because even though we were right next to the parking lot, I was ready to push before he got back, but luckily it took a whopping 4 pushes so Ben and Dr. Breazeale both made it in time for Thad's birth -- and not ear first like he was trying.  He was born at 4:41 AM and weighed 8lb 1oz and was 21" long. We took one look at him and instantly could see "Macbeth" written all over him.  He's definitely one of ours!

 

 

 

We're solely bottle feeding him because of my previous nursing struggles.  It has been a complete game changer for me.  I can't believe how much easier it has been to recover since we can let nurses help out while we actually sleep a full night.  It has also been fun to actually be able to tell how much he drinks.  On his first day the nurses were saying, "Expect him to drink about 12 mL per feeding."  So of course he would drink over 20.  And today he's doing over 40.  He's definitely one of us.  :)

 He has the least hair of any of our kids by far.  And yet he's completely adorable.

Don't let Skyler's face fool you.  He was the most excited of the three to have Thad coming to this family.  Meet your new roomie, Bud!

Ella wanted to touch him a lot.

And then she gave him a hard binky kiss on the forehead and then smacked his head a few times out of excitement.  Oh how this takes me back to when Lily met Skyler...

I was really impatient at the end of this pregnancy.  Each pregnancy has been more physically demanding than the last and it was really taking a toll on me.  Several times I had to have priesthood blessings and would pray to go into labor.  Now I am beyond thankful that I never went into labor naturally.  If I would have known that I would have delivered him an hour after my water had broken, I know without a doubt that I wouldn't have made it to the hospital in time to deliver him -- not after making sure the kids were taken care of and a 30 minute drive to the hospital. 

Ben and I feel beyond blessed to have Thad in our family.  He has a very calm and sweet personality.  I can't wait to get to know him better.  For now, Ben and I are soaking up one word: complete.