Brodys birth

I realize that I didn't blog at all about my pregnancy, but I don't want to forget anything so I'll break it down. When we found out we were pregnant we didn't tell many people. Curtis even waited almost 8 weeks to tell his mom. The fear of another miscarriage was enough to keep us quiet until we had an ultrasound. Once we saw and heard that little heart beat, we were shouting it loud! This pregnancy was a lot like Kalyn's... no morning sickness, just a little tired. I felt good! We found out we were having a boy in October. Although I was secretly hoping for a girl (cause I already had girl stuff) the idea of a boy was exciting! The rest of the pregnancy was rather uneventful. I ate what i wanted, didnt gain any weight. Never got sick or felt nauseas. Had good energy and was enjoying my pregnancy, until 37 weeks... I started itching all over my body. Not bad at first, I noticed it, but it didn't bother me too bad. Within 3 days it got to the point where my WHOLE body was itching and I couldn't stop scratching. When i say my whole body... i mean my whole body. Head, feet, fingers, in between my fingers, EVERYWHERE! I moved that weeks appt up 2 days so I could ask the doctor about it. I had done some googling and thought I knew what was going on, but I needed to get the doctors opinion. Without me even bringing it up, the doc mentioned Chloestasis... (that's what I thought it was) and said we needed to get my blood drawn to be 100% sure. I did so, only to find out that the labs had to be sent to Mayo and could take up to 4 weeks, at this point I was almost 38 weeks and it didn't make much sense to do it. (Its also a $1000 test) I went to the doctor 2 more times that week to have the baby monitored and to have an ultrasound. There was a small chance that the Chloestasis could affect the baby negatively, so the plan was to keep a close eye on him and me. Friday the 21st they decided to schedule an induction for the next Tuesday. I was MISERABLE and the only was to make the itching stop and not put the baby at risk was to deliver... so that was the plan. Sunday the 23rd Kalyn and I went to church and then Curtis met us so we could go get some maternity pictures done. While we were there I started having contractions. Nothing serious, maybe 2 mild ones in 30 minutes. We finished up and headed home. By the time we got home I was having them every 5 minutes, but they were still fairly mild. Not wanting to risk delivery at home (Kalyn came fast) I decided to call the doc. She said to wait an hour and see if they got stronger. I took a bath and laid down and they slowed way down. Sometimes every 5 minutes, sometimes 15 minutes. Around 9 pm we decided to go to bed. Once I laid down they started coming every 15 minutes consistently and we're getting more intense. I got up, washed the dishes, watched TV and tried to relax. At midnight I decided to lay down again. At 1 am I woke curtis up and told him it was time to go. Contractions were coming every 5 minutes and they were pretty painful. We loaded Kalyn up and dropped her off to my dad. We got to hospital and got checked in by 2 am. As soon as we got to our room I asked for pain medication, I didn't want an epidural but I knew I needed something to take the edge off. She put me on the monitor and got it ordered. It took over an hour for me to get it. By 3:45 I was asking of an epidural, the pain meds didn't even touch the pain and my contractions were coming fast and hard. I didn't even have to time to relax after one and I'd feel the next coming. She wanted me on the monitor so I couldn't even stand and try to walk them out. With Kalyn in was in bed for about 15 minutes my entire labor. They let me shower and walk to get through and only put me on the monitor a couple times to keep track of her. This time was so different. The anesthesiologist came in around 4:15 and I got my epidural. Ahh... instant relief! I finally caught my breath and was feeling darn good.... and then it happened. Curtis took his grandma to get some food and my mom went to the waiting room. I just started to doze off around 6 am when I felt a contraction. Nothing too bad, just a little uncomfortable. Then I felt the next one a little stronger than the last... within 10 minutes it was like I had never even gotten the epidural. They gave me more around 6:30, nothing. They tried giving me more at around 7:15, still nothing. The midwife came in around 7:30, checked me and broke my water. As soon as she did I started feeling the urge to push. She left, they called her back 5 minutes later and it was go time. I started pushing at around 7:45 and Brody was born at 8:01. They put him on my chest for just a minute while they clamped and cut his cord, I was warned that they had noticed some meconium when they broke my water so the NICU team was there to check him over as soon as he was born. I held him for just a minute before they passed him off to be checked. He passed all the tests with flying colors and was breathing well! A beautiful healthy baby boy. 7 lbs 9 oz (exactly the same as him sister) 21" inches long! I can't believe I'm going to say this, but in the end I'm glad the epidural wore off. I was able to feel the contractions and knew when i needed to push and when I could back off and take a breath. I felt every inch of him come into the world. It was a totally different experience from Kalyn's birth, but it was a good one. They say that typically deliveries are faster with each pregnancy, "they" are wrong. I'm calling his an 8 hour labor and Kalyn came in 6 hours... so they are big fat liars. He's already stubborn like his momma and big sister, he came when he wanted... not when the doctors said! He sleeps all day and barely eats, at night he wants to stay up to eat and party all night long. It's made for a rough first three nights, but it's worth it... We're all in love! Curtis started talking about the next one just hours after Brody was born... let me promise you this, if we do have another one, it will NOT be anytime soon. I think I would be happy as a clam to just keep the 2 we have, they are perfect!