Otto's Entrance and Birth Week

I finally got around to making a video of Otto's first week. (Well, everything but the last photo is from his first week.) His is shorter than Rory's because we didn't get as many pictures taken in the hospital. The funny part is that I had said to Joel that I wanted more pictures and video of the birth and its immediate aftermath, but there just wasn't time!

The story follows, and it's LONG (and personal, but not graphic), so if you want to skip all that and just watch the video, here you go (note that this isn't actually video of his birth but just pictures and some video of Rory meeting him). The song is "Moon River" because that's what I like to sing to him:

To read Rory's story, go here (you'll have to scroll down to "Aurora's Entrance"--for some reason the search isn't working right now, so I can't pull up the single post).

To watch Rory's birth week video, go here (scroll down to "Aurora's Birth Week").

I was due on the 22nd and I suspected he wouldn't come before then, but I was hoping I wouldn't go quite as overdue as I did with Rory (6 days). I also didn't want to have to come in at 41 weeks for hours of appointments (ultrasound, nonstress test, etc.) to make sure things were still OK. A couple of days after my due date and I was starting to get antsy. My water broke with Rory before I had any contractions so I was constantly wondering if it was going to come out of nowhere again.

Friday night I went to bed as usual but started to have some cramping, just enough to wake me up but not so much that I couldn't go back to sleep. I woke up off and on in the night and gradually started to think this might be it. Finally I got up at 5 or so and listened to some Hypnobabies. When Rory woke up a little after 6, I got Joel up and called my mom to come up and stay with Rory. The contractions were pretty regular at that point but not too terrible, so I was able to take care of some things around the house.

Finally around 9 I lay down and started timing the contractions. They were coming anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes, so I wasn't sure about going to the hospital, but about that time they were getting strong enough that I started feeling like maybe I didn't want to go through this whole labor and delivery thing after all.

I still wasn't sure about going in, but Joel was pretty convinced, so he called L&D. They seemed skeptical but said to come in. They hooked me up to the monitors to see how things were going and the nurse was going to check to see how far I was before they called the midwife on call (since it was Saturday, she was at home), but when they called to let her know I had come in, she said she was coming in regardless. It turned out to be the same midwife who delivered Rory and I guess she felt confident that if I'd come in, things were serious! I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed being hooked up to the monitors and watching the contractions this time. Maybe they weren't as bad because it was the second time or I was better able to focus on the Hypnobabies, but it was very validating to see the waves peak and then ebb. When the nurse came back to check the printout, she was surprised at how much I was contracting, I guess because I was pretty calm (go Hypnobabies!).

When she got there, she said she thought I might be in that weekend, and we said we'd hoped she'd be on call (because we had such a great experience with her the last time). When she checked, I was at a 6, so he was definitely on his way.

I immediately got in the tub and it was heavenly. Things started to get a little more intense but not as bad as I remembered...and then my water broke and they got a lot harder. Still, I was managing pretty well.

It seemed like it wasn't very long before the contractions were super intense and I was starting to feel pushy, so I got out of the tub. The midwife checked me and I was only at a 7 (out of 10) and I was crushed. She said the baby would be there within the hour, but I really didn't think I could make it that long.

She came back 5 minutes later when things were starting to get loud and when she went to check again, she didn't have to--she could see the head! They were rushing around to get things ready and I looked down and said "Oh wow!" I was SO happy and relieved that it was almost over. It only took another good push or two and out he came. He was so solemn and quiet, just blinking and taking it all in, and I said something like, "Oh, hi! So that's who was in there! Hey buddy!" He was so calm that they had to pinch his feet to make him cry, poor little guy.

So I went from 7 cm to holding the baby in 5 minutes...no wonder it was so intense! If I'd known I was pushing and he was actually on his way out, I might not have wanted to die those last few minutes when I thought I still had an hour left, ha ha. We got to the hospital at 11 a.m. or so and he was born at 1:25 p.m.

(Apparently the midwife delivered three more babies in the next 24 hours, all boys--must have been something in the water!)

Compared to the first time, this time was faster and easier (except for the last 5 minutes, when the baby was coming out but I didn't know it). Recovery was so much faster this time, too. I also didn't lose a lot of blood like I did with Rory, so I wasn't dizzy whenever I stood up. We were able to check out the next day--I think we were in the hospital for a little over 24 hours. It was so nice to get home and relax without people constantly coming in to check on us.

I don't love being pregnant (except for feeling the baby move), and I don't love labor and delivery, but it is such a magical moment when you get to meet your baby for the first time and he goes from being a great unknown in your belly to this little person in your arms. It's like Christmas morning times a million, and even when the excitement wears off, you still have the best. present. ever.

So that's Otto's story. He's here and we couldn't be happier with either one of our lovelies (well, maybe if Rory would sleep in past 5:30, but other than that...)!