Last week I went to the doctors for my 38 week appointment and, as they routinely do for everyone, I got the membrane sweep and the doctor was pretty surprised to tell me I was already 3-4cm dilated and my cervix had thinned a lot already. She predicted I would have the baby within the week! I was pretty surprised and went home to tell Jeff the news. Jeff had taken the week off work to use up vacation time and spend some time with me getting things ready and enjoying each other before the baby came. He didn't want the baby to come early because we had the week all planned and even told me to go lie down! I told him that I could be dilated this much for a long time and it probably didn't mean anything. I decided to still assume I wasn't going to have the baby early. We went about our week and bought a big freezer for our basement, built shelves for our garage (so I could get on both sides of the van), made a bunch of freezer meals, and assembled the baby's dresser, as well as Bentley's kitchen for her birthday. We went to Don's birthday party on the Friday, and had Bentley's birthday party on the Saturday. Sunday and Monday went by and no baby came. We got through the week and got lots done! I was pretty exhausted.
The next day was Tuesday and I had a doctor's appointment scheduled. I would be 39 weeks. I emailed my parents that night and told them just to expect that I wouldn't have the baby for another week because I really wasn't feeling any contractions or feeling like he would come soon. My mom had been thinking about it all week and kept asking if anything happened yet. I went to bed pretty late that night after watching The Bachelor and eating popcorn and treats. At about 3:30am I woke up feeling uncomfortable and turned over to the other side to go back to sleep. The pain wasn't really going away, though, no matter what position I was in. I thought maybe I had eaten too many treats! Not long after, I realized it was probably a contraction. I tried sleeping again, but they kept coming back. I took out my contraction timer app on my phone and started timing them. Sure enough, they were about 5 minutes apart every time. I couldn't decide if it was too early to wake up Jeff and let him know, so I waited another 20 minutes or so trying to decide if this was the real thing. Finally, I decided to get him up and I told him I was scared because I was having contractions, but I didn't know if it was labour. Once he saw how far apart they were he decided to call his Mom to come over so Bentley could stay sleeping and we could go to the hospital (this was the plan...even in the middle of the night!). Cindy came around 5am and I was packing my bags and cleaning up a little. Jeff thought I was crazy and that we should go but I told him it wasn't that painful and even apologized to Cindy if this was a false alarm. She told us to leave and even if it wasn't the real thing, at least we would know for sure.
We got to the hospital around 5:30 or 6 and it was very empty! We checked in and a nurse took us to a room, asked me a bunch of questions and then the doctor came to check me. I was already 6cm dilated! They moved me to our room which would be ours for delivery and postpartum. I told them I had plans of getting an epidural and so they started the process of taking my blood and getting the IV ready. I really wasn't having a lot of pain with the contractions yet, but I knew that it would get worse so they got started. The IV was probably the worst part of the whole thing because the nurse couldn't get it in! She poked me twice before calling another nurse to try. The other nurse finally got it to work with a third poke. I still wasn't in a ton of pain, but Dr. Endersby came in to give me the epidural. I figured why not get it now and then I could sleep! He was an awesome doctor. Jeff and I both really liked him and he gave me a great epidural. A lot of my labor pain was in my back once again so it felt good when the needle was stuck in my back. The doctor thought it was funny that I enjoyed it and wondered if I even needed it because I was still talking through contractions. Once it kicked in, it felt great and all I wanted to do now was sleep! Not long after the epidural my water broke. They checked me again and I was 8cm dilated. Not long to go! This was around 8am at this point. Suddenly I started feeling light-headed and super nauseous. I told them I felt like I was gonna throw up and everything was getting fuzzy. My blood pressure had dropped, but luckily they gave me a cold cloth, some juice, raised me up, and the feeling eventually went away. I felt good again and the baby was happy through it all. Sometime around this point my IV burst and my arm had this big bulge in it. So, they had to take it out and try again in a different place. After a different nurse tried, she couldn't get it to work so Dr.Endersby came and poked me for the fifth time, which finally worked. At last, they let me sleep! I had about an hour of resting and then they came in to tell me I should have this baby now because they had a c-section they had to go do in not too long so the doctors would be occupied. The doctor checked me and, sure enough, the baby's head was really low and I was ready to push, right after they broke a little bit more of my water that was left and in the way. I was really scared for the pushing part because I remembered with Bentley how painful it was. Well, I didn't feel a thing! I could feel when I was having a contraction and where to push, but other than that it was easy. I guess this epidural was a lot stronger than the one I had with Bentley! I couldn't walk with this one, whereas for Bentley I was walking and definitely in pain pushing her out. Anyway, I pushed for 8 minutes and they were pretty impressed with how controlled I was. The baby came out with no tearing whatsoever. The doctor told me to come back anytime because that was such an easy delivery! Honesty, I had no idea it could be this easy. When the baby came out, the doctor put him on me skin-to-skin and the tears started flowing. Another magical, indescribable moment! A fresh spirit from heaven. The baby was born at 10:12am on Jan.26, exactly 1 week early. Jeff cut the cord and then they wiped him down, weighed him, etc. He weighed 8lbs, 1oz, and measured 21 inches long.
It took us a while to pick the name Deacon Bruce Ady. We were going back and forth between two, but finally just had to decide! The middle name is after my Grandpa, Bruce Nielson and also my Dad, as it is his middle name. There are a million reasons why I would want my son to be named after them.
After the baby arrived we of course let everyone know and then ate some breakfast and soaked in our new baby. He had no problem eating and really seemed like such a calm, laid back baby. Later that day Don and Cindy came with Bentley so she could meet her brother. She had just woken up from a nap, so I don't think she fully understood what was going on. She was happy to see all of us though and sat up with me eating some snacks that Cindy had brought for us. It was a pretty weird feeling knowing that I am a mom of 2 now. I still don't know how I'm going to divide my attention, but hopefully I can figure it out. After visiting, they took Bentley again and she stayed the night at Don and Cindy's house. It was so nice to have their help! Jeff went home for the night to get a good sleep and I stayed at the hospital with the baby. I didn't quite realize how bad of a night it was going to be...I got next to no sleep and spent the night changing diapers, feeding, and trying to calm baby Deacon. I was so overtired that I felt super overwhelmed, but when Jeff came back in the morning I got to rest and felt a lot better. We left the hospital as soon as we could because I was so ready to get out of there and go home to a nice bed!
Well, since then we have been spoiled with meals, visits, and babysitting. I haven't really hit real life yet, and have to say I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to do it! I definitely wish my mom was here to lighten the load, but I know that she is where she needs to be in Fiji serving the people there. It will be so nice to have my parents back in a couple of months. I am so blessed to have Jeff's family around and a couple of my siblings, as well as friends to help me. Everyone has been so great :)
