{Becker's Arrival:: Part 2}

Once we got to recovery, we were able to enjoy Beck and he was pretty sleepy.

We asked pretty soon if we would be able to send him to the nursery (this hospital, I think, is one of the last in this area that has a nursery option) so we could catch a few winks of sleep.  

John dozed and I held Beck and I think around 6 or7am they were able to take him.

John continued to sleep well on his cot-bed, and I slept for maybe 2 hours then woke up STARVING!

I had a delicious breakfast and then shortly after they brought Beck back in our room.

They had given him his first bath, so he was all cleaned and bundled up like a little package!

We still had not technically named Beck.  Mostly we were waiting to tell Chase first.  The birth certificate lady came into our room and we asked her to please come back the next day.

A funny story about his name: For the last several months of my pregnancy, Chase had it in her head that the baby's name was going to be Nelfin.  We have no idea where she came up with this, but told everyone when people asked.  As we were getting ready to leave for the hospital, John asked her if she knew what the baby's name was going to be.  She said yes, Nelfin!  And John said, no...his name begins with the letter "B" and he sounded out a "B".  

She thought for a minute and then said, "Belfin"?

Still NO!!!

We had fun calling and talking and web chatting to different family and friends throughout the day and just spending quiet time together.  We never turned the tv on...it was so nice and relaxing. 

Around lunch time our pastor came to visit us.  He was so kind and brought lunch for John (hint: that is a great idea if you are going to visit someone in the hospital b/c I got served lunch, but John would have to go down to the cafeteria, and he did, but said they didn't really offer much and the hours were strange)

So John scarfed down that sub!  We had a really nice visit with our pastor.

Then around 3:30 our dear friend that was keeping Chase brought her over to meet baby Beck for the first time.  They made a stop in the gift shop and brought a beautiful flower arrangement (that's still alive)

She let Chase come in alone at first so we could have that moment with Chase and Beck.  Chase was very hesitant and a bit unsure of him at first.  She was much more enthralled with her new toy that was bought for her.  She also had not napped for 3 days and was getting sick.  

After she spent about an hour with us, she started to warm up to him and asked to hold him and gave him some kisses.  After our friend left, we had some sweet alone time as a family of 4 before another sweet friend came to pick Chase up and take her home with her.

It was sad when it came time for her to go, Chase asked if we could all be going home.  That made me sad.  But I think overall she did well.

We slept off and on through the night.  We sent him to the nursery from about 8:30-1 or so.  That was nice to get that chunk of sleep.

Daddy and Chase picked out a really pretty necklace for mommy with Beck's birthstone in it

Daddy said that was a lot of fun to pick out jewelry with Chase in tow!!!!

...and Chase NEVER mentioned beforehand about a necklace to mommy

Friday was another quiet day.  We'd decided that we wanted to be discharged sometime late Friday because we wanted to get home to be with Chase.  So we started by letting the doctor's know at about 8am...good thing we told them then as it took over 12 hours for it to happen!  

Beck had a full day...he had a hearing test to take, and we wanted him circumcised, and then various other things had to happen.  

John got to watch the circumcision.  It sounded pretty gruesome!!  Glad I wasn't there!

Here's Chase with her new necklace that Beck gave her, as well as the dress

As the day wore on, we were hearing that Chase was getting sicker and sicker.  We had planned that she would stay with our friends that had her overnight because she was sick, to keep her away from the baby.  But as we were awaiting discharge, we were told that she was starting to have some of her wheezing issues that she's had 2 other times this winter.  Eventually, they had to rush to our house to give her her breathing treatment, and we got home about 10 minutes after they did.  

She was asleep and sounded awful and they said she sounded so much better than when they'd gotten there.  I was so thankful she was with these friends because they have a child with breathing issues and she's a nurse.

So, we were immediately thrown into caring for these 2 little kids.  It was a bit much to happen so quickly.  Thankfully there was a parent for each kid.  John cared for Chase all night and slept in her room and I had Beck in our room, caring for and feeding him all night.  

Thankfully we made it through the night.

We decided Chase better go to urgent care to make certain that she was ok and the Dr. on call before we left the hospital said they wanted Beck to be seen on Saturday to have his bilirubin count re-checked because he was on the cusp of having jaundice.

So off went Chase and John to the clinic as I was getting ready to leave shortly behind them to go to the same location...

I'm going to stop there for now...too much info!!!

{Becker's Arrival:: Part 1}

Here is the story of how little Beck came to be:

I woke up Wednesday morning (3/14) not feeling too well; feeling achy and crampish...

I had a feeling that following these feelings would come a baby!  Or so I hoped.

Normally we go to Bible Study on Wednesday mornings, but decided it best to stay home, in jammies, and snuggle down with my little girl, knowing that these would be our last alone moments. 

I was able to do a couple of loads of laundry, finish last minute packing decisions, and get all the childcare lined up.  It was a true blessing the way this all came about. I had been so stressed about how Chase's care would all come together, and in the end, everything was lined up just perfectly.  I called everyone involved and told them that I thought the time would be soon, not sure of how soon though.

Around 2:00pm, I started feeling stronger cramps, which after this happened for maybe an hour, I thought, maybe these are actual contractions (but I'd forgotten how they felt and they weren't painful)

So around 3:00 I decided that maybe I should start timing them.  They were getting slightly stronger, to the point where as the hour wore on I called John and told him he needed to wrap things up at work and Chase was starting to wear on my nerves awfully quickly.

I called my OB and spoke to her nurse, I told her contractions were about 7 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds for 2 hours.  Usually they advise waiting to go to the hospital until they are 4 minutes apart lasting 1 minute for an hour. But because I wanted to try having a VBAC(vaginal delivery after cesarean), they wanted to be able to monitor me closely so they had warned me not to labor too long at home.  She thought I should probably head over soon, but not hurry.

John got home about 4:30 and meanwhile I'd gotten in touch with the C's who would have Chase overnight, and Mrs. C was able to pick Chase up on her way home from work around 5:00, perfect!

John and I decided to walk around the neighborhood a bit.  Up to Monday of this week I'd been dilated to 3cm, so even though laboring for the day was slow and easy going, I had no idea where I'd be once I got to the hospital to be checked.

About 5:30 we hopped in the car and drove the 20 minutes over to La Jolla.  I made some phone calls along the way letting a few know what was going on.  Still unsure of how things would play out, they could easily send us back home.  When we got there, they stuck me in a little room, checked my cervix, told me that I needed to have changed since my last check.  I had been at 3cm on Monday, when the nurse checked me I was at 4cm, so I won a ticket of admittance.  They did all the behind the scenes stuff, put me in a luxurious labor and delivery room, got me iv'd (which was almost the most painful part of this process and blood squirted everywhere, I could tell even though not looking), hooked up the fetal monitor and the contraction monitor...they basically told me that I needed to be hooked up to the monitors the whole time (I think they considered me high risk due to my age and the VBAC thing).  So once I knew I couldn't move anymore, I decided to get my epidural.  That was probably about 9:00pm.  The anesthesiologist came pretty quick, and got started.  Again, I must say, the poking here about did me in.  I remember with Chase the dr. was calm and gentle and I don't remember it hurting going in.  This dr. hit some nerves and seemed to take forever and it (again) was not a favorite part of this process.  Up to this point my contractions were not that bad.  But I knew that things would get worse, and really needed to have an epidural just in case I ended up needing surgery.

Next the midwife broke my bag of water.  Now the contractions started coming quicker and stronger.  One of my concerns of getting the epidural so quickly was that it would stall labor.  But in this case it did not.  At 11:30 my cervix was completely open and thinned so it was time to begin pushing.

Now, let me say, this pushing is serious business and is not for the faint of heart.  Literally.
I was doing serious mental battle the entire one hour and 20 minutes.  I think of myself as a strong person, but that pushing really kicked my butt!  I have never exerted so much energy in all my life, resulting in what felt very unrewarding because I couldn't tell that anything was happening.  The midwife had told me that until his head came out of my pelvic bone, he was just scooting down in tiny increments and then on the off contraction would kind of scoot back up.  UGH!  Disheartening!

At 1:20am, finally his little big head came out.  Then it was smooth sailing from there.  After a few more minutes/contractions, his little big body slid right out!  The funny thing that happened when they pulled him out was that all the amniotic fluid that was around him came crashing out as well.  I mean, like someone took a gallon bucket of body fluids and threw it at the midwife.  It seemed like a large amount of fluids!!  She looked like a crime scene gone bad by the end of it all.  Amazing!  Whoa did that feel better once he was out.  He cried pretty much right away.  These days they don't bathe them until at least 4 hours after birth, so they just wiped him off and wrapped him in a blanket.  I got to hold him for a while then they took him to the other side of the room and weighed and measured him and did the APGAR test.
He scored 8/9.

I was pretty surprised at his weight.  8 pounds 7 ounces, 20.5 inches long.  That is a full 2 pounds more than Chase weighed.

The midwife got me all fixed up, I was able to eat a snack as I'd not eaten in 12 hours...and life went on!  It was so very different than getting a c-section with Chase.  I'm so thankful that it all worked out and that I was able to experience that once in my life.  I think!

At this point they wheeled me/us to a recovery room on a different floor.

I will stop my story there for now.  I know that was long, and maybe no one is interested in it, but I wrote it out mostly for my sake so as to not forget it all!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

I haven't gotten there in the story yet(to you I haven't even started the story, but I have begun a draft), but Chase ended up at our Children's Hospital Saturday morning with breathing problems...

She has now been diagnosed with asthma (vague term), but at least we have a daily preventative medicine routine...

Because she's been sick, we have kept the 2 kids quarantined from each other as best as possible...this morning was the first time she's held him since meeting him in the hospital...

Baby Becker has Arrived!

We are so thrilled that baby 

Becker "Beck" William Hatcher 

is here safe and sound!

I have pictures that I want to post and tell how his birth process went, but I'm also trying to balance the rest of life and sleep when I can.  It's hard to decide what to do when!!!!!

Sooooooo.....in the meantime, you can see my sister-in-law's blog post about him.

{In Full Bloom}

I decided for posterity's sake, I'd better have more than one photo of myself pregnant this time!

So, since I was actually dressed in something other than stretchy pants and had make up on 

(both at the same time), thought this was the moment.

Chase had two birthday party's to attend this weekend.  After the second one, we went to an open space in our neighborhood that is just like the country and very tranquil.

[So tranquil that a gang of about 8 boys were there about to have a paintball war]

These were the best of the group!

I think Chase looks like a darling girl, getting so grown up.  I fear she is really about to grow up before our very eyes in the next months as a new little one is around.

She is so very excited to meet her "baby brudder".  

I keep reminding her of what will happen once I go to the hospital.

She is constantly talking to him, rubbing and kissing my belly, asking if he is moving or sleeping...

I think she will be such a sweet big sister.

But we continue to wait...not knowing when he will make his appearance!

**I went to the NP this morning and nothing has changed.  She told me to talk to my OB on Thursday about "what the plan is" now that I'll be overdue...

::Week 39::

I've made it to week 39!!!  Hallelujah!

This week I've taken it a bit easier...normally we are gone most of the mornings...to school, visiting friends who are sick, socializing, or Bible study.  Then we rest in the afternoon.

But I decided this week we wouldn't run around quite as much.  Yesterday we took Chick-fil-A over to John's work and had lunch with him, as he was having a meeting that would run late into the night.

Today I had a coffee date with a girlfriend while Chase was at school.  She had a baby about 6 weeks ago so we were catching up on life.

This afternoon some sweet friends who had a baby less than 2 weeks ago kept Chase for me while I had my OB appointment.  They have a 2 year old also and needed a play date for him.  After my appointment, I came home and rested.  That was a treat.

Tomorrow we have a birthday party to go to...as well as Saturday!

At my OB appointment, I learned that nothing much has changed.  I'm still dilated to 3 cm and he is healthy and happy in there.  And I'm ok with that.

While at my appointment  I saw a woman pregnant with twins and she was very, very, very pregnant and I asked how much longer she had and the nurse said like 2 months...she looked so uncomfortable, like she could hardly walk, sitting looked awkward, I can only imagine laying down...so, as terrible as it sounds, I've been renewed a bit.  It could always be worse and more uncomfortable!

I am truly thankful for a healthy baby boy, who is being monitored very carefully...and he will come out when he is ready to come out!  I take for granted that things have gone so well.

So, I'm just gonna sit tight, continue to take it easy, enjoy the sleep that I am getting...and WAIT!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

...Just an Update...

Hello!

I thought I'd just check in with ya'll!

Not much happening here...I am 38 weeks pregnant...

My friend that was due 6 days before me had her baby boy on Sunday night, so I was a bit jealous about that!!  I got to talk to her yesterday and she assured me how different #2 is.  She said she is so much more relaxed and enjoying him and not freaking out about every little thing.  So, that is great news for me!

Not much has changed in a week, I am still 2cm dilated and 75% effaced.  

I have my 2nd OB appt. of the week this afternoon.

Everything is still looking good and he seems to be awfully cozy in there.

I think we just about have our plan for Chase all ready.  That has been nerve-wracking. 

I have her bag mostly packed, but not mine.

And, today I'm going to get my hair done...so that is good news for future photo taking!

John and I are planning a night out tomorrow night.

He was a bit hesitant, but we need a last hurrah, don't we?

Hope ya'll have a great day wherever you are!!