Eleven days ago we welcomed our sweet baby boy, Park Kenneth! I have fallen in love all over again.
At 36 weeks, we learned I was dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced, with the baby very low. I let this fool me like last time and went crazy for a week trying to get as much done as I could before the baby came, but still had to wait a while before he actually came.
At 38 and a half weeks, I was at a 4 and the doctor stripped my membranes. I didn't think it was going to put me into labor because the whole rest of the day I felt totally normal. I wasn't really even feeling cramps most of the day. At 6:00, we were sitting down eating dinner when I realized I was having contractions about 10 minutes apart. Dawson was going to go help a friend paint his new apartment but I told him he might want to wait a while before leaving. The contractions continued for a couple hours, being anywhere from 5-10 minutes apart. We got Gracie all ready for bed and were in her room doing her bedtime routine when the contractions started feeling pretty painful. I was hesitant to head to the hospital since the intervals between the contractions were inconsistent, but my last labor went so quickly we decided we would play it safe and go. We grabbed our already packed bags, called our parents, and dropped Gracie off at my mom's house.
We got to the hospital at 8:30 and they had me put on a gown and put the monitors on me. Of course, as soon as I got on the monitors, my contractions got further apart and weaker. Fortunately, they didn't send me home. I knew I would be having the baby that night. Dawson and I walked the halls for a while and I even did squats in our room. In no time, I was feeling regular, strong contractions again and dilated to a 5. The nurse talked to my doctor and he said he would come in and break my water. By the time he broke my water, I was at a 6, and I got my epidural soon after that. I was really hoping I wouldn't need any Pitocin to get my labor progressing and the doctor agreed we likely wouldn't need to put me on it. It was around 11:30 by the time my water was broken and I had my epidural. This epidural was so much better than my last one. It hurt when I got it, but I could still feel and move my legs (I was completely numb with my last one and didn't like it because my legs kept falling off the bed and I had a hard time feeling myself push). I felt a lot more in control this time.
In a short time between the nurse checking me, I felt like I needed to start pushing. I had progressed from a 7 to a 10 and she had to go call the doctor to come back. When he got there and I started pushing, they could see the baby's head right away. I probably pushed about five times, and I could feel my contractions and pushes this time, and the baby was here! I couldn't see what was happening, but the doctor calmly said he needed scissors for the umbilical cord and upon questioning heard the cord was around his neck. The doctor cut it quickly and the baby took a breath, but wasn't crying. I just heard silence and got really scared for a minute, but once I heard him cry felt a lot better. They put the baby on me to do skin-to-skin and he laid there, calmly looking around. He was born at 1:58 AM. The labor was everything I wanted it to be - I didn't need pitocin, I got an epidural but still felt like I had control, and I didn't tear at all!
Dawson immediately knew his name was Park Kenneth (our top name), but it took me a little while to be able to commit to it later that morning. Park is Dawson's middle name and his grandma's maiden name and Kenneth is my dad's name and Dawson's grandpa's first name (although he went by Jerry, his middle name). Our moms were going to come to the hospital, but since it was so late they both agreed to come in the morning. We were in the labor room until about 5 AM and only slept for a couple of hours that night. Our parents came in the morning (Thursday) to see the baby, and we had visitors that evening, but we were able to rest quite a bit in the hospital which was nice. Gracie was able to come visit with her grandmas multiple times while we were there. Thursday night, Park went to the nursery and we got plenty of sleep. We left the following day (Friday) around dinner time and had more visitors at our house. I was so happy to be home with my little family!
Dawson took work off until the following Thursday. It was so nice to have that week together, welcoming Park into our home. It was also amazing to have help with Gracie. With both parents home, she really didn't have to suffer from getting less attention that first week. It was hard of course having Dawson go back to work, because I appreciated his help so much, but I also loved having his companionship during the day. I am lucky to have such a great husband and father for my kids. Gracie has done amazing adjusting to the baby being home. She has had a few moments of getting upset, but recovers from them very quickly, and has been very accepting and loving toward her baby brother. My recovery has been much better than my last one. I was expecting it to be as bad as before so in comparison I have been feeling great! We have had a couple of really hard nights when Park has been up constantly, but most nights have truthfully not been too bad! Most days I have been able to take a nap when Gracie naps also, which has helped me stay somewhat caught up on my sleep. So far, having a newborn baby and a toddler has its challenges, but they are two ages I love and two kids I love and I feel so blessed. The past 11 days have gone by way too fast and I'm wishing I could hold on tight to every passing moment. I am a very blessed and happy mama.
