Announcing...

Brant Wayne

September 6, 2012     

8:15 am

9 lbs 0 oz     

21.5 inches

Is it really surprising to any of you that it has been 4 weeks since the birth of this little guy before I am sitting down at the computer blogging about it? It has been a crazy month, and I'd love to take you all back to the very beginning of this journey with me. So come along with me...but beware...there will be lots of baby birth talk, so if you'd rather just look at the pictures...you go right ahead. 

I was convinced I was going to go into labor early with this pregnancy. I had been super uncomfortable for the last trimester...something I was unfamiliar with. I felt amazingly well my last trimester with my other 2 pregnancies...I was quite content to being pregnant as long as possible...considering babies are easier to take care of inside the womb than out!! But this time around, I was ready to get him out!! Calculating from the date I gave my doctor (which I wasn't 100% sure of...I stink at tracking my dates), my due date was September 5th. The due date I got after my ultrasounds was August 31st...so of course I would rather go by the earlier date!!! And that's what I did...big mistake. I saw my doctor 2 weeks before my due date...he thought I was favorable to go into labor any minute. HA!! I saw him again on August 31st. I had him strip my membranes. Nope. I had a girls night with my 3 best girlfriends...one of them has a trampoline...so in a fit of giggles we all went out to the backyard to watch me jump on the trampoline...in hopes of sending me into labor. No Way. But we did get some awesome video footage. The whole thing was hilarious...I thought for sure if the jumping didn't send me into labor, all the laughter would....nope. It seemed that my baby was just fine where he was. I did not want to be induced. I was induced with Adelaide and I always wished I could have done it differently (I was afraid I'd end up in the hospital over Christmas...it was our first Christmas with Tristan and Alicia...it was not an option for me to wait in my mind). Going into labor with Avery was such a better experience, so inducing was not ideal to me this time around.

My mom flew in on Saturday, September 1st. I had hoped that I would go into labor sometime soon after she got here. Instead, we made A LOT of dinners to put in the freezer. She was a great help with the other kids. Tristan had a cross country meet one night, but Alicia needed to study for a test, so I was able to leave the girls at home with her, and go to the meet...which ended up taking WAY longer than normal, so it was a huge blessing to have her here. She also helped me tackle Adelaide and Avery's bedroom closet...it was a DISASTER. We had it cleaned up and organized in no time at all. I was so grateful we were able to get so much done, but I wanted to have a baby so she could help out with the night shift!! Her flight back home left on Sunday, September 9th, so time was ticking!

I ended up going into the hospital for my scheduled induction at 8:30pm on Wednesday, September 5th. My original due date. I was quite apprehensive about this, but I wanted my mom to be at the birth, so I decided to go ahead with it. My good friend, Alli (the kids affectionately call her Auntie Alli) came over to spend the night...the girls were SO excited! It felt good to leave my kids in such good hands. So Daniel, my mom, my other good friend, Rachel, and I all headed up to the hospital. Here is a photo to commemorate my 40 week glory....

Can you believe how BIG I was????? It almost doesn't even look real!! My mother lovingly observed one night, "You just keep getting bigger and bigger...."

We got up to the hospital and got all settled in.... I am still shocked with the amount of "things" you get hooked up to...the iv, 2 belly monitors, the blood pressure cuff....good grief!  They started my pitocin. I started out at about 3 cm...the doctor guessed the baby to be 7lb 8oz (that depressed me...I was hoping for at least 8 lbs considering how uncomfortable I'd been!). I asked for the blessed epidural a few hours later. They broke my water. We taught Rachel how to play Rook at 3 in the morning. We were shocked that she was able to pick it up so quickly and get herself a 300 hand (max score) on the 3rd round. I was getting uncomfortable with how strong the epidural was and I was getting really itchy from it, so I asked Daniel to turn it down a little bit for me (there has to be at least 1 advantage to having a doctor for a husband!). All the while, every time the staff came in to check me, I was STILL at a 3!!! By 6am I felt a bit defeated and terrified that I had done the wrong thing by being induced. I was tired and frustrated. By 6:30, I sent my mom, Daniel, and Rachel to go get some breakfast. The doctor came in to check me while they were gone...STILL a 3...he thought. He wasn't quite sure though, since he thought the sides of my cervix were very soft. SO, a nurse came in and felt around for a good while...she concluded I could be anywhere from a 4 to a 7. After the nurse and doctor left, my emotions got the better of me....and I wanted my entourage back!!! In the mean time, I think all that feeling around finished up any dilating my cervix needed to do...because boy did I FEEL those contractions!! I went from crying from feeling defeated and worried that I had done a VERY wrong thing by inducing this baby...to crying from the extreme pain I was in. After what seemed like FOREVER...my mom and Rachel walked in the room. They could tell I was not doing well, so Rachel quickly came to my side to coach me through the contractions and my mom went back out in the hall to find Daniel. Rachel was an angel during this time...I don't know if I would have made it without her...she literally talked me through each or those contractions...beginning to end all the while rubbing and patting me. My poor mother was off hiding in a corner...she couldn't stand to see the pain I was in...and I wanted to strangle Daniel for getting me in this mess in the first place!! ha!! Daniel was finally found, and I begged him to turn my epidural back up. We ended up calling anesthesia back to re-dose my epidural, as it wasn't reaching high enough. The great thing about having a husband for an anesthesiologist, is that anesthesia does NOT take long to respond! They were in and re-dosed my epidural in no time. I had known I was ready to push for a while, but there was NO way I was pushing until I got the epidural working properly. When I was finally in a better place, I announced I was ready to start pushing. Brant arrived after just a few pushes. I had a mid-wife and an intern delivering me. The mid-wife was AMAZING. She would have me push, but would stop me so that Brant wouldn't come out too fast. Therefore there was minimal damage done to me and to my sweet baby.

Brant had quite a swollen face after he was born...his eyes were the tiniest little slits...but those lips...precious!!

My KU pillowcase sparked some interesting banter with the intern that delivered me. Apparently he is a UK fan. I told him that was unfortunate...even though UK beat out KU last year in basketball...but whatever...

proud papa...

I never could stop myself from crying once I started...not until about an hour after Brant was born...so a good 2 hours. The look of absolute shock across my face when they called out his weight of "9 pounds" would have been priceless if we would have caught it on video. A NINE pound baby explained SO much! No wonder I was miserable!!! I was grateful I was able to share Brant's birth with my mom and Rachel. Rachel took my mom home shortly after, but Daniel stayed with me until he had to leave to pick Avery up at school. I was so grateful to Alli for taking care of my kiddos and getting them all off to school. I swear I have some of the bestest friends in the whole world! Daniel came back up to the hospital later that evening with my mom and all the kids. It was fun to see all their different reactions. Seeing Tristan hold Brant was super sweet. I kept thinking, "my boys!!" Alicia was a little apprehensive, but warmed up after a bit. Adelaide was overly excited (and apparently had a meltdown after they got home...poor thing was overwhelmed!) And Avery ran into the room, hopped onto the bed with me and immediately loved on Brant and I. She too, had a bit of a breakdown after they got home and was apparently calling out for "Auntie Alli."

I do love having a newborn in the home while I have adolescents. It keeps them grounded...and sweet and tender.

I was able to come home on Friday night...a little early, but I wanted to spend more time with my mom before she left on Sunday. Daniel took the next week off, and we were quite the pair...trying to figure out how we were going to manage being the parents of 5 kids. We've gotten ourselves a bit ironed out...definitely not a well-oiled machine yet, but hey, it's only been 4 weeks! Brant is a fabulous baby! He's a pretty good sleeper. Sometimes he gives me long stretches (4-6 hours), and other times he is up every 3 hours (those are rough nights). I started out nursing, but I just didn't seem to produce enough. It got to the point where I was nursing AND feeding him a 2 oz bottle at EVERY feeding. That meant feedings in the middle of the night took almost an hour...it got to be too much. So Brant is now 100% bottle fed. Nursing only lasted until about week 3. I was disappointed, but I needed to keep my sanity.

Daniel has been so wonderful in helping with all the kids during the day. It quickly became apparent he wasn't going to be much good in the middle of the night. He wasn't getting enough sleep, and then he was getting migraines on a daily basis. So, I finally kicked him out of our room at the beginning of the week. He now sleeps on the futon in the FROG (finished room over garage). No more migraines, and he is more functional during the day...which means he is even MORE help to me and the kids AND he is not completely miserable at work! It works out. I think all the kids have adjusted to another sibling quite well. All the girls are more than willing to help whenever they can. And I feel like one blessed Mama! Brant stole my heart away the first second I saw him. He is such a sweet, good baby. He only gets upset when he is hungry...or tired. And I feel complete. I feel like our family is complete. And it is a good feeling!!!