Baby Butterfly Moms: Birth Story

It's been just over 8 weeks since Alexander Stefan was born and I thought it was about time I put his birth story in writing. Not only to share the awesome experience with you, but to document this memory for our family.

So....

It all started at my pre-natal appointment on Thursday, July 8th. My due date was not until July 20th, so I was not expecting much. I had my son Nicholas with me - thankfully the awesome receptionist kept him entertained during my appointment! My OB did an internal and informed me that I was already 3 cm and the baby's head was down quite far (he used some other OB language but I cannot remember now!). He then tells me that this boy will definitely be coming into the world by the end of the weekend. Now, I am not going to lie...I panicked! My bags weren't packed...the nursery wasn't ready...ahhh! We went straight home after the appointment and I started packing.

:: Friday, July 9th ::

Nicholas and I were home together - playing, cleaning and getting ready for baby. At around 12 p.m. I started having some contractions...nothing major...until 1 p.m. rolls around and they started to become more intense, making entertaining Nicholas a bit more difficult. So I called my hubby - Steve - and told him he needed to come home from work soon. Contractions were getting stronger and stronger, but I managed and kept doing things around the house. Dinner time rolls around and we were all enjoying a nice meal together, but unfortunately for me the contractions were getting stronger every time...eating was making me feel sick to my stomach. We decided that it was probably a good time to take Nicholas to my sister-in-law's for the night...just in case!

We get to her place around 8:30 p.m. to drop him off. My brother-in-law offered us some gummy berries from Bulk Barn, which were still delicious despite being keeled over in pain! Steve and I decide it's time to call the hospital, which we do from the car. They tell me to try and wait it out for a bit longer...until the contractions are a bit more regular and about 5 minutes apart. At this point, they were still all over the place.

During the next contraction, I turn to my husband and ask him to take me to the mall...so I can go to Bulk Barn and buy myself some candy! Why not right? I don't really want to go home and wait it out, so we head on over to the mall. While still having some major contractions, I manage to get myself some candies...and some hangers from Toys R Us! Steve wasn't quite sure what to think about all of this...but he went along with me anyways.

We get home at around 9:45 p.m. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger and were starting to get more regular. Within the next hour, they went from about 5 minutes to 3 minutes so we called the hospital again. She told us to come in and since we live very close to the hospital, we were there by 11 p.m.

The nurse checked me as soon as we got there - I was 8 cm!!! We were booked into a room right away and I changed into my @HotMamaGowns. My nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural, which I refused since I was already so far along - what's the point when I was only 2 cm away from pushing - but I needed something for the pain. It was getting so intense I was starting to hyperventilate a bit. My nurse informed my I was too far along for morphine, but could give me laughing gas. I took it. I've never had it before so I didn't know what to expect. It was supposed to take the edge off, which I don't think it did. What it did do is allow me to focus on my breathing so that I didn't hyperventilate.

:: Saturday, July 10th ::

Just after 1:30 a.m I was 10 cm and ready to push.

Fifteen minutes later Alexander was born (1:48 a.m.). Steve cut the cord and the moment the doctor put him on my chest I was in love beyond belief. He weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long (1/2 ounce heavier and 1 inch shorter than Nicholas). He was beautiful (and still is, of course!).

He started nursing with no problems at all...both me and him knew exactly what we were doing. I was overjoyed!

Later that day, our family came to meet the new little man. Nicholas met his big brother for the first time - he kept saying "baby, baby, Alex" - - Love Love Love.

We were discharged from the hospital later that evening.

Eight weeks later and here we are...I am the mother of two sweet boys. I dream about what their lives will be like...will they be friends...only time will tell, but for now we are enjoying every moment!