It's a Boy!

It's a Boy!!! As most of you know, although we found out that Lauren was a girl at 18 weeks, this time we decided to wait and be surprised. After having Lauren, we realized that truly just having a healthy baby is all that you can ask for, and besides, it is what it is anyway, so why not wait, right? It was really an experiment, people feel really strongly about either finding out while you're pregnant, or waiting. We wanted to see what all the hype was about. After having done it both ways, Sean and I both decided that the waiting was more fun, although I don't feel so strongly about it that I'd tell people that waiting or not waiting was stupid (surprisingly, people actually told me that we were stupid for waiting...calm down, people).

So, here's the birth story. Jack was in no hurry to make his appearance. My May 6th due date came and went with no sign of a baby. A week passed. Then several more days. Finally on Monday, May 16th I had a doctor's appointment (my doctor was out of town the week before, and I'd told him that I was going to wait him out, although I didn't think that would really work).

At my appointment my OB did an exam and found that I was about 40% effaced, and maybe 1 cm dilated. In other words, I wasn't close. He wanted to do a quick sonogram to make sure I had enough fluid (once you go over, you start having non-stress tests and they check your amniotic fluid level, just to make sure that everything's still operating the way it should be...Jack aced the tests). I asked if he would check the size of the baby, too; he'd been saying all along that the baby was "average" sized, but I just knew that the baby was bigger than average. The sonographer took some measurements, did a calculation, and...predicted a 9 lb. 8 oz. birth weight. Not exactly average.

We went back to the exam room to discuss our options. After the size prediction, and the fact that I wasn't progressing at all on my own, a c-section was looking more and more likely. I'd been trying hard to have a natural birth after my c-section with Lauren (Lauren was frank breech, and a c-section was my only option), but because I couldn't have pitocin as a result of the prior c-section (correction, I could have it, but in limited amounts), it was either go on my own (or at least mostly) or another c-section. We scheduled a c-section for Wednesday, May 18th and I left the office feeling a little defeated. We were still in the building after leaving my OB's office when my water broke. So we turned around, headed back in, and confirmed that maybe Jack was finally ready to make his way into the world (although we didn't know that "he" was a "Jack" at the time). My OB didn't look too thrilled with my water breakage...although it was a sign that labor was starting, the fact remained that I was not even remotely close to being ready for delivery.

Off to the hospital we headed, tout de suite, with no time to run home and grab our bags. I think it was around 3pm. We checked in, got to our room, and waited. And waited. I had small contractions, but I wasn't progressing. Finally at 11pm my OB came in and recommended that we go ahead with the c-section. I was torn. I'd hoped that with my water breaking maybe labor would ramp up and I'd be able to avoid another c-section. We debated and debated, but the clock was ticking since my water had broken, and ultimately we decided on the c-section, although with a lot of tears. By me, of course.

In the end, it was the right decision. We found out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Jack's neck twice, and things could have easily ended badly (like I labored for 24 hours but then had to have a c-section, or, much worse, because of his size and the fact that the cord was wrapped twice that Jack went into distress, lost oxygen, or worse if the cord tightened around his neck). I was so thankful that we'd just done the section and that we got a perfectly healthy baby out of the deal. Sometimes things work out the way they're supposed to.

It was quite a moment, first hearing the baby cry, and then finding out that it was a boy. Everyone exclaimed that he was a big baby, but I had to wait for what seemed like forever before I got to see him while they checked him out. He did great on his Apgar test, he got a 9 and then a 10 (out of 10). Sean was with him as they examined him and then brought him over to me for my first viewing. He was perfect. He looked tiny to me, but my relative scale was a 30 pound 2 year old, so I'm a little skewed. Jack was born at 12:08am on Tuesday, May 17th.

Getting to hold Jack for the first time in the recovery room.

OK, so maybe he does look a little, um, "healthier" than most newborns in the above photo.

Above, photos of Jack in the hospital, 1-3 days old.

The photo above is Jack at 10 days old. His pediatrician wanted to do a weight check (he'd left the hospital weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz., 12 oz. lower than his birth weight, which is perfectly normal). He's doing so well that we get to skip the two week appointment altogether and will see the pediatrician when he's two months old. His 10 day/2 week stats:

Weight: 9 lbs. 4 oz. -- already back over birth weight, his doctor and nurse were surprised

Length: 21.5 inches -- he's recorded at 21 inches at birth

Head circumference: 15 inches -- 14.5 inches at birth

Lauren is doing splendidly. I think she really enjoys being a big sister, although mostly it's the novelty of it all. She calls Jack "Baby Jack" (as do we, most of the time), and wants to see him first thing when she wakes up in the morning and when she gets home from school. Although she's maybe acting out a little on occasion as a result of the newest member of the family, for the most part she's handling it much better than we expected. We are all adjusting to life as a family of four, and can't imagine our lives without Jack now that he's here.