It's so hard to find the time to keep this blog updated. And now with two kids it's VERY hard to find the time to do anything... It gets better right?!? This motherhood thing is not for the faint of heart!
Graham made his entrance into the world in a quick and alarming way. First he scared me when I started dilating and contracting at 32 weeks. I was told to take it easy... if you've met Emmett you know it was a rough 6 weeks! I continued working a couple days a week but I really did try to sit as much as possible. I didn't progress any further so at 38 weeks I was still a 3 and 80% effaced. I continued to have contractions all the time but nothing extremely painful or regular.
Graham was born on Thursday, January 10th. I felt great the whole day,like mop my kitchen floors great! That's feeling pretty good for 38 weeks pregnant! I was on call that night for work starting at 5. I got a call at 3 saying that we had a patient and I would need to come in if I was feeling up to it. After hearing what was going to be required of me I told my boss I was feeling good but I wasn't confident enough in my nursing skills to take care of the patient by myself. There was another nurse lined up if I wasn't able to... This was the best decision I ever made. You will see why shortly. The afternoon proceeded and was uneventful. I had some obligations for primary that I needed to get taken care of before I had this baby... Preston had a church ball game at 6 anyway so we all headed to the church. I remember walking in the foyer and having to stop for a painful contraction. I told Preston jokingly that I was in labor. I might have had a few more contractions while at the church but nothing regular. It was a seriously blizzard this night. Preston had to stay and ref the next church ball game but I told him to drive me and Emmett home first. We got home about 7 and I got Emmett and I some dinner made. I noticed I was having a few contractions and they were getting more painful. I stuck a movie in for Emmett and sat on the couch to start counting contractions around 730... well my contractions started coming really close together. They were more painful than what I had been having but nothing horrible.
Preston got home from the church around 8. I said, Honey, I'm in labor. He said, Can I go shower really fast? I told him he could because I wanted to count for a full hour and make sure I really was in labor. We got sent home from the hospital with Emmett and I really didn't want that to happen again, plus the contractions weren't super painful yet... till about 8:15. Holy Moly! The pain came on so fast! I ran upstairs and told Preston to get out of the shower. He had Emmett showering with him and they were not fast enough! Preston told me to go lay down and try to relax... didn't work. I called my mom and paced around my bedroom. My mother of course freaked out and said Hurry and get up to the hospital. She had all her babies super fast. While talking to my mom my water broke... Or at least I thought it was. Nope, it was a huge blood clot and tons of bright red blood. So scary! Thinking back on this moment now I kind of have to laugh at Preston... Poor guy. He was running around our upstairs, in nothing but socks and garments, with absolutely no idea what to do. He grabbed me a towel finally and we attempted to avoid anymore blood on the carpet. I finally sat on the edge of the bathtub because the bleeding was not stopping. I yelled at Preston to get dressed... seriously, I had to yell at him. My hospital bag was only half packed since I was planning on getting induced the next week. We threw a few weird things in, I grabbed another towel and went to the car. Preston ran and got our neighbors to watch Emmett till my dad got there and we hurried out the door. Preston had to run back into the house 3 different times for things like my purse, camera and pillow. Very important items that are still very important even when in extreme pain. I called Labor and Delivery and let them know we were coming. We left the house about 8:40. As we were pulling out my dad was pulling in. Preston yelled out the window, "There is a little bit of blood upstairs if you could try and clean it up that would be great". My dad said later that it looked like someone had been murdered in our bedroom and bathroom. I kind of wish I had a picture because I can't remember what it looked like. (Blood can be removed from carpet with hydrogen peroxide!) The weather that night was horrible! It was a complete blizzard and the roads were pretty bad. I don't remember much from the drive there except Preston telling me he knew everything was going to be alright. I think I yelled at him because of the extreme level of pain I was in... Sorry Pres. I remember sitting in the car waiting for a contraction to pass and then running to the door of the hospital. Preston had a wheelchair ready for me and we hurried to the elevator and then the 2nd floor. The girl at the NICU window took FOREVER to check us in. I was dying at this point and seriously considered punching her. They hurried me back to a room and got me into a gown and into bed. The nurse checked my progress and simply stated that I was dilated to an 8... AN 8! I knew at this point I was screwed yet I still asked for an epidural. Stupid, I know. The anesthesiologist laughed at me too. Okay, he really didn't but he was laughing inside because we both knew it wasn't going to do a thing. At this point everything kind of blurs together and I don't know what time things happened. I don't even know where Preston was for most of the time. I had two fantastic nurses in my face the whole time and I honestly don't think I would have made it without them. And the thing that really got me through that half hour... retarded breathing techniques. Hee hee whooo. Hee hee hee whoo. Dr Blackett was the doc on call and she was at home at the time I came into the hospital. I think she got to the hospital around 9:25 or so. She got her gloves and gown on, checked my progress and told me to start pushing. The pressure at this point is indescribable. You just want that baby out. I think I pushed 3 or 4 times before he was born, can't really remember. You tend to block out the bad parts of labor and delivery. With a nasty blast of blood (spraying the doctor in the face) Graham was born at 9:36. He weighed a whopping 4 lbs 12 oz and was 18.5 inches long. He was healthy and had APGAR scores of 8 and 9. My family came running through the door only a few minutes after he was born. Of course we had left the camera in the car so all of these pictures are from after the delivery. Also I looked like death in most pictures so I was very selective of the ones posted here.
The nurses were phenomenal!
And Dr Blackett was a great substitute doc.
They helped me stay calm in a high stress situation. Something I'm not very good at.
Grandma loves her boys!
It kills me how tiny this kid was. Also look how nasty my hand looks... like I said I looked like death. I was so pale and maybe a little bit in shock!
The good part about a natural delivery is how you feel after. I could stand up and was walking around the room a whole bunch the next day.
I have awesome hook-ups at the hospital and got the deluxe suite... Okay, just a big room in the corner. But the windows were big and we took a few shots.
We were so excited to come home and have Emmett meet Graham. He LOVED his new little brother. And has been such a good helped from day one. I can't wait for Graham to be a little older and for them to be able to play together!
Giving Graham his "dibbies" aka binky.
My cute boys!
Oh, how crazy life is with two little ones and one big one... They keep me going at all times. But I wouldn't have it any other way!
