So, as you can guess from the title, our little dragonfly has joined us (finally!) Although there was MUCH less chaos and drama surrounding his appearance, the experience had just as great of impact on our lives as our other two babies. Our mighty God has used each of our kids to minister to us and others, and Allan is no exception. I'm so happy to be able to sit here with my hubby and one year old, playing with playdoh and snuggling my 4 day old baby on my chest as I write the story of baby number three's journey to join the world. I'm so utterly, completely, wholly blessed.
Let's start the story at my due date, Wednesday February 25th. I was SOO huge and SOO pregnant and by week 40, I literally had given up on him ever coming. I had stressed for weeks over when he was going to make his appearance. At around 37 weeks, I thought he was going to be coming any day. My body felt different, my instincts were kicking in, and all our nesting was done; I was just so ready. Every day after I was at 37 weeks seemed to crawl by. I was a ticking time bomb, and it was exhausting to wait. Each week I would come back to my dr appointment and have some progress but still no guarantees for how soon it would be. Even though I was getting very impatient, we decided against any medical intervention to deliver him early or before he was ready. So no amniocentesis, pitocin, or planned cesarean section for us. Instead, I hobbled around praying that he would come when it was the right time and that my wonderful dr would be able to make it to the delivery. She is absolutely the most amazing dr I could have ever asked for, and I'm so thankful God placed us in her care when I had Lillian. To have an incredible caregiver at such a devastating time meant more than she'll ever know. She made sure to be there for Evan's delivery as well, but it was hard on her schedule, so I was hoping that this time would be easier for her.
I also prayed that I could at least run into our favorite nurse from Lillian's delivery. She took care of me and walked us through the entire process of our c-section, and she introduced us to our sweet angel baby. Fast forward to Evan's delivery, we got the call that Evan's ultrasound was abnormal and showing that he had an enlarged umbilical vein. We all decided that it would be best if Evan was born a few weeks early as opposed to waiting it out. In order to see if he was healthy enough to come out, I needed to go into the hospital for an amniocentesis. When my nurse showed up to take me back, of course it ended up being our amazing nurse from last time. I know God had placed her there to comfort us and let us know that He was with us and ensuring we got the best care. I go on this random back story to tell you about this incredible experience with baby number 3. Along with my prayer that Allan was healthy and that there would be zero setbacks, and that the timing would be perfect for my doctor and she would be able to make it, I also prayed that we could at least see our favorite nurse. I wanted her to know how we still think of her and show her that we have another healthy boy on the way.
Okay, back to being 40 weeks pregnant. I went in for my dr appt on my due date, and everything looked great and Allan was measuring perfectly. My dr told me in my appointment that since I was basically dilated enough and was at term, I could go in to the hospital and just have my water broken. I wouldn't need pitocin (unless labor never started after my water broke). Brian and I had talked and said that it would be best if we let Allan come on his own, but if labor hadn't started by Monday, we would go in. After my appointment, I ran to the grocery store to get some last minute stuff so our house would be stocked for my mom and Evan while we were gone. I wobbled around with a one year old and a big 'ol preggo belly. The cashier asked me when I was due and I replied, "today". She was shocked and told me she hoped it doesn't happen in the car! Lol! I think she thought all the sudden you just go into labor spontaneously and without warning right on your due date. I finished checking out and packed our groceries up, then grabbed some lunch on the way home. By the time we got home, Evan had slept most of the morning in the car so I knew naptime was not going to happen at normal time. We ate our lunch and then my notification went off that our local PAT group was meeting in half an hour. I decided, what the heck.. let's just go. We finished eating and then packed back in the car to go to Evan's playgroup. Had I known that I was going to go into labor that night, I may not have pushed myself so hard that day, but by then, I had given up that Allan was ever coming. I thought I was just going to be pregnant forever! Real dramatic, I know, but I was getting so discouraged. We went to playgroup and read a book, made some crafts, and played with playdoh. I visited with the ladies and told them I would be back in a couple weeks. Even if I hadn't gone into labor before the next playgroup, I just couldn't get out anymore. It was too much work! We went home and relaxed the rest of the night and waited for Brian to get home.
I started having uncomfortable contractions that evening, and before long they were regular and coming about 4-7 minutes apart. I messaged my mom to let her know it may be tonight so she could be ready to come over and watch Evan. I wasn't quite ready to go in since my water hadn't broken, and my contractions weren't consistent for an hour yet. However, we did pray together that we would know when the time was right to go in and that everything would go smoothly once we did. Not a half hour later, I started bleeding. I was so scared that something was wrong. I told Brian what had happened, and he told me that we were going in. I stood there staring at him and started trembling. I was so scared that something would come up yet again, and all I could think of was if my baby was safe. Brian calmly told me everything was fine but that we were going in. Luckily, I had already told Brian to pack the car up, because I had figured we were going in eventually that night. We waited for one of our moms to show up and then headed to the hospital to get checked out.
Once we showed up and got checked in, they took us to a triage room so they could monitor baby and contractions and then make sure there weren't any problems. The resident determined that the bleeding was just from normal labor, and there wasn't a threat to baby. I was so relieved! She agreed that it was good that we came in, since bleeding could indicate a problem, and there was no way to know without seeing a dr. She asked us what we wanted to do, and we agreed that since we were already there, we wanted to have a baby! I was in early labor, but it didn't seem to be slowing, so they talked to my dr, and I'm sure she was super relieved to hear we were going to stay. She was just as determined for him to be here as we were.
We got to a labor room around 1:30 am on feb 26th, and Brian started unloading our bags. I had steady contractions that progressed me along, and I was so glad that I wasn't needing any extra help. Finally, a labor/delivery that I had expected! Everything was going as planned. Morning rolled around, and though I know I rested my eyes some, I never really slept. My nurse came in around 6:45 am, and Brian had asked her how much longer she'd be there. She said she was off at 7. It popped into my mind to ask her about my favorite nurse and if she still worked there. She replied, "Oh yeah! She is such a sweetie, she still works here. Actually I think she works today." She told us that her charge nurse was working on schedules and asked me if I wanted to see if she could schedule her in our room. I said, "YES!!" I was as excited as I possibly could be while having painful contractions every 5 minutes or so. Our favorite nurse walked into the room almost with tears in her eyes. I felt SO relieved that I would be having this baby under the care of such a loving, Godly woman. She came to give me a hug, and I would have hugged her a little tighter had I not been mid contraction. I knew then that everything was going to be perfect. I had my hubby by my side, a perfectly healthy baby on the way, a wonderful nurse who was going to take care of us, and my doctor would join us when it got closer. God is SO good!
I will finish Allan's birth story with a second post. This was a lot longer than I had intended.
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