My last post was just 8 hours before labor started... funny to think how bummed I was feeling like he would never come and then I was surprised at midnight with super strong contractions. It's been a little over two weeks since he arrived and I wanted to write while it was all still fresh in my mind. Crazy to think that he was living inside me just about 20 days ago - what a miracle he is.
My mom had been in town all week (since July 1) because
1. I was losing my mind waiting for this baby
2. I was struggling physically to keep up with Landon
3. My dr made me think we might not even make it to July (everyone said that with Landon too and he arrived the day before his due date...)
and 4. I just needed my mom :)
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| Chipotle Lunch Date! Eating spicy ;) |
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| Yes - wearing the same shirt as the picture below but they are different days... Toward the end I only had a few shirts that fit me! eek! |
We had a great week but it just felt SO LONG - waiting and wondering when he'd make his debut. My brother came in town on the 7th and was spending the night and secretly hoping Keegan would be born any minute! Guess he was the good luck charm...
We put Landon to bed and I tried to not be upset I had hit my due date with no baby but TONS of signs labor was close. (Yes I know it's very typical to make it to your due date without a baby because it's really just an estimate of a date but so hard to wait!)
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| Picture we took before I went to bed - last picture of me with Keegan in my tummy! Belly is big but who knew I was carrying a 9 1/2 lb baby! Sheesh! |
We put Landon to bed and I tried to not be upset I had hit my due date with no baby but TONS of signs labor was close. (Yes I know it's very typical to make it to your due date without a baby because it's really just an estimate of a date but so hard to wait!)
Ryan and I went to bed with the plan of calling my OB's office in the morning to schedule my 40 wk appt... I never scheduled it because I didn't think I'd need it. Much to my surprise I woke up out of a dead sleep at 11:45pm with contractions that were just different. Like close your eyes, breathe/hum through them and squeeze your spouse's hand as hard as you could until it was over - different. I woke Ryan up and told him 'I think this is it', but wanted to call my dr before we just got up and left for the hospital. TMI - I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding a little - now THAT freaked me out. I waited about 30 minutes to see if they'd continue to be this strong and close together (about 4-5 minutes). When I realized they weren't letting up I gave my dr a call. Silly me was feeling bad that I woke her up at 12:30am but let her know I was in a lot of pain and didn't know when to leave for the hospital. She told me to try and get through as much as I could at home and stay comfy. COMFY?!?! There was nothing comfy about this. I think she wasn't totally convinced over the phone that I was having strong enough contractions to be in active labor because I was able to talk through our conversation. I had waited until a contraction ended to call her and knew I'd have about 5 minutes to talk until the next one...so I think that's what happened. I went and woke up my mom and let her know that I felt like this was IT and that we'd be going to the hospital really soon. She suggested I eat a snack cause she knew I wouldn't get to eat when I got there - SO glad she reminded me to do this. I laid down for about an hour just trying to rest up. Not an easy task. I decided around 1:30am that I needed to make sure I had everything in my hospital bag and get dressed to go. As I was standing up and walking around contractions picked up and were crazyyyyy strong and painful. Ryan was getting his things together and packing the car. Adam was still awake on our couch and all excited the time had finally come! "You're serious? Going to the hospital for real?" "Yes for real!"
Once the car was packed I went to say bye to my mom, brother and Landon. Of course Landon was sleeping so peacefully in his bed. Ry and I snuck in his room and I was totally overcome with emotion I just started sobbing. Rubbing his back and thinking about leaving him was so hard. Life would never be the same next time I saw him.
We pulled out of the drive way and drove as fast as we could to the hospital. We got there around 2:15am and couldn't remember which entrance we needed. (haha! We will never forget this part of Keegan's Birth Story) It had only been 2 years ...surely we'd have no problem figuring out where to go right?! Wrong. Signs for the Women's Center also said South Entrance and so we parked by the South Entrance and grabbed my suitcase. Entrance door was locked. I had atleast 3 contractions walking from the parking lot to the doors. Ryan ran over the the Main Entrance which was not far away and started walking around and reading the signs inside. It didn't look right to us so he called main hospital line to ask where to go and yeah it was the Women's Center. (DUH! Ryan was right all along - CLEARLY I was not in the right state of mind and he should've ignored me. hehe) Ryan RAN back out of the hospital to get the car pulled up for us to drive around to the correct entrance. While having contractions the whole time this is going on I become somewhat stressed and freaked out thinking we will be having this baby in the parking lot (haha - had many dreams that would happen). Ryan pulls up, I get in and we drive around to the Women's Center. We rang the doorbell and they let us in. I realized at this point I had never called my dr to let her know I was going to the hospital and so the hospital did not really expect me. I had only preregistered online but they were not informed that I would be coming and probably having a baby!
Went to a triage room to get hooked up for 20 minutes (monitoring baby and me), check to see if I had dialated any, and decide if we were indeed being admitted. (I knew we would be but it's just part of annoying hospital protocol) Well I was at 3cm the week before and was thinking/hoping I had surely made some progress since then. I got in a gown and the nurse checked and said "You're at 6cm and have a ticket to a room girl!! Let's have this baby!" We walked down to a labor and delivery room. A rush of memories came to mind of when I was walking those halls in labor with Landon. My sweet nurse named Sarah got me all hooked up to the monitors and my IV. We then let family know we were admitted and it was going to be Keegan's birthday very soon! It was a little after 3am at this point... My dr came in and was so excited the time had finally come. She knew when I called it would be soon but just not this soon! Everything was progressing very fast - still having tons of contractions throughout our conversation and she was watching the monitors and commenting on how big and strong they were and how they kept getting closer and closer together. She didn't need to tell me - I KNEW that! haha
Around 4:45am the anestesiologist came in and gave me an epidural. My labor and delivery with Landon was very long and very tough - at least 18 hours with 3 hours of pushing. I had been praying things would go more smoothly this time around. Definitely seemed like my prayers were answered. My dr said she was going to break my water and would have us rest/nap until it was time to push. At that point she checked me and I was almost at 8cm - how had I made it that far?! I remember while we were resting - Keegan was SO active. Loving my last moments of feeling his little life in my tummy.
At 7:00am the nurses shift change happened... I was a little bummed because I really liked the nurse I started with but my new nurse was wonderful! Padi was her name and she was so sweet. She said, "Girl - I'm going to be honest...I think you're having this baby in about 30 minutes." WHAT? How did she know? She just got here. Oh well - I did not care and was ready and so excited to meet our little boy. Ryan thought we'd have Keegan by lunch time (just based on how long things took with Landon's labor/delivery) and I guessed between 8 and 9am. Padi told me to let her know when I felt the urge to push or having a lot of pressure. She was right - about 30 minutes later I called her and let her know I was feeling a ton of pressure but really unsure if it was time. Little urge to push, but nothing crazy. A few minutes later my dr and Padi came in and got ready to deliver him. I was thinking, "We're probably going to be here a while - and they think he's coming fast. Oh boy. They'll see ..this is going to take forever like last time."
My dr said "Ok lets practice push..." and kinda gave me reminders on how to use my breathing correctly.
They started counting for me... 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10....
"Awesome Sara...another one just like that.."
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10...
"He's almost here - one more!"
1-2-3-4-5...
I could hear my dr, nurse and Ryan all talking to me...
"Keep breathing! You're strong...he's almost here!"
At 7:00am the nurses shift change happened... I was a little bummed because I really liked the nurse I started with but my new nurse was wonderful! Padi was her name and she was so sweet. She said, "Girl - I'm going to be honest...I think you're having this baby in about 30 minutes." WHAT? How did she know? She just got here. Oh well - I did not care and was ready and so excited to meet our little boy. Ryan thought we'd have Keegan by lunch time (just based on how long things took with Landon's labor/delivery) and I guessed between 8 and 9am. Padi told me to let her know when I felt the urge to push or having a lot of pressure. She was right - about 30 minutes later I called her and let her know I was feeling a ton of pressure but really unsure if it was time. Little urge to push, but nothing crazy. A few minutes later my dr and Padi came in and got ready to deliver him. I was thinking, "We're probably going to be here a while - and they think he's coming fast. Oh boy. They'll see ..this is going to take forever like last time."
My dr said "Ok lets practice push..." and kinda gave me reminders on how to use my breathing correctly.
They started counting for me... 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10....
"Awesome Sara...another one just like that.."
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10...
"He's almost here - one more!"
1-2-3-4-5...
I could hear my dr, nurse and Ryan all talking to me...
"Keep breathing! You're strong...he's almost here!"
"Sara you're almost done."
"Keep going! You got this! I love you."
6-7-8-9-10...
I then saw my beautiful, slimy, crying, gorgeous baby boy for the first time. He was perfect and my heart was instantly his. Ryan and I are both crying, kissing and rubbing our baby's back - taking it all in. Counted ten fingers and ten toes. :)
The nurses wrapped him up to weigh and measure him. "Woah...he's a big boy!" "I think he's 9lb 12oz.." My dr guessed 9lb 6oz. They were close but he was right in the middle at 9lb 9oz and 21.5inches long. A whole pound and whole inch bigger than Landon. I could not believe it. They said they thought he might get up to 9lbs but I didn't think a whole half pound over 9!
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| First picture in daddy's arms :) |
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| Big brother meeting his little brother... He had actually met him earlier and had his cute "Big Bro" shirt on, but he was clingy to Ry and didn't want to have his picture taken. :( |
It's a wonderful life!
