A birth story: How Harrison Edward joined our family!

I cannot - CANNOT - believe it's been five weeks since our newest addition joined our family. Harrison arrived on November 17 - and what a birthing experience it was! 

With our first son, Henry, I went into labor on my own two days before my due date. He was born just one day early, slightly punctual, just like his momma likes to be. I (wrongly!) assumed this is what would happen with Baby Putt 2.0. But it definitely did not! 

My due date was November 13. My whole pregnancy, I had a feeling I would deliver early. Well, November 13 came and went, and I was still oh-so-pregnant. It's funny, really, but being a massive overachiever and always journalist, I started to get a little down that I hadn't hit the deadline in place. I know how ridiculous that sounds, and even in the moment, I knew it was ridiculous. But your brain starts doing weird things when you've been cooking a little one a little too long.

At 39 weeks, I had my last appointment with my doctor. She was slated to be out of town for my 40 week appointment, and I (wrongly!) assumed we'd see her or another doctor in her practice at the hospital well before the 40 week mark. But, at that appointment, we scheduled my induction just in case - she said most of the time when inductions were scheduled, babies knew, and they decided to make their dramatic entrances on their own. Ours did not! And I (wrongly (are you seeing a pattern here?!)) assumed Baby 2.0 would be like his brother and start this process on his or her own. Alas, no such luck. 

So at 40+3, I called our hospital to see if we were scheduled to come in that evening. The nurse on call told me we were to report at 7:30, so we packed our things, kissed our eldest goodbye (he was off to Papa and Momo's house for the weekend), and made our way toward the hospital. We checked in the way you do at a hotel - calmly, pulling luggage, and hoping you might get a room upgrade. It was the TOTAL opposite of Henry's check in where the seconds ticked by as we waited to get in to triage. We never even retrieved our luggage with him until after he was born because he came so quickly. 

The Putts are checking in!

 Once we settled in our room, we met our nurse for the night, Alyssa. She explained to me that the doctor would come in to check me and we'd decide a course of action then. He showed up about an hour later for the check, and I was only 1.5 centimeters... I'd dilated about half a centimeter since my last appointment a week and a half ago. I figured we'd be in this for the long haul and tried to have zero expectations. Because baby was so high, and because my cervix hadn't softened enough, he decided Cervadil was the best course of action, so I got my first dose at 10 and another dose at 2 a.m. I was contracting regularly when I came in - a great sign - the Cervadil only helped to speed that along. Around 4 a.m., the contractions really started to intensify, and it was impossible to sleep from that point on. 

So, at 7:30ish when my doctor came in to check me, I was 3 cm dilated (woohoo!), and we knew the next step would be to break my water, which she did at 7:41. She told me she'd be back at 10 to check me. There was a shift change then, and my new nurses, Jacki and Carole, stopped in to check on us too. 

And THAT'S when things got crazy. The contractions were coming fast - about every 90 seconds, so there was no real chance for recovery in between. So at 8:20ish, I asked for the epidural. Nurse Jacki gave me a look - like - are you SURE you want the epidural?! I was SURE. She and Carole went to ask the anesthesiologist to come, and that's when I found out it would be another hour until he got there. 

I knew in that moment I wouldn't be getting that epidural. 

I labored for a little bit longer in bed before the nurses suggestion I use the bathroom one more time before the epidural. When I came back, they had me stay sitting up on the bed so I'd be ready when the time came. I was in a LOT of pain, and I'm pretty sure Dan (and potentially the nurses!) thought I was being a big of a wimp, but they told me to hang in there and that I was doing great. 

Instead, I told the nurses I had to push. They told me that I could lay down and they would check me, and that's when I heard the words out of Carole I was mostly dreading - "Okay, so you're having a natural child birth whether you want that or not!" And this prompted me to ask, "Is it too late for other drugs?!" I knew baby was close, but what I didn't realize was about 90 seconds later, HE would be here! This baby was READY to be born. I panicked, and my hubby had to get in my face a bit with a little pep talk and some reassurance that I would not pass out.

So a push or two later, before the doctor could get in the room, out came Harrison Edward with his cord wrapped through his legs and over his shoulder. Those first few minutes were chaotic as nurses (and eventually a doctor) rushed in to help and Dan tried to jockey for a position to see if our newest babe was a he or she. His birth was glorious and terrifying and painful and exhilarating and everything I never imagined.

HE is here!

And now, our little 8 pound 8 ounce 21.5 inch bundle of joy has been here for five weeks. Big brother has adjusted beautifully, and I can see how much they love each other already! With less than three years between them, I think they'll be the best of friends. Harrison has proven to be more colicky than his bro, but we're hoping to outgrow that soon.

Brothers are built in besties.

Speaking of grow, this baby IS. He's gained two inches and three pounds (!!!) and doesn't appear to be slowing down! We're starting to see glimpses of his little personality, and I can't wait to watch this little one grow! Welcome to the world, precious boy!