Gunnar

So...he's here! Gunnar Wayne Sesker Wright was born on August 19th at 1459 weighing in at a mere 9 lbs 6.1 oz and stretching out to 21.5 inches long!

My labor was pretty intense, but I handled it so much better than with Mattea. I was able to wait until 5 cm (partly not my choice) for my epidural. My IV stopped working and when they removed the cervidil, which was enough to not only soften my cervix but start my labor, I was already at 4 cm. I never did end up needing pitocin, which was nice.

I was given some phentynol (spelling?) to help cut the pain until they could get my epidural in because as soon as they broke my water I could barely tolerate my contractions. I had to delay my epi until I had at least half a bag of ringers in my system and that is when my IV stopped working so they had to give me a new one in my wrist (owie!). Ah...thank goodness God created someone to invent pain killers!

I got my epidural, things went great, slow but great, and then before I knew it I was in a huge amount of pain and feeling massive pressure. Come to find out later, after feeling everything about a 9.6 oz child coming out of me, that my epidural had fallen out! What?! How does that happen? Strangely though, as much as I wanted to die while it was going on, it was a really unique experience not being completely numb for it.

Anywhoo....he's adorable, looks much like my Dad's side of the family, doesn't know how to cry just ear splitting screams, and loves to cluster-feed right now. But he's perfect and fits right into our family.

I'm very thankful to everyone that has helped our family out. We had meals for three nights from the RS, people that barely even know us, visitors, gifts, and am amazing husband who allowed me to have three wonderful days of rest and peace, not worrying about the kids, cleaning, etc. I'm grateful its over and looking forward to seeing my little boy grow up!

D-Day, part 2

So, its D-Day, part 2. We report to the hospital at 7:30 tonight to start Cervidil. Apparently each dose of this fake prostaglandin takes 12 hours which is why we go in tonight. Noone that has gone through having Cervidil has anything positive to say about it. In fact, I've been told the following: "you'll sit on the toilet for the majority of your waiting time" (a.k.a. diahrrea, cramps), "good luck, that stuff did nothing for me", "don't let them do that to you! it makes your labor awful!". Why can't people just lie to me and tell me that its no big deal? That's why I love my friends and family. They know I appreciate brutal honesty, I guess.

At my appointment yesterday, the doctor said I was dilated to 2 and 30% effaced. So a little bit of progress was made with my almost 48 hours of contractions that were anywhere from 5-10 minutes apart all weekend. Doc walked in and said "Alright, so what's going on? This is your third baby, what's taking your body so long?". Luckily, I think he's the nicest doctor in that office and he has a funny sounding laugh so I didn't flip out on him for making one of the 10 dumbest comments to make to an overdue pregnant woman. He had me do a quick ultrasound to check my fluid levels and make sure Gunnar had enough left in the "pool" to swim in for another day and a half. During the ultrasound he balled up on one side of me in a curve around the right side of my tummy. Kind of looked like the side of a mountain range sloping to the left side of me. Ultrasound Lady said "Oh look, he's all curled up around this side with his little bum poking out up here at the top". I then said "Yeah, he seems like he's going to be a big boy!" mostly expecting her to disagree with me or at least be vocal about the possibility that he just "appears" big, but she wholeheartedly agreed with me. Eek! And she would know! Anyway, fluid levels were fine and the NST we did afterwards was fine as well.

So, my day is already dragging along nicely as I anticipate the special events of the evening. Husband took Tate to get a library card (Tater is ecstatic about this!) and a hair cut, and then we are all headed to the brand spanking new Bass Pro Shop in Altoona to eat lunch at their restaurant (woo hoo). Husband called from inside the store yesterday and said "Honey....its beautiful...". So I'm being a good sport and tagging along to get myself out of the house for a while and my mind off the "work" I have ahead of me over the next 48 hours or so.

I think this pregnancy has been so stressful, unexplainable at times, and difficult that I have detached myself quite well from any positive emotions about it and our son. Today however I am an emotional mess and can't wait to finally hold my little boy. I endured through the sickness, mystery, and stress and can finally see past it all to the miracle we'll be experiencing in the next day. I'm so thankful that we are having a boy, and my husband can hold his son in his arms knowing the Lord found him worthy to raise His child here on Earth. I pray that he's healthy and strong. My 2 year-old has been asking for Gunnar for two days now and my 12 year-old is constantly asking me "Is Gunny coming now? Is it time to go?". I love that my children are so eager to welcome him and I'm thankful we've been sealed for Eternity so that no matter what happens here on Earth, as long as we all strive to live the Gospel and stay close to the Lord we will always have each other as a family unit, beyond death and beyond any struggles and pain we experience here.

D-Day

Well, its D-Day...and no baby. My pregnancy ticker is down to zero but my bassinette is empty. So, what's a mama to do with no baby on d-day? Go get a pedicure and eat spicy food, of course! Both of which I did today. The pedicure was great, and my pedi-girl gave me extra massage time on my feet and calves to see if we could get some contractions going, but to no avail (is that how you spell avail?). I ate Chipotle for lunch (I should own stock in that restaurant by now) and it was spicy enough to make me "glisten"...perfect! Then we decided to try gelato for the first time. I had a turtle flavor, called kikker, and husband mixed a mint with peanut butter (ew). Anyway, it was pricey, but yummy.

So now my belly is full, hospital bags packed, baby clothes put away, my toes are pretty, my legs shaved for the week (hey, just try telling me you're 40 weeks prego and still shave your legs daily...just try...) and I'm all ready! I can't wait for my doc appt. Friday. This doctor should use caution, as I will be an emotional bomb waiting to go off if he tells me they won't induce yet. I won't leave the exam table until I get that induction date.

Humans and Fruit

So I was told at the doc appt today if I haven't delivered Gunnar by next week, they may use a cervical ripening procedure to help induce labor. This got me thinking and I've decided I don't like using medical terms interchangeably with terms describing whether a piece of fruit is safe to eat. I'm human. I'm not a tomato. Can we think of a different way to say this? Perhaps "I'm sorry, you are still barely dilated to 1 cm and your cervix is not "maturing"? I like maturing. It describes how my body is NOT acting right now. Its time to grow up, cervix. Time to grow up and do your job.