I can NOT believe my sweet baby #3 is already six months old (that's SIX months, oh my goodness!). For your gift, sweet Christian, my happy baby boy - I am putting your birth story to paper. Hopefully one day you'll understand just how busy mommy has been and forgive me that it took me so long.
Christian's Birth Story:
John and I were convinced we were having a December baby. TJ was nearly three weeks early after some serious pre-tern labor pains starting a couple of months before his due date. So when I started having contractions around the same time we began to mentally prepare. Nana and Pap arrived several days before Christmas. This time around, while I wasn't as "big" as I had been with the first two, I made up for it with pain. I could barely walk thanks to lower back and hip pain. Sweet boy, you were sitting in the darndest position and I could NOT get you to move! Christmas came and went. TJ and Felicity had so much fun this year. Felicity fell in love with Santa while on our North Pole Express adventure. And Christmas was even more special thanks to having my parents with us.
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| Big Momma - about four days before I had you Christian! |
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| Watching attentively for Mrs. Claus |
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| Classic. |
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| The magic of Santa, and child-like innocence, and belief in good all summed up into one picture. |
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| Proud Pap. Love my Daddy for all the love he shows us! |
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| True man there - patiently shelling pecans and wearing an Elsa hat for his granddaughter. :) |
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| Happy Birthday Baby Jesus! |
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Enjoying his Christmas treats.
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But now, the pressure was on...Pap HAD to leave on December 31st. We wanted him to meet our baby boy (and there were those tax and medical deductible perks to be had, HA!) so we still had our fingers crossed for a December baby. But it wasn't in God's plans! I knew as Dad was leaving on New Years Eve that Baby Christian would be making his debut very soon (his actual due date was January 7th).
New Years Eve I started to leak fluid - not much so I wasn't positive that was what was happening. Then on the night of January 1st I awoke thinking I had wet the bed. After inspection I knew it was likely amniotic fluid. I decided to try and get some sleep before the contractions started. The next morning came and I realized I had not felt one single contraction. I fed the older kids and talked to my mom and John. We decided it was probably a wise decision to head to the hospital to get checked. John and I had hoped that I'd be able to labor mostly at home for this birth. TJ's birth had empowered me and had me hoping for a second "easy" and more "natural" birth. But I knew that since my contractions were failing to start on their own that this natural labor might not happen.
Upon arriving at the hospital around 8:30 am, I was checked and it was determined that my membranes had indeed ruptured. The doctor agreed to give me another 6 hours or so since there were no signs of infection. So we walked. And walked. And climbed stairs. And I never contracted once. The decision was made to hook me up to monitors and a Pitocin drip. And that's when things got interesting. Contractions started, but could never get into a rhythm. It was also noted that Baby Christian was struggling quite a bit with each contraction. So the Pitocin was stopped and that's when my body started to contract very irregularly on its own. But by this time I was hooked up to three different machines and IVs. It was extremely hard to get into a comfortable laboring position while keeping the machines happy. And since Christian still wasn't handling the contractions well, I had to labor in a position that suited him. Which hurt. A lot. SO, I called for an epidural. It took three tries and seriously the worst pain I have ever endured to get the cath placed. But it was in. After about 30 minutes it was clear that it wasn't a great placement, but we decided not to mess with it (I actually started bawling and begging them not to make me do it again even if it meant I felt the depth of every contraction.) Over the course of the next few hours I was moved into every conceivable position in an attempt to take pressure off of Christian. My contractions were failing to produce much change. So the doctor made the call to try a very odd position and it worked! Within 30 minutes I KNEW it was time. Christian, you were born in a flurry, three pushes and I was holding you in my arms. The umbilical cord was wrapped a couple of times around his neck, but there was no compression and the doctor quickly untangled him without any issues. He weighed seven pounds even and was 20 inches long. Absolutely Perfect.
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| Meeting Baby Brother! TJ came along too, but the hospital was very scary to him. File that away all you expecting Mommy's with an 18 month old older sibling! (Save the intro's for the house!) |
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| Going Home |
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| Going Home! |
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| Going Home! |
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| Nana is amazing! She chased the big kids and snuggled the baby. She cleaned my house and stocked my freezer full of food. We are forever indebted to this incredible woman. Love you Mom!! |
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| Proud Big Sister!!! |
The next few days were a blur. Before I knew it we were home and surprisingly settling quite well - with a HUGE thanks to my Mom for once again keeping our ship afloat. It was like Christian had always been a part of our family. I honestly could not remember what it felt like to have just two children. We are so thankful that God gave you to us, Christian!
