Elliott's Birth

I'll warn you now, this will be a very long post. But there are lots of pictures, so you can just skip to the end for those if you want :-)

On Friday, Brandon and I had big plans to celebrate our 5th anniversary. It's our first milestone anniversary and since  still I had absolutely no signs of labor, we were looking forward to a fun date and a peaceful evening. Which it was... sort of.

I had a doctor appointment scheduled for 11:30 that morning and had a non-stress test since I was a couple days past my due date. They said the baby looked great but when they checked me, my doctor told me that I was 90% effaced but only 1 cm. dilated. I was slightly encouraged by this since I had had absolutely zero progress towards labor before this appointment. But only slightly. My doctor told me it was only a "so-so" chance that I'd go into labor on my own before Wednesday's c-section. She didn't sound too hopeful... so I was a little upset. 

Well, I left my appointment, put on my running shoes and drove to the city. I had several hours before Brandon got off work so I decided to do some walking. I walked around the National Mall, took a tour of the Library of Congress and visited a couple museums. I ended up walking around for over 4 hours straight in the hot sun. All that walking certainly wasn't very fun, but I was determined to try my best to get labor started soon.

By the time I met Brandon, I was having Braxton Hicks contractions every few minutes and they hadn't let up for hours. We went out to dinner (at the same restaurant we'd gone to the night before Jack and Cullen were born) and enjoyed a delicious and spicy meal. We had a great time at dinner and afterward we did a bit more walking around the tidal basin where we'd gotten engaged. Then we just sat on a bench and talked. All the while, the Braxton Hicks just kept coming.

By the time we drove home, I was completely exhausted and I remember saying to Brandon "I'm definitely going to sleep well tonight!" I couldn't have been more wrong. Around 10:30 pm, I got my first painful contraction. It wasn't too bad and at first I thought it must be just false labor brought on by all my walking. After a few hours, though, they were coming every 10 minutes and continued to be painful. This went on all night and they were far too painful to sleep through so I ended up not sleeping a bit. Around 3 am, I realized I must actually be in labor so I got up and took a shower and finished packing my suitcase. Around 6:30, after several hours of shooting glares at my husband who was sleeping like a baby, I told Brandon he should get up because we'd have to go to the hospital at some point that morning.

We had breakfast and tied up a few loose ends and I basically was just waiting around for my contractions to get closer together. Finally, around 9 or 10 am, they started becoming sporadic. Some were only 5 minutes apart, others were still 10. I called my doctor and they told me to come in sooner rather than later since I was attempting a VBAC. We got to the hospital around 11:30 and they checked me and said I was dilated to a 3 or 4. I was ecstatic! Right after we got checked in, the contractions became significantly more painful and slowly got closer together and I knew it must be the beginning of active labor. I have to say though, other than the contractions, it was kind of fun hanging out in the hospital with Brandon. We watched the Hunger Games, ate jello and popsicles and  just talked for a few hours. It was kind of like a date :-)

I was trying to wait as long as possible before getting the epidural because I heard there's a risk they can slow labor. But by 2 pm though, I decided I didn't want to wait anymore. I didn't realize that contractions began radiating in your back and worked their way forward. For me, the back pain was the worst part and I was definitely ready for my epidural after a few hours in the hospital. After the epidural, I felt So. Much. Better. I was able to watch the movie without having to pause it and scream in pain and I was even able to take a much needed nap! 

At 6 pm, the doctor checked me again and I was shocked when she said I was 9 cm! I couldn't believe how fast it had gone! She broke my water then and said she'd come back soon and see if I was ready to push. I was still pretty comfortable at that point so I decided to let the baby "labor down" as they called it and wait to push until he was at least a +2 or 3. Finally, a little after 9 pm, I began pushing. I was just beginning to get tired after about 30 minutes of pushing when they told me they could see the head and I began feeling the urge to push. I got a new burst of energy and he was out within 20 minutes. And it's true what they say, it really was the most amazing experience! The whole labor and delivery process went so much better than I had anticipated. I am so thankful that I had such a smooth VBAC, it couldn't have turned out any better! What an answer to prayer!

Anyways, here are the pictures. I know that's really the only thing everybody wants to see :-)

Right after the birth, they laid Elliott on my chest immediately... something I never got to experience with the twins. He was so calm! He let out a few small cries and as soon as he was on my chest, he just laid there quietly nuzzling me for about 15 minutes. It was incredible, the perfect end to the whole process!

After about 15 minutes, they took him across the room to be weighed and measured. He still didn't cry at all.

Then they gave him right back to me and he was awake for a few hours, just snuggling with his Mommy :-) I was able to nurse him for the first time within a half hour of his birth so we got a good start on breastfeeding this time around too.

What I'd been waiting 10 months to do

We were so exhausted by the time he was born Saturday night. At that point, I hadn't slept in nearly 48 hours so a few hours after he was born they moved us to the recovery room and we all went right to sleep.

The next morning his big brothers came to meet him! Jack and Cullen were ecstatic to finally meet the baby brother they'd been talking about all year. Cullen wanted to hold him right away and they both brought him one of their own toys as a gift. Is there anything more precious than seeing your older child holding (and gouging out the eyes) of your new baby? Nope.

They loved touching him and asked lots of questions about their new brother. One of the first things Cullen asked me was "Mommy, why you tummy still so big?"

Grandma Sari holding Elliott for the first time

Jack and Cullen also enjoyed the hospital jello :-)

First photo as a family of 5

Grandma with all three of her grandsons

Another photo of the proud big brother

Elliott is often awake and very alert for a newborn

Getting ready to go home for the first time

We've been home for about 48 hours now and we are all loving having Elliott around. We've been having lots of fun, going on walks and to the pool. I forgot how fun it is to snuggle with a new baby, I think it's one of life's greatest pleasures! We are all very happy and feeling so blessed right now!