My baby is already three and a half weeks old! Time flies when you're busy holding the most adorable little baby all day long...and chasing around a very busy toddler. I've been meaning to write about Weston's birth and am just getting around to it. I know I'll forget most of the details later on, so I've got to write them down now while I still remember. WARNING: this is going to be a long post. I have a lot to say on this topic, but there will be lots of pictures. :)
Okay, so here's how this thing went down. My due date was May 6th. Jackson was almost a week late, so I was convinced that Weston would be the same. On Wednesday, May 2nd, I woke up at about 3 AM with strong contractions. Brett woke up a little while later. When I told him that I thought I was in labor, he said that we should just go back to bed for a few hours and then head to the hospital in the morning. Ha! He may be able to sleep through my contractions, but I definitely can't. After about an hour of consistent contractions (about every 3 to 7 minutes), I headed downstairs to watch a movie and eat some cereal. I was sure that I was in labor, so after my movie, I went back upstairs to finish packing my hospital bag. Around 7:30 AM, still having consistent contractions, I laid back down just waiting for the contractions to get a little stronger before going to the hospital. The next thing I knew, I woke up at 10:30 AM. I was so bummed. Apparently, I was not in labor.
The next few days dragged on and on. I thought I would go into labor at any moment, but after a couple days I felt like pregnancy would never end. On Friday, May 4th, Jackson and I went over to a friend's house for a play date. While we were there, I talked with my doctor's office, and scheduled an induction for Sunday morning. My fluid was low again with Weston, so my doctor wanted to induce me on my due date. We stopped for McDonald's on the way home, shared some fries when we got home, and Jackson went down for a nap. About a half an hour after I got home, probably around 2:30 or 3:00 PM, I started feeling contractions again. I didn't really think much of them because of my false alarm earlier, but just in case this was labor, I called Brett around 4:00 PM and asked him to not come home from work too late. He didn't believe that I was in labor (and I didn't really either at that point), so he said he would work another hour or so, deal with Friday traffic, and be home in a few hours.
The contractions got stronger and closer together as the day went on. I called Brett frantically around 6:00 PM wondering where he was and when he was going to get home. Since Jackson's labor went so fast, I was afraid of not getting to the hospital in time and without Brett at home, I wasn't sure how I would get to the hospital and what I would do with Jackson. Brett got home around 6:30 PM, walked in, and asked me what I wanted to do that night. He wasn't convinced I was in labor and acted like it was any other Friday night. I told him I was pretty sure we were going to have a baby, and I'm pretty sure he laughed when I said that.
Instead of packing a hospital bag, he sat down and started watching tv with Jackson. I kept telling him that we should go to the hospital soon, but he REALLY didn't believe that I was in labor. He said I just wasn't acting like I was in very much pain. His uncertainty made me second guess myself. I had been on the phone off and on with my sister and my mom (who is in China for the year). Finally, after my mom warned me not to wait too long to go to the hospital, I decided that I should probably just go ahead and go.
We headed to the hospital around 8:30 PM. When I got there, I was having contractions every 2-5 minutes and I was dilated to a 4 or 5. After being checked out in triage, the nurse confirmed that I was indeed in labor and that I would be admitted. Woo hoo! My sister, Caroline, got there just before they took me to my room. She stayed and her family took Jackson to their house to stay for the next couple of days. I had been worried about leaving Jackson for a couple days since he usually has separation anxiety when we leave him, but he just said "bye bye" and went with my sister's family without any fussing at all. He LOVES his cousins.
After I got some fluid in me through the IV, which took way too long thanks to nurse Kim, the anesthesiologist (my favorite person of the day, possibly the year) came in around 11:00 PM-12:00 AM (see, I'm already forgetting the details) and gave me the most amazing epidural ever. Before my epidural with Weston, I thought that all epidurals were created equal. Not the case. My epidural with Jackson was great. It worked and I wasn't in pain, but my legs were also completely numb. I couldn't move them for hours after he was born. My epidural with Weston, on the other hand, was perfect. I didn't feel any of the pain, but I could also move my legs and was able to walk around just a couple hours after he was born.
As soon as the epidural started working, I felt great. It's such a relief to go from such intense pain to no pain at all. I really don't know how women birth without an epidural. Wow, I really couldn't handle it, but props to those of you who can. My doctor happened to be on call that night and I was so excited about that! A random, but also good doctor, delivered Jackson, but it was really neat to have my regular doctor deliver Weston. Shortly after I got my epidural, my sister, Suzanne, showed up and my doctor came in and broke my water to get things going.
For the next couple of hours, I just chatted it up with Brett and my sisters, while they ate chips and dip. It was after all Cinco de Mayo! I felt like I was just hanging out and not like I was in labor at all. It was great. Brett and my sisters occasionally watched the monitors and would let me know when I was having big contractions, which I couldn't feel at all. Thankfully!
Every so often, the nurse would check to see how dilated I was. Around 1:20 AM, she said I was ready to push. She had me push a couple of times before waking up my doctor. After two pushes, I was ready to go. She called in my doctor, who showed up at about 1:30. Three more pushes later, and Weston William Fawcett was born at 1:49 AM. 7 lbs, 11 oz. of cuteness!
The doctor placed him right on my stomach immediately after he was born. It was such an amazing experience to hold my sweet little boy for the first time. I loved hearing his little newborn cry and studying his cute head. I was sad my mom couldn't be there for Weston's birth, but she was on the phone throughout his delivery and got to hear his first cries. I can't wait for my parents to meet him when they gets home this summer.
Jackson came to visit later on that day with my sister's family. I had missed him so much and was so excited for him to meet his little brother. When he got to the hospital, he really wasn't interested in anything except playing with his cousins. After being there for a few minutes, he finally noticed Weston. He pointed to him and said, "baby," but then went back to playing. Finally, after being there for about a half an hour, he pointed to Weston and said, "hold it." Brett helped him hold his little bro for the first time. He has been so sweet with Weston since we brought him home from the hospital. He constantly wants to give him LOTS of kisses.
Weston is perfect and I am so blessed to be his mom. He is such a wonderful addition to our family and we love him to pieces!
