He's Here!

Ok, so he's been here for over a week now, but I'm just now getting it on my blog- sorry for the delay.

Vaughn Edwin was born Tuesday, June 17th at 3:00 PM. He was 8 lbs 9oz at birth (8 lbs even on his day 2 checkup) and 20 1/2" long

Out of the 3 kids, he's got the biggest nose, but the smallest ears. He has dimples, which I'm ecstatic about!

Story of birth:
So my induction was set at 6:30 AM. We went in, they started my IV (strep b positive, so I had to have anti-biotics). I called Kristi, my doula, who I adore, and she came over. The nurse checked me and told me I was at a 2 and she was a little concerned that the baby wasn't head down. That was bizarre to me because I know he HAD been head down at one point. Anyway- the reason he was turned was because he had so much fluid that he'd just kind of float wherever. The Dr. came in and turned him- talk about ouch- and had me wear a velcro vorset thiong and stay on my right side. Then they started pitosin to see if my contractions would help push him into place. Having Kristi there helped a ton! She massaged my feet, made sure I was comfortable, explained everything the dr's said or did, and just reminded me to relax.
Well, thanks to the pitocin, Dr's turning, and prayers from LOTS of people, Vaughn did what he was supposed to and finally dropped. The Dr took that opportunity to break my water (my first time feeling it). I told him I'd see him in about an hour and to run when they paged him. The first half hour contractions got stronger, nothing I Couldn't handle w/ Kristi there doing leg presses. Then when the contractions started getting SUPER hard and right on top of each other, I endured a few, then told Kristi that they hurt so bad that I couldn't just sit, so she got out the squat bar and told me that on my next contraction to just hang on to the bar.  I could feel him as soon as contractions were next to each other, but I was told not to push yet. As soon as they got out the squat bar, I used it and he was totally there. The nurse was yelling at me to stop (yeah, how do you stop when you feel like he's hanging out of you?) Roger, Kristi, and the nurse had to force me back onto the bed (although I really don't see it as "forced" because I am pretty sure they were gentle- that part is kinda blurry). I look up and there are, I kid you not, 8 people in the room. Kristi helped me lay back and told me that he was here, so I pushed- just once. Then I could hear him cry. No greater relief of pain than hearing your baby cry. I tell you, though, feeling him come out- it was pretty dang cool. Just then the Dr. came in. First thing he said was, "I swear I ran!" He was funny. I almost sat up straight when they told me that I didn't tear and that he was 8lbs 9 oz.

The rest of my hospital stay was great. The Dr. apologized for missing the birth (they didn't call him soon enough). I"m proud of myself for going no epidural (doesn't mean I won't in the future). It was also very neat to see the Lord's hand in all of this.

The night before, I was freaking out, so I asked Roger to give me a blessing. In the blessing, he said that I'd be able to do it on my own and that I had family as a support and help. He also said that the baby would be ok- in exact words, that he would take breath. When he had said those things, I figured "on my own" meant w/out an epidural. I told my mom that as we left. Then, when they came and turned him, they said that if he didn't turn, I'd have to either come back next week or have a C Section. I called my mom in tears and she said, "it all makes sense now. He'll turn 'on his own'" Everything went better from then on out. I am so, SO blessed to have the family support that I have.