What a whirlwind this last week and a half has been. I know it feels like it has flown by and part of that is the sleepy fog you find yourself in as you try to learn how to survive being a Zombie! ha! I have had LOTS of help too which I am so thankful for. It has really made this experience much more enjoyable. So lets start at the beginning... First its so hard to believe that we basically made it to full term with this little man! 38.5 weeks! A long and stressful pregnancy afraid that we were going to have a NICU experience again and yet we made it to the very end and had to help "evict" the little guy! Go figure. On Feb 26th we had our 38 week checkup with my doctor. As you may have seen in previous post we had tried everything to get him to come before that appointment with no luck. I knew that something was going to be decided at that appointment so my nerves were on high. We dropped Lily off at our friend, Sam's house as a just in case. Figuring if we were prepared nothing would happen. Our hospital and lily overnight bags have been packed for weeks but Dan purposely left his at home you know….just to make things more difficult. ha ha.
DOCTOR APPOINTMENT:
Sitting in the waiting room my legs were shaking. I was nervous all day and just couldn't calm myself. I didn't even know what was going to happen but just that I knew something would be decided (as in an induce date). I was dilated to 3/4 the week before and Lennox felt like he was ready to fall out! Finally its our turn. My doctor can't believe we are there and I tell her to "PLEASE FIX IT!" lol. So she asks if I am leaking at all? Well….For those that have been prego…Sometimes its just hard to tell. I always felt like I was leaking (okay sorry TMI). But for some reason I said I think I am leaking right now. So she tests and it turns blue…which I guess means I was leaking fluid. My doctor got super excited and said we are having a baby! She was planning on lying to the hospital I think to go ahead and induce that day. But luckily Lennox was already ready to go. I was then dilated to 5 (still not sure how this can be…I got an epidural with Lily at 4!) She says head on over to the hospital and I will meet you there as soon as I see my last patient! Oh my goodness! I was in shock. Not quite what I was expecting but I was so thankful I was going to get my Doctor. We quickly ran home to grab Dan's bag and off to the hospital we went.
HOSPITAL:
We arrived at the hospital to check in about 5pm. At this time the contractions had begun. Not too painful but they started and I kept thinking my water was going to break as we were checking in. The lady was SO SLOW!!! My doctor had called to tell them I was coming and said I wasn't in labor yet. Well…I wasn't. Until I got home and I guess she had stirred things up a bit cause I was having contractions. So I guess they didn't think they needed to hurry. LOL We finally got into our room and at 6pm my doctor arrived to break my water. I had been having contractions for the hour but they were still pretty mellow and manageable. Once she broke my water they went from manageable to I THINK I AM GOING TO DIE! Seriously. There was no build up it was instant holy **** someone save me! LOL. I was bawling... but don't worry no screaming…cussing…chewing out my hubby…nothing. Just crying. My poor nurse, doctor and hubby were all standing over me…clearly feeling sorry for me…and REALLY wanting me to get drugs. My doctor checked me again and I was dilated to 8 or 9. Not quite ready to push but I wasn't sure how much longer I could take the unbearable pain. Contractions were on top of each other so I was getting no relief. I was mostly nervous about the epidural because it did not work with Lily and my back was just killing me after. I also figured it was too late at that point. No one could tell me to get the drugs but they were all waiting for me to just say go. Okay…Do it. Within like 15 minutes I had an IV, blood results and an epidural placed. It was CRAZY! My doctor had the guy put in a spinal block for instant numb and then the epidural as well. And RELIEF! OMG. Once the spinal meds hit all the color returned to my face and my sense of humor returned! I was all normal again and I was no longer torturing my birthing crew :) As soon as the meds were done it was time to push. Seriously. I was already at 10 and we were ready to go. 3 pushes. And out my HUGE baby came! A grand total of 2.5 hours of active labor (the first hour was check in and not much pain) and I had my little man. I was so thankful I got the drugs. The experience was much more enjoyable and calm. I was commenting on how hungry I was while pushing! ha ha! Had to get him out fast as the food stopped at 9pm. You know…the important things! I hadn't ate all day and giving birth meant I was officially OFF MY DIET! WAHOO! ha ha ha!
Lennox Daniel Harlacher 2.26.14 8:30pm 9lbs 2oz 22 inches
Everyone was very surprised at how big he was. And I mean everyone! My doctor knew he was big but we were still thinking 8lb range. Im so glad we got him out when we did or he would have been pushing 10lbs. I barely tore this time (way worse with Lily) and the recovery has been much easier. Doctor is thankful I got the drugs as it made the birth better as well. I was more relaxed and we were able to get him out without an emergency c-section. Thank Goodness. All in all the experience was much more enjoyable (despite the painful contractions) and we were so happy to be able to not have a NICU visit.
POST HOSPITAL:
My mom flew in the night Lennox was born (THANK YOU MOM and THANK YOU Jeff for picking her up so late!) and stayed with me at the hospital. The extra bed is miserable so I was glad she stayed. Dan would have had an even worse time then my mom did. We stayed two nights and were able to go home. Being home has been great. We are slowly working through the kinks and finding a routine. We know the hardest part with Lily was the sleep so we are doing everything we can to trade shifts and get each other some sleep. We had a few setbacks with me being sick and Lily having a double ear infection. Made for a hard few nights….but its getting better. My mom leaves on wed so we are losing our help…..but hopefully we will still get some sleep. Lennox has been a great little baby. He is sleeping and eating great. We are trying to enjoy every minute knowing he is our last. All I want to do is hold and snuggle him…knowing that this is all going to go by so fast this time.
Hope you made it through this post! Lots to share! Now on to the good stuff…Here is a slideshow of the birth (don't worry nothing inappropriate!) ~Proud Mommy (and Daddy too!)