So, for those of you who have hung on for about 15 years waiting for me to post again, I thank you. I am currently attempting to switch my blog to my new(ish) Google account (megan.judkins@gmail.com) but have as of yet not been successful. I may have to give up and create a whole new blog, I will keep you posted of this progression.
This leads us to the reason/topic of today's post. 3 months ago, after I gave birth to my second son, my sister in law advised me to write everything down so I wouldn't forget. Which I never did. But I am now in order to save that precious event for posterity. I refuse to kid myself that my sons will ever care much about these posts, but I know I will treasure them forever.
So, as many of you know, my second baby was a "honeymoon" baby. We found out we were pregnant with him about 5 weeks after we were married. What a crazy idea that was! During my pregnancy, I was horribly ill with morning sickness while also trying to complete a very difficult rotation during grad school. That was a rough semester. Unfortunately, I am not one of those nauseous pregnant women who cannot eat anything. In fact, I am one of those who must have something on her stomach at all times in order to avoid the nausea. This is not good for the pregnancy weight gain (a whole other post!). But, fortunately, the sickness did subside by the 11th to 12th week of pregnancy and I was feeling mostly myself again.
We found out we were having a little boy just before Christmas. My original plan was to keep it a secret from family and give them all a Christmas card telling them the sex of the baby to open on Christmas day. Unfortunately, I ended up going to the mall with my mom the same day we found out and simply could NOT RESIST picking out a few little boy clothes. So, sadly, I caved 6 days before Christmas and told every0ne. We had picked the name Ethan Russell, Ethan because it was the only boy name we could agree on, and Russell after Thad's dad.
As my pregnancy progressed, I became increasingly uncomfortable, tired, grumpy, and whiny. I love to remind Thad of those days and reminisce about how pleasant I was during the last trimester. I believe he has blocked most of those memories out. I remember Ethan being a very active baby and always constantly on the move, much more than Zach. I had A LOT of rib pain during the last trimester and remember feeling incredibly uncomfortable at all hours of the day. I longed for him to be born just so that I could get comfortable for a few minutes!
So, grad school progressed nicely. My last rotation was, interestingly, my prenatal rotation. This presented challenges on many levels. I was often tired, huge, and distracted while talking with patients and struggled to get myself to engage in many of my counseling sessions. Additionally, I had to give some pretty tough news and explain potentially devastating situations to a lot of pregnant women. Most women do not mind having a pregnant counselor, many in fact appreciate that someone identifies with them. However, it can be upsetting to see a hugely pregnant woman sitting before you when talking about possible problems with your own baby. I had a few patients ask me what I would do in their situation which was very tough. I so often remember thing, "I am so thankful I am not in that situation." I often think that experience was a "trial by fire" but I loved doing it and wouldn't have changed a thing. I presented my graduate thesis on April 15 and finished up my last assignments 0n Friday, April 29. I went home for the weekend and finished up a few last minute baby things and was looking forward to a week of relaxation before the baby came. He was due May 11.
On Monday, May 2, I had an early midwife appointment. I had been avoiding going to the midwife before this because I was afraid I would find out that I was dilating which would cause anxiety and stress about completing my school work. In other words, ignorance is bliss, that is my motto and I will never change. At my appointment, I found out that I was dilated to 4 cm and had a bulging bag of waters. In the words of my midwife, "It feels like you're in labor!" I wasn't though, I was actually quite comfortable and relaxed. We decided that perhaps I should just come in in a few days to have my water broken (if I hadn't already gone into labor) to induce since we were all terrified of having a baby in the back of the car. We only live 5 minutes from the hospital, but it was still a very real fear of ours. I had teased Thad about brushing up on his emergency delivery techniques for the entire 9 months, but I wasn't serious!
So, after we were finished with the exam, I got up from the exam table to find a small puddle where I had been sitting. I ran to tell the midwife who tested the puddle and confirmed that it was indeed amniotic fluid. My water had apparently started to leak after my exam. It was then that I knew: today is baby day!
As I still wasn't actually in labor, I called my mom and told her to get on the road, she left within 10 minutes of my call. I am so lucky to have such a great mom! She's been present at the birth of all 3 of her grandchildren which is just amazing. I went home to finish cleaning the house, putting together the pack n play and the nursery, and to take care of a few last minute details. One of Thad's coworkers was actually having a baby shower that day which I had made some yummy butterfly sandwiches for, so we ran those up to his work for her. It was an interesting day, I think Thad was waiting for me to explode most of the time, but he was a good sport about moving the couches out so I could clean under them.
My mom arrived at 3 to watch Zach. Thad and I headed off to the hospital. They admitted me and my midwife came in to chat about my birth plan. They broke my water at about 5 pm, always an interesting sensation, and then things really started to pick up. I had originally asked to sit in the big water tub, but they couldn't find the correct pump. They put me in the regular bathtub, but about 30 minutes later, the nurse came to tell me my tub was leaking into an ultrasound room below me and that we had to move to a different room. Fortunately my contractions were not difficult at this point and I saw the humor in the situation. We moved to another room and tub, but sadly, the tub really was not big enough or comfy enough to offer much relief. Instead I opted to lay on my side in bed. I had tried to do some of the pain relief techniques that they always suggest (yoga ball, walking, different positions, etc.), but none of them really worked. Things were getting intense, FAST, and at a certain point I was just hanging on for dear life. My midwife had warned me previously that I would get to a point where I didn't think I could handle it anymore and when I got there, I only had about 20 minutes left before the baby was born. I was so glad she told me that! I just kept telling myself that and before I knew it, it was time to push. It was such a relief to finally be able to do something instead of just feel pain. After 12 minutes of pushing, little Ethan was born and he was absolutely beautiful! He was born around 8 pm, three hours after my water had been broken. He had a lot of fluid in his lungs so they had to suction him out, but after that we got to have skin to skin contact and he started nursing right away like a champ. He weighed 9 lbs even and was 22 inches long. It was such a wonderful experience and I am so thankful to my midwives, mom, and husband for being so supportive of me.
After he was born and checked out, we headed down the hall to our postpartum room. My mom had left to get Zach and my dad. As I was rolling down the hall holding Ethan, Zach appeared around the corner. The moment I saw Zach was when the floodgates opened. I'm honestly crying right now as I type this! It was incredible to have my big boy come see his new baby brother, I hadn't really cried up to that point, but I was just so happy to have my boys together!
We spent our first night in the hospital and Ethan pooped like a champ, ate a bunch, pooped some more, you get the idea. We were able to head home around 6 the next evening to have dinner with the family and get settled. Thad had made a birthday cake for Ethan so we could all relax, have cake, and enjoy our new baby. As Zachy and I sat on the couch holding Ethan, he asked if we could get another little brother. I told him we'd talk about it. :)
Ethan Russell Judkins
First Bath
Brothers!
Tiny baby feet
Proud Daddy
Poppy and the boys
1 comment:
awww, what a sweet story! I love it! Need updated photos please!!!
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