Hello from the Outside Day 1

A few months ago I was sitting in a Dr's office for a checkup and he pointed out that because of my advanced maternal age that there is a bigger risk of having a still born baby past 39 weeks.  So it was his recommendation that I be induced at 39 weeks.  I sat there feeling so icky that the thought of  being pregnant for even a minute less than I have to was music to my soul.    As soon as I could I calculated when I could deliver and the date came up April 28th!!!!  From then on April 28th was imprinted on my soul of the day of relief..

Oh how I grateful I was when the date finally approached.  Because I was scheduled to be induced at 6:30 in the morning my gracious in laws said they would take Aaron the night before.   So on Wednesday morning I sent Aaron off to his preschool with Bart knowing Pauline would pick him up and he would spend the night with her.  I gave Aaron a quick hug and shed a little tear that the next time I would see him he would no longer be my little baby.   It's always a little hard for me to go through the change of our family dynamics but I've always known Aaron was not meant to be the baby of the family and I found comfort knowing how having a brother will bless his life

The rest of the day I spent completing little odds and ends and then treated myself to a pedicure knowing it would be a long time until I had time to myself again.

Everything went really smoothly with the induction.    Being my forth and 3rd induction I had high hopes that it would go really fast.   Ally has mentioned a few times whenever a patient has a "birth plan" in mind is like they sabotage themselves.   Well I think that is what happened to me.  I came in thinking this is my forth delivery, my last 2 were a breeze so this one will just pop out.   So when I was only dilated to a 3 by lunch time I got very antsy and just couldn't relax.  I think around 2ish the pain became worse and I called for an epidural.  I then expected like my last 2 for the epidural to sink in and I could rest and patiently wait.    The epidural took the pain of the contractions away but the pressure with each contraction was present and made for an uncomfortable and restless afternoon.  Around 5:30 the pressure was so bad I couldn't take it and I felt like pushing.

At this point Bart took this very unattractive picture of me but I want to keep it as a memory of the last time I felt so big, crappy and pregnant.  

I wanted the Dr there immediately but it took him what felt like forever to arrive from clinic.  Finally he came and I had the expectation "OK he will tell me to push a couple of time and my baby will just pop out."  After a couple of pushes the Dr. realized that this little guy was OP or sunny side up meaning his face was turned the wrong way.   What this meant to me was a very slow and painful process of pushing, crying, yelling when Bart answered the phone, and telling the Dr and all the nurses to just shut up.  Dr Empey just laughed and told me to get more mad at him it will help me push harder.

Finally at 6:47 Spencer Ashby Richards made his appearance into the world.

He weighed in at 9 pounds 12 oz.   This was the exact weight as Aaron.  

They had concerns with Spencer's breathing so I only got to hold him for a minute then they whisked him away to the nursery to give him some oxygen and monitor him.

Pauline and John came soon after with the kids but because Spencer was still in the nursery they were not able to hold him. Instead were able to witness Bart giving him his first bath.

It was getting late and the kids had school the next day so Bart took the girls home.  They didn't want to go but were promised they could come back  the next day and hold their new brother.

At this point I had barely held my baby and my body was having trouble calming down from labor and was shaking terribly.  Not exactly the Hallelujah's I was expecting.  They came in to wheel me into the nursery and help feed Spencer a bottle because his blood sugar was low. This was my second view of my little baby.

As I sat next to him waiting for them to get everything ready I reached out and he wrapped his fingers around my hand.  An overwhelming feeling of love for this baby boy came over me and I was smitten.  The "experts" can say all they want about the need for skin to skin to fully bond but for me all it took was Spencer grabbing my hand.  I was overjoyed with the privilege I get to be his mama.  A true blessing from Heaven!!!