The birth of our boy

     I just realized that my last post was back in January announcing that we were preggers. Well, now that it's October, let me announce that our little boy was born September 25th at 1103 am. His name is David Fenway Wonsch, we're calling him Fenway. Brad's name is actually David Bradley, so we're continuing that tradition, plus David Fenway sounds better than Fenway David. At least to us. Why the name Fenway? Brad is a HUGE RedSox fan, he suggested the names Boston or Fenway as options for our little guy, I was not so keen on the idea, but on the list they went...at the bottom. As the pregnancy progressed, we could not decide on a name, and the early front runners kept dropping off the list, then I had some friends and family that started calling him Fenway just to have something to call him, and the more I heard the name, the more I liked it and the less I liked all the other names. So Fenway he became:) We have come across some very strong reactions to the name, people love it or really, really, really hate it and are very vocal about telling us that:p. But whatev...our kid, our choice.
     So anyway, back to the birth story: With Raelee, she was overdue and I was induced and it took 37 hours before she was delivered, and it was not fun at all. This time I wanted to go into labor on my own and try for no epidural. I had to stop working at 38 weeks, I was swelling soooo bad after 12 hour shifts, it was ridiculous. My hands would be so swollen, it hurt to bend my fingers. My lips made it feel super weird to talk. Not good. Well at 41 weeks, I was still preggers. Due to the blood clotting disorder that we found out I have, I was seeing the specialist every week for BPP's. I called that Monday to set up an appt, they had an opening that day in 1 hour, so I rushed to get Raelee and I ready and out the door. At the appt, Fenway was measuring 9 lbs 5 oz by ultrasound, and the amniotic fluid was starting to get low, so the doctor called my OB, they had a phone conference and it was decided that I needed to be delivered. I was shown the graft and stats on big babys and shoulder dystocia's, and given the choice of just having a c-section to lower the risk of baby being stuck, but I really, really did not want to go that route. So I met my my mom for lunch, then rushed home to pack and head to the hospital for an induction.
     I had cervidil placed the first night to ripen my cervix. Same as with Raelee. The problem I've had both times now, is my cervix likes to stay posterior, so it's really hard to to to do a vaginal exam and place the medication, and it does not feel good at all. Also due to this, when I have contractions, the baby's head does not push down on the cervical opening, so I don't dilate. Awesome.So I started with cervidil, had mild contractions from that, and then the next morning Pitocin was started. Just like with Raelee I was quickly to the max level, and contracting every 3 mins, with no dilation happening. One of my OB's was throwing around the c-section word again, telling me that I really needed to pray and listen to the spirit, it's not worth it if the baby were to get stuck, 9lbs 5 oz US could really be a 10 lb 5 oz baby, etc. I decided that by noon the next day, as long at Fenway was still doing okay per the monitor, if nothing had changed, I would consider a c-section. So that entire day, I was on Pitocin and contracting, didn't feel great, but I was handling it okay. Then that afternoon, the contractions really ramped up. They checked me and I was 4 cm's, Whooohooo! But I still had a posterior cervix. The nurse was able to snag it and pull it to the front. Yes, that is painful. That was done with Raelee too.So now I had been on Pitocin all day and it was time to turn it off. What? So off went the Pit, but I continued contracting throughout the night about every 7 mins. and they hurt. The you can't talk or walk hurt. My nurse checked me again prior to shift change( I always tease her about having magic fingers at work. Her patients go from like 2 cms to complete crazy fast. I was hoping some of that magic would work on me), I was the same and had gone back to posterior. So my cervix got pulled on again. I was on night 2 of no sleep at this point. The next morning at 5 am, Pitocin was restarted. I was still handling the pain okay, but around 6 am, I started having really bad pain in the lower front of my abdomen right over the pubic bone, It felt like a knife was being stabbed into my bladder, constantly, not just with contractions. And the contractions were really bad at this point, but I could have handled that. The other pain though was ridiculous. I asked for an epidural around 715am(I was being nice and waited for shift change, looking back I shouldn't have been that nice lol). Around 830ish, anesth. arrived to place the epidural. I was dying. The pain in my bladder was horrific. They asked if I wanted to be checked prior to the epidural, because I was showing all the signs of transition, and I was like heck to the no, put the needle in my back! After it was placed, I was 9cms and my water broke. It took a good bit for the pain in my bladder to decrease, even with the epidural. I couldn't feel contractions at all, but that pain was still there. It finally decreased enough that I could tolerate it. Once it was time to push, I pushed for 35 mins and Fenway was here. He came out nice and easy, did not get stuck at all thank goodness. The cord was around his neck and once around his body. It was 42 hours from when I first started contracting, to delivery. About 20 hours of that was really painful contractions. Then afterwards I ended up bleeding a bit more than normal, so I was very weak and shaky for awhile. That honestly lasted up until the beginning of this week. I did some research and found out that some women who have stubborn posterior cervix's, can have a really bad pain right above their pubic bone from the uterus trying to get into the right position for delivery, ligaments are having to be stretched that normally wouldn't be during labor. So that explains the pain I was feeling. Also due to the blood clotting issue, I have to give myself a lovenox shot every night for 6 weeks. I can not wait to be over that 6 weeks.
     Fenway's doing well. Breast feeds like a champ, maybe a little too good. He wants to eat all the time. He sleeps pretty good, just wakes up every 2-3 hours to eat for about 30-60 mins. We left the hospital on a Friday, he was 8 lbs 4 oz, by Monday morning he was back up to his birth weight of 8 lbs 11 oz. That's impressive for a breast fed baby. Raelee loves him to death. The first few days home were kinda rough because Raelee had been gone from home for 4 nights and was really out of her routine, so there were some tears and time outs, but she's doing better now. Oh and the night after we got home from having Fenway, Raelee was helping Brad change Fen's diaper and Raelee lost her balance and fell off her step stool, hit her chin on the dresser and bit her lip, inside and out. To the ER she went, had the outside bite glued shut. So that added more excitement to the week. All in all, I think we're starting to settle into being a family of 4.

Fenway at 2 weeks