Baby Alex!

I figure I should write about the birth of my second child, Alex! He was due the 28th. That day came and went. I had a doctor's appointment that day and the doctor asked if I wanted to set up an appointment to get induced the following week. I declined because I figured I would have him in the next few days. Well, the next few days came and went and still no baby. At this point, I decided to take up walking in hopes of helping him come out. The first day I took Anna and walked 20 minutes. It wore me out! I camehome and just had to sit the rest of the morning because standing for too long just makes my legs so tired. The next day I did a half hour by myself and the only result was no baby and a tired me. The day after that was Sunday and I didn't walk. Then Monday I did a 45 minute walk with the same results. Tuesday we went to the park. Dan played with Anna and I walked for 40 minutes. The next day the same thing.

On Monday, I realized that maybe I should make an appointment to get induced. Wednesday I went in and they did a stress test, which I passed. I made an appointment for Thursday to get induced. Here, you get put on a waiting list and when a bed opens up at the hospital, they call you and you come in. So I didn't know what time they would call on Thursday, but I was 4th on the list, so I figured it wouldn't be too early. Well, at 8 am they called! We hurried and got ready and dropped Anna off at Logan's house.

We got to the hospital. It took a while to get everything set up in the room. They didn't start the pitocin until almost noon. I was having contractions before, but it was just in my stomach and I didn't feel any pain. So then we waited...and waited...and waited. It took a long time for the pitocin to take effect. The really annoying part is you can't eat when you're getting induced. They told me to eat light that day, so I didn't eat much for breakfast. So needless to say, I was starving the whole day! I actually snuck some crackers in, that Dan had with him. I just couldn't take it. I was SO hungry.

After like 4-5 hours of nothing, I was really starting to doubt my decision to get induced. Dan was worried about it in general, but I felt fine about it. Whenever I prayed about it, I felt peace and so that's why I went ahead with it. But when it didn't seem to be working, I was getting worried about having to have a c-section and all that. Around 5 or so, I finally started getting contractions that hurt. They kept getting more intense, so I requested an epidural. When I came in to the hospital at 9 am, I was dilated to 4 cm. After all this time, I was only at a 7. Around 8 pm, my water finally broke. At this point, despite the epidural, I could REALLY feel the contractions. The nurse told me to start pushing a little during contractions to help me get more dilated. I slowly got up to a 10 and the contractions were killing me. I would hold Dan's hand during them. Afterwards, he told me how much his hand hurt each time. Oops. :)

I finally got to the point where I needed to start pushing. I kind of wanted to up the dosage on the epidural, but the nurse pretty much convinced me not too, so that I could be able to push. In hindsight, I should have because I'm not going to lie, it was the most pain I've ever been in. The worst was when he was almost out, but still in there and in between contractions when I wasn't pushing, it was still killing me. But I made it through and out he came after 30-45 min. of pushing! Alex was a big boy. He weighed 8 lbs 12 oz!!! The first thing the doctor said when he came out, was, "That's a big baby." Anna was 8 lbs 2 oz, so I guess in general I have big babies. But that extra week really helped Alex gain a little more.

It's now 1 1/2 weeks after and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm nursing and this little guy is a champion nurser. After he got all cleaned up and we held him, I started to nurse him and he latched on right away! I was so surprised. With Anna, the first time didn't really work. He just loves to eat. I hope he doesn't get huge really fast. I don't know if my back can take carrying around a huge baby.

I've gone to the gym twice now and it felt great. I was able to a lot more sit-ups than I thought I would be able to. So I'm going to get my my six pack back soon! :) Also, I'm pleased to say that I can fit into all my old jeans now! I didn't think it would happen this fast. Sure some of them are a little tight, but I can button them! :) My shirts are another matter. One down side to nursing is that you get bigger and things are just tighter. And a lot of them are not compatible with nursing. Oh well, a small price to pay in the long run.

Me and my little guy at the hospital.

Sweet little Alex.

Not exactly the best picture, but it's so hard to get a good one of a newborn. I should also mention that this little guy has red hair! Just like his sister. I was really, really hoping for a redhead and am so glad I got another one!