Baby #3 is here!!

HE is here!!  Charles Vincent arrived on January 21st at 11:52 am.  He weighed in at 8 pounds 15 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.  I knew he was going to be a big boy (yes, I just knew he would be a boy), but I was surprised he was that big...2 weeks early!!  

A couple of interesting things about Charlie's statistics...he was born in room 312 and this is the same room where Elliana was born.  They also shared the exact same stats...8 lbs. 15 oz and 19.5 inches.  Strange.  Elliana was born just a few days early though.  I do wonder how big Charlie would have been if he went to term!

I know there are many that may be interested in the story of Charlie's arrival, and this is a good way for me to document his story while the memories are fresh.  (I have yet to write down the story of Molly or Elliana's arrivals!)  It is long but I wanted to remember all the details, so here is how it went down...

I returned to the doctor for my scheduled appointment on Tuesday (the 20th).  I was having more contractions but they were not consistent or painful...I felt like things were on the verge but not quite there.  The doctor checked me and found no change from the previous week (still dilated to a 4).  He told me that I was ready to go and it could be any time...or it could be several days!  He gave me the option of being induced (by breaking my water) on Friday morning, the following Monday morning, or I could just wait until next week and see what happened.  I felt conflicted on what to do, so we decided to schedule the induction for Friday with the understanding that I could call and cancel (even that morning) if I felt that I wanted to wait a little longer.

As I wrote previously, I really wanted to go into labor on my own, but I also wanted to be sure that I was at the hospital in plenty of time to have my two rounds of antibiotics (because I'm group strep b positive).  I also was starting to get very uncomfortable.  I just felt like baby no longer had room.  Anyway, I asked several good friends to pray that I would go into labor on my own or have peace about going in to be induced.  

On Tuesday evening I began feeling more crampy and had a few contractions here and there.  Again, the contractions were not consistent, but they were starting to get more painful.  The girls and I ate dinner with my parents as Eric was at a meeting at church.  By the time we got home and I got the girls in bed, the contractions were coming every seven minutes, but they still were not really intense.  I decided to go to sleep knowing that if this was really labor, I would probably wake up to more intense pains.  I woke up around 3:45 to use the restroom and found myself disappointed that labor must not have started since I had been sleeping so well.  When I returned to bed, I realized that contractions were starting again.  This time they were hurting a bit more and as I began to time them, they seemed to be coming every 5 minutes.  I tried different positions (sitting, walking, taking a shower) to see if they continued.  They did continue and began to get more painful.  Around 5:00 I decided that I better wake Eric and call the doctor.  My doctor was on call, so I explained what was going on and he suggested that I come in to the hospital to be checked since I was already so dilated.  

My mom arrived to take care of the girls, and Eric and I headed to the hospital.  This was all so strange as my labors had never started like this before.  With Molly my water broke and then they had to induce contractions, and with Ellie they induced my labor by breaking my water.  On the way to the hospital I got nervous that maybe this wasn't the real deal, but with each contraction, the pain made me realize that something was definitely happening!

When we arrived at the hospital I was dilated to a 5, 90% effaced, and still having regular contractions that were beginning to get a little more painful.  After some monitoring, I was given my first round of antibiotics.  A second round would be needed, but I had to wait four hours before I could receive it.  I was originally told that my doctor would come by to break my water in order to speed up my labor, but since I had to wait to receive the next round of meds, they changed their minds.  They would not break my water until I was closer to that 4 hour mark or it broke on its own.  When I realized this, I started to question my desire to get through this labor without pain relief (such as I had done with the girls).  My labor and delivery lasted a total of four hours with them...I could tell that this one would be longer since it started differently.  

Eric and I were both a little surprised when I decided that I wanted to consider an epidural.  This was nothing we had talked about, and I assumed that I would manage this labor and delivery as I had the other two.  When it came down to it, I realized that I just didn't have the motivation to do it this time around.  I knew I could do it, I just didn't want to.  I was already in pain and knew how much worse it would get...and I was dreading that.  I was a little tired, and realized I just wanted to experience this labor differently.  So, after a long discussion about epidurals with my nurse, I opted to get one.  I was a little nervous as I was receiving it and hoping that I would not regret my decision.  I didn't.  Wow...what a difference from my previous labors.  I cruised along with no pain.  I could tell when I was having a contraction but they didn't hurt!  So, so different.  Eric and I even got a little bored at one point.  I moved along to a 7 and around 9:30, my water broke on its own.  The nurse thought I would cruise to a 10 at this point, but my contractions were just not coming close enough together (still about 5 minutes apart).  I was given my second round of antibiotics and then a small amount of pitocin was added to my iv (the nurse called it a "whiff" of pitocin), and this seemed to do the trick.  The contractions started coming closer together.  Around 11:00 I was dilated to an 8 and baby's head was moving down.  I laid on my side for a bit and felt a sudden movement...like baby had suddenly dropped into place.  A few minutes later I was checked again and the nurse found that I was ready to push.  About 15 minutes passed as everything was put in place (it is interesting how the pushing can be stalled a bit since I had an epidural).  The doctor arrived, the nursery team arrived, and about 4 pushes later, Charles Vincent arrived!  He was easy to deliver...in fact I was able to help deliver him!  After his head and shoulders were out, the doctor asked me to reach down and pull him out and onto my chest.  At first I wasn't sure, but I did it and it was a cool experience.  Eric and I were able to look at the same time and see that he was a little boy!  I loved that I was able to really enjoy his delivery since I wasn't focused on managing pain.  While I'm glad that I experienced all the emotions and even pain of labor with my previous deliveries, I'm very glad that I enjoyed this delivery from a pain-free perspective.  I can honestly say that all three of my deliveries have been very positive experiences although each of them have been very different.

There was such a flurry of activity during Charlie's arrival, but shortly afterward, the doctors, nurses, etc. were out of the room and the three of us were left to bond for about an hour.  That was a sweet time of getting to know our son and starting to make a few phone calls to our family.

There were several things that showed God's hand through this whole experience...

• I went into labor on my own before I had to make a decision about the induction!
• My doctor was on call, so I did not need to explain my situation when calling that morning.
• This is silly, but I really wanted to be in the same room where we had Ellie.  I knew it was a nice room and was just familiar...that is where we were assigned when we came in even though the hospital was pretty full (7 deliveries before noon that day!).
• My nurse was just who I needed to get through my labor and delivery.  She was a good listener as I worked through my decision about the epidural.  She had 5 children herself and had gone through labor both ways so she was able to give me good advice.
• The anesthesiologist had a good sense of humor, so I felt at ease when receiving the epidural.
• Although it would be easy to take this for granted, I realize it shouldn't be.  The nurse continually told us through the labor process that baby's heart rate was perfect.  She even said that several nurses at the nurses' station were jealous of our baby's heart rate as some of the other baby's were not doing quite that well through their labors.
• The doctor that was here to deliver Charlie was not someone I had seen for an appointment, but he remembered seeing me in the office on Tuesdays.  He even remembered that I had been in the office the day before.  Again, he had a good sense of humor and just made the delivery a very positive experience.
• Charlie came out crying just as he should be, ready to nurse, and healthy!

We are excited to have a son and are loving getting to know him.  The girls are so excited too!  While we are enjoying relaxing at the hospital, it will be good to get home with the girls and figure out how to be a family of five!

More pictures to come soon : )

 If you even read this far, sorry it is so long...this was more for me (in my hormonal state) than anyone else!