Landon's Birth Story

Life has been a bit crazy around here so its taken me a while to get back into the groove of things. We are adjusting well and I think things are getting easier each day. It was great to have my mom here for an extra few days to help out and it was hard to see her leave last Wednesday. I had some minor "panic attacks" preparing for my first day at home alone with both kids (yesterday) but I have survived almost two days by myself with them and so far we are all still alive!! Actually Abby is doing exceptionally well with Landon and loves to give him hugs and kisses all day long. Landon is a great baby, sleeps very well at night and so far I have them both on the same nap schedule in the afternoon which allows me to get a few things done (like update our blog.)

Many of you have asked, so here is Landon's official birth story, from my perspective this time. (WARNING: It's pretty long!)...

On Tuesday, June 3rd, I had what was to be my last doctor’s appointment. Since I was only dilated 1 centimeter, my doctor decided to schedule me for an induction on Friday morning. They didn’t want me to go past 41 weeks, especially considering how big Abby had been. Jason and I left the doctor’s office a little disappointed that I wasn’t progressing, but excited to know that the end was in sight. That night was pretty normal, I headed to bed with a few contractions, although they quickly petered out and I was able to sleep pretty soundly.

I woke up the next morning around 5:45 a.m. with a few rather uncomfortable contractions. After about four of them that appeared to be coming fairly regularly, I decided to wake Jason up and had him start timing them. He was pretty excited to think that I might actually be in labor! We timed the next two contractions and they were about 6-7 minutes apart and I actually had to breathe through them so we really started to think that this may be the real thing. We decided that after a few more contractions, we should get up, shower and take a walk around the neighborhood to see if we could get things moving a bit more. During the very next contraction, however, I felt a small “pop” in my lower abdomen and then a gush of water and I quickly exclaimed to Jason, “I think my water just broke.” It was a very weird sensation to have all of this water leaking out and not having any control over it. (They had to break my water with Abby when I was around 7 cm and already in the hospital.) Jason quickly ran to get some towels and I did my best to make it to the bathroom without getting amniotic fluid everywhere. I sat on the toilet for about 10 minutes trying to drain it out and then immediately got in the shower. By this point, my contractions began to come a bit more frequently (about every 4 minutes) and they were starting to hurt a bit more. We got everything ready, called the doctor and left a message and then just decided to head for the hospital since we knew by this point that I was definitely in labor. The hardest part was saying goodbye to Abby. I knew I was leaving her in good hands (my mom was staying with us), but I also knew that our lives would forever change from this moment on and it was pretty hard on me to know that our little family of three was over. I was bawling, and by the time I got into the car, Abby was bawling too. I quickly got over it though as I knew that I would need every ounce of strength I had for what was about to come.

We arrived at the hospital and got all checked into a room at about 8:30 a.m. Since my water had already broken, they didn’t want to check my cervix until the midwife arrived since they didn’t want to risk introducing an infection. The midwife on duty, Jessica, was one I really like during my prenatal visits so I was glad to see that it was her when she arrived on the scene around 9 a.m. At this point I was dilated to 4.5 cm. I was a bit disappointed to hear that since I had arrived at the hospital with Abby at 7 cm, but I thought at least I would for sure be able to get an epidural soon. I had pondered the idea of a natural birth during this pregnancy, and I had even read a few books about it, but I had decided that nobody got any medals for doing it natural and since Abby’s birth had been so good (with an epidural) that I would go ahead and get one this time too. Since I wanted an epidural, they began to get me prepped for an IV and this was when the real fun began. After about 45 minutes, six different tries and three different nurses trying, they were finally able to get one in on the backside of my forearm. After the IV was finally in place, the midwife came in to check me again and by this time I was at 7 cm. I was grateful that the painful contractions were actually doing something, but I had no thought that it might be too late to get an epidural. However, Landon was already very low in my pelvis and the midwife felt that as soon as I would sit up to get the epidural, I would probably dilate completely and be ready to push. She told me that she could easily stretch me to 9 cm and that I could have this baby in about 15 minutes. I was really freaked out that everything was happening so quickly and that I wouldn’t be given any drugs! I remember specifically looking at Jason and saying “Help me!!” He asked what I would like him to do and I told him, “Get me some drugs!!” The midwife had me start pushing and she was able to stretch me to a 9 before I asked to take a break, it was just too much! What I really needed was some time to wrap my head around the idea that I would be pushing this baby out without the help of modern medicine! I sat up in bed and had some really painful contractions that fortunately I was able to breathe through. After about 30 minutes (and by this time, nonstop contractions) I decided that it was time to get the show on the road (much to Jason’s relief!) I knew that my body was physically ready to have this baby, but I really needed that time to mentally prepare myself for the task. They got everything ready, I laid down and after 10 minutes of extremely excruciating pain, I had my completely natural childbirth experience. It was pretty amazing to experience the complete sensations of childbirth. I felt like my body just took over and with each contraction, the baby would move closer and closer to entering this world. As soon as he was out, I had this completely euphoric experience that I never really had with Abby since I was dull to most of the pain. They immediately laid him on my chest and I was incredibly grateful to have had such an amazing and perfect baby to call our son. When they put him on the scale and revealed that he was 9 lbs 14oz and 22.5 inches long, we were all amazed that I was able to birth him naturally. I did tear a bit, actually just along my episiotomy from Abby, but my recovery from this birth has been nothing short of miraculous. While the pain from an all natural birth is intense, I would definitely consider doing it again. It was amazing to see what my body was meant to do and feel every bit of it. What was even more amazing to see was my rapid recovery and Landon’s alertness due to the fact that I hadn’t received any drugs during this labor experience.

I was a little nervous about how I could possibly love another child as much as I love Abby, but my fears have quickly disappeared. I am so in love with Landon and I am very grateful to Heavenly Father for sending Jason and me another beautiful child of His to raise on this earth.

And here are some pictures just for fun...

Home from the hospital with all of our bands...Landon was a bit jaundiced when we left the hospital so he had to be on a biliblanket for his first 72 hours at home. This is how he affectionately earned the nickname "our lil' glow-worm."Our cute little family of four...
One of my favorite pictures showing off our handsome little man.
"Whew, this life is draining!"
Our blog wouldn't be complete without a photo of Miss Abigail too. She hasn't quite learned that she is a wee bit too big for the baby swing now!