Happy Birthday, Baby Crosby!

After multiple text, emails, and phone calls from friends and family wondering if Crosby had made a healthy appearance into this world, I have finally found a free moment to sit down and update the blog...and my handsome little man is already a week and a half old! My sincere apologies for such a delay in his birth announcement!

Crosby Quincy Curtis

Born on Friday, February 7th 2014

9:11 PM, 8 lbs 4 oz, 20 inches

12 hours of labor, 10 pushes!

Crosby's labor in some ways was very similar to Carson's - started at the same time of day, (Carson 8:30 AM, Crosby 9 AM) and lasted 12 hours, both ending with just 10 pushes. But in other ways, it was a completely different experience!

I had had a week of "prodromal labor" which had left me utterly exhausted by the time we made it to that Friday. Contractions around the clock had kept me awake most nights, and by the time I made it to the hospital for the induction, I was looking forward to an automatic epidural and escaping any feeling in my body for a little while. And maybe even a few naps on and off as I waited for the baby's arrival!

We texted all of our family to let them know that we had arrived at the hospital, and eventually got a text back from Ryan's mom saying "I'm at the hospital too - I had my appendix out last night!" We also later learned that Ryan's family dog, Jessie, had passed away that same day. Between those events, and trying to fix our septic situation back at the house, Ryan did his best to keep his head in the baby game!

As soon as my doctor arrived, she checked me to see how dilated and effaced I was. I thought for sure after a week of intense contractions, I had to have progressed passed 3 cm and limited effacement...no such luck! I asked my doctor if she could try to break my water before she started pitocin, in hopes that it would kick start my prodromal labor into "for real" labor without needing the powerful labor inducing med. She tried her hardest, but was unable to access what she needed to in order for my water to break. 

Next she started the pitocin, and asked how long I wanted to wait before requesting an epidural. I said, wait? I have to wait? They put the order in right away, but just my luck, someone needed an emergency C-section, and the anesthesiologist quickly became otherwise occupied. I had about an hour of pitocin inducing contractions that rocked my world until I was relieved finally with an epidural. More power to women who choose to go without pain meds...but I am not one of them! Shortly there after, my water broke on its own.

While waiting for an epidural, they began pumping me full of saline, standard procedure for an epidural/pitocin combo.  6,000 ml of saline to be exact over the course of my entire 12 hour labor...I thought I was swollen and puffy before I arrived at the hospital...wait until you see how puffy I became over the course of labor! Luckily, most of the puffiness went away within 24-48 hours of Crosby's birth, except for my elephant size cankles...I would say as of today (a week and a half later) they are finally shrunken back down to normal size! I do wish I looked a little more dashingly beautiful in my post birth photos like most celebrities do following the grueling birthing process...but alas, I digress :) 

Lets get this party started!

Last photo as parents of only one kiddo!

So from about 10 AM until 8 PM, I felt like I just relaxed and enjoyed the ride! I snoozed on and off all day (I was exhausted when I arrived at the hospital!) watched some Olympics on TV (score for perfect timing of the start of the games with my labor!) Chatted it up with our awesome nurses, and visited with my mom who spent much of the day at the hospital with us helping us sort out our septic contractor issues! (THANKS, MOM!) I also ate a bunch of cherry Italian ice, which you will note on my lips in many of the pictures! :)

Both our nurse and doctor said that my contractions and Crosby's heart rate were textbook perfect through out the entirety of my labor, which was great news as pitocin can often be touch and go during inductions. Eventually around 8 PM, I had reached 10 cm and was fully effaced and it was show time! This is where things played out quite differently between my two labors! With Carson I remember having lots of adrenaline, lots of cheering and coaching from Ryan and nurses, the mood was GO GO GO! With Crosby, I was so sleepy I literally started dozing off in between contractions. My doctor was tied up with some other critical situations that evening in labor and delivery, so no one seemed to be in any rush to have this baby, including myself! 

Pushing kind of went like this:

Nurse: You are having a contraction, do you feel like pushing?

Susie: Nah, I am kind of tired, I think I will sit this one out.

Nurse: How about this one?

Susie: Alright, I'll give this one a try!

After about 8 pushes throughout 15 or so contractions, the nurse called my doctor into the room, and after two more relatively easy pushes, out came Crosby! The first thing I noticed was how blue he was! I don't remember Carson being that blue! Next we waited for him to cry for what felt like an hour...but was probably more like a minute...nothing...literally five minutes later all we heard were small whimpers, not big cries. The nurses began cleaning him off and vigorously rubbing him and massaging him, and he finally let out a big scream! What Ryan will tell me later was that Crosby had the cord wrapped around his neck multiple times! This most likely caused his blue color and lack of deep breathes immediately following delivery. 

And the rest is history! Here are some raw and beautiful pictures capturing such a special event!

Hi, Baby!

Finally a scream!

So nice of the nurses to round up to 8 lbs 4 oz!

Welcome to this world, Crosby!

Happy, tired, and puffy Mama!

I know you!

 

Getting pink!

First bath!

Swaddled...our favorite state of being!

Its cold out here, can I go back in?

Proud Daddy!

Crazy to think that Crosby weighed more then 2 lbs heavier than Carson at birth...its like a whole different type of baby to handle! He has very long fingers and very long feet. Perhaps he will have some Moffitt height just like his Grampa Moose! His feet are so big that they did not fit on the stamp pad for his footprints, therefore his toes do not appear on his birth record!

Big feet just like his Mama!

Because Crosby was born after Carson's bedtime, Carson came to meet his new baby brother first thing on Saturday morning. It was super cute as Crosby was resting in his hospital bassinet which is above Carson's eye level. So when he walked into the hospital room, Carson was so confused as to where this infamous baby was! Carson insisted on bringing a birthday gift to Crosby (a yellow ducky rattle) and Crosby returned the gesture by gifting Carson three new trains (Henry, Gordon, and Edward) for Carson's already massive train collection, which made Carson's day! He wanted to hold Crosby (so cute) which lasted for all of 30 seconds before he announced that he was ready to go to music class with Grammy. Grammy was able to get a few snuggles in before they had to leave. Overall, it was a great introduction and debut between big and little brothers!

We stayed at the hospital from Friday to Sunday, and enjoyed bonding with our boy, as well as visits from lots of friends! On the last night we were there, the hospital served as a "stork dinner" which was delish! I had filet minion, and Ryan had scallops! It was so romantic, especially since Crosby slept through the whole thing! 

Hi Debbie!

Future friend, Mason with his parents, Michelle and Darryl

Friends Jess and Stephanie (hiding from the camera!) meet Crosby!

Fabulous final dinner!

Eventually it was time for us to leave the hospital. The going home outfit I packed for Crosby barely fit him! Loved his elephant hat though...

And with that, we were off to start our lives at home as a family of 4! Special thanks to my mom for taking such great care of Carson while we were at the hospital, it was so comforting to know he was safe and secure while we took our time getting to know our new little guy!

More posts to come about our first week home when I find a few free moments of time...Ryan goes back to work tomorrow and Grammy leaves on Thursday! (eeeeek!)

38 Weeks - Final Weekly Update!

A lot has gone on this past week, too much to fit into my normal blog format! In fact, this will be my last weekly blog update before Crosby is born!

I went to my 38 week appointment this past Friday which lead to some unanticipated events! My blood pressure was measuring high, I was very puffy and swollen, and apparently my reflexes (when they bang your knee with the hammer?) were not up to snuff. This caused my obgyn to be concerned about pre-eclampsia. She decided to send me upstairs to labor and delivery to be monitored for a few hours and have some labs done.

Before I went up, she checked me and determined that I was still 3 cm dilated, and had not progressed much in the effacement department either. She explained that if I did end up having pre-eclamspia, I would be induced this weekend, so she might as well strip my membranes to get the ball rolling. So she did! And it hurt…a lot…

I went upstairs and was hooked up to the fetal monitor for about 2 hours. During this time, I started having mild contractions which were apparent on the screen. All of my labs came back normal, and my blood pressure eventually dropped down back into the normal range. They couldn’t discharge me until they confirmed that Crosby had a normal resting heart rate…the only problem was Crosby didn’t feel much like resting! For the entire two hours I was there! My doc eventually gave me the ok to head home.

So with the threat of early induction off the table, it was time to wait the 24-48 hours after a membrane stripping to see if I went into labor. Into labor I went…but not in the way you might imagine! I started a vicious cycle known as “Prodromal Labor” which by definition is:

1. “Pre” Labor that may begin hours or days before active labor.

2. Contractions may feel like Braxton Hicks but sometimes they can be much stronger.

3. Unlike true labor, where contractions usually become longer, stronger and closer together, prodromal contractions are irregular in duration, length and intensity.

Basically, I have had contractions, sometimes extremely painful ones, around the clock since last Friday. Today is day 6 of wondering if it will ever develop into the real deal! Last night, my contractions were so strong and painful and about 7 minute apart that I thought for sure we would be heading to the hospital.  But alas, they eventually tapered off.

In general, I would consider them mild to moderate in intensity, and occur between 15 to 30 minutes apart…all…day…and…night. Needless to say, I am exhausted, as sleeping has not been great! Having had my membrane’s stripped on Friday, my mom ended up flying in this past Saturday, which has been amazing. Not only has this allowed Carson the opportunity to warm up to her prior to our hospital stay, she has been a huge help while I have been feeling less than human these past few days! Thanks goodness I stopped working last week…I am not sure how I could have managed!

I called my doctor yesterday just to give her an update on my perpetual labor, and she recommended that we move my induction date from Tuesday February 11^th, to Friday February 7^th. I will be 39 weeks that day, and my doctor feels that a week of almost full blown labor physically and emotionally is enough! So we have a new potential birth date! 2/7/14! A good date, as 2 x 7 =14! In less than 48 hours, Crosby should be making an appearance….eeeek!

Some other crazy things have happened this week while I have been on the verge of legit labor. Some of you may remember when I was pregnant with Carson, our septic system blew back into our house and flooded the basement, less than 24 hours from when we were to go to the hospital for his induction, thanks to a crack in the septic pipe that lead from the house to the leech field. HORRIFYING! The septic people made the repairs while we were at the hospital. Well…Wednesday night, I decided to take a bath to try to calm my crazy intense contractions, and when the tub was draining…the same exact thing happened again! Septic water spewing back into the basement in the same manner! Poor Ryan was up until 1 AM cleaning up. The septic people came first thing this morning, and determined it was just a simple blockage, so we are now all set. Phew! But unbelievable that it happened yet again right before our child’s birth!

The other crazy event this week was the huge snow storm that occurred today. We were projected to get about 14 inches! I think we ended up with around a foot. Ryan worked from home for the day, and Carson’s daycare was closed so Ryan, Susie, Grammy, Carson, and Chomper were all snowed in together…and survived! For once I was actually willing the contractions away, instead of hoping that they ramped up into active labor. The last thing I wanted to do was make my way to the hospital during the storm! Luckily, the contractions stayed pretty calm and manageable today.

So there you have it! Ryan and I are scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 7 AM this Friday! We hope to keep everyone in the loop via the blog as things progress…here’s hoping for productive labor that results in a healthy baby in our arms! 

Last Bump Pic!