December 30th 2010
8 lbs 1 oz 20 3/4 inches 1:57AM
We are SO blessed!
He's completely perfect in every way!
Crew's birthstory
So, yesterday Erik and I went to my dr's appointment and had talked about asking them to induce me. I was getting a little nervous that I hadn't had the baby yet and Erik was supposed to be starting his rotation on monday January 3rd. I knew he'd be super busy once he started and I'd be thrown into having 3 kids all by myself! I was scared about not having any help with the normal day to day routine with getting kids ready in the morning and taking them to school all with a newborn. I had hoped he would come at least a week and half early and now I was almost at 40 weeks, and still no baby. Honestly, I don't know why in the world I thought he'd come early? My babies don't like to come early, they are just too cozy in there;)
We were surprised the doctor even acknowledged it as an option! She said my cervix was still pretty "thick"....which means I would have to start the whole process with gels which is an outpatient procedure at the hospital. We were excited for anything! "Let's get this show on the road" we said. She went ahead and called the hospital to see how busy they were and the nurse came back in the room and told us there was an appointment open at the hospital for the next day, wednesday at 11 AM. YEAH! One more day...and we would meet our little guy...hopefully!
Tuesday night I got everybody's bags ready and was finishing my last minute house scrubbing. It's so funny when it comes down to crunch time, everything has to be in perfect order and spotlessly clean. I couldn't believe our baby could actually be here the next day! Who would he look like? Is there any little teeny tiny chance he will have my green eyes? Will Halle and Costa be in love with him and thankful for him? Will Costa be so sad that he's not my baby anymore? Will I still be patient with them when I'm sleep deprived? I pray I am! So many emotions.....this could be my last day ever being pregnant. Made me kinda sad. This time around I really wasn't miserable at the end and I loved feeling him move inside me. I truly treasured the whole experience of being pregnant once more and wanted to remember everything....since this would probably be the very last time.
December 29, 2010...This morning we were all ready! We headed to Grandma and Papa's house to drop the kids off. I hugged and kissed my babies good-bye getting all emotional that the next time I saw them we would have another person in our family! Pregnancy hormones.....I was SO emotional.
We called the hospital to make sure they had the appointment and were ready for us.....they said Yep...come on down, we're waiting for you! We arrived and headed up to labor and delivery. My nurse Meredith was so awesome from the beginning....right away she told us that most likely since this was my third baby I wouldn't be sent home. She kept saying "You're not going home, as long as I have something to do with it." We would start the gels, which is a 6 hour process and hopefully they would do the job to soften my cervix and start labor. Erik and I were so excited! After she said that I had it in my head that this baby was coming and I wasn't going home without him!
Here's the timeline of how it went:
12PM Start first set of gels. I was 0% effaced and barely dialated to a 1 when I got to the hospital. Started contracting pretty much right away after gels were put in. Laid there for an hour and then got up and Meredith told Erik and I to take a walk for about 30 minutes....come back and see if anything was happening. (Erik and I finished watching Sex and the City 2 while we were waiting;)
1:30PM Meredith checks to see if the gels did anything...barely dialated to 2. Cervix is still pretty thick.
2PM Second set of gels....same routine. Lay there for an hour and then go walk 30 minutes. Contractions are pretty strong but about 5 minutes apart. Nothing unbearable. Kinda nice to be able to walk around and be able to eat and drink anything I want because I don't have an IV attatched to me yet!
3:30PM About 50% effaced and dialted to 3...the gels are working! Contractions are pretty consistent.
4PM Third set of gels.....again...same routine.
5PM My mom and Luke head up to hospital to walk with me so Erik can run home real quick. Contractions are getting pretty strong! Have to stop and breathe through some of them! Ouch!
6 PM Checked again. Meredith made me dialated to a 4 and said I was about 75% effaced. Getting closer! She says we still aren't admitted to hospital but she's going to everything in her power to admit me and have this baby! She says she is going to go talk to the doctor on call and see what she thinks....I couldn't imagine going home with the kinda pain I was having.....I was so scared they would send me home and then things would happen so fast I wouldn't get an epidural!
6:30PM Meredith comes back and says I'm admitted! YEAH! Baby's coming! Meredith is done with her shift and Corina is my new nurse.
7 PM Corina tells me to go ahead and take another walk.....and when I have a contraction to stop and do the labor dance...basically put my arms around Erik when I was having a contraction and rock my hips back and forth to try and get baby to drop. The contractions were REALLY intense now.....but walking around and doing the dance actually felt better than just laying in the bed.
8 PM Checked again and STILL dialted to a 4! What!?! All this pain and NOTHING? I was kinda frustrated. Why wasn't he dropping?
8:30 PM Contractions are about a minute apart and they HURT! And I have an excruciating pain in my back where my kidney is! What is that from? Can I have my epidural now? Corina says she'll call the anesthesiologist. And check to see if I have a urinary tract infection and that's what is causing the burning pain in the kidney area. THANK YOU!
8:45PM Epidural arrives! He was so awesome.....besides the fact that he put me in my happy place, he was also very educational for Erik and explained every detail of the epidural.....he was cool.
9 PM Corina checks me and STILL a 4! She says we are going to go ahead and start pitocin. She also says she thinks the reason I'm not dialating is because the baby is face up. So crazy because I thought he was....I even told my mom a few days before that I thought he could be. Corina says it's fine to deliver that way, it's just a longer labor and more pushing...ugh.
10 PM I'm totally comfortable.....just laboring away. Pain free;) Corina brings in a ball that looks like peanut and tells me I need to lay on my side and put it between my legs to try and get the baby to flip and get into position.
10:30PM We turn out all the lights and try to get some sleep. Who knows how long the night will be. Me, Erik, Luke and my mom...
12 AM I feel a little gush like my water broke....I whisper to my mom to get Corina. She comes in and checks me....yep! It's the sac.....dialated to a 7!
1 AM I feel pressure and more water come out....Corina checks and we're at a 9! She says she's going to call the doctor! We didn't even have time to call everybody to head up to the hospital!
1:57 AM Our perfect little guy makes his way into the world! Welcome sweet baby Crew!
What a beautiful miracle. Love at first sight.
The next few days we had lots of visitors to the hospital! Auntie Nisa, Uncle Jeff and Grandma Gloria brought the kiddos up to meet their new baby brother and cousin! Everybody was so excited to meet him and hold him. Especially his big sister and brother that have been anticipating his arrival for a very long time! I got very emotional when Halle and Costa walked in, of course the tears started flowing, I tried to hold back but those hormones are just crazy.....I had been thinking about this moment for the last 9 months and couldn't wait to see the expressions on their cute little faces. A new brother to love! It's just been the two of them for so long...they were pretty excited about him.
Aunt Lindsey came to visit and meet Crew
Aunt Les too!
Uncle Alex
Cousin Brooks was 6 weeks when Crew was born...buddies!
Libby, Justin, Belles and Justy were so excited about baby Crew!
Proud Uncle Luke
Going home! Just in time for New Year's Eve 2011!
Grandma and Papa came over the day we brought Crew home
We got home from the hospital just in time to celebrate New Years! As you can imagine, it was pretty low key;) We did invite Justin, Libby and the girls over to celebrate with us! Erik of course made a fabulous dinner of shrimp scampi a beautiful salad and some good wine! Yeah! I got to enjoy a nice glass of wine;) It was great! Justin had bought some fireworks and brought them over to share with us! Costa was SO excited...oh my gosh...he was making me nervous. That's all he wanted to do all night was light them. I was so excited to see them do sparklers! Costa was all about them and Hallers was a little hesitant at first. Reminded me of many Fourth of July's in Spokane. The girls were cute and did a little concert for us at the end of the night. The three of them are so adorable together. It was a perfect, SUPER memorable New Year's Eve......here's to the new year!
CHEERS to 2011!
Balloon and beautiful flowers from Justin, Lib and the girlsThey were amazingly beautiful for like 2 weeks!
