Saturday, September 22, 2012

Graham David Windle

"Aaron- my water broke!" That's the second time I've called Aaron to tell him that. I'm two for two.

Monday afternoon was beautiful. I had all the windows in the house open, Everett was sleeping, and I just sat down at my computer and wrote up a blog draft for It's a girl (with our girl name) and It's a boy (with Graham). It was wishful thinking because as far as I knew nothing was going on with the baby. The time was 3:38. All of a sudden my dogs went crazy. They were barking up a storm in my bedroom, which was right across the hall from a sleeping Everett. I may have sprinted from the dining room up a flight of stairs and into the bedroom to quiet them. When I came downstairs I hit up the bathroom for the fiftieth time that day. As soon as I sat down I thought, "that was weird - I wonder if that was my water breaking?" I didn't have to wait long because by the time I got back to the dining room my entire outfit was soaked. I had just done a load of towels so I grabbed one and jumped onto the tile in the kitchen. I stood there soaking wet and contemplating my next move. The time? 3:47. Apparently my wishful blogging paid off!

last belly profile picture- taken right before we left for the hospital

announcing that baby 2 was on their way!

I grabbed my phone called Aaron, my mom, my mother in law, and the doctor. Aaron was an hour away at work. My doctor wasn't thrilled and told me to call a cab if I started having contractions and he wasn't home yet. I then ran upstairs to grab a shower before we headed out. They say that most people don't have their water break in public or outside of the hospital. They also say most women only have a "trickle"or don't even know if it happened. Unfortunately, BOTH times my water broke it was like Niagra Falls and I had no doubt what had happened. The nice thing about my water breaking was that I could call my parents in Pittsburgh and let them know that I was in labor and to speed across the turnpike to meet their next grandkid! I was afraid that this time around they would miss the birth. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

Aaron got home, my mother in law came to our house to be with Everett, and we headed to the hospital 2 hours after my water broke. We went to OB triage and we waited around for about an hour before we were officially admitted to labor and delivery. At that point, I was having mild contractions and was 3 cm dilated.

triage

updating friends and family


Thankfully, I was able to be really mobile with this delivery. With Everett, I was hooked up to the IV with antibiotics and spent a lot of labor in bed. This time around I did a lot of walking hoping to get my contractions to come closer together. We probably walked for at least an hour and a half - Aaron was thrilled. haha.

mid walk paparazzi

My contractions continued to be about a 5/6 out of 10 on the pain scale, but after 5 hours in the hospital I was only at 4 cm dilated. Because my water broke, my doctor wanted to try a minimal amount of pitocin to get things going. This labor was going much better than Everett's (because my body went into labor naturally), so I was thinking I'd try to go as long as possible without meds. As soon as she said pitocin, I knew I probably wanted an epidural. I have heard so many horror stories about it and wasn't interested in that kind of intolerable pain. Although, lets be honest, regardless of what kind of labor you have, it hurts. The anesthesiologist had only a small time frame in between c-sections that he could give me the epidural. If I waited, I could have been laboring with pitocin for over an hour without meds. Read- not interested. I ended up getting the epidural with some drama: bone scraping and double sticking. To say it hurt is an understatement, but I survived and they started the pitocin. My body and the baby didn't react well to the pitocin. Instead of having contractions at regular intervals, I was having four major contractions at a time and the baby's heartbeat was dropping after the last one. They ended up taking me off the pitocin completely because of it. I think this was definitely the worst part of labor for me. There was a lot of unknown and I was pretty sure that unless my body took over the contractions that they were going to start talk of the "c" word... you know, c-section. I was completely unprepared for that option. Aaron and my mom were trying to sleep, but I couldn't. I was shaking from the hormones, having my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes, and was anxious about what was going on with my body and baby. I was laying there when my phone buzzed. It was my friend Amber asking how she could pray for me. It's was God's perfect timing and exactly the peace and comfort I needed, knowing the Lord was with me.

In the end my body took over the contractions and I was fully dilated an hour later. My doctor joked saying I apparently only needed a whiff of pitocin. 25 minutes of pushing later and our baby was almost here. Once the baby was out up to its chest, I was able to reach down and deliver the baby myself. That was really, really awesome! After hours of labor, I almost forgot that I didn't know what the sex of the baby was. The baby was on my chest by the time someone yelled "it's a boy!"

it's a boy!
It

smooshed 

Graham David and his (middle) namesake



checking out daddy

another overnight- 14 hour delivery-we look haggard picture

Thankfully all four of our parents were able to be there to meet Graham (and a special thank you to Seth and Brenna for watching Everett so all grandparents could make it)! All four are such a blessing to us and our kids and we were really glad they could be there to celebrate his birthday with us.

Mimi

Grammy

Pop-pop A

Pop-pop W


It was such a surreal moment looking at this baby. Knowing that he was ours, that life wouldn't be the same and that now we had two little lives to love and care for. I am so thankful that the Lord blessed us with another little boy and a brother for Everett. Graham was the best of surprises.



Welcome to the world baby boy. We are so in love with you already!


*Big brother details to follow*




Tuesday, September 11, 2012

IT'S A...

BOY!!!


GRAHAM DAVID WINDLE
born September 11, 2012 @ 5:25 am
7 lbs. 15 oz. 20 adorable inches





plenty more details to follow.




Tuesday, September 4, 2012

holy cow, it's september

Less than 2 weeks until my due date. People keep asking if I'm ready. In some ways, absolutely and way more than I was with Everett. This time around, being at home has definitely helped me get more done around the house. If you know me, you know I'm a list person. I love writing up a to-do list and then checking that bad boy off. I started one at the beginning of the summer --- reorganize the basement, move the guest bed down there, paint Everett's new walls/trim/ceiling/doors, move Everett into his big boy room and bed, etc. We accomplished all of that before we headed to Canada. When we got back, I made the mother of all nesting lists. I spent the month of August cleaning, organizing, throwing away, and sending things to Goodwill. We spent yesterday finishing up all of my lists including Aaron's honey-do list. My hospital bag is packed, the co-sleeper is set up, I think I'm as prepared as I could be, at least when it comes to stuff. Emotionally, well, it's taking a little longer.



The second time around there are less worries about how to do things and what will happen and more worries about how Everett will hold up and what our family of four will look like. This delivery has lots of uncertainty - especially like what in the world are we having and what will be his/her name?! I think because we don't know those details it has been a little harder for me to connect with the baby. That's not to say I'm not excited and won't be totally and completely smitten with our little one... it's just different.

BUT - now that all my lists are checked off, I am getting excited for this baby to come. With Everett, my water broke in Walmart (you can read his birth story here).  I was grocery shopping last night (at Walmart) and suddenly thought maybe I shouldn't be there alone for fear of a repeat. haha. I'm wondering how and when this baby will show up and if it will be as surprising as Everett. I've started wondering what he or she will look like and if they will be like Everett. I've started to get excited about having a tiny little baby to curl up on my chest again and all the awesome-ness that comes with sweet new life.


Speaking of awesome-ness, I can't wait to see Everett and his brother/sister. He is getting more and more excited. He has come to a bunch of my doctor's appointments and loves them. He likes the trucks in the waiting room. He gets his weight checked after I get mine. He likes hearing the heartbeat of mommy's baby. For the last month Everett has let us know that he has a baby brother in his belly. It's adorable.  This week he asked the doctor to check "his baby brother"after she checked mine. I'm pretty sure she had no idea what he was talking about. I catch him changing Woody's diaper and burping him. He has a little rocking chair and has let us know he plans on rocking the baby in it. I absolutely cannot wait to see him as a big brother. It's one of the things I'm looking forward to most!

baby!
As for me, I'm feeling okay. I'm sleeping pretty well, which is nice. I have had indigestion a lot lately, but nothing a little pepcid can't fix. For the last month, I have been obsessing on crushed ice water. Like 6 cups a day obsessing. That doesn't help with the getting up in the middle of the night to pee, but it does help with the indigestion. My belly is feeling huge. The doctor said there's been some movement in the last few weeks, so that's a good sign. I've had a few days that I thought the baby might make an early appearance, but to no avail. For some reason though, I feel like the baby will be here early. Everett was 5 days early. I'd be happy with that this time around.



feels and/or looks swallowed a beach ball

So now, we wait. Come on baby --- we can't wait to love you!