The one where Bryce is born!

On this day one week ago, I woke up after a night of sleep that was a bit restless.  I got ready for the day by getting dressed and putting on make up.    My mom was drinking her coffee with watchful eyes as her daughter waddled around the house nervous about being induced. 

It felt so strange to have an appointment to have a baby.  I really wanted to go into labor naturally, but I also wanted to follow the medical advice of my doctor and make sure this baby didn’t get too big because of the problems I had delivering Reed.  We didn’t think my body could handle going through that again.  So, I packed my weekend with activities to hopefully get labor going on my own.  On Saturday I’d met up with friends for breakfast at the bagel shop before heading over to the park with our kids.  After a couple hours there, I met up with the “Classy Ladies Cupcake Ride” group and rode a 12 mile loop to Green Goodies.  That afternoon we picked up my mom at the airport and hit the outlet mall to finish off a very complete day!  Sunday was the Giants game against the very impressive Packers (15-1).  None of my jumping and bouncing around throughout the game seemed to make Bryce want to come.  Even the celebratory dance I performed after the game did not entice him into the birth canal.

So, there we were, Monday morning facing induction day.  It didn’t seem natural and I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but I also didn’t want to not do it, either.

Mike and I had our hospital bags packed and ready to roll out to the truck but we wanted to say goodbye to Reed before we left and he was still sleeping. It was past 7, which is unusual.  He finally started to stir, which is when we found that sometime in the night he’d been sick in his bed.  Knowing that my baby was sick to his stomach and vomiting made it even harder to leave him.

At the hospital we checked in and got settled into our room.  Mike and I were full of questions throughout the whole process, since it was so different than the last time we had a baby.  They started my IV of Pitocin and the contractions came about 15 minutes later.  For a few hours we just hung out while my contractions got stronger and the pain intensified as they increased the Pitocin. I was extremely happy with how well everything was going, the contractions were tolerable and there was zero pain in between each one, a huge relief.  Just before Susanne, our friend/birth photographer, was due to arrive the contractions had become more than uncomfortable and were downright painful.  I was getting close to needing the epidural but I wasn’t scheduled until 2, which was another 2 hours away.  The nurses gave me something in my IV to “take the edge off” and that’s when it became a party.  I don’t know what they gave me, but if they have a street version then I’ll bet it’s very popular!  The pain was gone and I felt drunk.  I tried to be involved in Mike and Susanne’s conversation and sound intelligible but I’m sure there wasn’t much sense to my words and I knew it.  The drug had completely worn off by the time the anesthesiologist came for the epidural and the contractions were hitting hard! As the anesthesiologist was applying a spray adhesive and tape to my back as prep for the procedure I commented that it was a good thing I didn’t have a hairy back.  The room fell to pieces when Mike said, “if you did, you wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with!”  Nice to know that my husband wouldn’t have taken me on a second date those 7 years ago, at the discovery of a hairy back.

A bag of vomit, a roll of lifesavers and two hours later, it was time to push.  When the nurse checked me she exclaimed in surprise, “He’s right there! I better call your doctor!”  To which I replied, “Then just ask him to grab your hand and pull him out!”  She laughed and I continued on – explaining how she should ask him, “Do you trust me?? Do YOU TRUST ME?! Take my hand, Bryce!”  She wasn’t willing to do that, but she was amused anyway.

The carts started rolling in and the faces around me were covered in blue hair nets with matching face masks.  After the first push everyone was very excited and telling me that I was an amazing pusher.  I had to wonder if they were being sarcastic, because in the past I’ve been such a sucky pusher.  Since you only push during a contraction, there’s nothing to do in the minutes between them but wait.  So I’m hanging out, legs in the air, surrounded by a half circle of people staring at me under a spotlight.  The air was filled with expectation and the pressure was all on me.  I asked them if they would like to break out in song, “I know a few tunes, but I don’t have enough feeling in my legs to add the kicks. I’ll need your guys’ help.”  The ladies were tickled and said they’d be happy to assist me. 

After the 3^rd contraction, my doctor said we only had one more push left and my jaw dropped!  Already??  So after the 4^th push, she said, “look Connie!” and when I lifted my head off the pillow, I could see his head over the hill of my belly.  She looked me in the eye and said, “You’re done, I’ll do the rest!”  And out he came, up and over the blue drape, right onto my belly and into my arms!  They were rubbing him with towels as I looked into his tiny purple face and said, “Take a breath, Bryce!”  His answer was a high pitched wail.  I smothered him with compliments about how tiny and perfect he his and topped it off with a kiss on the forehead.  That was a little strange since he’d only been wiped with towels and not bathed and I thought… “Should I be kissing him after he just came out of me??” I dismissed the thought and took a peak at his toes. All ten standing in a row- long and perfect. He appeared to have no physical deformities.

After a little cuddling and snuggling from both Mom and Dad, Bryce finally got to meet his big brother.  I asked Cassie to pick up my mom and Reed so my mom wouldn’t get lost on the way to the hospital and I think it was beneficial to both parties.  Cassie was elated to be there after Bryce’s birth and my mom was grateful that she didn’t have to drive around in Oklahoma City.

We have oohed and ahhed over tiny Bryce, a whole pound smaller that Reed.  He was 7lbs and 11oz, measuring 20” long.  His official time of birth is 4:24pm.  Susanne did an amazing job capturing the story – I encourage you to take 5 minutes to watch the birth slideshow and enjoy! Click HERE

The next day both Bryce’s pediatrician and my OB stopped in for visits.  Maybe my OB could see the boredom on my face, because she informed me that we could go home later that day and moved Bryce’s circumcision up a whole day! After she walked out the door, the nurse came in and rolled him out just like that.  By the time he was 24 hours old, we were packed up and signing our discharge papers.  We were home in time to have dinner with Reed! Spaghetti and meatballs for everyone!

The next two days I felt great! My mom and I enjoyed trips to Babies R US, Walmart and even Ross.  We took Reed to Hafer Park in Edmond because it was so nice out.  By Thursday evening I was getting weaker and by Friday I was broken.  It’s been difficult to even walk from the couch to the fridge so I’m feeling pretty handicapped. Thankfully Mike’s parents are here this week to help me with the boys and the house now that Mike has returned to work.

The story of Bryce’s birthday couldn’t have been more polar opposite than Reed’s.  This should teach us right out the gate that we cannot compare them!

The last one before Bryce comes

I’m probably getting ahead of myself, but I’m going to go ahead and say this is the last post before Baby Bryce is here.  This morning’s appointment included an ultrasound, an exam, and a stripping of the membranes.  I don’t really like the term membranes. I don’t really like using the word “stripping” along with it, but I suppose if that’s what they call it, then we’ll go with it! 

First the ultrasound, Bryce looked good. His head is measuring small, like Reed’s.  She did all the measurements and the computer told her he was 7 & ¾ pounds. She also said this could be plus or minus a pound, so the top end is basically 9lbs.  But, if I compare this pregnancy to Reed, as I’ve been doing all along, then I’d say he’s much smaller.  The last couple weeks with Reed in my belly, he hardly moved around.  He was apparently running out of room, which I read was common.  
They say you need to be counting kicks to make sure the baby is still active. I actually had to find a dark place to lie down after drinking orange juice to get Reed to move around. He made me very nervous! Bryce is still quite active and there is no need to be counting his kicks. He moves around like a man on a mission!

I expected to be much more uncomfortable during and after the membrane stripping.  Sitting here, a few hours later, I feel fine.  But, when I get up to walk around, I really don’t feel that great. It’s been increasingly more uncomfortable since the procedure.  Manually separating the amniotic sac from the uterus helps to trick the body into thinking it did it on its own and is supposed to produce the prostaglandins that start contractions. My hope is that I get to go into labor on my own, I’d like to wait until after the football game on Sunday to leave for the hospital so I can see my Giants win the divisional playoffs game.  Then I can cancel the induction, labor at home, and have the baby on my own!  My mom will be here Saturday night, so it would be great for Reed to have her home with him and she can bring him back and forth to the hospital to see us.

I’ve spent this week getting ready and doing my nesting.  If my nesting had anything to do with it I would have had this baby on Tuesday evening! I exhausted myself cooking up meals to freeze for later and cleaning the house. Everywhere I look I see things to throw away, donate, and organize.  I’ve been checking off things on my list like crazy, but it never seems to get any shorter. There are still so many things to do.

Of course we’ve been talking to Reed about being a big brother.  Besides the fact that I have a baby in my belly, we’ve told him that the baby is going to sleep next to mom in the moses basket and sometimes when we see little babies I tell him that we are going to have one at home soon.  He loves pictures of babies and the word baby, so I hope that he is more accepting than the average toddler.  Mike and I know that we need to be very conscious of spending quality one on one time with Reed when Bryce is here as well as making him feel involved as a big brother.  He’s a great helper already, so I’m optimistic.

If fact, I think I’m pretty optimistic about the whole situation in general.  For some reason I’m just not having a lot of negative feelings about how hard it will be, or how overwhelmed I’ll feel.  I just can’t think that way and I don’t know if being naïve is going to help or harm.  I can’t change it now anyway, but I’m trying to keep my thoughts in a positive place and just believe that I can handle it.

I am so looking forward to my mom’s visit and for Mike’s parent’s arrival a week later. Reed is so amazing, I can’t wait to show him off!  Bryce is going to be so tiny in comparison.  The other day when I was getting his diaper changing station stocked- I held up the newborn size diaper and balked. It’s so mini! It looks like it would be a banana hammock on Reed! 

The one about waddlers and toddlers (NYE Special)

I couldn’t be more in love with Reed. He has been such a pleasure to be around lately.  Sure, he’s started his “tantrum” phase that we were anticipating.  If you irritate him then he’ll just bend over at the waist and put his forehead to the floor and cry.  When he stands back up he might look right at you, with those tear stained cheeks, give you his meanest glare and yell in frustration.  This happens when you make him stop doing something dangerous, like standing on a chair, or if you take something away from him that he shouldn’t have had.  He’s a full-fledged toddler, so he comes along with all the toddler bells and whistles.

However, he’s been so sweet and wonderful to be around generally.  When Mike was getting ready to leave for Vegas last week, we both worried that Reed would test my patience and perhaps push me over the edge while he was gone.  Mike is the patient one and sometimes has to help me keep from boiling over and throwing my own fits.  Without the referee around, Reed and I could end up in a legitimate boxing match.  
Such was not the case!  I don’t know if it was a miracle gift from God, or what, but Reed and I got along so well!  We made each other laugh, we missed each other when we were apart, we played together and learned new things.  Every minute I spent with Reed I was either smothering him with kisses or holding myself back from doing so.  He played independently while I did my chores and impressed me with his self-confidence.   Saturday he sat and played with his transportation themed puzzle and then his alphabet puzzle. He was chatting to himself the whole time. Finally I had to go over and take a couple of videos because I found it so cute how interested he was in the letters. (check them out on my youtube channel)

Reed now eats pretty much all of his meals at his little table. He’s getting better with his fork- the technique we are using is called “poke and scoop” because you can’t just stab at food with his fork, once you pull it back the food comes right back off. Hence, the scooping motion.  He is learning this, but mostly he’s still just a stabber.  Gnocci is one of the more successful foods for him to eat with a fork because it does stick!  The spoon is a little harder. Again, only sticky foods are successful.  He still tries to turn the spoon upside down on the way into his mouth.

He wooshes like an airplane, baa’s like a sheep, knows the moon at night and during the day (when you can see the white trace of it in the blue sky- he will point it out to you!)  Reed has become very helpful getting dressed.  If he’s holding something, he’ll switch it from hand to hand so he can put on the shirt or jacket and he can also pull his shirt over his head when you get his arms out.  He knows cold and hot, a bit sensitive when it comes to hot things.  His food might be just a little warm or even room temperature and he’ll tell you its hot and blow on it.  I try to convince him it’s not hot, but I must not look very trustworthy when explaining this.  Yesterday he woke up too early from his nap so I wanted to rock him back to sleep for a bit, we sat in the rocker in his room and as the baby kicked, it bobbed Reed’s head around and he started to laugh.  Then he popped his head up and said, “Go Play?” 

He knows a lot of body parts- ear, cheek, eyes, hair, head, fingers, toes, knees, belly, belly-button, teeth, tongue, and nose.  You can request a kiss on the cheek and receive one! If you ask where his ears are he’ll grab one, but ask where his eyes are and he blinks.  Pull his pacifier out and ask him, “Reed, what is this?”  He smiles a very genuine smile and says, “golly-gah” I’m not sure of the correct spelling of the word, but that’s what he has named his pacifier.  Mike and I think he’s convinced that he’s actually saying “pacifier” because we don’t call it by any other name.  We don’t use the word binky, paci or anything else, so we think Reed tried his best and out came golly-gah.  It’s sweet and he never waivers and calls it by any other name. 

Reed and Ty together at a birthday party

So Mike went to Vegas for the weekend of New Year’s Eve to attend the Foust’s vow renewal. Of course, originally we had both planned on going, but when we found out we were pregnant and realized the timing would be too close for me to travel, we decided Mike had to go stag.  He left Thursday and was scheduled to arrive home Sunday night around midnight.  I fought off the blues each evening.  I don’t know what it is but, when he travels for business over a weeknight, it doesn’t affect me that way.  I enjoy eating popcorn for dinner, putting Reed to bed early, and soaking in the hot bath with a book, mud mask and some chocolates.  It seems that if it’s a weekend though, I’m not successful keeping my emotions above the black line.   I feel a sadness creeping into my chest and try to do what I can to fight it with distractions.  It helps if I can have company, so I try to make plans with friends. 

We skyped with my mom on Thursday night, which saved me completely, (Thanks Mom!).  We had Melissa and Ty over on Saturday morning for our weekly play date and took the boys to the playground at the school to wear them out.  Then Reed and I spent the rest of the day doing a little shopping and errand running.  Evening was quickly approaching and although Mike was doing a great job keeping in touch via text, I was really missing him in a bad way.  I also knew that I still had to make it through not only that night, but the whole next day and evening, and most likely be in bed when Mike was due home. The Giants were playing the Cowboys Sunday night for the NFC East title, and I’d tried to organize a watch party, but didn’t have any takers, which wasn’t helping my sadness. I got Reed to bed and was watching a dud movie while filling a photo album with prints I’d ordered.  It was New Year’s Eve and I knew I’d be in bed before 10.  At 9pm I got a text from Mike that said, What’s up? What are you doing? To which I replied, “Thinkin’ bout you”  He texted back, “Really?!” and that’s when I heard the garage door open.  In a few seconds my confusion started to clear and I was making my list of possibilities for what could be happening.  This is the order in which I chose the scenarios. #1.  The wind was blowing 25-35mph with gusts up to 50 at this time, so I considered the fact that it had somehow tripped the garage door opener and caused it to open.  I’m not an electrician, but I’ve seen the wind do crazy things, and pushing buttons or short circuiting wires didn’t seem like much of a reach. #2.  Burglar/Murderer/rapist (soon to be non-rapist when he discovers he broke into the house of a huge pregnant lady).  This would have been a burglar who misread the low lighting and the missing vehicle for an empty house. #3.  Mike is surprising me by coming home a whole day early and choosing not to spend NYE in Sin City with all his old college buddies? A waddling wife just a mere couple weeks away from my due date & a toddling high-maintenance miniature maniac do not seem a fair substitute – let alone upgrade, worthy of a change fee!

I decided to go with #1 as the most realistic, so I needed to go close the garage door.  With #2 in mind, I opened (just a crack) the previously locked door between the laundry room and the garage to get some surveillance.

What I saw in the dim lighting of our driveway was my tall-dark-&-handsome husband pulling his luggage from the truck! I flew across the garage (as much as anyone carrying an extra 30 pounds can fly) and wrapped my arms around Mike’s neck, all the while alternating kisses with lines such as “What are you doing here!?” and “I can’t believe you’re home!” as well as “Oh my goodness! You came home early!” He could only laugh.

Surprise! Mike's home! 

The conversation that followed, as we snuggled together on the couch, could only be classified as a lecture.  Apparently, I am not allowed to open a locked door when there is a possibility of a murderer in our garage. Our marriage is a fluid and flexible thing.  New rules are continuously added as we go.  This usually has something to do with me doing something unsatisfactory. Either way, it's tough to keep up.  *wink*

Needless to say, I am the luckiest girl in the world.  My husband had the opportunity to spend NYE in the city that never sleeps- yet changed his flight to come home for a sober and quiet evening with his family.  We did not watch the clock officially bring 2012 to central standard time, we instead wished each other happy new year when we awoke in each other’s arms the next morning.