Jackson's birth story

Grr... I just spent 1 hour on this post, only to have it disappear when I hit publish post. So here we go again!

-

Well, I decided that before my wonderful mother-in-law heads home on Saturday, I needed to update my blog among a few other things. So here is a quick update on how Jackson is doing and a little bit about how he made his grand entrance into this big world.
-
First of all, as many of you know I was due on March 15, which is my mother-in-law Laura's birthday, and that day came and went. I have to say that I was really sad. I know it is hardly worth making a big deal over, but I was looking forward to that day as being the last day possible that I would have to be pregnant. Well, the 15th came and went and finally on St. Patrick's Day I went into labor.

-

I was actually getting ready to go to Enrichment night at church, thinking that I could get my mind off of still being pregnant. (earlier in the day, Peyton and I went to his Kindermusik class and on a long walk) Well, Craig ended up coming home late and I wasn't sure how late I wanted to be or if I still wanted to go. I was getting some sharp pains in my back and some contractions, so I decided not to go to church and just hang out.

-

Well, I kept feeling like the contractions were different than what I was having before, so I told Craig that I thought I just might be in labor. I think he was tired of me telling him this, because he said "Really, or do you just wish you were?" I said that I think it is real. So, we started packing things up and making phone calls.

-

We dropped Peyton off at our friends the Susie and Jim's house at 9:00 p.m. and I was feeling bad for him because I knew he would cry and cry for us. But he didn't. Actually before we left I told Peyton that he was going to be able to sleep over at Isaac's house. And he asked "and wake up" and I told him that when he woke up he would be at Isaac's house. He got all excited, so I guess at 2 years old, he understood! So we dropped him off and he didn't even notice that we weren't there with him. He didn't notice until Isaac asked where Peyton's mom and dad were and then Peyton asked "Yeah, where they go?" Susie told them and they just continued to play. He didn't cry once.

-

Anyways, back to Jackson's birth story.

-
I got to the hospital at 9:30 p.m. and got checked in and up to Labor and Delivery about 10:00. The doctor, which I can't stand, was on call and he checked me and I was dilated to a 2 and he told me that I may or may not be in active labor, but he would give me 1 1/2 hours to see if I was progressing. Otherwise they would send me home. He asked if I wanted to have this baby tonight. Remember I am overdue! I said "I have to have this baby. I will not go home without having this baby." He said, we will see. So after my hour and half, the nurse checked me again and I was dilated to a 3 so they admitted me. This was a good thing, because I had told Craig that I was not going to go home and come back in later. I would walk the hallways until I progressed, but I would not go home.

-
I continued to have contractions all night long ranging from 2-4 minutes apart. Then my not so favorite doctor came in at 7:00 a.m. and checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 4. He broke my water and started petocin, then told me that I was guaranteed to have a baby today. Then thankfully, his shift was over, and the nicest OB/GYN doctor was on call. Hallelujah!

-

By 8:30 a.m. my contractions and back pain were so getting stronger so the nurse gave me a shot in the hip with some pain medicine. This made me tired and made me slur my words, but didn't do much for the pain, so the nurse paged for the anaesthesiologist. I didn't want an epidural too early, because I didn't want it to wear off.

-

It was a good thing that she paged him when she did, because it took him an hour and a half to get up to my room. By this time, my contractions were coming over top of one another with no breaks in between and my back pain was incredible. I was happy to see the anaesthesiologist when he came. I told him that my last epidural only numbed my right hip and nothing else, so I really wanted a good epidural this time, or nothing. He promised me that I would get a complete epidural and guaranteed that I would not feel a thing. I am sure that this man was an angel sent from heaven. I got a complete epidural and was able to calm down and relax. I was even able to get about 30 minutes of sleep. When I woke up, the nurse checked me and I was complete and ready to have my baby. I was really excited to see what the hard part of labor would be like, being completely numb.

-

It was crazy not being able to feel anything, but it was so much better. Craig and Dr. Gitt were telling jokes, and having a good conversation, all while I was laughing and pushing. After 20 minutes Jackson was born. It was so much better compared to 2 1/2 hours of pushing with Peyton. Peyton's head was turned in the wrong direction and he got stuck. It was horrible. All in all, I was in labor for 17 1/2 hours compared to 24 with Peyton.

-
Now for some pictures!

Here I am waiting patiently to have my baby. The nurses had a really hard time putting in an IV and they stuck my right hand 4 times, before moving to the left hand. Every time the blood pressure cuff pumped up on my right arm, my hand throbbed. Try resting with that happening every 30 minutes.

My first picture with Jackson after he was all cleaned up.

Jackson and Craig. Jackson was so alert when he was born. He stayed awake for about 4 hours after his birth.

Craig thought this was funny. This is Jackson having his hearing test. Craig said he was listening to his baby ipod. He kept playing with the cords.

This Denver Bronco hat is the same hat that Peyton wore when he was first born. My mom made it for him. Some of the nurses remember Peyton when he was born because of the hat. Now I guess it is a tradition that our babies will wear this hat at the hospital. Although Jackson's head was an inch bigger so it won't fit him much longer.

Look how big he is! Some newborn!

When Peyton came to the hospital for the first time, Jackson was in the bassinet next to my bed. Peyton came running up to me and I told him "Look Peyton, there is our new baby." He stands up on my bed and peeked over the side of the bassinet and said, "Yep, baby." and jumped back down off the bed to go see his daddy. It was cute. Then he came back and I told him that baby Jackson wasn't in my stomach anymore and he started to lift up my shirt and said, "No, there he is right there!" Then he decided that he wanted to hold Jackson, so he said "Peyton hold it" I thought it was funny that he said it. He kept saying that for a few days.

Peyton really wanted Jackson to wake up, so he decided to wake him up like he does to his dad, by hitting him.

We were looking at his tiny fingers.

Peyton really liked that Jackson had a blanket with dinasaurs on it.

Our first family picture.

All ready to go home from the hospital.

-

We were able to spend an extra day in the hospital, so we went home on Friday. This meant that I was admitted on Tuesday and left on Friday, but it also meant that I had lots of time to rest. Susie watched Peyton all day on Wednesday until she brought him in Wednesday night (what a blessing!) and then Craig took him home to sleep. Thursday morning Craig and Peyton came by around lunch time and stayed for about an hour and a half, then they went home. I had the rest of the day and evening to myself. I have never had so much rest. Jackson is an excellent sleeper and eater. Then Craig and Peyton came back on Friday morning to pick us up. Strangly enough I kind of felt like I had been at the spa or something.

I was ready to go home too!