Landon is HERE!

I went into labor late in the evening on Friday the 13th. We made it to the hospital around 11:30, after calling Chip to come and stay at the house while Aubrey Ann slept. I was so nervous that I was waking people up for a false alarm, but after two hours of laboring at home, the contractions weren’t slowing down and they were only getting closer together.

We were checked into labor and delivery around midnight, and they hooked me up to some monitors, and saw that I was indeed in labor. Contractions were about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes apart. Labor started off fairly quick, until around 3 am, when it suddenly stalled. I was dilated to 5 or 6 cm and suddenly my contractions started getting further and further apart. They told me that they wanted to start me on pitocin to make the contractions come back stronger and faster, but I was very nervous. I got an epidural prior to starting the pitocin, but unfortunately it only numbed my legs. Not exactly efficient for labor pain relief! They told me that they wanted to start me on pitocin regardless of the epidural working. We called Sandra and my Mom and asked them to come and help us figure out whether or not we should ask them to try the epidural again. When they arrived, I was pretty worked up and feeling scared. I didn’t want to have to have pitocin, I wanted to continue laboring on my own. I felt like my voice wasn’t being heard. Finally, I just left it up to Brandon to make the decision. He decided to have them try the epidural again, and start the pitocin.

The anesthesiologist came back into the room and inserted another catheter for the epidural, this time a bit higher on my spine to hopefully alleviate the pain from the contractions. Unfortunately, the epidural only helped to numb my right side, so I had all the feeling on my left side.

By this time, they had started the pitocin and the contractions started to REALLY pick up. They were 2-3 min apart and much more intense. They checked me and I had dilated to almost 8 cm, and I was progressing fast. Luckily, I was able to breath and concentrate through most of the contractions, until the last 5 or 6. I think they were more intense because I was ready to push. The doctor came in and quickly checked me and said, “We better hurry!” So they very quickly got the room ready, and the doctor got dressed and ready to go.

The doctor gave me the ok to push, and I pushed 4 times through one contraction, and Landon was born! I cannot even describe the feeling of relief and euphoria that labor was over and Landon was here! He came out and was absolutely perfect. The nurses told me later, that they tried to take him from me several times, but I simply wouldn’t let him go! He had such a mild little cry and nursed right from the very start with a good latch!

We are so excited to have our baby boy here. We are exhausted, and a bit overwhelmed (as to be expected) but loving life as a family of four. It feels like we are learning more and more every hour of the day. It is interesting to get to know another baby. It is always shocking to see that the two kids were so different. What worked to soothe Aubrey Ann, doesn’t necessarily work for Landon. It really is like starting over from scratch!

Landon is doing really well, and so far is nursing and sleeping well. He has just started to ‘wake up’ and so it was just in the last 12 hours or so that we really heard him cry for the first time. His cry is much more mellow than his sisters, but he still likes to use his voice!

Please keep us in your prayers. Many of you know that I suffered from a case of Postpartum Depression with Aubrey Ann, so we are praying that we don’t have anything this time around.