March 19, 2012 is the day we would be welcoming our second child and first son into this world. I woke early at 2AM to get ready for this special day. Of course at 3AM when we were finalizing everything to leave Olivia woke up and Aunt Jamie who stayed at our house to take care of her while we were in the hospital tried to get her back to sleep. But Olivia protested, crying for "Mommy, Daddy, in there, see em!" I tried to stay in our room but after it continued she brought her into our bed. Kids have a sense of what is coming.
Finally at 3:30AM we were packed up in the car and on our way to Winni Palmer where we were checked in by 4AM and WAITING. Waiting for a room for 30 minutes, could it have been that busy that early in the morning. Did I mention I had been having contractions since I woke up and all on my own.
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| Ben hanging out in the waiting room on the delivery floor. |
By 5:30 that morning we were tucked in our room with Pitocin running through my IV. When the nurse checked me there was no change from my last appointment 5 days before I was still 1.5 centimeters dilated. Let's hope for some movement in the next few hours.
The contractions began coming pretty quickly and by shift change I still had made no progress. After Dr. Peppy came in and checked me the nurses were ready for me to get up and spend some time on the birthing ball. So it was up and out of bed for me, not that I minded I wasn't resting anyway.
My Mom was there by 8 to hang out with us and let Ben get some breakfast, you know the breakfast of champs...Monster Energy Drinks. Meanwhile I was already starving and it was proving to be a long day after only a few hours. We spent lots of time watching the morning shows, reading gossip mags, and chatting. Papa, Aunt Julie, Nana, and Grandpa made it by mid morning and gave me more people to talk to.
Dr. Peppy came in again around 10 and checked again, I was at 2 centimeters. What that's it? He wasn't really excited about that and neither was I. Back to the birthing ball. I even got a push present a little early from my wonderful husband, a beautiful bracelet with Olivia and Benjamin's initials on it. Perfect!
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| Pardon the orange lips I had a orange Popsicle. |
Over the next 2 hours my contractions were continuing to come between 2-3 minutes and were pretty strong but not strong enough to get my epidural just yet. So we continued to hang out and really the only changes were the faces in the room as family rotated in and out. I actually started to get a migraine at one point and spoke to a nurse right away, that would not be a good situation to be in labor with a migraine. They gave me some Tylenol and I snuck a few sips of coke to see if the caffeine would speed it up a bit. I rested a bit too. Thankfully about 30 minutes later that was gone.
Around lunch time Dr. Peppy came in again to check me and again we have made no progress. He didn't want to break my water because of the chances of Benjamin falling on his umbilical cord since he was still floating. So he gave us 2 choices that after 12 hours on Pitocin and by 5PM we would have to make. The choices being: 1. Stop the pitocin and after resting for 8-10 hours begin the process again to see if we would be able to progress. 2. Being to go ahead with a c-section.
Ben and I discussed it, consulted with Mom and came to the decision that we would move ahead with the 2nd, a c-section if it came to that. But we still had 4 hours to make some progress. After dealing with much pain from the contractions and hearing about getting a walking epidural (which I had never heard of before, where you get the epidural but the drugs that come through are ones where your legs still work) I decided it was time for that around 3PM. Not bad not as easy as my first one with Olivia but hey it's a needle in your spine. Once we got settled after that the nurses came in to get me back on the ball to see if we could get this kid to drop and Aunt Jamie came in as well.
This was taken by Jamie as I was trying to steady myself on the birthing ball, which is not an easy task when the drugs are making you feel like you just drank yourself around the world at Epcot. Wow they sure didn't agree with me. Mom posted herself in the chair next to me and Dave stood behind me to ensure that would not fall off. The lovely drugs also made me feel completely nauseous and that was followed by throwing up in the first thing Mom and Dave could find. This is turning out to be so much fun.
By 5PM Dr. Peppy came in to check one last time to see where we were, which was a big fat bust, still 2cm. So it was decision time, I told him that we decided to move forward with a C-section. He went through some things with us, most of which I don't remember and he gave me a big hug and said that it would be just fine. Once he left the room I just started crying, not because I felt like I gave up but just because I never thought it would come to this. Thankfully Mom was right there with me and so was Ben. I'm not sure what I would have done without them.
Things moved pretty quickly after this, I was almost immediately dressed in a different gown, had my hair in a net, and then I got hot, damn gown. Family started rotating in to visit before we headed to the OR and my poor Dad didn't want to leave, he was so nervous. Not that I wasn't anxiety medicine would have been great at this time. Once I was dressed for surgery we had to wait there were 2 people ahead of me. Needless to say I had lots of time to sit there and think about what was going to happen. The good thing is that the room was full of people. Ben and Mom stayed with me, the nurses were there almost the whole time, the anesthesiologist that would be with me in the room was there, and several others whom I have no idea who they were.
Finally about 7PM it was time and I was numb from the chest down, that only took forever. They kept checking to see how the medicine was working and I could feel the sharp thing they were pinching me with on the left side. Oh yea! Final kisses from Mom whom I am surprised did not talk her way into the operating room, she didn't want to leave me either and orders to Ben to take good care of me. It was time, somehow I was moved into another bed and rolled down the hall. We ran into Dr. Peppy just before we entered the room and he told me something to calm me.
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| Daddy all ready to meet me and his son! |
The operating room was so bright, cold, and white. All I could see was pretty much what was over head and they were just big lights. Until they rolled me onto my sides to move me to the operating table. That's when I saw where they were going to put Benjamin when he arrived. Only a few more minutes now! They prepped me and it was time for Ben to meet me at the table. I looked at him and could see in his eyes he was just as nervous as I was, thank god it's not just me. Within minutes I heard Dr. Peppy say "Holy shit get that kid on a scale! Good call on the C-Section guys.", as he held our new bundle over the curtain for us to see. He was beautiful!
Ben was able to go be with Benjamin as he was weighed and measured, and while they did his feet prints.
Benjamin James Morse Junior
March 19, 2012
9lbs. 8oz.
19 1/2 In.
This was the most amazing moment right next to when they places Olivia in my arms! I can't imagine how much more amazing our lives are going to be from this moment on.
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Proud Daddy and his baby BOY! |
While I was being closed up Ben was able to take the little guy to see the rest of the family who were eagerly waiting to meet him. It may have been a brief time but they all fell in love with him just like his Sister. Then Ben and Benjamin met me in the recovery room where we had to wait a little while till I got some feeling back in my legs.
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| Hanging out with my little man! |
By the time we got up to our room it was late but our parents and Aunt Vicky and Uncle DJ were able to come see us for a few minutes. All in all it was a good experience and we are thrilled to have a new member in our family.
