Logan Andrew's Birth Story

Yes, Logan is now here!! He made his arrival on September 9th as "scheduled." Here's how everything went down...

**WARNING: I try not to be graphic, but I also want you to realize that I don't water things down and this could be a little too much information for you if you aren't comfortable with that kind of stuff...**

(the following takes place on)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th, 2009

MIDNIGHT
John and I arrive at Norman Regional Hospital to get checked in for our induction. As we pull into the parking lot (and we got a VERY good spot), I notice another car pulling in beside us. I jokingly told John that they were probably here for induction as well. Come to find out, they were. Anyway... We get up to the desk and sign all the papers and they put us in our room (3516 - which I really think is the room we had Brayden in, but I can't be sure). I get the gown on, use the bathroom, and get all "hooked up." John and I are both already kind of tired (it IS midnight, you know), but my adrenaline is keeping me going. The nurse checks me and verifies that I am still at one centimeter and goes ahead with the Cytotec (a little pill thingy that is used to soften the cervix and get contractions going). This is a three dose thing that will be done every four hours and THEN we'll start the Pitocin. Almost immediately contractions get regular - 3 to 5 minutes apart - and I'm breathing through them conciously. It's not really HARD, but it is uncomfortable, and I'm having to remind myself to relax. The nurse keeps telling me to get some sleep, but with the monitors on my belly, I just couldn't really get in a comfortable position. Finally I turned on my iPod and for some reason, that really worked, and I went to sleep by the 2nd or 3rd song. So I slept off and on until about 6:30ish...

6:30 AM
My nurse came in to check my progress... By this time I was about 4 cm and she was going to put in another dose of Cytotec, but decided that she should call Dr. Waterman and find out if maybe we could just go ahead and start the Pitocin. She comes back in a little later to let me know that we are gonna just go with the Pitocin and checks me again... This time while she's checking, Logan kicks and my water breaks. Meanwhile, I'm still having fairly hard contractions and decide that maybe I DO want the epidural at this point. So I tell my nurse that and she calls the man with the relief. He gets to my room about 7:30ish. The actual putting IN of the epidural is NOT fun, but I survive by reminding myself that it's gonna make things a lot easier. I ask him to not make it very strong, but he says that he always starts it at a "set" level and then later, if I'm not liking it, he can up it or back it off. So I settle with that answer.

8:15ish am
Epidural is in, Pitocin is running, and I'm feeling pretty good - but the epidural has made my legs kinda more numb than I'd like (at least I'm not feeling the contractions, though). John has been up for a little bit now and is waiting for the room to clear so he can take a shower. In between people in the room, I tell him that I can feel things changing and maybe he might wanna go ahead and get in the shower. So he starts getting all his stuff together for his shower and heads in there. I call Mom and let her know that I am doing pretty well and still think it'll be around noon when Logan comes.

8:30 am
The nurse comes in to check me right after John's gotten into the shower. She informs me that "there is a little lip of cervix left... OH, wait, nope - it's gone. Time to push!" Um. Okay. So the scrambling begins right as I'm thinking - yeah, I think she's right, I can feel the pushing sensation coming on. I ask the nurse to let John know; I call Mom real quick like to say they better hit the road. As I'm on the phone with her, I get the urge to push, so I hang up quickly. I notice John's out of the shower and dressed with a kind of dazed look on his face - like "is this really happening RIGHT NOW?"

8:45 am
Dr. Waterman gets there to "catch" Logan. Seems like the room is full of people. There are two nurses at the warmer, two more for I don't know what, my nurse and Dr. Waterman. Plus John. And me, of course. My legs are still SUPER numb so they have to lift them up for me. The nurse lets me know that I'm having a contraction and I can push... I kind of had this thought of, "Well, I can't FEEL the contraction, but whatever - sure, I'll push."

8:51 am
So I give one push and Dr. Waterman says, "Well, there's the head!" Seriously??? So one more push and wham, I have a baby on my tummy. I'm shocked. Completely and totally. First, I really didn't think I'd have Logan so early in the day. Secondly, I never in my wildest thoughts would've imagined him coming out in TWO pushes (John says it's more like one and a half, really). But I come out of my little shocked world when I hear them ask John to cut the cord... I piped up and requested that I get to do it. John's done it twice and I kind of wanted to get to see what it was like. So I awkwardly cut Logan's cord and then they take him to weigh and measure him. He's 7 lbs, 13 oz, 19.5 inches long and got an 8/9 on his APGARs. He looks JUST like Tyler.

9:00 am
I get Logan back to nurse him. None of our family has made it to the hospital yet because everything happened so quickly. John and I actually get about an hour with Logan - just the three of us. John gets a few pictures and a little cuddle time. I'm still sitting there in shock.

10:00 am
The nursery nurses come to take Logan and give him his first bath. Neither family has arrived yet!! I'm kind of not wanting them to take him, but we have no idea how long it'll be before everyone gets here. So I turn the precious little bundle over. And wouldn't you know - everyone gets there like 10 minutes later. They all go to the nursery to watch Logan get his bath. I get reports that Logan did NOT like the bath at all.

10:45ish am
Logan comes back and the pass-around begins. Brayden is actually the first one to hold him. He is a VERY proud big brother. Tyler on the other hand is tired and is just sitting on my bed with a very worried face. I ask him what's wrong, but he doesn't answer. Finally I ask him if he's scared and he nods yes. I ask him if he's scared that he's gonna get taken away - he nods and repeats, "Taken away" in the most sad, pathetic little voice I've ever heard. So I let him crawl up beside me and I cuddle him so he doesn't feel left out. About this time, Andy & Amy show up with Paige & Abby - and a Papa John's pizza!!! They all get to see Logan and Brayden & Abby run around the room. It's a riot in there, I'll tell ya.

Noon-ish
Tyler is now sleeping on me in my bed (as is Logan). Everyone else takes off to eat some Braum's for lunch. I enjoy my Papa John's and the peace and quiet.

4 pm
The boys are getting restless and are getting in trouble more often than naught. So Greg & Rhonda start packing them up and take them home. Mom & Dad head off to walmart to get some stuff and get us some dinner.

6 pm
Mom and Dad leave and it's just John, Logan and me. We all just have a nice peaceful night of watching tv and cuddling. It's been a long day, but a very, VERY good one. I can't believe I'm the mom of THREE boys.