Jacob Austin Lewis

He's here!

I went in Thursday afternoon for my appointment with Dr. Brown, and was still only 1 cm dialted. I went straight from the appointment to the hospital and got all checked in and hooked up to the monitors, they did my blood work and then started me on Cytotec around 10 p.m. I was having contractions, but they weren't too bad, and weren't regular. I got another dose at 2 a.m., but it didn't seem to be doing much. At 5:30, I got up and washed up and changed into my own gown...I hate hospital gowns and was determined to labor in my own stuff....I've done it before and there was no issue with it. I was taken to the delivery room at around 6:45, hooked up to the pitocin, and my doctor walked in about 5 minutes later. He checked me - still at 1 cm - and broke my water!

Five minuutes after that I was having contractions every five minutes. This was around 7:15 a.m. The contractions got painful pretty fast, and by 8:30 or so, I was having a hard time dealing, but I still hadn't decided if I wanted an epidural; I'm so scared of needles, and my last epidural was very painful. The nurse encouraged me to get something in my IV to at least dull the pain a bit, so I agreed, and got a dose of Stadol, which is a narcatic, and something I've found I don't do particularly well with. Immediately I was drunk feeling...things were spinning and I was sick feeling. This is where things get fuzzy.

I wound deciding to get the epidural. They came in to do the epi, and told Austin to leave. I freaked because I was so scared anyway, but they insisted he go. Austin got very firm and told them that we'd lost our last child and that he'd appreciate a little bit of understanding...I can't remember everything that he said, because things were still spinning and the pain hadn't been relieved at all, but they wound up letting him stay if he'd stay out of the way. I started crying (or maybe I started crying harder - I'm pretty sure I was already crying at that point), and they let him come over and hold onto me while they were giving me the epidural. It was so painful and took so long. I kept having contractions every 2 or 3 minutes, and it seemed like it was taking forever to do the epidural. Austin was physically holding me to keep me from moving because I was hurting so badly. Finally it was in and I got to lay down, but I didn't have any relief yet. My right side started to get numb, but nothing changed on my left, and the contractions were getting closer and closer together and more painful. It wasn't working on the left side at all. They turned the dose up and my leg started feeling numb, but nothing else; I could still pick up my leg and move it everything. They wound up turning up the dose about five times before I was numb, and there was still one spot in my stomach that wouldn't go completely numb, but it was better than nothing.

I think this was the point (I'll have to ask Austin to read this and make sure things are in the right order) where my blood pressure bottomed out. All of the sudden my dizziness from the Stadol got really bad, and I couldn't focus. My blood pressure was something crazy low like 85/50, and Jacob's heartrate dropped to like 70 beats per minute. They put me on my side (because I couldn't move at all by then because of all the epidural meds I was getting - even my boobs and arms were going numb) and after a bit things got okay. I think Jacob's cord got pinched somehow, but eventually moving me around got it under control and his heartrate came back up. I was finally able to sit up and the nurse check me and I was 5 cm dialated. This was around 10 a.m. For some reason, she came back and checked me again just a couple (like 3 or 4) of minutes later, and I was completely dialated. They called Dr. Brown to come back and we started doing some "practice" pushes. They brought me the mirror and I could see his head and tons of black hair! They had me stop pushing because the doctor wasn't there yet, but he came in really soon, and not a minute TOO soon! I pushed a few times and Austin could see his head....I reached down and could feel him; I was truly the first person to touch him, which was awesome.

Austin says that the doctor got concerned for a few minutes because he thought Jacob's shoulder was stuck, but obviously it worked it's way out. I remember the doctor calling for someone else to come help, but I was still really dizzy at that time and it was all I could do to focus on pushing. And then he was here!

Jacob Austin Lewis was born at 11:38 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs 8.6 oz and is 21 inches! I knew he'd be big! A four-and-a-half hour labor isn't bad at all, considering how things usually are for me. I was really sick feeling afterwards, but got to hold him and nurse him for about an hour before they took him to the nursery to get cleaned up better and weighed and stuff. MaLew came and brought Annah, and Austin brought her in to meet her baby brother; it was so special. My mom was there too and then she and MaLew were able to come in afterwards and see Jacob too. Afterwards, everyone left, including Austin, and I let Jacob go to the nursery to be warmed up. I got some very much needed rest while the epidural wore off (it took several hours because of how much I'd gotten), and finally around 4 p.m., I was able to go to my room and get Jacob back.

He's so beautiful. I wondered how I'd handle being back in the hospital giving birth after my experience with Andrew last year, but it wasn't bad at all. I shed some tears, but I'm sure people understood. I am truly blessed...our whole family is.

Welcome to the world Jacob....you're in for a ride!

Coming to an end...

My appointment today went well; we have a plan! I'll be 39 weeks on Friday, and so Dr. Brown and Austin and I have decided to go ahead with the induction. I'll go into the hospital on Thursday evening to start on Cytotec to hopefully move things along. If nothing happens, Friday morning I'll start on the Pitocin.

I'm excited....I'm nervous...I'm scared. I have so much to do and so little time left. I was upset at first that we'd be waiting several more days, but I know I need to savor the time left. Tomorrow I'll spend the day with Annah, doing some Mommy/Daughter stuff...stuff that we won't get to do for a while after Jacob comes. I wonder how she'll handle a new baby...someone to take her place as the baby of the family.

Anyway....time draws near. And although I'm afraid....(what if something happens? What if he doesn't come home with us?), I'm ready. Come on Baby Jacob....your family is waiting!

38 weeks!

Today is the 38 week mark, and I'm officially ready to be done. This is the point where we thought we'd be inducing, but Dr. Brown is being adamant about waiting til next week. That's okay though....my appointment with him is on Tuesday (they're closed for Labor Day...go figure!), and I'm prepared to go in determined to make something happen this week. Dr. Brown mentioned the 10th a few weeks ago, so we're going to push for that date. September 10th is five days away, so that's acceptable to me.

As the time draws nearer, I think more and more of Andrew, who never got to this point. His birth was a fast surprise, completely unprepared, and the contrast of Jacob's upcoming birth is shocking. I wonder if Andrew's spirit is encouraging Jacob...preparing him, getting him ready for our family. I'd like to think so.

Anyway, I'm ready. So bring on the appointment, and the scheduled induction. I'd like to go into labor on my own, but I've pretty much given up on that.....so another induced birth it is....D-day approaches!

Mi vida loca!

It has been CRAZY around here, so I'll try to catch up! The last time I wrote, we were fast approaching Annah's surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids. Before that could happen though, she got even sicker, and had to be put in the hospital. Some kind of infection...definitely NOT flu, as previously thought. We spent four days in the hospital, with all sorts of tests being ran, and still didn't have a clear picture of what was going on, but with a definite fear that Dr. Peppard (the ENT) wouldn't do the surgery because of all the medications Annah had been on.

No fear...Dr. Bowers was here! I love our pediatrician. He called Dr. Peppard and talked to him and stressed how urgent it was that the surgery was done, because Annah was one sick little girl. And Dr. Peppard went ahead with it!

It has NOT been fun. Annah came through the surgery fine, but cried profusely and refused to drink afterwards, so they refused to give her the pain meds that were prescribed for her; Lortab MUST be taken with something and not on an empty stomach. After a while, our wonderful nurse, Patsy, decided to go talk to the anesthesiologist and they gave her a bit of morphine. Wow...have you ever seen a high three-year-old? Oh my. She was funny, but she wasn't crying anymore, which was wonderful. We were able to take her home rather soon after that, and it hasn't been too terribly bad as far as recovery, but she's still not herself. She cries...a lot. For no reason that we can tell. Last night was the first night that she's slept by herself, in her bed, all night long. And that came with a midnight wake-up and crying fit about staying there. But, she stayed.

She went back to school on Tuesday of this week, and it's been hard for her...she'll only be there a few days (in fact today is her last day - Friday), and then she's going to stay home with me when I have Jacob and in the weeks that follow. Maybe I'll let her go visit for a few hours or something once a week...just to keep her aquanted with things...who knows.

Speaking of Jacob, the time is near! I'm 38 weeks, and if he hasn't shown up by next week, we're going to evict him. I'm so excited, and can't wait to hold him in my arms and see him breathing and even crying....yeah, nuts, I know. I need to take one final picture....I'm huge, but I don't care if it means he's healthy....and I believe he is. I just want him in my arms.....and the sooner the better!

Jonathan is doing great in kindergarten; he's reading! Can you imagine? It floored me when he started sound out words the other day....it's been so much fun. Matthew, on the other hand, is struggling at school; he can't seem to keep up with things, or turn assignments in on time. I'm pushing hard to make sure he's on top of stuff, but at some point, I've got to let him fall and pick himself up without my help. It's just hard to do that. He's turned into a teenager with a raging attitude, and I'm not looking forward to the next few years with him....I hope he proves my thinking wrong.

Anyway, that's the quick update...I'll be uploading pictures soon from various stuff....