Labor and Delivery With Baby Harper

On Tuesday May 29, 2012, we planned on inducing. Just two days before my due date with still not much discomfort from pregnancy at that point just swelling hands and feet. Up to this point I had still been sleeping pretty good but I knew I was anxious about the delivery and excited so I went ahead and took one Tylenol PM to make sure I got a few hours of sleep the night before. I made Trevor take some too so he would get some rest as well. We only took half a dose because I was scared that knowing our luck after we both took something to sleep that my water would break or something. All I could think of was Father of The Bride II, if anyone has seen that! We went to bed around 9 or 9:30 Memorial Day night. Trevor slept until the alarm went off at 4:30 but I of woke up at 2AM ready to go. I knew it was probably going to be a long day ahead but I was wide awake. After Trevor woke up we got ready to go to the hospital.

 

I was told to be there between 5 and 6AM. We got there around 5:15. As soon as we got there we were taken to our room L&D #7. They basically walked us to our room did some paperwork while I was changing and my IV with Pit was started by 6AM. Everything started so fast. I was one of 4 inductions that day. I was the first one there besides a scheduled c-section that they had already started on, so they were trying to get everything with me started before the other ones came in.

We got settled in the room and my parents got there around 7. Trevor’s parents went in to work to get everything opened and started up and they came to the hospital around 10 with his brother, Justin.

The week before at my appointment I was 3 cm dilated so I was thinking that everything would progress faster due to that but I was wrong! The doctor came in between 7:30 and 8 to break my water. Even after that I still was in no real pain. Dr Simmons came back in around 10 and there was no change. He came in again around 12 and I had only dilated 1 more cm. Part of the reason it was taking so long was every time they would increase my pit drip the way it was supposed to be (which is doubling it every time they increase it) my body didn’t like it that much. My nurse came in after she got it to 8 and had to bump it back down. Instead of it making my contractions stronger it was just making them closer together. It was almost like I was continuously contracting, which is not good. So every time she would turn it up a little later she would come back in and cut it back down. I went ahead and got my epidural around 11:30 not because there was a lot of pain just some pressure that was annoying. I knew that if it was going to take a while then I wanted to be somewhat comfortable. After my epidural the only complaint I had was I was starving. I only ate two pieces of toast that morning and they wore off long  ago. Finally around 1 that afternoon I started progressing about a cm an hour and the pitocin quit making my contractions crazy and they called me in active labor at this point. The doctor came and checked me about every two hours. Dr. Simmons got finished seeing patients at 5 that afternoon so Trevor and I were already preparing ourselves for him not being there when the baby was born. He came in around 5:15 and I was 8 cm by then.   He said he would be back to check me right after 6 then hopefully we could get this show on the road. It meant so much to us that he was sticking around to deliver baby Harper. At 6 he came back in and I was 10cm. He left out of the room and the nurse came in to set everything up. I started pushing around 6:30 and at 7:13 Harper Benjamin Lobdell made his appearance.

He weighed 7lbs 4oz and 20 inches long.

Trevor did so good. He really impressed me. So many of his friends were making bets that he would pass out because he is not good with blood at all. He stood beside me the whole time and held my hand. He even watched a little. As soon as the doctor said here he comes, Trevor  will tell you he might have gone a little overboard with all the pictures that he took. But I would never say that about pictures. There are so many more pictures from the day but I will just put them on facebook. 

The day after Harper was born my preacher Brother Mike came and prayed with us. Trevor hated he missed him but he had just ran home to shower and let the dog out….

On my due date May 31st we got discharged around 11AM. It was a little scary leaving the hospital with him but we managed. His outfit swallowed him but we still put it on him. We had to loose the hat though because it was ridiculously big.

                            First car ride. He did good!                              First of many diaper change at home!

The cake my parents had waiting on us at home

We are so overwhelmed with joy having him home with us. Thank you to all the visitors and sweet meals we have received since being home. Pretty sure we have only cooked one time in the last two weeks, which is amazing. We are so in love with our new addition.

My Last Few Weeks of My Pregnancy and Our Amazing Family

The last few weeks of pregnancy really haven’t been too bad other than swelling feet and hands. I am still sleeping the same. I only wake up usually once in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and take some tums. So still sleeping. I have been waking up earlier than usual though. On the weekends I used to sleep until around 9 now I wake up at 7 or 8 but still feel rested. The last few weeks I have been training a few new people at work for when I am out on maternity leave. They are doing great. Even though they don't think they can do it on their own I have faith that everything will be fine.

On Tuesday May 15th, at my 38 week check up I still had not dilated at all. Harper looked good though. I was a little discouraged, not because I was uncomfortable and wanted him to hurry and come out, but because I thought that some progress should have been made by then. The very next day, Wednesday at the end of work around 3:30 I started having some contractions. I was watching the clock to see how far apart they were and they seemed to be about every 5 minutes.  I called Trevor on my way home and told him about it. I told him I was going to go home and take a shower and relax for a little bit to see if they would stop. At this point Trevor, I think started freaking out. After my shower I only sat down for a few minutes before Trevor said are you still having contractions….when I said yes he said lets go. I was in no pain except a little back pain but I wanted to get checked just to make sure everything was ok, since it had been going on for 3 hours now. After I got to the hospital they hooked me up to the monitor and my contractions were coming about every 3 minutes. They checked me as soon as we got there and I was 1cm dilated and 50% thinned out. After laying there for another 2 hours I had dilated another cm to 2. Even though my contractions were still the same they weren’t getting any stronger. The nurse told me I was welcome to stay there and walk for an hour to see if they got stronger or I could go home and do the same. I had not eaten dinner yet and was starving so I decided to go home and walk. The nurse said I will probably see you back here later on tonight or tomorrow having this baby. On the way home we stopped to pick up dinner and went for a walk around the neighborhood. Of course neither of us slept much, Trevor a little more than me though. I felt pretty good the next day, very tired and still having a few contractions but not very consistent. After a few days and everything calmed down we knew Harper had changed his mind about coming out.

On Monday I went back to my normal routine and went to work.  On Wednesday I had my regular 39 week appointment and I was anxious to hear what Dr Simmons had to say. The first thing he said when he walked in was I thought you were going to be back before now. Trevor and I both said us too. When he checked me I was 3 cm dilated.  After talking to him about our options we decided to induce on Tuesday morning, May 29th. I will be two days out from being 40 weeks at that time. We are so excited to meet our baby boy.

I said that I felt like a teacher at the current time because my last day of work was this past Thursday and I will not go back until I believe August the 20th. I know that he can come today or tomorrow but if not, after 9 months we will see our little boys face on Tuesday. Exciting and scary all at once.

Last Saturday we had already planned on planting flowers at the house. I have been swelling a lot so my mother-in-law and mom said they would come over and do it for me. We went and bought the stuff to do it on Friday and they came on Saturday to do it all for me. I am not good at letting other people do things like that for me but for once I knew I couldn’t have done all that on my own. They did such a wonderful job. Here are a few pictures of all their hard work…..

 

Doesn’t it look pretty? I said well I will be at home a lot this summer to water all of these flowers!!

This past Wednesday, the same day as my doctors appointment my mom came over at around 10 that morning and started cleaning. She cleaned this house so good. It smelt so good when we came in. She cleaned baseboards and windows and all. I couldn’t believe it but she was still cleaning when we got home from the appointment at around 5:00. These were left in the kitchen as well…

So…now when we come home next week we will have beautiful flowers outside and a clean house. Trevor and I are so blessed to have the help and love  that we do in our lives. My next post will be after we have our little one!!! 

Harper’s Nursery

I waited a long time before starting on it due to our house being on the market. So it has just come together this past month. I didn’t want to fix it all up to just take it all down but we couldn’t wait any longer. Now that it is all put together I am not in any hurry to get out of here. This is our little boys nursery…we still have a few things to do in there but not a lot.

 

 

 

I still have to get a green lamp from my parents house for the dresser, a monogram of Harper’s name or a big big newborn picture for above the bed, a few picture frames, and a rug. After all of these things it will be complete but it is good for now. I am happy with the way everything turned out. Now we just need our little one to enjoy it.

Maternity Pictures

A few weeks ago Trevor and I went to Railroad Park and took maternity pictures with a photographer named Lyndsey Cunningham. She did a wonderful job. This was also # 24 on my 101 list to get pictures  done by a professional photographer. Here are a few of my favorite pictures that she took…….

          

       

      

More Baby Showers

A few weekends ago  Trevor’s friends Justin Morris, Justin Yarbrough, and his brother Chad had him a diaper shower at his parents house. It was so nice of them to do that for him. We got tons of diapers. He has blessed to have such great friends. They played cards, played pool and ate yummy snacks. Of course they didn’t take any pictures. I asked him before he left to go over there if he wanted to take the camera but he said, “I am sure I won’t take any pictures, so there is no need”. Such a boy for you.  After we got home we stacked all the diapers up and took a picture of them….

While Trevor was at his shower with the boys Marcie and Carter came over to hang out with me. They came with lots of goodies that Carter has already grown out of. Hopefully the next time we get pregnant we have the same sex baby again so we can share stuff. Maybe I will get pregnant first next time so I can return the favor.

That next week the wonderful ladies at my office gave me a shower there. It was so nice of them to do that for me. They had it after clinic one day and had it decorated so cute. Trevor’s mom and my mom came as well. They gave me such wonderful gifts. Here are a few pictures from the day…

Trevor and I are both so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. We are so thankful for all the love we have received  in this special time in our lives.