It is crazy that is has been almost three weeks since I had Cohen. He has been amazing! We couldn't have asked for a better baby. It has been a little adjustment adding him to the family, but we all love him so much! I love watching Landon and Cohen together! It is so cute how excited Landon is to be a big brother.
This pregnancy was by far harder than my pregnancy with Landon. I am so thankful that I was able to be pregnant this one last time (my doctors said no more) but it was a very trying pregnancy. It wasn't just physically trying but mentally and spiritually as well. There were a few times that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it through. Luckily I have an amazing husband and family that were there for me to help me through.
I had been having contractions for about four weeks before our scheduled induction. Every week at my appointment the doctor would say he could come anytime. We were sure he would come early, but it didn't happen. Our induction was scheduled for the day I was 39 weeks. Thursday the 10th of September arrived, and we woke up, got ready, called to make sure they had room, and then just went in.
At first they put us in a room that was further from the nurses station. When they were getting everything set up the machines were not working right so they decided to move us, and we ended up being right across from the nurse's station. I joked with Keith that the problem patient's go across from the nurse's station (I may have cursed us a little). After getting settled in and all the monitors hooked up they asked how I was feeling and what I was dilated to at my last appointment. I told them I was at at three on Tuesday, and they said that I could have an epidural anytime and got my Pitocin started. I wanted to wait awhile to get the Pitocin going and working before I got the epidural.
I texted my dad and told him how things were going. He reminded me how fast things went with Landon and told me I should probably get the epidural sooner than later. When the nurse came in the next time, I told her I wanted the epidural.Within 5 min, I had an anesthesiologist in my room getting me prepped for the epidural.It took some time to get in because the needle didn't get in the right place the first time. Once it was in I could immediately feel it working. It was about 8:45ish and I were only at 4 cm. They started to have some issues getting the heart rate and the contraction reading on the external monitors, so they had to put in internal monitors to get a better reading.
About 9:15 they came in and said there were some dips in the baby's heart rate with contractions and if there wasn't improvement and /or progress in dilation we may be looking at a c-section. I did my best to keep calm because I knew how important it was for my heart. With the epidural in I could not move my legs at all so Keith would come and move them and rub them to make me more comfortable. Nurses kept coming in every 20-30 min to turn me to help keep the baby's heart rate up and to check the progression of dilation. Around 11:20 I was feeling a lot of pressure and as I was thinking of calling the nurse she walked in to check everything because the baby's heart rate was not doing well again. I told her I was feeling a lot of pressure, and she checked my dilation and I was 10 cm, and the baby was very close to coming out. I had Keith call my mom quickly to have her get to the hospital asap since she was about 20 min away. Then everything went a little crazy.
The nurse quickly ran out and got the charge, nurse. When the charge nurse came in she did not like how the baby;s heart rate looked and decided they needed to call a code white which means they need a doctor right away to help deliver. Within a minute, there were about 25 people in my room to get things ready to deliver. There was a doctor I didn't know, respiratory therapist, the NICU team, multiple nurses, and techs. They were trying to get a hold of my doctor who was in the clinic. The doctor who came is wasn't an OB, but he said he used to deliver babies a few years ago. Again I tried to stay calm. Some of the nurses were turning me back and forth every few minutes to try and get the baby's heart rate to stay up.
The doctor and some of the nurses stood and watched the baby's heart rate for a few minutes since that was the biggest concern. Someone got a hold of my doctor, and he said he would be there in 10 min. The doctor that was in the room he got gowned up and said he felt that the baby would be ok for the 10 min but if my doctor were any longer we would be delivering the baby without him. The doctor and nurses crowded around the monitor again to keep track of the baby's heart rate. Keith and I were trying hard to be as calm as possible; it was a little hard with everything going on.
About 8 minutes later the doctor that was in the room with us said I needed to start pushing so he could see how the baby would react. With the next contraction, I started pushing. The baby's heart rate dipped even lower. The doctor said to wait a minute, and he got on some gloves, and everyone got ready to deliver the baby asap. Before he could have me push again, my doctor walked in, and some techs were already working on getting him gowned and ready. The doctors talked and with the next contraction my doctor said we needed to get the baby out and I needed to push hard. I was so happy to see my doctor. I have been seeing him for about six years, so we have a very good relationship, and I trust him.
The next contraction came, and I pushed as hard as I could. In the middle of pushing, my mom got there. I was so happy to see her and to have her there for the delivery. About four or five pushes in Cohen was out, and it was so unreal. There was the baby that had been curled up inside me for the last few months. Once he was out he was quickly rushed over to the nurses so they could do an assessment on him. My doctor then told us that he had the cord wrapped around his neck, and that was why his heart rate would drop with every contraction.
I was so relieved and happy that he was out and crying because that meant he was breathing. He was born at 11:58. He was 7lbs 4 oz and 19in long. After a few min they nurses let Keith bring Cohen over to me to see him up close. He was so tiny and so perfect. He had the cutest little whimper. I just held him close and loved every minute of it. I handed him to Keith and my mom so they could hold him for awhile. The hospital I was at does the post delivery assessment in the room, so they took care of all that before I was transferred to the Mother/Baby unit.
As I was being wheeled down to my new room, I could hear Landon's little-excited voice. He was telling everyone he saw that he was going to meet his new brother. I got settled in the room, and Landon came barreling in. He jumped up on the bed, and I gave him a big hug. Then he wanted to see his brother. He was so excited to hold him. They are going to be the best of friends.
From the beginning, he was a great eater and great sleeper. It has been so amazing to have Cohen join our family. It is amazing how you aren't sure if you can give more love and then you have a child and your love just grows immediately for them. I love being a mom to my two boys, and I feel so blessed to have been able to have two healthy beautiful boys.
