Baby Hank' Birth Story

On Friday, June 24,  I went to the dr. He told me since he stripped my membrane, last Thursday, June 16, and nothing has happened, I probably won't go into labor on my own. He scheduled my induction date for July 5 at 8 pm. Cue wa wa  noise. I was pretty disappointed and quite scared of birthing a toddler size baby. 
(see my annoyed face?)

 Like any desperate pregnant lady I started walking. I even tried jogging in the park just to speed things along. I asked Boyd if it looked weird and his response was a funny look and a snicker followed by "you just look pregnant"

Don't get me wrong, I actually loved being pregnant. Pregnancy allowed me to drink as much milk as I wanted to without the after effects. Pregnancy allowed me to eat peanut butter without getting sores in my mouth. It was like some of my weirdo allergies didn't exist while I was pregnant. Pregnancy meant I could eat dinner, then second dinner and not have to worry about looking like a pig (because, hey, I'm pregnant) not to mention I didn't have to suck my gut in for pictures.

We have been so grateful for our little Chicago miracle baby

BUT

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

So I walked (waddled) at far and as fast as my pregnant self could.

We walked around the museum of science and industry, the park near our home, the bean, navy pier, the lake, our little apartment, the grocery store, and to and from the hospital.

Things we did the day before I went into labor:

1: went to the mall to walk (waddle) around

2:went to babies r us

3:went to buy buy baby

4:walked around IKEA.

5: Came home and decided to put the crib together, randomly, at 10:00p.m. Even though we had the next week to put it together, because I wasn't being induced until July 5th, remember?

We went to bed at 1:30 that night

At 3:00 a.m. My water broke

I thought I was having a dream and I wet the bed, so I went pee, but this was the real deal. I waited for contractions but I couldn’t feel anything. So I told Boyd my water broke. I came back from the bathroom to find these cuties fast asleep.

Went to the hospital at 5:30 a.m.
The sun was already up and shining.

Seeing Boyd put the car seat in the car was when I had that "our lives are never going to be the same moment"

By 7:00 a.m. I was  dilated to a 5.

I only cried once that day. It was when the nurse told me "you are going to have a baby today" It all became so real at that very moment.

Apparently I have been having contractions but didn't know it the whole time. I thought only the horribly painful ones were real contractions. You know, the ones where your muscles get so tight from your belly button to you pelvic bone, that your stomach flattens out and it looks square and almost as if you are not pregnant from your belly button down (Apparently those weren't contractions) The midwife asked me if I knew I was having a contraction and I honestly did not feel a thing. She kept telling me I was having another contraction, but I would just give her a blank stare because I apparently have no clue what a real contraction feels like. Oh well. I guess that's a good thing.

I forgot to mention, it was raining.

I spent the morning texting my mom and sister and drinking tons of ice water, because that's what pregnant Allison does. I could never get enough water.

(what do you call a 3 hump camel? . . . Pregnant)

By 9:15 the "where are you?!?" and "why are you not at church" texts started rolling in.

Dr. Mcdermott came in to check on how things were going at 10:00 a.m. He was hoping I was dilated to at least a 6 since I was a 5 at 7:00. Apparently I'm posterior and was actually only at a 3! The midwife that checked me this morning did not know I was posterior and didn’t check me the right way. A 3! BOOOOOOO!

Dr. Mcdermott could sense I didn’t like pain. I could hardly stand getting checked to see how dilated I was. So he wanted me to get an epidural first and then he would start the Pitocin.  

10:15 Dr Chookaszian made a special trip to the OB floor just to do my epidural. Boyd had worked with her during his anesthesiology rotation and she promised she would be there for me. She gave me a huge hug and moistened my lips with lip balm. Haha. She talked me through everything and made me feel so calm. Boyd held my hand while I was getting it and my nurse Janey (who is super nice!) held my arm to comfort me because I was nervous. I heard the the Lidocane shot is the worst part, but it wasn't bad at all! Maybe I'm a little desensitized from all the dozens of shots and needle sticks it took to actually have this sweet baby.

Dr Feel Good (Dr Chookaszian's) gave Boyd advice: if anyone comes to visit they can only stay 15 minutes, because both of us are too nice to tell them to go away. She was a doll and made me feel so comfortable. We are so grateful for her.

Getting an epidural is the best thing ever!!! My back had been hurting the previous 8 months (sharp horrible pain) I finally felt some relief and it felt so good!!! The nurse kept checking in and asking how I was doing. I kept telling her how much I looooved the epidural and she would chuckle every time. I probably told her 10x how good it felt to not have my lower back pain. 

Boyd wasn't feeling great. He might have gotten food poisoning from the day before or he is just really nervous...

After the Pitocin everything was smooth sailing. I was able to nap almost the entire time. Nurse Janey came in to flip me over from side to side and put a peanut shaped ball between my legs. It worked like a charm and everything went according to their plan. Boyd even got to watch soccer and we threw around names like Garreth, Landon, and Beckham. 

I pushed for 2 hours and 10 minutes. 

Did I mention the epidural was the best thing? Let me say it again, getting an epidural was the best thing ever. I started out great. When they told me it was time to start pushing I got so excited. At first I thought to myself, "this is easy." That lasted for a good 20 minutes or about 10 rounds of pushing. Pushing for 2 hours was way harder than I could have imagined. I was able to give it my all during the first two pushes per contraction, but by the third push I was completely exhausted. Thats why getting the epidural was the best. I was so relaxed that I was even able to fall asleep between contraction cycles. 

The next time I have a baby, I need to work my arms out. I ended up breaking a bunch of blood vessels in my arms, shoulders, and face from pulling so hard on my legs. 

At 6:10 p.m. We had our beautiful baby boy!!!

I have waited for this moment for so long it felt so surreal.

Boyd kissed my forehead, said "you did it!" and skipped off to cut the umbilical cord.

Then he got to hold his baby boy for the first time.

Our good friend Emily (who is an OBGYN) came to be with us. Shout out to Emily who took all the AMAZING pictures of us with Hank. Boyd had the camera out and as soon as Hank was born she grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. I'm so grateful for Emily and for the priceless moments she captured! Holy moly! We didn't talk about it beforehand but I'm so glad she was able to capture these tender moments. Emily is awesome (to say the least) She coached me along and knew just the right things to say. The Dr that delivered me threw off my groove. He would stand there for the first two pushes and then walk away for the third. I totally thought I was doing something wrong and thats why he was walking away. But Emily helped me to know that I was pushing the correct way. (Like I said, Emily is the best!) She was so sweet and fed me ice between pushes.  If you know me, you know how much I love chewing ice. It was like a little reward for pushing so hard!

Boyd loves telling people that Hank was born with a mohawk. 

Boyd was the best. It was his motivating "you got this" or "that's it!" And encouraging words that really motivated me at the end when I felt like I was way too tired to push. 

Two things I noticed right away about Hank: 

1 - He had a really deep cry. It wasn't ever high or shrill. It was a really deep masculine cry. 

2 - His hands were HUGE! 

His big feet didn't even fit in the little box.

The next 2 days were bliss. Being able to snuggle my sweet sweet baby was so dreamy. 

I love watching these two together.

Boyd was the best and made sure I had plenty 
of ice water the entire time.

Something that took my by surprise was how hungry I was the next day. For breakfast they brought me an omelet, a bagel, and some juice. As soon as that plate was put down I wolfed it. I apologized to Boyd for the ravenous sight he had to witness. Holy cow. Why didn't someone tell me I was going to be so hungry? After I ate breakfast, Boyd went to the cafeteria and came back with a breakfast sandwich, a plate of fruit, and some snacks. That lasted a good 2 minutes before they disappeared. The rest of the day was spent snacking on cheetos and drinking more water. I ate lunch, then second lunch. By dinner I wasn't so ravenous. I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life.

My parents were able to fly out Tuesday morning and came to the hospital by Tuesday afternoon

 April and Allie May came to visit us. April is the best friend anyone could ask for. Just that afternoon Boyd asked what I wanted and all I could think about were Cheetos. Cue April who came to visit and what did she bring me? Cheetos. She rocks. 

I didn't get a good picture of Hank's going home outfit. Boyd and I bought this outfit 7 years ago. We had been saving it and turns out, Baby Hank doesn't even fit new born clothes! It was so tight we had to pull it off as soon as we got home. 

We came home and Hank met Lily Roo. She doesn't get near him very often but she is a guard dog and follows us from room to room. She used to nap all the time and now she stays awake all the time to guard us and at night she is just exhausted. She is so sweet. 

We love our baby Hank and are grateful for this precious little bundle of joy we get to call our own.