4 Months + 1 Day

3 months was rough on everybody. London had a minor surgical procedure on his tongue (a horrible experience plus a couple miserable weeks of recovery, I really feel for parents of kids that get bigger/multiple surgeries...no fun), then he got sick, then I got sick, plus our downstairs ceiling started leaking from some pipes upstairs, and our Air Conditioning went out...twice. With all the garbage of last month behind us, we are ready for good things to come in month #4. So far, so good.

3 Months and London's Birth Story

Now that London is three months old...I'm finally getting around to blogging the story of his birth. Before I had a baby, I always loved reading about other people's labor stories so that I would know what to expect for when I would have a baby someday. However, the more people I listened to, the more I realized that everyone's experience is different and decided to go into labor with no expectations. Nevertheless, I still found reading/listening to other people's birth stories very helpful in preparing for my own experience and interesting, so with that in mind, I am sharing this.  It is ridiculously long, but I am including every little detail for people like me who wanted to know play by play how labor goes.

After the preterm labor experience, I was sure that the minute they took me off of the medication a week later, I would go straight into labor. The doctor and nurses said that they would be very surprised if I made it to my due date and with the contractions I'd been having (even while on the medication), I tried to have everything ready for the baby by Tuesday, April 9th (the first day without medication) just in case he came.

Tuesday came and went. No baby. Wednesday and Thursday passed. Still no baby. I decided to try to just enjoy the time alone with Scott that weekend instead of getting anxious for the baby to come, even though I was extremely uncomfortable. We went on a couple dates and really just had fun with each other Friday and Saturday.  Still no baby.

Sunday morning, while trying to get ready for my friend's baby's blessing, I started to have contractions but this time they were especially painful. They were painful enough that every time I got a contraction, I had to stop what I was doing and wait for the contraction to pass. Scott started timing them-they were coming every 3-4 minutes. He excitedly put our hospital bags in the car and insisted that we leave for the hospital right away. Despite the pain, I didn't want to get to the hospital too early, so I refused to leave for the hospital until we had timed them for over an hour to make sure they were still consistent. I kept thinking that they would stop, like the other contractions I had been having the past two weeks, but this time, they kept coming, and they really hurt.

In between contractions, I was still trying to curl my hair because even if I didn't make it to the blessing, I was determined to look beautiful in the after-labor pics (didn't happen), but the contractions were so painful and frequent that I gave up, threw my hair in a pony and we left for the hospital.

Tears streamed down my face on the way to the hospital. It hurt so bad, but more than just physical pain, I was frustrated. I didn't want to go through labor. I knew it would hurt and I didn't want to do it. But, there was no way out of it. I couldn't stay pregnant for ever (nor did I want to!) and there was only one way this baby could come out - labor. Errr... Scott sung to me and hold my hand to try to comfort me, which helped a little, but I still hurt a lot.

In the Triage they checked me-I was now dilated to a 5. They hooked me up to the monitors to see how I was progressing to determine whether or not to admit me. Because I was still preterm, they couldn't give me anything to speed up the process until I was admitted. On the other hand, because I was 36 weeks, they wouldn't give me anything to slow down the process either. So we just sat and waited to see if they would admit me. They weren't the sweetest nurses ever and they were kind of condescending and they even thought about sending me home because I wasn't progressing very quickly. I was in so much pain that the thought of going home was ridiculous to me. I could barely walk in here, how did they expect me to walk out and go home? As they left the room, I couldn't stop crying. It hurt so bad and I wanted my mom, but she couldn't come because she had to teach Sunday school. When they came back in and saw how upset I was (thank goodness I am so good at crying), they decided to admit me.

A different nurse came to take me to the labor/delivery room. She was very sweet and seemed genuinely concerned about me. She took me and Scott to the room where I would deliver.  She started setting everything up - took my blood pressure/temp/etc, took a sample of blood since my blood pressure was a little high (probably because of the contractions, but they wanted to make sure it wasn't caused by anything else), set me up on an IV of fluids and an anti-biotic (since I tested positive for strep B).  The anti-biotic hurt my arm really bad at first until she was able to dilute it with water. The pain was similar to when you hit your funny bone, but very intense. Around this time, my mom called and said she was on her way.  Apparently, it was actually someone else's turn to teach this week, she had just gotten mixed up. I was so glad to have someone that has been through this before there with me along with my supportive husband. 

The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. Before I was actually in labor, I had always said that I would just wait and see. I didn't have my heart set either way, I just wanted to see how it all would go first and then decide if I wanted an epidural or if I wanted to have a natural child birth. After feeling so many intense/painful contractions, when the labor and delivery nurse asked me if I wanted one, I told her I did. Once I was all set up with the IVs, etc, the anesthesiologist came and talked to me about the epidural. They told me to let the nurse know when I wanted it. The nurse reminded me that no one gets an award for the amount of pain they experience during labor, and recommended that I don't wait long to get it and feel the relief. I just didn't know how much I would enjoy being completely numb or if it would bug me or if I would get really itchy (a common side effect of epi-durals), so I told her that I wanted to wait a little bit longer to get one. 

We got a movie set up on the hospital TV. I breathed through the contractions. They were very intense. Less than an hour later, I called the nurse and requested the epidural.  She got me set up for it and then called in the anesthesiologist. My mom was sent out of the room. They had Scott sit right in front of me and hold my arms for support. I was nervous about getting the big needle in my back, but it wasn't that big of a deal, probably because I couldn't see it. The anesthesiologist warned me about the shot of Novocaine she was going to give me to numb the area, she said it would burn. I prepared myself for the burn, but after experiencing the fierce burn of the trib. shots two weeks prior, the Novocaine shot was cake. When she finally inserted the large epidural needle, there was a weird, kind of unsettling pressure, but other than that, it was no big deal. When she started giving me the Epidural medicine, I could feel a cool sensation run down my back. The epidural was magic for me. I could still feel the pressure of the contractions for the most part, but the pain was gone. I could still move my legs. Plus, it was pretty evenly distributed-my left side was the same amount of numb than the right. I loved the epidural! 

After I was all set up with the epidural, my mom was able to come back in. We waited for an hour or so, then the nurse came to check how I was progressing. I was still at a five, and the contractions were not progressing either. So, she had to put in a catheter. For some reason, I thought catheters were inserted via a needle into the stomach area. No sir. They are inserted down there. Talk about violating...  Next, the nurse added petocin to my IV to speed up the labor process. And then, we just had to wait.

We watched a lot of TV, mostly the Food Network channel.  The nurse would come in every hour or so to flip me to a different side, but other than that, it was all pretty boring. The worst part of it all was that I wasn't allowed to eat anything and I hadn't eaten since early that morning. I was starving! They gave me a Popsicle which helped a little, but not much. Eventually, I had to stop watching Food Network, and then stop watching TV altogether because the commercials were all food related and I was too hungry! Scott kept complaining how boring it was and made jokes about how if he knew how boring labor was going to be, he would have stayed home. But, despite his complaining, he really was a good sport and held my hand when I wanted and everything.

Waiting...He had to wear his ASU shirt, so London knew who to support.

After awhile, since I still wasn't really progressing, my mom headed home to grab a sweater. By the time she came back, my first nurse's shift had ended and I was assigned a new nurse. She was younger than the first, probably around my mom's age. I liked her a lot. My mom wanted to see if I had progressed at all and wanted them to check me (btw-checks without an epidural = torture, checks with an epidural = painless), but the nurse informed her that because I tested positive for strep B, they try to do as few checks as possible to avoid contaminating the baby with the strep B. By this point, I had had three doses of petocin and the screen monitoring my contractions showed that they were getting more intense.

They kept me on petocin, but the nurse started to turn it down since my contractions had finally picked up. They also had to come and refill the epidural, since my original bag of the medicine was running low. I could feel the pressure of the contractions more frequently and more intense. The monitor continued to show crazy waves of contractions-they looked pretty bad. I started to feel bad pains in my rib area every time I had a contraction because the epidural does not reach that high. Feeling that pain and watching the monitor made me very grateful for the epidural!  After awhile I started to feel pressure down there, like they said I would feel. I asked the nurse if I should push the epidural button to give me a boost of medicine. She told me not to and instead checked to see how far I was dilated.  I was dilated to 9.5 cm, 95% effaced. She said that my water looked like it was about to burst and that if I started pushing it would splatter all over her, so she started getting things ready for delivery. I got especially excited when she turned on the warmer where they would put the baby. 

She went out to call my doctor, Dr. Huish.  Luckily, he was already at the hospital for another patient, so he came right in.  He checked me and said that I was at a 10, 100% effaced. He broke my water and instructed the nurse to get me started on pushing.  My mom and Scott held my legs while we practiced pushing. They cheered me on. Each push is ten seconds and you do three pushes each contraction. You have to hold your breath through each push. It was tiring and my head felt like it would explode!  After pushing for about 10 minutes, or maybe less, the nurse said, "Oh, he's got a lot of hair!" I was so surprised that she could see him because I still thought I was "practice pushing." At that point, Scott, who had kept his gaze on my face, the TV or the contraction monitor while I was pushing, now turned and looked down to see the baby. From that point on, he watched the whole thing and didn't even get queasy! Scott told me that while I was pushing, the head would come down and they could see it, then when I stopped pushing, the head would move back up into the birth canal. The goal was to get his head to stay there, which we accomplished in less than twenty minutes of pushing.

After a few more minutes, Dr. Huish came back in the room. They put my legs up in the stirrups and I kept pushing while he and the other nurse got stuff ready. Scott and the nurse were helping me push and my mom was getting the camera ready for some post-birth pics.  

Finally, Dr. Huish was all ready for the delivery. He had me push a couple more times. Then, he said something to the effect of, "The only thing stopping his head from coming out is there isn't enough room. Either you can just keep pushing and you will tear badly, or I can make a little room." I opted for the episiotomy over tearing. Two light pushes later and the nurse shoved my head forward saying, "Look!" I watched as the doctor finished pulling London out of me. It was surreal. That baby must have come out of me...weird. Dr. Huish sucked the gunk out of his nose and mouth. I could hear him crying and right away they put London on my chest.

I looked at him. Covered in goop but still so cute and precious. He was crying so I just held him close and said a few times, "You're okay London. It's okay. Momma's here." He stopped crying and just looked at me with his big, dark, gunky eyes.  I will cherish that moment forever. Just thinking about it now gets me teary-eyed. 

Holding London for the first time.

Scott holding London for the first time. Melting...

London loves his dad.

The next hours and days after that, after my epidural wore off, were some of the most painful in my life. Maybe someday I'll write about all the pain and frustration and challenges of post-birth/recovery, but for now, I just want to focus on the best part of it all...London.

At 3 months old he is over 14 lbs, 24 inches long. He is already teething and has figured out how to get his fist to his mouth to gnaw on it. He HATES tummy time. He LOVES bath time. He is starting to be more vocal and opinionated. Some days, he is Mr. Independent and wants time to himself. He will freak until I put him down on the ground or in his monkey chair and then will coo, babble, and smile happily. But other days, he is content laying on my chest or in my arms and will peacefully fall asleep. I love those moments. For the most part, he is happy, talkative and smiley, but lately, teething has made him a little touchy. Poor guy. I LOVE when he smiles at me and I love watching him develop. I'm so grateful for this little guy. He is helping me to really grow and gives me new challenges everyday. I'm forced to be a little less selfish and a little more reliant on the Lord so that I, with all my imperfections and many flaws, can raise London the way God wants him to be raised.

I love this boy.

Lovin' Me Some London...Picture Overload

Wish I had a clever caption for this picture of an over-eager father and frightened son.

He loves bath time.

Sunday night. He loves church and smiles tons in sacrament meeting.

Scott and London...the day before Scott's First Father's Day

So much attitude

These cheeks and lips kill me...

He's such a happy little guy.

2 Months Old

This little guy is two months old. It's crazy how big he has gotten.Yesterday was his two month check up with the pediatrician. In two months, he has almost doubled his birth weight!

2 Month Stats:

Weighs12 lbs 7 oz. ~ 50th percentile
23.75" long ~ 75th percentile

He is so big that the 2 month onesie that my friend let me borrow doesn't fit! In fact, he is growing out of his 0-3 month clothes. Give it a week or so and I'll be packing those up and pulling out the 3-6 month clothes. I'm so glad he's healthy and growing!

Trying on the 2 month onesie. No bueno.

A Couple Firsts

First Haircut (5 weeks old)

I couldn't stand the monk look anymore, so we buzzed the back and sides.

Before

After. It still looks a little monkish, but that was mostly just the lighting

First Road-trip (6 Weeks Old)

We traveled to good ol' Lucerne Valley, California

 for an anniversary party for my grandparents 

and graduation party for my cousin. 

It was a lot of fun and London did great! 

He traveled well and handled the crowds well too.

Favs

1. Three-day weekends with Scott.
2. Family shopping trips. I can't wait until we can take London to the zoo or museums or theme parks, but for now, shopping trips with Scott and London are the closest to it. Shopping trips are the highlights of my week. Especially, when Scott's the one who suggests we go. Like yesterday, when he suggested we head out to San Tan Mall. I know, Scott suggesting that we go shopping...it's surreal.
3. Waking up at 2 am to find Scott feeding London so that I could sleep through the night. Sweetest thing ever.

Happy Things, Part II

1. Roses from Scott for Mother's Day. I am a mother now. Weird. And amazing. I pushed a baby out of my body and now I spend all day and night taking care of him. It is the hardest thing I have ever done and I have way more respect for all mother's now and for the work they do. And I used to think all these stay-at-home moms were just chillin'... Reality check. The life of a mother is hard work! I'm so grateful for my mom for all she went through to give me life and to raise me. And so grateful for Scott's mom for raising him to be such a sweet boy and good husband.

2. Getting to talk to my favorite sister missionary who is all the way in London, England, via Skype on Mother's Day.

3. London only woke up once last night!!!!! He went to bed at 10 pm, woke up at 1 am to eat and then didn't wake up until we usually do-around 5 am. It was AMAZING!  I feel like a whole new person!  Sometimes, when he wakes up a lot at night, I feel like I am in a torture chamber and they are using sleep deprivation as a way to make me insane. Even two straight hours of sleep is a rare miracle these days.  So last night's 4.5 hours of sleep combined, was a huge blessing!  I feel semi-sane today.

4. London laughing for the first time today. He smiled in his sleep and then started laughing in his sleep. It was so cute, that I started laughing and then he did it again! Made my day! So cute.

5. George Costanza hair...mostly bald on top, nice ring of hair around the sides and back.

6. Catching this babe's smile on video. Love it.