Birth stories- ahhhhhh. Love them or hate them or scroll to the bottom and just look at pics : ).
Well, we finally had our little boy. But he didn't come on his own. Let me preface this story by saying I have always been soundly against my being induced. I had firm opinions about it and didn't want to consider it whenever any Dr broached the topic with me (my first OB said he would induce me on my 2nd baby because my first came so fast). I had 2 due dates- the 19th of April and the 26th. I had told myself and everyone else that I would go until the 27th- just to outlast my Dr and her predictions (and Stephen's) and also to wait until "Grandma" got here. My mom arrived on the 27th and we all breathed a little easier knowing we wouldn't have to call someone in the ward in the middle of the night (when I tend to go into labor).
When the 27th came and went, I was disappointed. Then it was so close to my birthday and frankly, I didn't want to share that day or have to have a child share theirs with me (Odessa has to share with Thanksgiving sometimes and it's hard for her.) Stephen had taken the week of the 25th-29th off work and still no baby, so on May 2nd, he went back to work (very disappointing to me and him). I had so many "false alarms" that I was getting very discouraged and tired of being disappointed and tired of being in pain. I knew he was getting big- he had felt bigger than the girls for some time and I had predicted he would be well over 8 lbs. I would go to sleep every night feeling crappy, and wake up every morning feeling fine and still pregnant. BUMMER.
At least my mom and I had fun- and boy! we celebrated my birthday for 3 days straight!
Two non-stress tests showed the baby had good movement, heart rate and amniotic fluid, but my Dr got more stressed out since she was going off the 19th as my due date.
May 4th- my father arrived and I started having some emotional breakdowns- just tired of being disappointed. I emailed my Dr saying that I would let her induce me on the 6th, even though I had an appointment with her on the 5th. Then later that day, (after 2 crying spells) I changed my mind and emailed her that I would be willing to just come in for my appointment and stay and be induced. I felt good about the decision, but it was also really hard to make. (Stephen says it would be so funny to get those 2 emails back to back.)
On the 5th, I went in at 11:30 for my appointment.
12:30pm They checked me in at the labor and delivery unit.
2pm- They finally started my IV antibiotics. Here is one important part about being induced: I have had the Strep B bacteria with all 3 of my pregnancies and with Odessa and Ada, I did not have the time before delivery to get the required 2 doses of antibiotics, so they make me stay in the hospital for 48 hrs to observe the baby and make sure they don't have the infection, etc. So before doing any induction measures, they wanted to get my antibiotics in just in case I delivered too quickly.
I was having a few contractions already since my Dr had stripped my membranes at my appointment.
Induction measures- I didn't want pitocin. But my cervix was already so soft and dilated enough that the other 2 options weren't necessarily going to do anything for me. I reluctantly agreed to 1 ml of pitocin per hour and we were all hoping that just a touch of it would set my own body's processes into motion.
4 pm- pitocin started- walking, walking, walking
6:30 pm- some strong contractions bouncing on the birthing ball
7pm- into the tub (my preferred method of pain relief that I used with both the girls) Contractions got easier and farther apart- very disappointing.
8pm- Out of tub and I said I just wanted to sit on the bed and watch some TV to get my mind off it (everyone was a little surprised things had slowed down considering my history) and I felt all this pressure, like everyone was waiting around. I had my Dr there and a resident was also attending me. At this point I called my mom to tell her nothing much was happening and to say good night to the girls. Odessa wanted to know if she would have a baby brother in the morning- I told her I thought so, but was starting to doubt if he would be a May 5th baby or 6th some time . . .
8:40ish- I started having some bad cramps that felt more like I needed to go to the bathroom. The contractions started in full once I got out of the bathroom and I bounced on the birthing ball.
They were so hard and so fast, I was pretty surprised. I could hardly breathe through them with Stephen's help. I bounced away.
9:30- I told my nurse to have the Dr come in and check me. Because of my history, both Drs were there at the nurses station and the birthing table had been prepared hours before- someone finally listened to me!
9:41 - Franklin Lewis was born! It was the most painful of all my deliveries and I was sure I tore a bit when he came out. He was all tangled in his cord and he was gurgling a little, but he was pink all over and I wasn't worried. Every one of my deliveries have had a moment where I probably should be frightened (because the staff or Stephen have been), but I am always overcome with peace that my baby is fine. They quickly clamped and cut his cord in a number of places to get it off his neck.
They put him right onto me, the first time I have ever gotten to hold my baby right away and it was as bit as wonderful as they describe. They didn't weigh him till a bit later and they never took him from my room for any of his tests or anything, I loved it. He was 9lbs, 21 inches. I only had to have 1 stitch, and that was huge shock.
Stephen and I enjoyed that night and the next day just the 3 of us and 3 lbs of strawberries and a half gallon of chocolate milk that he was able to go across the street for since we had a mini fridge in our room. The girls and my parents came the next morning to meet the baby. They let us discharge the next evening at 7:30pm.
Overall- I do not regret being induced. I got my antibiotics which was safer for the baby and awesome for me because it meant I got to go home. My parents were here for almost a full week after he was born and that was a huge help.
Would I be induced again? No. I wouldn't. The labor, delivery and recovery were all different, and I didn't like the way it felt. The contractions felt forced- it wasn't as gradual (obviously, since I have never had such a short period of hard labor). My body did not have as high of levels of adrenaline and shock afterwards I don't think (indicated by lack of shaking and actually remembering the details of this delivery).
Even though, overall it would seem this was an awesome delivery, I still prefer the crazy, unpredicted and a bit longer labors and deliveries of the girls. But I am happy he's here (SO HAPPY) and I have had a good recovery. Because of his size, he was very fussy until my milk came in. He eats a ton and sleeps a ton and is more happy now when he has very brief awake moments. Because my back still bothers me, I still sleep in the recliner and so when he's fussy at night I can hold him and he sleeps better and I love those times.
Stephen got me an i-pod shuffle for Mother's Day so I can download e-books from the library website and listen to books while I nurse. BRILLIANT. I am loving it and am halfway through 36 hours of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
My feet are the size of bread loaves as my friend Becky would put it and I had to actually buy a pair of shoes size 12 to go anywhere. All the IV fluids and the pitocin as well can exacerbate that apparently. Bummer.
Stephen's parents are here now and Stephen will be able to take some significant time off after they leave. Feeling very blessed for all these things.
As for his name- that was a hard one. It took us until Monday morning to finally decide. We named him Franklin for my grandma Hambelton's maiden name and Lewis is Stephen's father's middle name (and his father before him as well). We felt really strongly about using family names and in the end, it was these names that had real meaning to us that won out.
Going home!!
G.I. Joe reporting for service Sir!
4th of July Monday we had some new friends over for a BBQ- my first attempt at baby back ribs and they were so good! Our friends brought chicken too and the kids had hot dogs- Stephen got a crash course in how to BBQ all these meats on his charcoal grill.
We start them on meat a little early around here. And "why is everyone so enamored with my hair?"
The next day his hair was greased down post bath and it makes him look so old!!
This last Saturday we met friends at Alki to watch the Pirates land on Alki beach. Frankly, I wish they would sail in on a tall ship and not a military boat accompanied by navy crew. 
This Fire Ship was much cooler
A Jack Sparrow look a like was really funny to observe on the boardwalk
Chillin under the umbrella on Alki. We also went back to Alki this Monday and poked around the tide pool side with our friends the Viswanathans and the rest of the week we have relaxed and stayed home. 
