Sunday, September 9, 2007 == Jack, the lark, awakes as usual around 7 AM. He comes to cuddle in our bed. I had planned to go to church with him that morning, as DH had had some of his boys over the night before, and I figured he could use a little extra sleep-in.

I tell Jack to cuddle with Papa, and I’m going to go take a shower. Just as I get up out of bed, I feel a small gush. Oh, no. This can’t be. It’s too early, I’m thinking to myself. “Uh oh,” I said.
Mike looked at me. “What’s the matter?”
“Um, I think I just felt a gush.”
“Of what?!” his eyes getting wide.
“You know what.”

I go to the bathroom and as I am about to get into the shower, another gush. Bigger, and now I’m quite certain that my water has in fact broken. EEK!!!

Holy cow!

I ask Mike to call my sister so she can come over and watch DS while we head to the hospital.

I am in the shower and FREAKING out. We have nothing ready. I still have a week of work left. The bassinet is sitting in a box in the garage. Baby clothes are in the basement in storage. ACK!!

I get ready and call my parents. My mom starts crying and says she hopes everything will be alright. I start crying and tell her everything will be fine.

:::

10:30 AM == We get to the hospital, and apparently, it’s “Come in and have a baby weekend” there. As I lay in obstetrical triage, about 16 more couples stroll through, all experiencing labour in some stage or another. Holy doodle.

:::

1:30 PM == Finally get admitted to L&D. They start an oxytocin drip. I get to stand and rock back and forth, working through the contractions. This process continues till 2:30 AM when I finally need to rest and decide to get the epidural. I managed to sleep until about 5:30 AM. At this point, I am only 4 cm dialated.

Doctor Best (yes, that is her name. LOL) says that getting from 3-5 cm can take the longest. And after that it can be smooth sailing to get to 10 cm. I am determined to try, and will my body to be patient and try. Throughout the day, my doctor and the nurses monitor me and baby. The doctor knows I want to try a VBAC, and she is going to try everything possible to make that happen for me.

She is careful though not to overdose the oxytocin because it can cause a ruptured uterus. So we just need to be patient and wait. At this point, I am still mentally prepared should I need to have another C-section.

They check me again at 11 AM and I am at 8cm.

The next time they check me, I am at 10 cm.

:::

1:30 PM - September 10 == Contractions are getting intense and changing. They are not so much about cramping, but moving toward the urge to push. Nurse Candace tells me we are going to have this baby before the end of her shift at 3:30 PM.

2:00 PM == I start pushing. I seemed like it went so fast, but I pushed for 40 minutes. I was amazingly quiet when pushing. Tom Cruise would have been very proud of me. LMAO I put all of my energy into focusing on baby’s head (the nurses had procured a mirror for us so we could watch everything) and moving him out. It was freaking amazing. Mike propped up our video camera to catch it on film for us (GAH! lol) and he held my hand and kissed me the whole time. His voice was the only one I heard.

When I gave that last push and Sam came out, it was the most beautiful and intense moment since Jack’s birth. They put that sweet little baby on me, and Mike and I just stared at him in complete amazement. He kept saying, “You are amazing. You did it.” I was so HAPPY to have pushed that baby out. It was awesome.

Sam was born September 10, 2007 at 2:47 PM.

He weighed 6 lb. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long.

:::

Sam and I were in the hospital for five days. The doctors were concerned that he was technically a pre-term baby, and we were put under a feeding protocol (that was never fully explained to me until practically the last day!!) to monitor his weight loss/gain. He was kept in the hospital for his bilirubin levels, and spent a day and a half in a bili-bed undergoing phototherapy for his jaundice.

We *finally* came home on Friday after a very emotional week. Jack is adjusting well to being a big brother, but I can tell he is stunned by all the activity.

Sam is now pushing 8 lbs.WOOHOO!

Mike has been nothing short of spec-freakin-tacular with everything. He got the baby’s room ready in record time, and when I came home and saw it for the first time, I cried. It’s beautiful. Having two is definitely harder than one! I’m hoping to find my groove soon, and enjoy my time at home with my boys. We are so blessed and thankful for our beautiful, healthy boys. AMEN!

In the weeks to come, I hope to post more about my crazy life with three boys. Too much testosterone!! I hope you will join the fun.