Cole's Birth Story (Part Two)

FAMILY OF FOUR

I love that phrase, "family of four." I'm writing this post one week after Cole was born and let me tell ya, my family feels so complete right now (don't get me wrong, I'm sure makes babies are to come in the future) but at this moment in time, two babies is just what our family needs.

BIG SISTER 101Justin picked Clara up from the house once we were settled into the hospital room we'd be staying in for the night. Her meeting her brother for the first time was priceless. Mimi and Papa had arrived not much before she did but her attention was on the baby (and that's sayin something). She kept saying " Hi baby brother, me Clara." She was so soft and gental and so happy. I even have the cutest video of her kissing him on the nose.

As you can see from the pictures above, she loves showing off her brother to all of our visitors. She has done really well this week and hasn't shown any signs of jealousy having to share her parents (I give most of that credit to Mimi who stayed with us giving her lots of attention). 

Call us crazy but we decided to start potty training this week. I figured now was the best time because Cole sleeps so much giving me time to focus more on her. I could tell she was ready for a while but my pregnant body was too tired and sore to chase around a toddler. It took three accidents in a row before she realized that going in the potty meant she got a teddy graham. She hasn't wet her panties since. She is even going number two which makes this mamma so proud.

Clara has also been the best little helper this week too. I've been letting her pick out Coles outfits and she's been helping me change his diapers (aka throwing away diapers). Let's hope all of these good vibes continue when Justin starts school next month.

NURSING STRUGGLES

Ok people, I've heard that all babies are different and I've heard stories about how  hard the first weeks of nursing can be. But I always thought the struggling mamas were just talking about engorgement and poor latching. I didn't know that some full term babies struggled to eat even though it's instinct. Clara was pro when it came to latching from day one (hence her squishy cheeks for her first six months) so when Cole came along, I was completely confused. 

I couldn't get him to wake up long enough to nurse and when he did make an effort to eat, he wouldn't close his mouth. So frustrating.  

That first day in the hospital, he went 8 hours without eating!! I was REALY concerned. I would try nursing every two hours but no luck. I even had the lactation consultant come in to help (which seemed pointless since I already knew what I was doing). The nurses didn't seem worried but I didn't want him to become dehydrated. 

Things finally turned around when he threw up more gook (luckily in front of the nurse). They took him back to empty his stomach again. Finally he started to nurse after that!! 

We still struggle now that we are home from the hospital. He has been so darn sleepy but I'm really trying to nurse often to build up my milk supply. He still struggles to close his mouth to make a latch, but I think he's just really excited for boobs haha. 

HEARING TROUBLES

Cole failed both hearing tests in the hospital for his left ear. We are scheduled to go to the hearing clinic on August 1st, so I'll keep you all posted. 

POST PARTUM 

(My least favorite part about baby making). This recovery has been so much  quicker than my first.  By day 3 I felt like my normal self walking around and licking up around the house. I had an episiotomy with Clara and couldn't even sit up until the end of the second week. 

I gained the same amount of weight this pregnancy (35lb) only this time I'm not losing it as quickly which is annoying. My hair has also begun to fall out which didn't happen last time until month three post partum. So ya, I'm one hot mess but hey at least my body doesn't hurt

Cole's Birth Story (part one)

First of all, I can't believe that I'm old enough to be writing my SECOND birth story blog post! I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be their momma. 

Since I've done this whole baby thing before, I've decided to split this into two posts. The first about my pregnancy and labor story. Then my second post about life after baby: nursing, Clara coping to the big sister life, and what a family of four has been like for us so far.

PREGNANCY NO. 2

This pregnancy was so different than my first. With Clara, I had minimal morning sickness, barely threw up, and felt fairly normal through the nine months.

Cole was totally the opposite. Morning sickness started early and I went halfway into my second trimester throwing up daily. Not only was I throwing up, but every time I puked I also PEED MY PANTS! Not even joking. (I guess those kegal exercises were more important than I thought) . 

Being overly nauseous 24/7 really took a lot out of me, and all I could do was go to class and then sleep and lounge around the house. This caused me to gain weight incredibly fast (not to mention this period was during the yummy holidays : Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). I gained over 20lbs by the time I was halfway (20weeks). This freaked me out just a little since I only gained 30lbs during Clara's pregnancy and I knew I still had 20 weeks to go. Luckily the nausea eventually went away and I could pick up my normal rueteen. I ended up gaining a total of 33lbs this pregnancy (goal accomplished!). 

I carried really low which caused so much pain in my thighs. I thought there was no way I was going to stay pregnant for the full 40 weeks. But sure enough, Cole was born 1 day before his due date (just like Clara). 

During these 9 months Justin and I both completed my senior year at ISU and graduated ( I don't recommend being apart of a graduation ceremony at 34 weeks pregnant). I put on my senior art show which consisted of large acrylic paintings of owls and some pottery. And finally, managed to keep Clara alive. Can't believe she's two. 

Overall, I'm always grateful that my body is capable of carrying children, and I love feeling baby kicks, but BOY OH BOY I'm sure glad it's over. See ya later pregnancy pains

LABOR AND DELIVERY 

First item of importance: my brother received his mission call to Peru. We were super excited for him until we found out that he was scheduled to leave for the MTC on June 21st (ONE DAY BEFORE MY DUE DATE!) this means that my family was going to busy during my 39th week of pregnancy. This was only a big deal because I was stressed about my mom having to stay in Boise and we'd have nobody to watch Clara. Luckily I was scheduled to be induced at 8pm on the 21st giving my mom enough time to see Buddy off and drive down here. Well, Cole decided to come 12 hours early for that plan. Luckily my sister-in-law, Wendy, was able to drive down from rexburg. 

I felt bad calling her at 4:00am because she had just been in town the night before celebrating her birthday with us (which was a blast. I still can't believe I was chasing Clara around the park, throwing water balloons, and launching bottle rockets in summer heat just hours before going into labor). 

So anyways, we skyped my brother around 10:00pm on the 20th to say goodbye before he left in the morning. At this point I felt normal. Uncomfortable yes, but no different than any other pregnant night. I went to bed with the regular Braxton hicks that usually came and went over the last few weeks. I woke up around 2:00am with painful contractions. The pain was barable but I could tell they were close together, under 5 minutes apart. I refused to time them for the first 45 minutes because I didn't want to believe that I was actually in labor. "We aren't going into labor until tomorrow night once my mom gets her to watch Clara," I kept telling myself. 

I finally timed my contractions and sure enough they were 2-3 minutes apart and I was in enough pain that I had to hold my breath with each contraction.

 I decided to go upstairs and walk around (hoping the contractions would ease). They didn't. So I packed my hospital bag, and Clara's diaper bag, and woke Justin up. I told him we would be leaving in the next half hour. Well, ten minutes later I'm crying through contractions and we are in the car with Clara. 

Clara thought if was the coolest thing being outside in the middle of the night. She kept pointing out stars, the moon and the clock tower my our house. 

We called Wendy to let her know we were headed to the hospital. 

Fast forward: after 45 minutes with the SLOWEST nurse ever. She confirmed I was dilated to a 5 and that I could be moved to an L&D room. Not going to lie, At the pace this old lady nurse was going, it wouldn't have surprised me if I had the baby before an epidural was even an option.

Thankfully that didn't happen. Clara did great sitting on the chairs watching movies on the iPad. Justin took her out of the room when it came time for the epidural (which honestly I don't believe is as bad as everyone says. Contractions hurt way worse than a giant needle and tube into your spine). 

Wendy arrived to town once the epidural was in, so Justin took Clara home to drop her off. While he was gone, I entertained myself with snapchat.

I had decided that I wanted to document my labor by the hour with snapchat for family who love updates. However, once I had the epidural and pitocin, I jumped from being dilated from a 5 to a 10 in one hour!!! 

I suddenly had this huge urge to pee! (Not the typical "poop" feeling you get when it's time to push). The nurse hadn't put in a catheter yet since I had barely gotten the epidural. I told the nurse I was concerned I was going to pee myself. She checked me and discovered I was fully dilated. She ran out to notify the doctor. It was 7:00am now (we arrived to the hospital at 4:15am). She comes back in saying that my doctor was in surgery and i needed to hold the baby in for another 45 minutes (are you kidding me). I asked if there was another doctor around because I did not want to wait around if I could already be pushing. Unfortunately, my doctor was also the doctor on call at the hospital that day. So we waited. 

10 mins later I  really REALLY felt the urge to pee. The nurse said she couldn't empty my bladder because my full bladder was the only thing keeping the baby from falling right out of me.

I invited my sister to be there for the birth because i think every mother/future mother should have the opportunity to witness a birth. I have seen two births and it's truly an amazing thing. 

8:20am the resident doctor came in, set up the room, and told me to give a practice  push. I wasn't even a few seconds into the practice push when he told me, "Stop, let's not do that. I'm not ready to deliver a baby solo." My doctor ran in seconds later, still putting booties over his shoes. 

Next thing I know, they told me to push. First push they told me to slow down to decrease chances of tearing. Second push, the head was out. Third push, bang Cole was born! 8:26am. 

He came out so cute and so perfect. Justin says that the nursed had a hard time documenting his footprints because the skin on his feet were so flakey. Hehe