Dearest Levi Aaron,
It's hard to believe that you've already been in our life for 5 weeks now! As usual, the days are going by too fast, so I want to take a moment to stop and tell your story...the story of that beautiful morning that you joined us and made our family complete.
During the pregnancy, the midwife gave us a due date range for your arrival. We were preparing for you to come sometime between February 6th and February 12th, 2015. Your big sister arrived a week early, so Daddy and I just assumed that you would probably be born closer to the 6th than the 12th. Your 2nd two ultrasounds also predicted that. Well, the 6th of February came and went. I bought a Valentine's Day newborn outfit for you, and the 14th came and went without your arrival! Daddy and I started to get very nervous about what would happen if I went into labor in the middle of the night. We needed someone to be able to come over and watch Lyla on short notice. Grandma Jane (Lyla calls her Gaga) had to come up the last few days in January because Lyla got RSV and needed someone to watch her. Unfortunately, then Grandma got the RSV and she couldn't come back to help out whenever you decided to arrive.
Grandpa Dennis had a delivery for work in the area, so on Valentine's Day he came up to visit and decided to stay for a few days. On Valentine's Day (Saturday) I went to the Mall of America with my friend Ellen and walked almost 6 miles, in the hopes of getting labor started. The only time we stopped walking was for lunch; I ate spicy noodles, once again trying to hurry you along. Still nothing.
On Sunday we decided to take Lyla to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall Of America. She got to go on some rides with Grandpa Dennis and Daddy and I got to walk around a little bit more. That afternoon I went with my friend Sarah Brand to get a pedicure (it's supposed to start labor!). I had already gone to get one pedicure but clearly, the first one didn't work. That night I bounced on the exercise ball while we watched TV. (I also painted my nails...why not?!) I went to bed that night on the couch in the family room because I had a cold and my snoring had been keeping everyone up at night. I fell asleep right away and slept soundly all night...until 3:19.
I woke up suddenly at 3:19 and wasn't sure why I was awake. I got up to go to the bathroom and had a contraction. I realized that a contraction must have woken me up. After going to the bathroom I had another contraction (probably only 2 minutes after the first). The contractions hurt more than I remembered with Lyla, so I decided to go upstairs and ask Daddy to come and sleep on the couch, just in case. He quickly woke up and came down. Before he could get situated on the couch I looked at him and told him to go get dressed. I had a feeling we would need to leave, very soon. Luckily, Grandpa Dennis was still staying with us. Daddy went to tell him that my labor had started. Before Daddy was even dressed I decided that we needed to leave for the hospital. I had my coat on and bag in hand before Daddy even got back downstairs from getting changed. (This all happened within 10 minutes of me waking up.)
We started the short drive to Abbott, right here in Minneapolis. As we got closer Daddy ran the redlights (partially to hurry, and partially because Abbott is in a sketchy neighborhood). I went to check in, when Daddy went to park the car. When I got there I they checked me and said that I was only 3 centimeters dilated. (I had been a 3 for almost 3 weeks!) I told them that I wanted an epidural, was strep B positive, and that my contractions were intense and coming very quickly even though they had just started. They hooked me up to a monitor and found out that indeed, my contractions were 2 minutes apart. Considering all of the factors, they said I could move into a delivery room, right as Daddy was returning from the parking ramp. He brought your carseat and all the bags and seemed nervous! We were officially admitted into the hospital at 3:55am.
Once we got into the delivery room I told the nurses I wanted an epidural. My contractions started coming even more quickly, sometimes right in a row, without a break. They gave me one shot of pain mediation to help hold me over until the epidural could be adminstered. The nurses said that I was next on the list for the epidural, so they moved a chair and started to tell me what I would have to do to get it. (I didn't have an epidural with Lyla and her birth was a really long and painful process.) I had decided that in order to have a better physical recovery with you and less stress, in general, I would get one. My contractions became more intense and I told one of the nurses I had to go to the bathroom (I didn't know that really meant I needed to push!) she checked me and found out it was almost time for you to be born. The midwife told me that if she broke my water I would have you right away. (Yes!! Of course!) So they broke my water and in 3 very quick pushes (about 5 minutes worth) you were born! Epidural free...and much easier than with your sister. In fact, on my third and final push the midwife said I needed to slow down on the pushing. There you were at 5:46am....less than two and a half hours after my first contraction!
I was in shock when I heard your weight announced...nine pounds and 12 ounces! What a big boy!! Daddy said that the nurses asked if I wanted them to wipe you off before holding you and I said, "No, I want him now!" He also said that one of the nurses said you were a "cheesy one"...which means you were covered in grossness, but I didn't care at all. I was so excited to finally see you. Your face was pretty bruised because you were so big and were delivered so fast. (You may have taken your time, but once you decided to make your appearance, you rushed into our lives! Thank you for that!)
I couldn't believe how easy it was to have such a big boy! Before I knew it, we were in the recovery room and your big sister, Lyla was coming to visit you. She squealed with excitement as soon as she walked into the room. She was wearing a blue "Best Sister Ever" shirt and she kept talking in a very high pitched voice when she saw you. I will admit, she was quickly distracted by the "It's a Boy" balloons in the room. As she sat on the bed with us for our first family of four photo, I knew that our family was complete. Daddy and I danced to "One Boy, One Girl" for the first dance at our wedding...which was perfect foreshadowing for our family.
So there you have it, baby boy. That's your story. Our story. It's a beautiful one...February 16th, 2015 a day I will never forget.
Levi Aaron Moe
February 16, 2015
5:46am
9 Pounds 12 Ounces
21 3/4 inches long (which we learned was probably not accurate...just three days later you measured in at 22 1/2 inches)
Love you for always big boy!
XoXo
Mommy
No comments:
Post a Comment