It's a Boy!

Well, he's finally here! As you already know, our family welcomed Harrison Edward on Tuesday night.

So perfect

Here's how it went down...

Saturday:
My mom arrived Saturday evening and I was hoping for a repeat of what happened with Livia- that I would wake up the next morning and go into labor now that my mom was here to take care of the kids.

Sunday:
Instead we spent Easter at brunch on the beach. It was lovely, but no sign of baby coming.

Easter brunch on the sound

Monday:
Andy drove me to base to have the non stress test to monitor the baby. Again, we were hoping we'd get to stay, or at least get my induction date moved up but that was a no-go. After 20 minutes of monitoring, the baby was deemed healthy and we were sent away. Andy and I took advantage of our little time alone together and stopped for a walk on the beach before picking up lunch to bring home to my mom and the kids. The rest of Monday passed uneventfully- still no sign of baby.

Hoping our walk on the beach would start labor- no luck.

Tuesday:
I noticed during my early morning workout that the contractions I usually had while working out felt a little different. I gave Andy a heads up before he left for work that something *might* be happening.

The contractions continued throughout the morning, but I still wasn't sure if they were real. I got the kids up and dressed and while they were eating breakfast I had a contraction that hurt so badly it stopped me in my tracks, so I called Andy. We decided he'd stay at work to finish up some paper work while I tried to figure out if I was in labor or not because I still wasn't convinced this would turn into anything.
(I'd never before experienced a non-pitocin induced contraction, and I had no idea what that kind of labor would feel like)

Since my mom was here to drive me we decided to go ahead and take Landon to school then head to the store for a few groceries like we originally planned, but because the pain wasn't going away I called Andy and told him to head home just in case (it takes him 50 minutes to get home from work). I mostly was afraid that if I stopped moving, the contractions would stop, so that's how I found myself walking around Wal-Mart in the beginning stages of active labor, clutching the cart to support me through the contractions which were under 10 minutes apart now. My mom was a nervous wreck.

We met Andy at home, called the hospital, got the ok to come in, and, after stopping for some lunch, headed in. The whole way there I was sure that as soon as they strapped me to the monitor the contractions would stop and I'd be sent home. Once we arrived they were very laid back about getting me on the monitor. I was still feeling the contractions, but they just didn't seem as painful as I thought "real" contractions should feel, so we were all shocked when they finally checked me (it took about an hour for them to get around to that) and found I was dilated to 7cm and 80% effaced.

Yay! I get to stay and have a baby!

After that things started moving much more quickly, and the nurses were a whole lot more interested in getting me set up. It was a remarkably easy labor that consisted of: 12 hours of non-pitocin induced contractions, 1 half-way effective epidural (my left side felt everything) that I requested after the resident doctor told me he wanted to start pitocin, 1 bag of water that was broken in place of the pitocin- the head doctor was consulted about the pitocin recommendation and he determined that breaking my water would be a better way to keep things moving, 1 hour of pushing (my babies are always stubborn about this part so one hour is relatively short for me), and the delivery of 1 very healthy baby boy.

It's a BOY!!!

With both Livia and Harrison I was able to see the gender for myself before anyone announced it to me. This is such an amazingly powerful memory for me. I'm really bad at articulating the emotion this moment holds for me. To truly meet my child for the first time and learn a bit more about this baby who shared my body for the last 9 months is indescribable. For those of you who think I'm crazy for not wanting to find out in advance, this is the best way I know how to explain why we like it that way - that one moment, that memory in the delivery room while seeing the baby for the first time- that makes it more than worth it for me. (With Landon the nurse said, "I think I see testicles!" in a singsongy voice that I'll never forget and I still get that same rush of emotion every time I think of it.)

Wednesday:
Big brother and sister got to come out the meet the little man. Both were very welcoming in their own ways. Landon didn't quite believe he was a boy and argued with me about it for a bit. Once I had him convinced, he insisted that we name him Over, and Landon has continued to refer to Harrison as Over ever since.
Livia needed a minute to grasp that the baby wasn't in my belly anymore. Once she caught on, she was thrilled. My favorite observation of hers, "He's noisy," said delightedly after Harrison made the tiniest newborn squeak.

My boys!

 

Sweet big sister

Proud Daddy

Hooray for Grandma

Eyes open!

And now he's here, and he's perfect, and he's made our family feel complete in a way we didn't know we needed to.

Finally at home

So now you know the rest of the story.

(maybe I can convince Andy to post his version like he did for the other 2. I always like reading his view of things...)