Connor Jace

So Connor was due on February 24th. We decided if he didn't come by March 2nd we were going to induce. I had my last doctor's appointment on Monday, March 1st. I was 3 cm dilated. That night I had lots of contractions. They started coming about every 10 minutes but never really got any closer. We headed to the hospital at 6am the next morning for our induction. It was so strange going to the hospital not being in active labor. Everything was so calm. We got there and got checked in. They checked me and I was at 5.5 cm. They also took blood and started my IV. They started me on petocin around 7:40 am. Shortly after that, the nurse came in and told me that when they ran the the tests on my blood my platelet count was low. I had no clue what this meant. I quickly found out I might not be able to have an epidural. They wanted to take some more blood and run the tests one more time. My platelet count went up a little bit but not enough for an epidural. I started to freak out, I was totally planning on having an epidural and didn't really have any other birth plan in mind. I was a mess, I started crying but was trying to stay positive. My mom and Mark's mom got to the hospital shortly after we received the bad news. They were both very supportive and encouraging, and since they had all three of their children naturally, they knew I would be fine. My doctor came in to see me about an hour later. She said that she talked to the anesthesiologist and gave her ok for me to go ahead and have the epidural. She explained that it was ultimately up to the head of anesthesiology to decide whether or not to give me the epidural but there was a small chance I could still have one. A little while later, the head of anesthesiology came in and examined me and decided I could go ahead and have the epidural. I'd never been so happy! So around 11 am I finally got my epidural, I was already at 7.5 cm and moving along pretty quickly. The next several hours were very calm. Me, Mark and the moms just hung out in the room reading magazines and waiting. Shara got to the hospital around 2 pm, just in time for all the action. The nurse came in to check me and I was at 10 cm. She paged the doctor and got the room all set up for delivery. She walked me through how to push and wanted me to practice. She was going to count to 10 and have me push. Well, she counted to 2 and then told me to stop because the baby was right there!! Dr. Meadows came in and I pushed twice and Connor was here. He was born at 2:41 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 9 oz and 21 and 3/4 inches long. The cord was wrapped tightly around his neck and had to be cut off, but other then that he was completely perfect. They put him in my arms and looking at his face it was like I had known him forever. After they got us both all cleaned up we were able to have visitors and Brody got to come and meet his little brother. He wasn't all that interested at first. He was really happy to see mommy and daddy. While Brody and grandpa were visiting they moved us to our postpartum room. The hospital was very relaxed and let us have as many visitors as we wanted. Abbey, Tim and Shara all came to visit. We had Chewy's for dinner and Mark's brother Alan arrived. Brody stayed until almost 9:30 which was way past his bedtime so the grandparents all left and took him home to bed. We had a pretty good night in the hospital; the nursery nurse even came and watched Connor for a couple of hours so we could get some sleep. The next day they came and got Connor bright and early for his circumcision, and after that he slept for almost 6 hours. Mark worked his magic and was able to talk them into letting us go home early so we checked out of the hospital around 4:30 pm and headed home. It was an amazing experience and I'm both glad and sad that it's over. I'm so happy we have our two amazing boys and our family is now complete.

Last belly pic, this is right as we were leaving for the hospital.

Dilated to 10cm time to push!

My first look at my new baby boy.

Totally in love.

Proud parents.

Glad that's over :)

8 pounds 9 oz, almost a pound bigger than Brody.

Some pics Abbey took while visiting.

Connor Jace

Oops they made him mad.

Mommy and Connor.

So glad my mom was with me!!

Brody being a goofball and jumping right in front of the camera.

Grandma Diane and Connor.

Grandma Judy and Connor.

Big Brother!

Mark, me and Connor.

Our new family of four.