Levi's Birth Story

(I wasnt into blogging when Bennett was born, but I will post about him soon as well)

So, after eating our delicious breakfast on the way to the hospital, I calmed down a little bit. The emotions about leaving Bennett subsided but the emotions of having a baby set in. I am such a planner, so I had to come up with a new plan on the way to the hospital.  I knew I would be getting pitocin so I wouldn't have the freedom I had the first time. I was also 8 centimeters when I finally got into a room with Bennett so things went VERY fast. I had to psyc myself that this time around could be much longer. I still didn't want a epidural, but tried not to focus too much on that and deal with what I HAD to have.

We got to the hospital about 11:30. The good thing about me having the baby that day was that Debbie was on call, so she would be delivering another Hadsock baby! Well, I have no idea why we bothered to preregister because it took forever to get to the room.  When we finally did, I had another blessing: my sweet friend Christine was working so she could be my nurse. I started to feel the anxiety subside and got my self pumped up for the "game"

When Debbie came in a broke my water, there was meconium (baby's first poop) A small concern, but not too much to worry about. It just meant that the nurses would have to suction Levi out really well to be sure he didn't swallor/inhale any of it.  They put the monitor on my belly and waited. Well, remember in my last post, I said Stacy was a little concerned with his heart rate? I hadn't even thought about it with all the excitement, but apparently it was still a concern.  Debbie didn't start the pitocin right away because we needed Levi's heart rate to regulate. I tried several positions, but nothing seemed to be helping. Finally, it was decided that we needed to monitor his heart rate internally (against my original birth plan, but when something could be wrong with your baby that stuff doesn't matter!) The monitor went in, I was positioned on my left side, and his rate rate stabilized. Pitocin was administered. 

Then, his heart rate started fluctuating again. If it was a big deal, Christine was awesome about staying calm and that helped me stay calmish.  A few times the machine alarm went off, and Christine would come in, adjust me, the machines and reassure me that everything was ok.  By this point, I had had quite a bit of fluids, and had to pee, A LOT! I couldn't get up because of the machine and pitocin so I had to call Christine to give me a bed pan everytime-EMBARRASING! I bet I apoligized a thousand times and she was so cool about the whole thing.  Debbie would radomly show up but I think everybody in Valdosta was having C sections that day and she was helping with those.

Up until this point, I had been handling the pain relatively well, but I told Quinn I wanted an epidural. I just told him, I knew I could handle the pain (I did it before with a 10lb baby, duh) but I couldn't deal with focusing on getting him here safely and the pain. I haven't mentioned before that there was alsoa potential problem with his kidneys. We had to have ultrasounds every two weeks during the pregnacy because his kidneys weren't draining just right. We knew he would have to have some tests after delivery to be sure that it fixed itself. He didn't try to talk me out of it. I think he was secretly freaking out too. So I told Christine I wanted an epidural and she said she would make it happen. By this time, it was around 4:00 an I was only 5 cm.  Well, the epidural was not quite what I expected. I mean, I've seen enough "A Baby Stories" to know how its done, but it was very uncomfortable. Kinda like, well like stabbing a nerve.  I knew it didn't feel quite right and I told the CRNA that I felt a sharp pain on my right side. I think he knew at that moment that it didn't work but he didn't say a word. It worked for about a second, and then I could feel everything on my right side. I think that it was worse feeling only on one side but didn't need to worry about that for too long because then I could feel on both sides. I didn't even need a catheter because I could feel everything!

I was really hurting and having a hard time relaxing through the contractions because I couldn't move for all the wires,etc.  About that time, Debbie and Christine came in together. It was around 5:30. I could tell that something was up. I looked at Debbie (who was eating a cracker) and very quietly said "I don't think I can do it anymore" and she very calmly said "well, let's see what's happening" Now the last time they checked, I was like 6cm.  When Debbie looked she said "oh well, there is his head" The weird thing is that I could feel the pain but not the urge to push like last time. Everybody went in turbo mode. I KNOW that they were coming in to tell me I was going to have to have a C-section but praise God he had other plans! I started pushing and they made me stop! They had not even lowered the table or called the nursery they were so excited.

I only pushed for about 15 minutes, about the same as Bennett, when I felt that most awesome feeling in the world. But I didn't hear that most awesome sound in the world. I remember kind of whispering "cry" and Mrs. Debbie telling me that they didn't want him to cry just yet because he was "playing with his cord.  He finally cried. I think all the worry and emotion finally caught up with Quinn. He almost passed out, not like him at all.  He actually had to sit down and drink some of my orange juice before he could cut the cord.

It was definately a more rocky road getting Levi here, but when he finally got here, he was perfect. He was born at 5:40 and weighed 8lbs 10 0z and was 21 1/2 inches long.

(more to come on the introductions)

On the day Levi was born...

I started this blog on Levi's birthday, but never finished it, so I guess it's just as good a time as any to reflect.

My pregnancy with Levi was so different than with Bennett. I was mega uncomfortable almost the entire pregnancy.  He was soo low the whole time, I felt like he was going to fall out. I'm not sure how much of it had to do with me chasing a 2 year old, but I am sure that didn't help. Anyway, Quinn and I planned to have natural childbirth using techniques we learned in our Bradley classes (just like we did with Bennett) but I was overly concerned about my water breaking this time around. I asked Stacy about 100 times what to expect, and if the discomfort I was feeling could be from my bag of waters.  She always reassured me things were ok, and we kept trucking along.  Now I know that was God preparing me! 

The Saturday before delivery (39 weeks), I took Bennett to the character breakfast at Merry Marketplace. Quinn was off at a cow show, so it was just me and my boy.  Things did not go well. He saw Elmo and darted through the crowd, and I ran after him as fast as a 9 month pregnant girl could go. It was so crowded and hard to manuever a stroller through the chaos. So by the end of the morning, Bennett and I both had major meltdowns and left in tears.  When we got in the car, I prayed that God would either give me the strength to deal with my circumstances or make me not pregnant anymore.

Monday Morning, November 22, I went to see Stacy for my weekly check up. Again, I asked a million questions about my water breaking and she reassured me.  I told her that the night before I felt something weird when I got up to to the bathroom. I don't really know how to explain it, but it was kind of like a "pop" She said she would take a swab just to be sure but could see the bag in tact. I was 3 centimeters, but not really feeling any contractions.  Levi's heart rate was a little bit of a concern, so she told me I needed to go on the monitor for a half hour and she would bring me the results of the swab.  I never even made it to the waiting room when she and Mrs. Debbie called me into the hallway to tell me that my water was in fact leaking and I needed to go to the hospital.  I freaked. First this was NOT my play (rarely is, right?) Secondly, it hit me that I would be leaving Bennett for the last time as an only child.

I could not stop crying. I actually still get teary-am right now. Thinking about that moment. Of course nobody else quite understood. I mean I knew all along that this was coming, but I still just couldn't get it together. For two and a half years, it's been me and Bennett. We were a team; a pair. Did everything together, went everywhere together. He didn't ask for a sibling. What if it changed is sweet disposition?. What if he was mad at me? Quinn was very supportive even though he did not share my emotions. He was pumped! He kept comparing it to "game day."

I finally got it together enough to get my things together. Mrs. Marilyn came to hang out with Bennett.  By this time it was around 10:30 and we had no idea how long it would take to get me settled in and the dreaded pitocin started.  We made the phone calls we needed to make, I gave Bennett one last hug (more tears) and we headed to the hospital-after we stopped for a chicken biscuit at Hardee's:)

Ways Bennett makes me smile

I don't even know how to write this one, but I want to have a record of the funny things that Bennett is up to so, here goes:

1.  Bennett calls sweeping brooming and raking scraping. He calls the broom the broomer. 

2.  He loves to play hide and seek, but doesn't quite understand that he is not suppose to come out of hiding to chase me around.

3.  He likes to play golf with his golfer thinger.

4. He reminds me so much of his grandma because he is cold all the time.  He can be sweating and still say he needs a blanket.

5. When He gets mad at his daddy, he hurts his feelings by saying "I'll break all your coffee cups"

6. He is selectively modest. He loves to be naked, but then he freaks if someone sees his penis.

7.  He scratches my back- one of my favorite things.

8. He LOVES to read. He reads to himself, to his brother, but best of all he crawls up in my lap with as many books as he can hold and lets me read to him.

9.  He is so tender hearted.  He doesn't like to see others sad and wants to "wipe their tears"

10.  He has an amazing imagination. I can't even count how many deer he has killed and how often he goes in to the woods (yesterday)

11.  When he was little, we read a first words book that had lots of animals in it. I made the sound of each animal as we looked at them, but had  no idea what the zebra said. So, I would pinch his knees when we saw a zebra. Now, any time we see a  "beejah" he waits for me to do the same thing.

12.  He likes mo-ca-cyles.(motorcyles)

13. He is fascinated with pantyhose. Mimi wears them to work all the time and he things they are the coolest things ever. Grandma actually gave him a pair and he loves wearing them around the house. I am VERY surprised that Quinn didn't freak out, but he was cool about it.

14.  We were at dinner one night talking about how much hair Levi has as opposed to when Bennett was his age. Quinn made the comment that one day he would lose his hair like his daddy and he cried! He did not want to think about losing his hair.

15. Bennett is so much like his daddy in so many ways, but he definately gets his sleep habits from me.  He naturally stays up late and wants to sleep late (by late, I mean 8:30ish) and if he has to be woken up he is VERY grumpy. It is not wonderful when you are trying to be on a schedule, but it still makes me smile to think that he "got that from me"

16.  He loves Levi. I mean really loves him. He always wants to include his little brother in everything we do.  I actually took Levi to school one day so Bennett and I could have a date and Bennett cried when we left Levi there. 

17.  He prays about everything. And usually that prayer is some form of praise. Even if he is praying for someone to get better, he says "Dear Jesus, Thank you for helping mommy feel better"

18.  I can tell that he has a tiny bit of my OCD tendencies. Now, he is a mess and loves to dump things out of any container. But he also loves to line up his toys, books, etc.  I love it when I find a line of animals through the house. He is also a mega rule follower. He definately tests the limits at home but anywhere else he does exactly as told.

19. He tells me I am his best friend. Nevermind that he tells everyone that they are his best friend. It still warms my heart. 

20.  He looks at me like I am the coolest, most beautiful mommy in the whole world.  Being a woman that has always struggled with self image, this is a very big deal.