My little family of three, grew to be a family of four, on May 13, 2014.
We are smitten by this little man and blessed to introduce Lennox Joseph Johns to the world.
Weight: 9lbs 3oz
Height: 20.5 inches
Date: May 13, 2014
Time: 8:47pm
Simply Perfect.
Birth Story:
Since things went to plan C with Elliana's delivery, the hubs and I wanted to try and do a VBAC. But first I had to overcome some obstacles.
One: I developed pre-eclamsia with E around 33/34 weeks. So if I could make it through this pregnancy without getting pre-E then I was good to go. So we thought...Well 33/34 weeks came and went and my blood pressure was looking great! So we thought for sure we were going to be able to do our all natural birth plan. When I went in for my 37 week appointment, I was hit with another obstacle.
Two: Baby boy was breech. I did research, where it said that only 3% of babies are breech this far in the pregnancy. Just my luck. It seemed like the universe was against me. My Dr. didn't give me much hope either. But I was determined to do everything I could to flip lil man around. So I did some research and thought that acupuncture was my best bet. When I called the acupuncturist, she didn't give me much hope either, but said she could give me some Moxibustion, which is a Chinese herb they use in a service. I was willing to give it a go. The hubs has been my number 1 cheerleader through this all. Every day for the next 5 days he was to burn the stick on the outside of my pinky toe in a circular motion for 15 minutes each side. Needless to say, we had a lot of late night convos filled with laughter.
We went in for our next appt. the following week and SUCCESS! Baby boy had flipped around. He was head down and ready to go. I thought for sure we were in the clear for our VBAC we had hoped for. We set our induction date for May 8th at 6:30AM.
Induction 1: (05.08.14)
We went in that morning thinking we were going to have our baby boy in our arms that day or the following, depending on how long the laboring process took. That morning I was having some pretty intense contractions on my own. When we checked in to L&D they set us up in RM 1. Once I got my IV in, we started up the pitocin around 8am.
Since I had a c-section before, I could only do small increments of the pitocin at a time. So every 30 minutes the nurse would come in and turn up my dosage. My Dr. told me that he would be in around 1 to check my progress. If I could dilate to a 2 then they could break my water and get the ball rolling. So we played the waiting game. The nurses kept coming in to check my progress and to turn up my pitocin. By 6pm my Dr. came in to check me. I wasn't progressing... He then gave us an option to go home so I could labor on my own. Or I could go in for a C-section. He was leaning more towards sending us home and rescheduling for another induction day. We were kind of disappointed since we went in thinking no matter what, we were going to be able to snuggle our sweet boy. Since we really didn't want to do a c-section and my Dr. thought it was good news that I was having contractions on my own, then I would possibly come in on my own over the weekend. Although we would schedule another induction for that monday. Wrong. L&D were booked on that monday so we had to push it to Tuesday, May 13th!
So we opted to go home, a little defeated. But we felt good about our decision. I was going to try and do everything I could that weekend to intensify my contractions & go in on my own. I took evening primrose oil. Some castor oil. We went walking every night. Had sex :) etc. We tried everything, but baby boy was stubborn and stayed put.
Induction 2: May 13th
Here we go again. Same story, different day. Once they put in my IV, they started me up on pitocin. If I could get to at least a 2 then they could break my water and things would start to progress from there.
I told the hubs that no matter what, we weren't leaving this time without our baby boy. Physically & emotionally I was exhausted.
I was getting some intense contractions here and there, but nothing I couldn't breathe my way through. I was hopeful that my cervix was starting to dilate. It was about 2:45pm and I figured I should take a nap while I could. So I fell asleep for about 45 minutes when around 3:30 I felt a gush of fluid....my water broke! I told the hubs, I think my water broke or I just peed myself, but I was pretty sure it was my water. So in came the nurse. She upped my pitocin and said let's get this going. We thought for sure that this would get me started and we were ready for the laboring process to begin. The nurses kept telling me that my contractions would start to get more intense and that I could get an epidermal at anytime. Well the contractions came, but I was still able to breathe my way through them. My nurse checked me and said I was only about 1.5 cm dialated at this point. Not the news we wanted to hear, but we were still hopeful. By 8pm my doctor came in to check me one last time. Nothing. No progress. At this point we had our decision made for us. C-section. I felt a sense of calmness. I was ready to snuggle my baby boy. I tried everything I could to do a VBAC, but maybe it just wasn't in the cards for me. I was mentally prepared for another c-section at this point. So we told our doctor our decision and he said, "okay we will prep the team and take you back in about 20 minutes." I hurried and called my mom to come, so she could make the birth. After that phone call, the realization that I was going back for surgery hit me. I was slightly nervous this round, but knew this was my only option. So the hubs and I got dressed in our cute scrubs and the team took us back.
As they were giving me my spinal block, my mom walked into the room. I had a sense of relief having my mom by my side. Same routine, my body from the chest down went numb. Blue curtain went up and I could feel poking and pressure down below. This time I kept shaking because I was cold. So I kept shutting my eyes to focus and took deep breathes. Just a few minutes later I could hear my doctor say, "that's a BIG baby!" Within seconds I heard the sweetest sound. My sons little newborn cries. I immediately started tearing up. He was finally here. They brought him around the curtain so we could meet our son. (Little did hubs know, he stood right in my way) So they took him to clean him up. Then they came back and put him on my chest. All I remember thinking was dang this boy is heavy. I have strict instructions for the hubs to stay with our children in the hospital. So they took him to the nursery to give him his first bath and weigh him etc. As they were sewing me back up, I asked doe's anyone know how much he weighed? To my shock 9lbs 3oz. We were all shocked because my Dr. thought he wouldn't be bigger than 7lbs. WRONG by 2lbs 3oz.
In the end, the hubs and I are blessed to have him here and he is happy and healthy.
Welcome to the world sweet baby boy of mine.
