He is here! He is such a good boy. I hate to jinx anything, but he has been so good to his mommy. So far SO GOOD!
Wednesday, January 23, I taught 21 first graders all day. I had had signs of labor since Monday night, but I wasn't sure what was real and what was "false." With Anderson, I had no real signs of labor until my water started breaking one night, so I really felt like I didn't know what to look for. But I was definitely having mild contractions throughout the day Wednesday. I had found a free app the night before to time and track my contractions, so I knew they were anywhere between 8 and 20 minutes apart. But my excitement/ impatience was growing with every one. I had my weekly doctor's appointment that afternoon, and I was hoping she'd say, "It's time! Let's go have a baby." I went ahead and brought a few extra things home from school and left my keys in my box, telling office staff that I didn't think I'd be back tomorrow.
My appointment went pretty well. Dr. Dausch said I was dilated between 1-2 cm (compared to 0 the week before). I was hoping for more, but she said she didn't think I'd make it to the scheduled c-section one week later. She said she thought I'd be home nursing my baby on the 30th (she was right :)). I was a little disappointed to head home, and I had to swing through Chic Fil A on the way to drown my sorrows in a chocolate milkshake. I went ahead and called school and my board sub, though, and told them that I'd go ahead and start my leave tomorrow (I had visions of relaxing and sleeping throughout the day Thursday...) That night we ate at Ryan's mom and dad's house, and my iPhone app was telling me that the contractions were now around 7-8 minutes apart.
Fast forward to 2 am Thursday morning, and I was wide awake timing the contractions (which were becoming less comfortable all the time). By 6 or so that morning, I told Ryan I'd start getting ready to see if the contractions would stop, but I was going to go ahead and call my mom so she'd be ready if we needed her to come over. They ended up about 4 minutes apart, so we officially started getting ready to head out.
My mom arrived around 7:30, and we got to the hospital around 8:00 (Ryan did great getting us there quickly, even in snowy weather and morning traffic).
**Edit: Somehow I had left out one of my very favorite memories of this morning. As we drove down Nuckols Rd., we saw a bus driving behind us. Sure enough, it was Richard driving his morning route. Ryan rolled down his window and gave him a thumbs up, indicating YES WE ARE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL :). He beeped the horn in excitement. Such a sweet part of that day!**
I told Ryan that I couldn't guarantee that they'd have us stay, but that if this wasn't labor I did not want to know what labor was like. I was apparently the third prego to arrive since 7:15, so it took a while to check in at the ER and get "transported" to my room. Luckily, Kelly's sister-in-law Blair ( a L&D nurse) heard that I was on my way as her shift ended, so she got us a nice room with her favorite nurse.
I got my epidural around 9:30, which was none too soon! By then I was definitely in pain, and my blood pressure started dropping, which left me one sick puppy. For about an hour, I was pitiful (I'll spare the details), but finally the epidural kicked in and my unpleasant side-effects subsided. By now my mom had taken Anderson to Kathy's house, and she was ready to come in and see Ryan and I. Dr. Dausch came and checked on me three times in the next few hours (Mrs. Ives and Kelly came, too!). The third time Dr. Dausch checked on me, she said it was definitely time to push. Three contractions later, Brady was born (1:48 pm.) So many little things had gone wrong delivering Anderson (thus the c-section), so I was so happy that Brady and I had done so well. We stayed out of the OR- yay! He was perfect and healthy and here- yay!!!!
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Brady Parker Ives
7 lbs. 7 oz. ~ 20 1/2 " |
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| We did it! Woo Hoo! |
Ryan's mom, my mom and Kelly were still in the waiting room, so they got to come see the little cutie. Ryan's dad (who had come by earlier, before I was "together" enough for visitors), Casey, Anderson, Steven, and my dad were all able to visit throughout the evening.
When Anderson first came, Brady was back in the nursery. This was probably for the best, allowing Anderson and me the sweetest reunion. He hugged on me and would not let go. The nice nurse let him stay (literally sprawled out across me) while she checked me over. He and I were both so happy to be together. :) Pretty soon, the nursery nurse brought Brady in. Anderson wasn't thrilled to share me right away, but he had lots of family nearby to play with, so he had a good time. :)
The next morning (Friday), Anderson came back and there was a smaller crowd (just my mom, Ryan, Brady, and I.) He was less wound-up and more interested in Brady. Here are some "family of four" photos from that morning. (*Disclaimer*- I had just taken my shower but was waiting for mom and Anderson to arrive with my blow dryer in a couple of the pictures, thus the towel turban...)
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| Anderson found Brady's nose |
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| LOVE my boys |
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| Sweet baby boy |
Friday was a good, relaxing day for Ryan, Brady, and me. We loved seeing the snow falling out of our window, and we took turns snuggling our little snow baby. Brandon and Heather stopped by that afternoon to meet Brady, and Dr. Dausch popped back in to check on us. That evening, our parents visited again, along with Anderson. Ryan, Anderson, Nannie, and Papa left around 6:30 to have dinner. Ryan was staying home Friday night with Anderson- "boys night". My mom headed out around 7:00 to pick up Outback for the two of us (I had only eaten hospital meals for 2 days now... Outback was a great idea!). We ate, watched "Say Yes to the Dress" and took turns snuggling Brady until about 10. Then she headed home, and Brady went to the nursery to sleep until he was hungry.
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| Daddy and his littlest guy |
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Dr. Dausch and some of her biggest fans :)
(I swear Brady seemed comfortable, even though it doesn't look like it :-/) |
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| Heather and Brady |
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| Brandon and Brady |
Saturday morning, Brady and I had a lot of "just the two of us" time between doctor and nurse visits. Daddy came around 11, and we got ready to head home. I really did enjoy our hospital stay- the nurses were all really nice, and I loved the quiet time with Brady and the not-as-quiet-times with all of our visitors. But we were all definitely ready to go home, get our Anderson, and start life as a family of four.
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| Dressed and ready to go |
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| Close- ups :) |
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| Love the cheeks! |
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| Snuggled in the car seat... here we go! |
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| HOME :) |
