Owen James Stanford
Owen is finally here. He was born via c-section on August 11th at 12:11 p.m. at 37 weeks gestation. I went to my morning appointment with my midwife on the 10th after having contractions every 2 to 3 minutes (my usual) all the night before and all that morning. I was in pain and upset, which made my blood pressure rise-- so they decided to go ahead and induce me.
I was so excited to FINALLY being nearing the finish line of this pregnancy. I called Mom and Chris and made arrangements to pick up Ethan from school. I went to the hospital and got hooked up to an IV and got some fluids and pain meds. They gave me a pill to soften my cervix and to encourage more contractions around 10 p.m. and continued me on the pain meds all night. Well, my contractions continued to come quickly and hard but I only dilated to 3 cm by noon the next day. When the doctor saw that Owen's heartbeat was not reacting to my contractions they decided to induce me. I was TERRIFIED!
They prepped me in the matter of minutes and rolled me into the operating room. They gave me meds in my IV to make me numb and the nurses kept pinching me over and over to see if I could feel anything.... I kept asking if they were pinching hard enough and that seemed to convince them I was ready. Chris came in as they put the sheet up where I couldn't see anything. My midwife came in to help me through the whole process. She talked me through the procedure (which took all of about 10 minutes-- and yes I could feel everything but it did not hurt). Chris got to watch Owen being born and then was also able to roll him into the nursery where Mom and Brooke were watching at the windows. I got to watch Chris's face, which was priceless and I got to hear Owen's first cry and see him.
After a brief stay in the post-op room I went back to my room and got to hold Owen. He looks SO MUCH like Ethan to me. He weighs 6 lbs. 11 oz. and is 19 inches long.
Ethan was THRILLED to see his brother and has shown no jealousy for him. He came into the hospital with huge eyes saying "That's my brother: Owen!"
I am now home and we are recovering from the surgery. It is not for the light-hearted but I'll admit it may be a bit easier to cope with (as the days roll past) than my first childbirthing experience with Ethan.
Chris and I are so happy to have two wonderful boys and lots of family & friends around to help us adjust.
