Introducing Alexander Robert !

Well, little did I know that my former (rather impatient) post would be the last one of the pregnancy. I can't believe it was jut over a week ago I was lamenting the time spent growing a baby- and only hours away from meeting the little man himself.

But so he came, as they tend to do :)
Nobody, to date, has been pregnant forever. At least that's what I kept telling myself!

I figure you all might be interested in how it went down, and I must say- it was a rather remarkable (ridiculously fast) labor. Truly. My brain is still in a whirlwind.

Tuesday August 9.

During the wee hours of the morning I was feeling quite a bit of pressure "down there", however no contractions. Being the antsy person that I am- I called my doc first thing in the morning, unable to wait until the next day for my scheduled prenatal check-up. Thankfully, I got right in (this NEVER happens with my particular OB- she has loads of clients and little time for "drop-ins". I knew it was meant to be.

10am- Dropped off Will at my friend Jen's house. What a blessing she is! I frantically called her at last minute to watch Will and she happily consented. Thank you, Jen!

10:30am- Appointment. My doc did the normal prenatal routine: an internal (I was still 4cm and 70% effaced- much to my disappointment), measured my stomach, and listened to the heartbeat. The heartbeat, however, seemed to alarm her. She said it was hovering around 100bpm, far too low. She decided to send me over to the hospital for a non-stress test. I was a bit worried but not overly so and called Curt to join me.

12pm- Arrived at the hospital and got hooked up to the machines. For those who aren't aware, a non-stress test simply monitors the baby's heartrate for an hour, as well as any possible contractions you may be having. I got strapped in and set up camp. Curt and I watched the machine, noticing the heartrate was completely normal (around 140bpm the entire hour, enter collective sigh of relief) but noticed I was apparently having regular contractions every 10 minutes or so. I was surprised, I couldn't feel anything except what seemed like gas. I'm convinced most things felt in utero are akin to gas. Ha.

Non-stress test:

1:20pm- We left the hospital. Curt went back to work and I picked up Will. However I was feeling the contractions ever-so-slightly by this time and they were still every 10 min. I began to wonder if this was the real deal but wasn't about to get my hopes up.

2pm- Will and I went home. I decided we should make cookie dough as a fun activity just in case these were our last few hours as "the two of us". However, mid-prep the contractions began to grow quickly stronger. My aunt from nearby Des Moines, who was one of those on our "toddler drop off" list, just so happened to be in town shopping and had offered earlier to take Will overnight in the event that I might go into labor. I told her "no" originally, totally not anticipating any action, but once the cookie dough contractions came on I quickly called her back.

Making cookie dough:

3pm- My aunt promptly came to get Will. SO SO thankful for this! It seems that immediately as she drove away my contractions progressed in a downward spiral.

4pm- I called Curt and told him I thought this was the real thing, as I was beginning to have digestive issues (the first major labor symptom I had with Will). He said he'd be right home. I began timing the contractions- they were around 8min apart and getting stronger by the minute.

4:30pm- Curt arrived home and asked how much time I thought we had. I told him we had a while yet (ha!). My thought process was recalling Will's labor- of which I spent 12 hours at home slowly timing my contractions until they were 3 min apart then drove to the hospital. Some part of me was still unconvinced this was the real thing because it just didn't seem typical.

Leave it to my body to go against the grain.

Because my puny little mind thought I had ample time I decided to bake off those cookies to have something for people who visited us in the hospital. Yeah. Cuh-razy. I wasn't in my right mind.

5:30pm- I heated the oven while Curt showered and gathered his things together. He came out of the bathroom and stared at me. "What are you doing??" looking at me like I was batty. I was. "Baking cookies." I managed to say between grinding teeth (at this point my contractions were 5-7min apart. I stuck the pans in the oven and set the timer to 12 min. After 10 min my contractions were down to 3-4min and I could barely stand or breathe through them. Curt calmly said, "You are NOT baking that final pan. We are leaving. NOW."

Baking while contracting:

I wanted to be willful and tell him HE was crazy but I realized he was probably right. We quickly got our things and got in the car.

Leaving for the hospital:

6:15pm- Arrived at the hospital. We went to the Labor and Delivery desk. Nobody was there. In the three room surrounding the desk we could hear (literally) three women in the final stages of labor, hollering and screaming and pushing. It was a little unnerving. One room erupted in whooping and laughing, we heard "It's a BOY!!!". Curt was getting irritated that nobody was helping us- at this point my contractions were 2-3 min apart and PAINFUL. Alex was pushing on my spine causing incredibly intense back labor. I saw a bell on the desk and slammed my hand down on it. A nurse ran out of one of the rooms, looked at me and asked if I needed something.

Umm, yes. I am in LABOR.

Apparently I didn't "look" like I was. What, do tell, does that "look" like exactly? Hmm. She asked how close my contractions were and I said 3min apart. She looked at me like I was fibbing and ushered me into a room, hooked me up to yet another monitor and said she'd be right back. RIGHT BACK. Fifteen minutes later Dr. Adams finally came in, looked at the screen and immediately checked me.

I was 8cm. Thank you nurse for all your help.

Contracting w/nobody around:

6:50pm-Dr. Adams quickly got a few nurses to monitor my status, and told me once I felt the urge to bear down to push the call button. She asked if I needed anything for pain. I said no. Thankfully my water hadn't yet broken so the contractions weren't as horrible as they could have been (but don't get me wrong- they were awful). Adams left and the oh-so-helpful nurse quickly apologized.

I got on all fours and continued to labor through the contractions. The all-fours position really assists in back labor and helped ease the intense pain on my spine. However I began to feel the "urge" and called the doc back in. She quickly arrived, checked me, and sure enough was at 10. The crew prepared the bright lights and fancy instruments and I geared up to go.

Curt was fabulous through it all. Got on the floor with me, breathed alongside me, encouraged me when I needed it and shut up when I gave him "the look". I couldn't have asked for a better man by my side :)

7pm- Dr. Adams broke my water. Can I just say this is the most bizarre feeling? I don't want to go into details, if you been through it YOU KNOW. Warm water gushing out of you for a full 30 seconds. Weirdest feeling ever. And the worse part is knowing that those contractions you've been having are going to get WAY STINKING WORSE in a matter of seconds. Ugh.

I had two INCREDIBLY UNBEARABLE contractions, pulling out the "hee-hee-who" breathing (which I hate- I feel like a goober doing it and am much more comfortable with long, deep breaths) and pushed three times.

7:10pm- Alexander Robert arrived, wailing like a babe :) 6lbs, 12oz, 19.5in, and the spitting image of his big bro.

My second little miracle.

Praise God for such a quick, relatively easy labor! But even more so, thank you Lord for a healthy baby boy. All my dreams were met, my prayers answered, my heart full.

I couldn't have asked or hoped for anything more precious and perfect.

And now I get to spend my days enjoying these two darling little men:

I am forever grateful.