Happy Birthday Anderson

My induction was set for Friday, December 28, 2012. I was officially 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant. And I felt like it at that point. My pregnancy went great overall, I was extremely blessed to be healthy during the entire pregnancy. Hollyn spent the night with my parents the night before and I tried to get a good night's sleep. Tried, is the key word. I am not really sure whose bright idea it is to have patients arrive by 6:00 am on the morning of a life changing day. Who can sleep when all you are thinking about it is waking up so early  and the events that will take place that day? But no one asked me my opinion. We got to the hospital on time I was so blessed to have the BEST, nurse named Michelle. I went it at 50% effaced and dilated to a 3. I wasn't too encouraged by that since I had spent all week hiking and walking to make the induction easier. The nurse said it was actually a very good place to start. They began Pitocin, which is straight from the devil, before 8:00 am. I was in a good pattern of labor by 9 am or so and decided to get my epidural early. So many of my friends got theirs early and never felt a thing, so sign me up! Well, that may not have been the best idea! For some reason I DID NOT enjoy the epidural process at all. I felt it going it and from then on my anxiety was through the roof. I HATED feeling everything going numb. HATED. IT. I just kept thinking I can not feel this way the entire day and then push out a baby! I got so nauseous and just felt sick from the whole thing. Thankfully Scott had packed the Ipod so I listened to praise and worship music to help me calm down. I also had lots of support from family and prayers from friends. Hollyn was in the room with me for a lot of the process and did fabulous! I was VERY grateful to my parents, Aunt Mel Mel and Jamo, Aunt Geri, Scott's parents and Aunt Susan for entertaining this little toot while she waited on her brother. She truly did awesome the entire day!

                                       

Waiting on Brother...

After the epidural, I was hoping things would start to be smooth sailing and I could rest a little. That never happened. I did get Zofran in my epidural to help with the nausea. Then the contractions REALLY started coming. That was great because that meant I was in labor and things should start progressing. The bad part was that my epidural only took on ONE SIDE. And did I mention Pitocin contractions were straight from the devil? I really didn't want to keep pushing the magic button or add anything to the epidural because I was afraid of feeling anxious or sick again, but I did finally give in and the anesthesiologist came in and put a different drug in my epidural. And HALLELUJAH, I felt relief from the pain! Well, only for about an hour. The whole morning was a blur because I was in so much pain. I know my family was in and out and taking care of Hollyn. Dr. Beaird came in to check me about noon. I had just been told that I would probably progress about a centimeter an hour. I was getting stressed because that meant I wouldn't be fully dilated until about 4 or 5 that evening. I just didn't see how I could make it that long in that much pain. However, when they checked me around lunch time, I was an 8!!! I can't remember much of what was next but the girl in the next room was progressing at the exact same speed I was so we were just waiting to see who could push first! That was a little nerve wracking, but Dr. B made it in time for me to start pushing. I thought the pushing was much harder this time than with Hollyn. Having said that, I did not push any longer than 15 minutes. Praise the Lord that it all went smoothly and it was over quickly! Anderson was born at 2:32 pm and weighed 7 lbs and 6 oz. He was 19 inches long. As soon as he was born he peed all over the place! He was healthy as could be! He actually then began to cry and continued to cry off and on for about 45 minutes until I could feed him. He latched on like a barracuda! Bless him, he was starving! 

We brought Hollyn into the room alone so she could meet him by herself. Let's just say this initial meeting was not a kodak moment. She was very unhappy when seeing him and I thought she was just going to cry. She had those eyebrows furrowed down to her nose and her arms were crossed. Not a happy big sister at all. After the whole family came in and passed him around and I hugged on her a bit, she did warm up. The nurse finally put him in her arms and she was great with him.  

After his first bath

He was very alert the first day and NIGHT! I was bound and determined not to let him have a pacifier until he had a great breastfeeding latch. I changed my mind about 24 hours later. Best parenting decision ever! He loved that paci and still loved eating!

Sweet moments with Big Sister

I had a Christmas outfit all picked out for him when my induction was set for the 20th. So I just let him wear it home. The hat was a cute reindeer. I didn't care that it was 3 days after Christmas. We stayed in the hospital for two nights and I was delighted to come home that Sunday!

My sweet friend Alison made this announcement for me. I love it! It captures his sweet baby face just perfectly.  I give all the glory to God for creating this wonderfully healthy baby and blessing me with a safe delivery! Our journey as a family of four has begun.