37- 38 weeks. No exciting changes happened. I stayed at 1cm. Part of me was disappointed because I was so over being pregnant and just wanted to be done. This was by far my most uncomfortable pregnancy. I have always had pretty bad rib pain in prior pregnancies but this was a whole new level!! I was in constant pain. No position (laying, sitting, standing) would relieve the awful stabbing pain I had. I was so ready to be done! The other part of me knew thought that if I waited until 39 weeks, I would be able to be induced and would be able to schedule my blood thinner shot, so that I could get my epidural. It was a lot less of a risk to do it that way. I just needed to be patient and make it to 39 weeks.
These last few weeks were mentally exhausting. I was worried about blood clots, my water randomly breaking the way it did with Briggs, if I was having contractions, and why I wasn't having contractions, and basically worrying about all the others things that could go wrong. My anxiety levels were sky rocketing. I basically had Al give me a priesthood blessing once a week. It was the only thing that could bring me comfort and realign my thoughts. Once I got back on track and realized that everything was in the Lord's hands, I would be okay... for a few days at least.😆
Finally 39 weeks came! I was supposed to call in on Tuesday May 29th at 5:00am to see when they could fit me in to get induced. I was terrified they were going to be so busy and make me wait another day. 🙈 Luckily, when I called, they wanted me at the hospital at 6:15am. WOOOHOOO! Syd had come up the night prior to paint my toe nails, and I talked her into sleeping over. So, she stayed with the boys. That morning, we packed everything into the car and Alek gave me another priesthood blessing. Boy, am I grateful for him and the priesthood. 💓
We stopped at Einstein Bagels and I forced a bagel down me as fast as possible. We got to the hospital and they had me checked in, dressed (or undressed?), and hooked up to the IV all by 7am. They checked me at 7:15am and I had made it to a 'tight two'😂 Now the waiting began, or so I thought. I thought it was going to take awhile to get anywhere because with other pregnancies I was dilated a lot father at this point. And obviously my body was in no hurry to progress at all. Al was watching his White Collar show and I was watching the Bachelorette. We were both pretty calm and relaxed.
At 8:30 Dr. Craig came in before her 9:00 appointments to check on me and decided to break my water. I was still only at a 2!! I didn't even think it was possible to break my water at only 2cm dilated so I was pretty shocked and was panicing for a quick second. I knew I wanted the epidural ASAP if she was going to break my water. I'm a total chicken when it comes to labor pain....
Boy, did I impress everyone with the amount of water that came out. 😂 I decided I wanted to pee one last time before I got the epidural and asked the nurse how I should walk to the bathroom with so much liquid coming out. She casually said to keep a towel between my legs, thinking it was just a trickle of water. Hahaha. I stood up and basically created a river trail from the bed to the toilet. My bottom half was drenched. The nurse was like, 'Whoa! That is a lot of liquid!" Alek had to keep getting new towels because I was soaking through them within seconds. I made a joke that I had probably already lost 10 lbs just to fluid loss and the nurse agreed.
At 9:00am the anesthesiologist came in for the epidural. He was a pretty cool guy and for that I was grateful for! I had taken my shot the prior morning at 7:30am and it had been well over the 24 hour mark. He said, "you are way over your time for any risk." So that wasn't even a big deal. Whew! He had me sit on the edge of the bed and every time I had a contraction, fluid was still gushing out of me and dripping down my legs leaving a puddle on the floor. Everyone thought it was quite comical. Except, I guess I made the epidural guy a little nervous as he was putting in the needle, because he saw all the liquid leaking through and thought for a quick second that he had done something wrong and that it was spinal fluid leaking out. 🙈 I got after him jokingly that he shouldn't be talking like that. Cuz who wants to hear that that is a concern while you are getting the epidural?!
At 10:00am they checked me and I had made it to a 4cm!!! Finally, I was getting somewhere! Around then is when my mom showed up. At this point things were going great! Except for the fact that one leg was completely numb and useless, where as the other leg, I could still move just fine. They had me try a few different positions to try and get the other one a bit more numb.
At 11:00 they checked me and I was at a 6cm! And just like the past labor experiences i've had, once I get to a 6, things progress very quickly. My photographer wasn't there yet and I started stressing a little bit and was worried she wasn't going to make it. Finally, she walked in at 11:30. Sure enough, right after that I felt the urge to poop, which I have learned with the epidural means its go time! I told the nurse and she checked me and I was 9+!! She had me turn on my left side to try and get the last little bit of lining to go away, while she called everyone and started to get things all set up! At this point I was feeling everything in my crotch area just like prior labors and so I pushed the button for another dose of the epidural and it worked like a charm.👌
Earlier, Alek, my mom, and I were making bets on what time the baby would be born. We were all thinking around 1 or 2pm. At noon everything was ready, my legs were up in the stirrups, Dr. Craig showed up, and it was time to push. Through the pushing everyone was so encouraging and for some reason I was mentally prepared to push for awhile and literally was giving it my all. I didn't understand at first why everyone was so excited and cheering me on so enthusiastically. But, it turns out after the first push you could already see his head and the Dr. said, "ooooh look at the dark hair!" I was like no way! I turned to Alek and said, "can you really see his hair already?" With the 2nd push, his head was out! We waited for a 2nd contraction and pushed again. I got a little carried away with the next push and Dr Craig told me to slow it down. Which is when, I'm guessing, I got my 1st degree tear. I eased up a bit so she could get his shoulders through and with the 4th and final push he was out. It was INSANELY fast. I couldn't even believe it. Like, how did that already happen???
I could tell as soon as they laid him on my chest and started to wipe him down that he was a big baby. Alek, my mom, and I had also made bets on just how big he was going to be. Both of them thought there was no way he was going to be over 8 lbs. Especially being a week early. They both were thinking low 7's. I knew with how uncomfortable I was that he was big and my guess was 8 lbs 3 oz. They weighed him and the nurse said, "8 lbs 5 oz." I literally did a huge fist pump in the air and said, "heck yeah!" I was pretty proud.
Ivan Royal Lund
May 29, 2018 12:13pm
8 lbs. 5 oz.
20 inches long.
While the nurse was checking him, she pointed out a birth mark on his right foot on two of his little toes. He also, always has his right leg sticking straight out while his left foot is all cuddled in. So, its a joke that his dang right leg was what was jabbing my ribs the whole pregnancy and that the birth mark is from his toes being stuck in my ribs. 😂
He cried after being born a lot more than the other two did. Like non stop while they were wiping him off, weighing him, checking all his vitals. Everyone who was waiting in the hall could hear him crying and knew exactly when he was born. It was such a cute cry, I couldn't help but laugh. But since then, he has only cried when he's hungry. He didn't even cry when he got circumcised! He seriously is the calmest baby!
The hospital stay was great. We had a lot of visitors the first day. It was a bit overwhelming but great to see all the love for baby Ivan. The two older boys came in almost right after he was born. I'm usually not a crier but when Alek was showing them their baby brother, I definitely got teary eyed. Looking at all four of my boys! Wow, I felt so blessed watching them.💙
I dunno why, but there is something about the hospital stay that I absolutely love. It's confusing because there's so much bad to it as well.... the nurses checking your wahoo every hour, spritzing yourself off when you pee, peeing in front of people, nurses massaging your uterus.... you get the point. But, besides all that, the hospital stay is one of my favorite memories with all my boys. I think it's because, for one, I'm waited on every second. 😂 That's always nice. But, there's not the every day life distractions. Just Alek and I enjoying the new baby. It's an amazing time to just slow life down, enjoy the moment and get some perfect newborn snuggles.😍 Don't get me wrong. It is nice to come home and sleep in my own bed too!
Ivan has been the sweetest boy. 💙 Aww. Newborns are the best. I'm trying to soak it all in because time is so evil. In the hospital he didnt' have an appetite and the nurses were stressing me out trying to get me to feed him every 2-4 hours. He usually would go like 5-6 hours and I felt like an awful mom.🙈 But, seriously, since we got home, he has done nothing but eat I swear. Every two hours on the dot, even at night. I'm exhausted!!! I've been praying for a 4 hour stretch but, I have yet to get one.😔 So far, He has been my best baby to breastfeed. Latching on perfectly.It's been so wonderful this time around which is strange cuz I always dread breastfeeding. At this point we are trying to stick with breastfeeding and pumping while feeding with a bottle. Hopefully we can last as long as possible doing both! Fingers crossed!
