The KU Chronicles: The Story of Us (Holden)

It's only been a few days, but I want to start getting this typed out now before I forget crucial moments. Both boys are sleeping so I figured I should take my opportunity while I still can. =)

I woke up on Tuesday morning around 7:30AM with some light menstrual-like cramping. Carter & I went about our normal routine of morning snuggles, playing for a bit & then eating breakfast. The whole while I was experiencing pretty mild contractions. K had gone to work that AM, but was only working a half day. I text him to let him know that something *may* possibly be happening, but that it was too soon & too inconsistent to really know for sure. Just in case I actually was in labor I decided to take a shower, so I hopped in with C & let him have a bath after my shower was over. The contractions became really inconsistent while I sat watching C play in the tub & so I thought maybe it was all just practice or false labor.

After getting C & myself ready for the day, we headed out to run a few errands. We stopped by Target to get a few things & to buy my mom a birthday present (her birthday was the next day on 10/16), made a Starbucks run & a quick trip to the grocery store. I wasn't feeling all that well while we were in Target, but just chalked it up to needing to eat something. I grab a quick snack there & we finished everything we needed to do. All the while, my contractions were still very inconsistent.

C fell asleep in the car on the way home & I took him out & carried him to his crib. He passed out of the changing table & went into his crib for a nap. At this time it was about 1:45PM. After putting C down, I went about the process of getting our pot roast ready for dinner that night. I put the whole mess together & threw it in the crockpot. Afterward, I caught up on some stuff on the computer. K got home around 3PM from running errands himself & we woke C up from his nap around 3:30PM. It was right about this time that my contractions started getting a little more consistent. I didn't think a whole lot of it at the time & we all headed outside to clean out the car. My mom & I did her car, the truck & our X-terra while C played outside & K worked on the Altima. At this point, I was starting to think that maybe we were going to have a baby soon & decided it would be a good idea to time my contractions. They were coming pretty consistently about 6-7 mins. apart & were lasting about 45-50 seconds so nothing too intense just yet.

After we were done working on the car, I decided it would be a good idea to finish the last minute packing for the hospital bag & we installed the car seat in the car. I did a bit of laundry & we finished cooking dinner. Everyone else ate around 5:30PM. I didn't have much of an appetite by this point & decided that eating a big meal (remember we were having pot roast) would probably not be in my best interest. While everyone else ate dinner I caught up on reading some blogs & checking my e-mails. At this point my contractions were about 5-6 mins apart & lasting just over a minute long.

K kept asking me if I wanted to go to the hospital & I kept insisting that I didn't want to go too soon & that I didn't feel like it was really time just yet. I worked on a puzzle with my mom for a little bit while C played in the play room. K finished cleaning up outside & headed in to take a shower. I came downstairs a bit while K was in the shower & sat in our new recliner chair. My contractions were getting a bit stronger at this point & I wanted to be able to focus on them. After K got out of the shower it was around 7:15PM. I told him that we should probably get the stuff in the car because we were likely going to need to leave for the hospital soon. We got C ready for bed & said goodbye to him. We let him know that we were going to the hospital to get his baby brother & that we wouldn't be home in the morning when he woke up. Fortunately, he did well (he loves my mom) and just told us bye & that he loved us. Obviously, he still didn't fully understand what was going on.

As we got in the car to head to the hospital my contractions were pretty consistently about 5 mins. apart & were lasting about 1.5 mins in duration. It was a quick 10 min drive so fortunately the car ride wasn't TOO terrible. We went up to L&D & unfortunately they had changed things. There was no check-in desk outside the double doors. Fortunately, some staffers walked by at the time & pointed us in the right direction. We checked in at the desk at about 8:05PM & were taken into a triage room. The nurse gave me a gown to change into & then hooked me up the monitor. About four other couples had walked into L&D at approximately the same time as us & suddenly they were short-staffed. Go figure.

The nurse came in & out several times & said that it did appear that I was contracting about 5 mins apart at the time. She finally checked me & said that I was at about 4cm dilated & 80% effaced. She wanted to keep my hooked up to the monitor because the baby's HR had dipped on one of my contractions so she wanted to keep an eye on it. My contractions continued to worsen & get closer together. When I complained to the nurse that I didn't want to be monitored anymore she checked me again. It had only been about 45 mins at this point, but she said that I was at a 5. She went out to call the doctor & get the process of admission under way. The whole time I remained on the monitor. It was just shortly before 9:30PM when they finally came in to get my hep lock placed & my blood drawn. After this the nurse left again, keeping me on the monitor the whole time. When she came back finally, she asked me if I would like to get up out of the bed to use the bathroom. Since I was in soo much pain & couldn't stand being in the stupid bed another second I jumped at the chance. K helped me to the bathroom at just shortly after 10PM. As I was sitting on the toilet finishing up trying to void, I suddenly felt a contraction coming on & figured I should probably just wait it out instead of trying to walk back to the bed in the middle of it. K stood there holding my hand when I suddenly felt the strongest urge to start pushing. I couldn't stop & had to yell for the nurse that I had to push. Suddenly she was right there screaming at me to breath & to stop pushing. Obviously they wanted to get me back to the bed before poor Holden was delivered in the bathroom. My water had broken while I was using the restroom & the baby's head was RIGHT there. After breathing & trying desperately not to push anymore the nurses & K helped me back to the hospital bed. One of my nurses literally had to put her hand down on the baby's head to keep anything from happening further. Thank god the On-Call OB had made it to the hospital by that time & was there to deliver Holden. They kept telling me to hold my legs & just push through. It was a lot different of a sensation then last time due to going med. free. I'd like to say I understand what people mean by the term "ring of fire", but I honestly don't. At that point, I was just so ready to deliver that I was done. I pushed for a total of 8 mins. (and apparently that's being generous) & my precious boy came into the world at 10:22PM (3 mins earlier then his big brother) on Tuesday, October 15 (& missing his Mimi's birthday by 1.5 hours). I have never felt a more relieving feeling in my entire life. They laid Holden immediately on my chest & kept him there while the On-call OB delivered the placenta, pushed around on my uterus (OUCH!) & then stitched up my minor tear (Again, Ouch!!). I did ask the On-call OB about leaving after 24 hours & she said that as long as all was well that she didn't think it would be an issue.

I did worry slightly that I couldn't possibly love another child as much as I love Carter, but it's just like they say my heart literally grew to accommodate another child. I loved Holden just as much as I love Carter the second I laid eyes on him. After keeping him on my chest & allowing him to try to nurse for a bit (he pooped on himself! & me, poor kid!) they took him to be cleaned & weighed. Afterward I was able to nurse him again. He did so well & was able to latch on right away with no issues. We stayed in the delivery room for another hour or so while they let me clean up, use the restroom & give Holden his first bath (which he hated). We moved into our post-partum room around 1:10AM. We all got settled in & I met my new nurses then both Kyle & Holden passed out. I tried my hardest to sleep, but the adrenaline was still pumping & unfortunately, I didn't sleep at all that night.

Fortunately, they did fast-track us out of the hospital & we were able to go home on Wednesday night. And now for a bit of a photo dump...