The Day Connor Was Born

So I want to document the day that Connor was born so I will always have it written down. It was such a special day, just like Lauren's birthday.

   I've been blessed to give birth to 2 beautiful babies. There's something about the birthing process. It feels like a dream, and out of body experience, magical, and an overall very emotional thing. I hope that I never forget the days that my children were born. Besides marrying their daddy, October 29, 2008 and December 2, 2011 are the best days of my life.  

   I was scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 4am on December 2 for my induction. Yes, 4am. That's a tad early for Todd and I. I only slept for 1 hour the night before. The whole week leading up to December 2, I struggled to sleep. I was excited. I wasn't really nervous, just excited. Because we didn't find out the gender this time, I was excited to see if I was having a boy or girl. Another thing is that we wanted to be induced, just like with Lauren. In a perfect world, I would have just gone into labor and we would have rushed to the hospital. Because of Todd's job, I really wanted him to be there so that's what we chose to do. There is only 1 flight a day from Chicago to Chattanooga (Todd is based at O'Hare) so I just knew he wouldn't make it home if I went into labor with him flying somewhere.

   We got to the hospital right at 4am. After checking in, we settled into our room at 4:30am. I was already dilated to around 3cm. That's another thing, I won't be induced if I haven't already started dilating. It makes labor so much easier if my body has already started the process. At 5:30am, my OB (the best OB in the entire world!!) arrived to break my water. That was much more painful than my experience with Lauren. Connor was very very high. He was so high that my nurse later confirmed that she was afraid he wouldn't come down and that I might would need a C section. After breaking my water, the contractions of course were very very intense.

 
   Around 7am, I got my glorious epidural. I shouldn't really call it glorious though. Just like with Lauren, I still felt pain. I thought those suckers were to give you a pain free birth. What in the world? :) Poor Todd turned pale as a ghost and almost passed out right after they put my epidural in. He doesn't have a weak stomach at all so it wasn't from watching me get the epidural. We didn't eat much food in the morning so he just got very light headed. Poor guy! He retreated to the couch and I got some much needed rest as well.

   The anesthesiology team had to come back 3 times to give me more medicine. I would be pain free for about 30 minutes and then feel intense contractions again. This went on the entire time until Connor was born.

   After 9am or so, I was around 5cm. From 9am-12pm, I just knew Connor was going to come fast. I could feel the pressure and just knew that I was progressing quickly. My OB joked that it would be ideal for this baby to be born during his lunch break. He ended up getting his "wish."

    We had a couple of visitors but at 12pm, I knew it was time. My OB and his nurse who is a good friend walked in the door right at about 12:15pm. Perfect timing. I was thrilled to see his nurse. She has become a friend and I knew she would be able to help with the birth if it was during their lunch hour. It worked out so perfectly.

Nurse Shana

 The most incredible doctor in the entire world. There aren't enough words to express how great he and his nurse are. They are the best of the best and I would never want anyone else taking their place during the delivery.

   Just like with Lauren, I got extremely nauseous during pushing. The only way that I don't vomit is by having a large cup of ice chips and to eat the ice between each contraction. Shana, my OB's nurse, got wet, cold paper towels for my head and then Todd was in charge of the ice. Perfect team! I still end up feeling much more than you would if your body responds well to epidurals. The pressure is out of this world and I always know when to push. I close my eyes the entire time to focus :) No mirror watching for me. No way.

   Todd had roses delivered to my room as I was in labor. I remember Shana telling me to look and I said "no no no, is that a mirror?" I was adamant about not looking :) Instead beautiful roses were there. Sweet sweet husband.

   My sweet baby boy was born at 12:55pm. I don't remember who announced that he was a boy but Todd and I both sobbed after seeing our precious son. Giving birth is the most emotional experience I've ever gone through.  The whole experience was so similar to Lauren's birth, even progressing quickly in the end. Hearing that I not only had a son but that he was healthy was such a precious gift.

Seeing my precious son for the first time and learning that I had a baby boy in my belly over the last 40 weeks.

Seconds after hearing we had a son. I didn't know we were taking a picture but it captures the emotion of the moment very well.

   I was then moved to my room where we stayed for 2 nights. Our hospital experience was wonderful. The nurses were great and we enjoyed our time with Connor there.  We've been very fortunate to have 2 stress free births and 2 healthy kiddos.