Theo's here!

So this is your heads-up -- this blog post may contain some yucky details involved in the birthing process. If this grosses you out, just skim through the pictures and skip the words. :)

Theo arrived on September 14, 2015, at 1:25 a.m. after about three hours of active labor, if that. His birth story could not be any more different from that of his brother's, which I am mostly glad for, even if I wasn't at all prepared for it.

Just a quick recap of Paul's entrance to this world, since I didn't have a blog back then: Paul was born after about 23 hours of continuous contractions. The contractions started out pretty strong and very close together -- about 4 minutes apart. We went to the hospital after a few hours of this and were sent home because I was only a 2, my contractions had pretty much stopped, and didn't want to take anything to speed up labor. It was late Sunday night when we got home -- around 2 in the morning. I continued having painful-ish contractions throughout the night but I mostly slept. Michael went to class that morning. The contractions got stronger and I kept having to go to the bathroom. There was so much pressure (Paul dropped about four weeks prior) and I was in a lot of pain, so I had Michael come home. I was so tired I was laying down between contractions, half sleeping. We went to the hospital and got checked in around 11:30. I was exhausted. I took some nubane, which helped take the edge off without taking away all the pain. I was able to sleep a little. Once that wore off, and the contractions got stronger, I asked for the epidural. I was about a 6 at that point. The epidural worked instantly and I felt great! I was laughing and talking and texting people from the bed. At around 7, I got checked again and I was ready to push! I pushed for 40 minutes, the whole time feeling each contraction and this overwhelming urge to push. He finally arrived a few minutes after 8 p.m. I was exhausted and ecstatic! I had to be stitched up as I had a 2nd degree tear. Paul was put on my chest right away and I held him for a few minutes before he was whisked away to be cleaned and weighed -- he came in at 7 lb 4 oz, 20", at 40 weeks + 2 days. It wasn't long before I could get up and walk a bit, although I was extremely sore and in a lot of pain for the next week or so. We didn't mind being at the hospital for 48+ hours.

Last bump picture before Theo's arrival. September 12, 2015 -- 39 weeks

Now for Theo's story! On Sunday morning I woke up a little worried that I was leaking amniotic fluid. I thought it was probably my mucus plug starting but I called in to my doctor's office and they said I should go to labor & delivery to check right away. We got all our bags together just in case and had Michael's mom pick up Paul. I was a little anxious because I felt like if I did have a leak they might want to induce me and I did not want to be induced. But I knew it was best for the baby to find out and that I would trust my doctor's recommendations. It took a little while to get checked once I got there, but once they did they knew immediately it was not amniotic fluid, using a pH strip to test for it. I was also only at a 2, which was slightly disappointing because I had been starting to feel a little crampy in the past few days and I had hoped those were real contractions slipping in to work their magic. I had to wait around even longer since they wanted to test my urine for a possible UTI, although I was sure I didn't have that.

By the time we left, it was 12:30 and we were starving! We came home and ate a huge lunch of delicious leftover pizza and tortilla chips. We picked up Paul and spent most of the afternoon playing Wii games on the couch. Around 3 I started feeling some cramping with contractions. They continued all afternoon and I would mention them to Michael but they weren't too bad and we just kept going. Michael put Paul to bed and we played some Super Mario. I wasn't doing my best but I kept reminding Michael that I was currently experiencing contractions, so he should give me a little break! (Of course, he wasn't complaining! I just thought it was funny.)

We went to bed at 10, but not before I had reviewed all the information about when I should go in to the hospital, just in case! I read for an hour before I thought maybe I would just time out the contractions and see if they were close together. They were getting stronger after all. Sure enough, they were about 5 minutes apart... for about 30 minutes. I woke Michael up around then and asked him to help me through them. I had to stop and kind of rock through them and breathe, but they didn't last too long. I was shocked when I realized they were about 3 minutes apart. We called Michael's mom and had her come over around then. It didn't take her long to arrive, but the pain was so intense by then and I was ready to go to the hospital for some pain relief! We had gotten our stuff together again between contractions and were out the door around 12.

We got checked into the hospital and a nurse quickly came in to check me. I was a 7. I was also shocked! I knew transitive labor was when your contractions were about 2 minutes apart and that was around 6-8 cm, but I honestly felt like I couldn't be there yet. The nurse said they usually wait for the doctor to check but I just had "that look" and she knew she needed to check me right away. I was grateful to her. I remember turning to Michael and saying that maybe I could do this without an epidural, if it wouldn't be much longer. I really wanted them to say how long it would take. But he wasn't so sure, remembering how grateful I was last time once the epidural kicked in. Anyways, we figured we would ask for whatever we could. They didn't waste much time getting me into a labor and delivery room (I had just been in the triage room) but they did take my blood samples first. They explained that these would have to be checked in the lab before I could get an epidural. I kept asking how long that would take but they wouldn't really give me an answer. They kept moving things along but I noticed they would leave the room without taking the samples... I guess I should have known then but I didn't.

So I was moved into a big room and was told that my doctor wasn't available, but Dr. Hoffman from my group would be there soon. She really did arrive quickly, and I liked her right away. I had actually initially requested her, but she had a baby of her own in June so wasn't taking new patients on. She broke the news that it would be a while before lab results were back and I could get an epidural arranged. I had two options:  hold off in labor as long as I could, hoping for that epidural, or she could break my water and it would "get very intense" then we could have a baby here in minutes. She had just checked me (15-20 minutes after they did in triage) and I was almost a 9. So I took a deep breath and told her to do it. She did and wow, she wasn't kidding, it was very intense, immediately! That was the first contraction I had to scream through, but it wasn't the last. I remember saying, "I don't want to do this anymore!" but I knew that didn't matter. I had about four of those contractions, screaming, where I wasn't supposed to push, although I felt like I needed to and probably did a little bit. I apologized between contractions for pushing but Dr. Hoffman said I was doing just fine. 

As I write this I am still debating whether or not to post this picture. It is so personal and yet it really tells you more than I can in words. So take it as you will!

Finally, I got the OK to push. Thank goodness. I think I really got the hang of it during the third set, when he was already crowning. I remember feeling sweat breaking out on my face and my eyes squeezed so tight that everything was black with a ring of electric white light behind my lids. I felt like I was in another world that consisted only of my body. I have never felt anything so intense and all-absorbing in my life. It was pain, yes, but it was just me, too. I remember thinking about how loudly I was screaming and how the movies were pretty accurate about that when they showed women giving birth back in the old days. I felt bad for all the other women laboring that night, I was probably terrifying them. Finally, on the fourth set of pushing contractions (three pushes each contraction), Theo arrived! That was the most incredible moment, and instantly all the pain and intense awareness washed away and I felt relief and joy and a bit of exhaustion. He was on my chest right away and I was so happy to see him.

I looked over at Michael and he had a big smile on his face. We did it! We had made it through and had this perfect little baby in our hands and out of my belly. The nurses made comments on what a big boy he was and what hair he had! while the doctor started stitching me up (after some numbing shots). I had another second degree tear. After a few minutes she started mentioning that I was bleeding more than I should be, but she kept checking my uterus and didn't think it was coming from there. Still, she and a nurse kept massaging my uterus (which HURTS) and trying to get it to contract faster and so stem the bleeding. I was groaning (and thinking how ridiculous I was to be groaning about this minor stuff after all that pain of delivery) and the doctor kept apologizing for causing me pain, which made me feel bad! She was just doing her job. After a while she pinpointed a laceration that was causing me to bleed. She stitched that up and soon left. The nurses started picking up everything bloody in the room and weighing it all out on the scale. This made me a little nervous. I think the estimated blood loss turned out to be 600 mL, when they like it to be less than 500 mL. So it wasn't extremely concerning but was something they wanted to watch for. Around this time they took Theo to be weighed! He was 8 lb 3.5 oz and 21 1/4" long! I was surprised at how big he was considering he came a week earlier than Paul (39 weeks + 2 days) although I had an ultrasound estimate at 36 weeks that guessed he would be on the bigger side.

At this point I was feeling really awful. I had Michael hold Theo for the next two hours. I felt so sick, weak and utterly exhausted. It was scary. I felt so out of it! The nurse came twice and tried to get me to use the bathroom, saying a full bladder makes you bleed worse. So I tried to get up with her help, but was immediately overwhelmed with dizziness and nausea and I couldn't do it. After the second attempt, she brought me a bag of fluids to see if that would help me feel better. I was freezing too, and shaking, so she brought me three thick, warm blankets, which along with the IV fluids helped a lot. I didn't feel immediately better, but it was like things started to get clearer and I found myself able to stay awake. After about 30 minutes I felt well enough to attempt walking to the bathroom with help. After that, they let us go into the maternity room. It was about 4 a.m. by this point. We finally managed to settle down enough to try to sleep at 6 a.m., but we had a hard time sleeping and then around 8 a.m. all the nurses and doctors and staff started to come into the room and we got up for good. Mimi brought Paul around 8:30. He was so excited to meet his baby brother! His face just lit up. If Theo started to fuss a little, Paul would reassure him, saying, "Don't worry, baby Theo, it's going to be OK."

 

Paul's first look at Theo.

So excited!

Our first picture as a family of four!

Me and my little boys!

So sweet.

Paul wanted to cuddle up close.

I can't wait to see how they bond and grow together!

Dr. Murray, a pediatrician from our practice came in to check on Theo. He noticed Paul and gave him some duties of his own to help check on Theo. Paul had to hold the ophthalmoscope and stethoscope and listened closely to the doctor. 

 

Such a precious moment!

They stayed for an hour or so before heading out. We had so many visitors that morning! My mom, Michael's dad, Julie, Amy, Haley, Ashley, Jean, Joyce, Tommy, Carolyn and Austin all came to see Theo. Michael and I were both very tired, and I felt like I could fall asleep at any moment. Theo was great, though, and hardly cried at all. We were very grateful for that!

Grammy

Papa

 Aunt Julie

Aunt Amy

I unfortunately forgot to get a picture of Haley with Theo, but I did get these cute ones that she took.

Aunt Carolyn

Uncle Austin

Great Aunt Joycie

Mimi

 
He slept well that second night (if you can even count the first night) after an initial rough time from 9-12:30 AM. The rest of the night though we felt like we got some good sleep! We woke up ready to go home! We were able to leave around 12:30 PM, and we were so grateful to be back home. We still can't believe Theo is here with us and we are adjusting well at home!

 

So tiny!

August

August has been wonderful! For one thing, I got the OK to go without the boot on July 31. My doctor seemed surprised at how quickly my ankle healed and thought it might have something to do with my pregnancy. I did a little research and found that it hasn't been studied much, but that there are some ideas about how the third trimester of pregnancy specifically can speed up bone growth -- all the extra blood flow and estrogen help. Whatever the reason,  I am so grateful that period is over. I felt stuck inside because it was too hot to hang out with the boot if I couldn't even get wet. So we celebrated by going to the beach twice that first weekend! I was ready!

You can't really tell, but my ankle is still larger than normal and my calf still a little atrophied. I was in a walking boot and had started walking around without it at home a week and a half before I got the official OK. So by the time it was officially off and I was able to drive and go out without the boot, I was pretty comfortable walking on it.  Oh and this is my 33 week bump.

Paul was so happy to be at the beach! It was such a beautiful day, too!

Continued the celebration with lunch at Flounders. So yummy! And they put us right next to the playground (shown below) and Paul had so much fun playing there!

The week before I was with my mom on my way to pick up Paul from school when I saw this kitchen on the side of the road! The refrigerator door was missing, but other than that it's in perfect condition! It was a great addition to our kitchen/dining room area.

Sophie found my sewing basket.

Paul took a long nap after the beach and we went to dinner with my mom, Jeremy and Flavia at Hummus (new old favorite restaurant!). Paul ate a lot of Flavia's falafel! She was so nice to share with him and I was surprised to find a new favorite food for him. He was still wound up when we got home, but we were tired, so we set up a bed on the living room floor, turned on a movie and got cozy!

The next day we went to the beach with Jeremy and Flavia! We were very lucky to see a group of baby black tip sharks swimming very close to the shore. Paul has been calling himself "baby shark", me "mommy shark", and Michael "daddy shark" lately so he was excited to see some baby sharks, although he couldn't see them all that well.

Paul wore this bracelet he made from favors from my baby shower to school one day. His teachers said he rocked it.

So Target has a new Where the Wild Things Are clothing line and since it is our favorite book and the designs are so perfect we got just about one of everything, and two of several things, between Paul and Theo. I guess they will match some after all!

Paul and I finally got to enjoy the pool! Roger Scott (which is just minutes from our house) has a wonderful splash pool and we have spent a lot of time there this month! I'm still a little nervous to take him by myself, between my belly and ankle, but luckily we have family and friends to meet there once or twice a week.

This is my view almost every morning. Sweet Phoebe doesn't spend the whole night with us, but waits until Michael gets up and then takes his spot to cuddle with me. As long as she is not on top of me trying to wake me up (which does happen often) I appreciate the company.

Paul has been on a s'mores kick this month! We make them in the oven and watch movies while we eat them. For some reason though, he insists on calling them "smurs" and I really don't want to correct it. I think we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas this time, and now he loves that movie. He watches the scene with the song "What's This?" just about every day.

Last month Paul started talking about space quite a bit. His room needed some decor so we decided to go with a space theme! This was the first piece of the room, which we are putting together slowly.

Sometimes you wake up with a cat on your back...

Paul checking out his new classroom with his friend Kate!

Playing in the rain one Saturday morning when Michael had to work.

My sister Jess came to visit for the night!

Sometimes we like to take our WiiU to Mimi and Papa's house and play there. :)

Paul with Tick Tock Croc, his favorite right now! He took him to his allergy appointment for support.

Aunt Julie is a nurse at the allergist's office, so we were lucky to have her get us through everything! Since Paul was 1 we have been going to a doctor for allergies every year. The first and second year he had blood tests done, which showed that he was allergic to peanuts, almonds and eggs, although last year we lost the egg allergy. I had a lot of hope that we would lose the nut allergy this year, and when talking to the doctor, he seemed hopeful as well. This picture is of Julie drawing the numbers on his back for the prick test. It tickled him and I think he thought it was so funny that Julie was writing on him! He did really well for the pricks, too. I told him it would hurt a little, but that it was to help him. He understands that he can't eat nuts so I told him we were hoping he would be able to after this test. After Julie finished, he seemed more confused than hurt, but he handled it so well. (I knew he wouldn't hold a grudge and I'm glad Aunt Julie was the one to do it!) The hardest part was waiting 15 minutes and trying to keep him from scratching his back, poor guy. Julie was great and played with him to distract him, although he still managed to scratch and spread the yucky stuff once.

It didn't take long for us to see that the peanut and almond were flaring more than anything else. The big huge one on the inside of his right shoulder blade is peanut, the 37 is almond, the plus is the histamine and the others were dust mites, cats and something else I can't remember.  It was very disappointing to see how big it was, and the doctor said only 20 percent of kids with that kind of reaction ever grow out of it, and if they do it's very slow, so we won't test again for three years. That takes us into elementary school, which honestly bums me out. I was so hoping we could be done with this! It is not hard to handle, really, and we are so lucky that his reactions have been mild and that we've really been able to keep him from being exposed to it. But as they get older, and are at school and around other kids more and more, you worry more. He knows he's allergic and that nuts will make him sick and he can recognize some things and knows to ask. But I worry more about other kids eating it and then touching him. And I just hate having to notice and ask and sound like I'm being paranoid or something, which I know is silly, but still! I envy those parents who can just give their kids a pb & j! Or even eat a pb & j around their kid! I love peanut butter and I wish I could share that with Paul. But really, I am so grateful he does not have more serious health issues or even a more serious peanut allergy (by this I mean he has never had a severe reaction although one is always possible).

After his appointment we went to Mimi's so Paul could play with Lily. It was a little rainy and overcast, so we played in the sprinklers in the backyard.

Lily's a cutie!

Paul just can't do normal.

Sweet smile from a chalk-covered boy.

Found this cute picture of Michael when he was a little boy at Disney World! I love looking through his old albums. People ask a lot who we think Paul favors, but really, we just think he is such a blend of both of us. It makes me wonder if Theo will look like one of us, like his big brother, or totally different!

Paul on his first day of fall preschool! He had about a week off between summer and fall and moved up to a new classroom with new teachers, although many of his friends from summer were still in his class. I somehow managed to get this picture in between crying fits. He still does not want to go to school but he still has a great time while he's there. His anxiety has lessened and I hope he continues to handle drop-off better and better.

Snack time with Sophie. I just love snagging pictures of Paul and the cats co-existing, since usually the cats run away.

Paul found his Totoro hat made by Krystal and he had to wear it all day! He wanted to wear it to the pool, which I allowed, but he had to leave it in the car to swim.

Paul and Lily have loved going to Roger Scott pool this summer! We were lucky to bump into CeCe with Laurel there one day!

Cute boy ready for the second round of the pool that same day. Unfortunately, they had just changed their hours so we had to change our plans! Still had fun though!

One Saturday morning we enjoyed sausage for breakfast. Paul immediately helped himself to two and ate them doubled up like this.

Pool again! This time for a cousin's birthday party! Have I mentioned how much I love being home in Pensacola, because now we get to spend so much fun time with our families!

On the way out from the party I was loaded down with swim stuff, but I wanted something refreshing. I picked watermelon over lemonade. I have been eating watermelon like crazy the past few weeks! It is my favorite thing right now! I can go through a big melon the size of my baby belly in about 2-3 days, without any help from Michael or Paul.

Paul with his friend Kate at the pool! Mallory (Kate's mom) and I know each other from middle and high school and we're lucky our kids love each other! We've had a lot of fun play dates recently.

My mom's birthday is September 2, so we celebrated a little early with a pizza party at our house. After the party guests had left, Paul got cozy and enjoyed a little chat with Grammy.

Now that August is over, bring on September! It's sure to be an exciting month.