Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Max's Birth Story



As I begin to write out my little guys birth story my heart feels like it might burst with happiness. These past few days have been some of the most precious I have ever experienced. Between an easy delivery, a husband who has bent over backwards trying to make sure I'm not overdoing anything, and three kids who are completely in love with their new brother, I'm not sure I can even put into words the experience of bringing little Max into the world. But I'll at least give it a try!

Last Thursday night Erik and I dropped off the kids at my in laws, and headed over to the hospital. I always have to go in the night before I'm induced in order to get things moving along. We got settled in for the night, and had things explained to us about how the next day was suppose to go and then tried to fall asleep. Erik, who had been working for the last 14 days, went to sleep quickly but I was having some problems getting comfortable and calming down so I was up for several hours trying to relax.



The next morning one of the nurses started the pitocin, and Erik and I prepared ourselves for what we assumed would be a very long day. Anna had taken 13 hours and Lily had taken about 11 hours. Jack was my shortest delivery, but I had been able to basically go into labor on my own with him, and since that didn't happen this time we were prepared for a long day.

After my doctor broke my water, I was offered pain medicine almost immediately. I've always wanted to experience natural childbirth, but with being induced and being confined to the bed I've always taken the pain medication. With my previous deliveries I would wait until I couldn't handle the pain anymore, but with Max I  decided to accept whatever pain medication I was offered. The first medication I was given was put in my IV, my nurse told me it would go straight to my head, and boy was she right! My husband had left the room for a minute, and by the time he got back to my room I was feeling a little loopy. The medication they gave me just made me not care, and as I told my mom later it made me feel annoyed every time I felt a contraction come on!


 After I got my epidural, my nurse, Erik, and I all started getting to know each other better. Erik shared the story of our first date and how we met, and my nurse got a big kick out of hearing that story. Somehow we got to talking about the various trials we've walked through in the last few years, and we discovered our nurse was also a Christian. Her and Erik have similar testimonies, and it was so exciting knowing our baby was going to be born in a room full of believers(my doctor is also a Christian.)

One thing about accepting pain medication, it makes you extremely sleepy. I slept on and off throughout the afternoon. Around 3 o' clock my nurse came in and checked to see how far I was progressing. I was at a 7. She said she was hoping the baby would be here by 5:30, but to let her know if I started feeling any pressure. Almost as soon as she said that I started feeling a lot of pressure. Sure enough, I was almost ready to start pushing. After my first push, we saw that baby's heart rate dropped dramatically. They gave me some oxygen, and later we found out the chord had been wrapped around Max's neck. No one told me that at the time, though!

As soon as my doctor came down to the delivery room I was more than ready to start pushing. Within two pushes I had Max in my arms. Erik was the one to announce we had a little boy, and I was able to hold my little guy while the doctor took care of all the "stuff" that comes with delivering a baby. I was able to hold him for close to ten minutes before they took him to get weighed.

We chose the name Max Daniel because we liked the name Max(always a good reason, huh?) and Daniel because of an awesome Bible study I had done last fall, on the book of Daniel, when I found out I was pregnant with Max.



We decided that my in laws and the other kids shouldn't come to the hospital until Saturday morning. We were afraid Jack and Anna would be scared seeing their mom hooked up to machines, and we wanted to do everything we could to make their first meeting with Max a happy occasion.



The kids have done great with their new brother! Lily and Anna seem to think he's a doll and are always wanting to give him kisses, and Jack asks to hold him a lot. Every morning since we've been home from the hospital the kids wake up asking if Max is still here.

I've been feeling pretty well. I've had my emotional moments, and I'm of course a little sore, but my parents are in town this whole week, so I've been able to get plenty of rest and ease into life with four kids under the age of three. Erik has been amazing, staying on top of laundry and house work and making sure I'm taking it easy.

Max has been nursing really well, and except for having his days and nights messed up he doesn't seem to be a fussy baby. I feel indescribably blessed that the Lord has blessed us with another little boy to raise and train.

5 comments :

  1. What a wonderful story!! I've been praying that you will have an easy adjustment to 4 little ones!

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  2. How wonderful! Nothing is better than a sweet new baby and a happy home for share it with! (and horray for sweet and helpful husbands, right? Marcus is always so sweet too after I have a baby. I basically don't change a diaper until the baby is a week old. But I am usually laid up on the couch after a delivery with some issue or another for about a week.) So happy for you!

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  3. Oh, and we in the blogging world need to hear this story about how you and Erik met too! :-)

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  4. Thanks for sharing Jess! I love reading about people's experiences. Soo happy for you guys! Enjoy!

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