Well, I have found out that it is possible... to love two little people so much you feel your heart might burst at times. When I found out I was pregnant for the second time, I remember worrying about how it was possible to "share" my love. The amount of love I felt for my first had me wondering how my heart could possibly handle loving more than one little munchkin that much. It's kind of like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." You know the part where he saves the Whos' Christmas and his heart grows something like four sizes? Apparently mamas have this same superpower. It's not that you have only so much love in your heart that you have to split it between your kiddos. It's that your heart grows with each one so that you have just as much room for each. I have a better understanding now of the phrase, "my cup runneth over."
It's been six weeks since our little Waylan Scott was born and it is crazy how it feels like he has just always been a part of our family. I swear the passage of time has doubled now that we have two kiddos in the house. I thought the day went by fast with one, but some days I look up at the clock and realize I'm still in my PJs, need a shower, and it's already time to cook dinner. Didn't we just eat breakfast?
It was my idea to name our new little one after my maiden name and Jeff loved it. I'll admit to having second thoughts, though. Waylan was the name I was called by coaches and a few friends in school. Could I really picture myself yelling the same "Waylan" at my future ornery little boy whenever he was getting into a mess? Now I can't picture my baby with any other name. It fits him perfectly so far. If you know anything about the Waylan family, you'll know that we like to stay up late, sleep in, and we are procrastinators who are late to everything... well, most things. Waylan Scott likes to sleep all day, party all night, and he most definitely made me wait on him the day he was born.
Waylan's birth story is bizarre, beautiful, and something that I get to be proud of. Yup, I can check something off my list. I officially had an all-natural, unmedicated childbirth. Not even an IV dripping in my arm, ladies and gentleman. Was it a challenge? Was it the worst pain of my life? Well... it depends on when you asked me. Five hours in - Are these contractions even doing anything? Ten hours in - I'm bored. Can I please go home? Twenty-two hours in - What the H-E-double hockey sticks was I thinking??!! Twenty-five hours - Aw, look at this beautiful bundle of joy I got out of that, but I am never doing that again. Today? Aw, look at this beautiful bundle of joy I got out of that. I might do that again (Yes, I'm officially insane). And yes, my labor technically lasted about 24 hours. Yes, that's a friggin' long time to actively wait for a baby to pop out.
Here's how it all went down...
January 3rd we had Bennett's birthday party at noon. I was up early and on my feet all day setting up then enjoying the party. Toddler parties are fun! And exhausting! I'd had some random contractions that week so I actually wanted to be on my feet a lot. The party ended at 2 and 3 was our pedicure appointment! Not sure what it is about pedicures, but I guess it just works for me because I had one the day I went into labor with Bennett as well. I was in serious need of one too. I had been putting it off because of it's labor-inducing "powers" and I'm glad I did! Even though they had to get the cheese grater out to work on my callouses...
I don't have a clue what we did after that. Or even what we had for dinner. Probably party food leftovers. There may have been a nap in there somewhere. Then came the baby puzzle. With Bennett we had a puzzle we worked on while my mom and sister were in town waiting for Bennett to come. It was fun so we had to do it again! Autumn and I were working on it that night when I noticed some light contractions coming pretty regularly. I started timing them sometime after 10:30 and when they didn't let up and were consistently 2-3 minutes apart, I told Jeff he'd better start packing and we went and woke my mom up. We got to the hospital sometime after midnight and the place was practically closed down! At least the L&D department was. They had to call the nurse to come up and turn the lights on and get things running for us. I didn't know the hospital ever closed, haha. They got me all strapped up to the monitors, contractions were still the same, and I was at almost 4 cm when I got there.
Then came the waiting... I remained in active labor the whole time, but I was progressing SO slowly! My contractions remained anywhere from 2-4 minutes apart the entire time, but they ranged in intensity. From barely-there to moderate, they were really not bad at all most of the time. I even tried to nap through some of them. It was easy to sleep through them because they were so mild, but I was so anxious and just ready for him to get here that I really didn't nap much. So I basically haven't had a full night's sleep since the night before Bennett's birthday party...
By that morning, I was begging the OB nurses to let me go home. I had officially been admitted because my contractions were technically changing my cervix even though so slowly. What's even more frustrating is that there was a new nurse there who did not know how to check a cervix and kept getting the wrong measurements! In her defense, I had a posterior cervix and a tilted uterus (for those who know what that even means), but she got my hopes up at 7 am by saying that I was already at 7 cm! They started prepping the baby stuff and called the doctor who was on call. I told them they were crazy because I was still barely feeling a thing! Then, just before the doctor shows up, the same girl checks me and tells me that she thinks I'm completely dilated but is not sure. No way. I knew she was wrong. There was no way I wasn't feeling any pain and it was time to push. So... the head nurse checks and doesn't say anything but walks out. The doctor gets there and I'm really just at a 5... all that hype for nothing. She suggests breaking my water. I told her I wanted to wait until I was progressed more. I had my water broke with Bennett at just 4 cm and they had to start the pitocin and I was staying away from that at all costs! That doctor and one of the nurses also looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I didn't want pitocin to help deliver my placenta. Just so you know, it is not medically necessary regardless of what some might think. And you have the right to choose what you want put in your body. I wouldn't risk my baby's life, but I did just fine with no IV, no epidural, and no pitocin. Even though there were several of the staff who tried to convince me I needed such and such, I just stayed hydrated (snuck in some snacks), and let my body do the rest. The only thing I used for "help" was some essential oils. Clary sage to help strengthen my contractions (worked like a charm though it had to be reapplied a lot), wild orange for an energy boost, and black pepper for back labor (last couple of hours).
Then we had some more waiting. And waiting. It was getting ridiculous how boring my labor was. It was sort of stressing me out. All these nurses and my family at the hospital just hanging out and waiting for my body to hurry up and get this baby out already. By the afternoon, I was at 7 cm. And stayed there for what seemed like forever! My bag of waters was bulging, but never "popped" on its own. My OB actually came to check on me. He was on vacation with his family and had just gotten back into town. Apparently his daughter is dating a boy in Jeff's youth group and she let somehow let him know that his patient was in the hospital! He wasn't on call that day, but came up to deliver our little guy anyway! After the Cowboys game of course. Yup, good thing there was a football game on to keep people distracted during all that boring waiting! I decided during the game that I wanted to have my water broken. Of course, my doctor showed up after the game was over to take care of that (he's a Cowboys fan).
My water was broken a little after 7 pm. That's when it starts getting real. And really messy. I hate having my water broken because then it gets all wet and swampy. Gross. It still took a couple more hours before my contractions really got intense. It was taking so long that I was beginning to think that Waylan was going to share a birthday with his big brother! Overall, after 24 hours, I really only had about two hours of horrible, worst-pain-ever, exhausting labor. Bennett's labor was intense fore about 8 hours out of the 13 that I was in labor with him. The intensity of this labor in those couple hours felt equivalent to that whole eight hours. With Bennett they gave me a bit of pain meds in my IV because it was just too much pain for too long. And I was totally breaking down again this time, only it was too late.
I lost track of time, but I went from 7 cm to 10 probably in that last 30 minutes to an hour because the nurse kept checking and telling me I was at a 7 at first even though I was already in a lot of pain. That's when I lost it. I was tired and frustrated and I just wanted to meet my baby. I just kept telling my mom, "I can't. I can't do it." She and Jeff were there each holding my hands through those last contractions, thank God. I'm always so thankful for those two. They have truly seen me broken. If my pain had been like that the whole time, this gal would have had an epidural like 20 hours before. So I blame no one with long, intense labors for their medication decisions! In fact, that last hour or two when I decided I wasn't strong enough to handle the pain, I wished I had taken something! It was good and bad. Bad because it was too late for even an IV med and good because I was almost done, even though the end felt so far away.
My mom told me later that I "wasn't myself" when I asked for something at the end because of the pain. Oh no, I knew exactly what I was saying. In fact, it was a very rational train of thought, I think. Two things were going through my mind between those ridiculously painful contractions at the end: 1) "I can't keep going like this! If my progression doesn't speed up with this amount of pain, then surely I am going to pass out! People can pass out from too much pain, right?" 2) "Oh my God! What happens if I pass out?! Will my baby be okay if I pass out before I need to push him out?!"
In case you are wondering, I didn't pass out. Nope. Instead, even more pain came, but as a sign that it was almost over! I knew I was ready to push when I felt my cervix burn when I was fully dilated. I started shouting at the nurses, "I feel the ring of fire!" You mamas know what I'm talking about. Haha, they laughed at me but quickly checked me once more before calling my doctor in. I don't know what took that man so long, but I had to make it through several more contractions before he showed up. If he had taken any longer, I would have told someone to just get down there and catch my baby because I needed to push, danggit! After some screaming and shouting, "He's coming! He's coming!" the doctor finally showed up in jeans and a concert tee and suited up. I was in quite a bit of pain at this point so I couldn't help but be a little vocal. The baby nurse actually told me to stop screaming because I was going to waste my oxygen. I told her I'd waste some oxygen punching her in the face if she didn't shut it. She was probably right and we were friends after, but I did not need a reprimanding at the time. I need to push!
Before I knew it, my legs were up in the stirrups. I did a small first push, the doc told me I was going to feel some burning because of the stretching (um, duh), then we waited for the next contractions. It came and with it came Waylan! My doctor actually told me to slow down on that second push, but I couldn't help it. I just pushed as hard as I could and out he came! He squalled while Jeff cut his umbilical cord, then the doc set him on my chest and he went silent and just looked up at me. It was crazy. He knew exactly who I was. And he had long fingernails! He as scratching my chest with them. That moment right there is what I will never forget. My sweet, quiet little boy looking up at his mommy and scratching me hello. He was all waxy and coated in vernix like Bennett had been, but he was just as beautiful. I don't mean to brag (okay, maybe I do), but I have had the cutest newborn babies I've ever seen. I suppose the world looks a little different through a mom's eyes, though.
Waylan was born on January 4, 2015 at 11:00 pm (just missed his brother's birthday by an hour!). He weighed 6 lbs 14 oz (exactly the same as brother) and was 19.75 inches long.
It's a bit lengthy, but that's Waylan's birth story. Besides a bit of a tear that had to be stitched up and heal, I can't believe how quickly I recovered from that birth. As soon as Waylan and I were cleaned up and the room was cleared out, I was up and out of bed getting ready to move to our next room. I was even able to shower myself afterwards! Now that is an accomplishment. Big brother, Bennett, came up to see his new family member on his second birthday. Then as soon as Waylan had been there the required 24 hours, we got home as soon as they'd let us.
And yes, he was worth the wait. :)
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And he shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
~ Psalm 27:13-14
It's been six weeks since our little Waylan Scott was born and it is crazy how it feels like he has just always been a part of our family. I swear the passage of time has doubled now that we have two kiddos in the house. I thought the day went by fast with one, but some days I look up at the clock and realize I'm still in my PJs, need a shower, and it's already time to cook dinner. Didn't we just eat breakfast?
It was my idea to name our new little one after my maiden name and Jeff loved it. I'll admit to having second thoughts, though. Waylan was the name I was called by coaches and a few friends in school. Could I really picture myself yelling the same "Waylan" at my future ornery little boy whenever he was getting into a mess? Now I can't picture my baby with any other name. It fits him perfectly so far. If you know anything about the Waylan family, you'll know that we like to stay up late, sleep in, and we are procrastinators who are late to everything... well, most things. Waylan Scott likes to sleep all day, party all night, and he most definitely made me wait on him the day he was born.Waylan's birth story is bizarre, beautiful, and something that I get to be proud of. Yup, I can check something off my list. I officially had an all-natural, unmedicated childbirth. Not even an IV dripping in my arm, ladies and gentleman. Was it a challenge? Was it the worst pain of my life? Well... it depends on when you asked me. Five hours in - Are these contractions even doing anything? Ten hours in - I'm bored. Can I please go home? Twenty-two hours in - What the H-E-double hockey sticks was I thinking??!! Twenty-five hours - Aw, look at this beautiful bundle of joy I got out of that, but I am never doing that again. Today? Aw, look at this beautiful bundle of joy I got out of that. I might do that again (Yes, I'm officially insane). And yes, my labor technically lasted about 24 hours. Yes, that's a friggin' long time to actively wait for a baby to pop out.
Here's how it all went down...
January 3rd we had Bennett's birthday party at noon. I was up early and on my feet all day setting up then enjoying the party. Toddler parties are fun! And exhausting! I'd had some random contractions that week so I actually wanted to be on my feet a lot. The party ended at 2 and 3 was our pedicure appointment! Not sure what it is about pedicures, but I guess it just works for me because I had one the day I went into labor with Bennett as well. I was in serious need of one too. I had been putting it off because of it's labor-inducing "powers" and I'm glad I did! Even though they had to get the cheese grater out to work on my callouses...I don't have a clue what we did after that. Or even what we had for dinner. Probably party food leftovers. There may have been a nap in there somewhere. Then came the baby puzzle. With Bennett we had a puzzle we worked on while my mom and sister were in town waiting for Bennett to come. It was fun so we had to do it again! Autumn and I were working on it that night when I noticed some light contractions coming pretty regularly. I started timing them sometime after 10:30 and when they didn't let up and were consistently 2-3 minutes apart, I told Jeff he'd better start packing and we went and woke my mom up. We got to the hospital sometime after midnight and the place was practically closed down! At least the L&D department was. They had to call the nurse to come up and turn the lights on and get things running for us. I didn't know the hospital ever closed, haha. They got me all strapped up to the monitors, contractions were still the same, and I was at almost 4 cm when I got there.
Then came the waiting... I remained in active labor the whole time, but I was progressing SO slowly! My contractions remained anywhere from 2-4 minutes apart the entire time, but they ranged in intensity. From barely-there to moderate, they were really not bad at all most of the time. I even tried to nap through some of them. It was easy to sleep through them because they were so mild, but I was so anxious and just ready for him to get here that I really didn't nap much. So I basically haven't had a full night's sleep since the night before Bennett's birthday party...By that morning, I was begging the OB nurses to let me go home. I had officially been admitted because my contractions were technically changing my cervix even though so slowly. What's even more frustrating is that there was a new nurse there who did not know how to check a cervix and kept getting the wrong measurements! In her defense, I had a posterior cervix and a tilted uterus (for those who know what that even means), but she got my hopes up at 7 am by saying that I was already at 7 cm! They started prepping the baby stuff and called the doctor who was on call. I told them they were crazy because I was still barely feeling a thing! Then, just before the doctor shows up, the same girl checks me and tells me that she thinks I'm completely dilated but is not sure. No way. I knew she was wrong. There was no way I wasn't feeling any pain and it was time to push. So... the head nurse checks and doesn't say anything but walks out. The doctor gets there and I'm really just at a 5... all that hype for nothing. She suggests breaking my water. I told her I wanted to wait until I was progressed more. I had my water broke with Bennett at just 4 cm and they had to start the pitocin and I was staying away from that at all costs! That doctor and one of the nurses also looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I didn't want pitocin to help deliver my placenta. Just so you know, it is not medically necessary regardless of what some might think. And you have the right to choose what you want put in your body. I wouldn't risk my baby's life, but I did just fine with no IV, no epidural, and no pitocin. Even though there were several of the staff who tried to convince me I needed such and such, I just stayed hydrated (snuck in some snacks), and let my body do the rest. The only thing I used for "help" was some essential oils. Clary sage to help strengthen my contractions (worked like a charm though it had to be reapplied a lot), wild orange for an energy boost, and black pepper for back labor (last couple of hours).Then we had some more waiting. And waiting. It was getting ridiculous how boring my labor was. It was sort of stressing me out. All these nurses and my family at the hospital just hanging out and waiting for my body to hurry up and get this baby out already. By the afternoon, I was at 7 cm. And stayed there for what seemed like forever! My bag of waters was bulging, but never "popped" on its own. My OB actually came to check on me. He was on vacation with his family and had just gotten back into town. Apparently his daughter is dating a boy in Jeff's youth group and she let somehow let him know that his patient was in the hospital! He wasn't on call that day, but came up to deliver our little guy anyway! After the Cowboys game of course. Yup, good thing there was a football game on to keep people distracted during all that boring waiting! I decided during the game that I wanted to have my water broken. Of course, my doctor showed up after the game was over to take care of that (he's a Cowboys fan).
My water was broken a little after 7 pm. That's when it starts getting real. And really messy. I hate having my water broken because then it gets all wet and swampy. Gross. It still took a couple more hours before my contractions really got intense. It was taking so long that I was beginning to think that Waylan was going to share a birthday with his big brother! Overall, after 24 hours, I really only had about two hours of horrible, worst-pain-ever, exhausting labor. Bennett's labor was intense fore about 8 hours out of the 13 that I was in labor with him. The intensity of this labor in those couple hours felt equivalent to that whole eight hours. With Bennett they gave me a bit of pain meds in my IV because it was just too much pain for too long. And I was totally breaking down again this time, only it was too late.I lost track of time, but I went from 7 cm to 10 probably in that last 30 minutes to an hour because the nurse kept checking and telling me I was at a 7 at first even though I was already in a lot of pain. That's when I lost it. I was tired and frustrated and I just wanted to meet my baby. I just kept telling my mom, "I can't. I can't do it." She and Jeff were there each holding my hands through those last contractions, thank God. I'm always so thankful for those two. They have truly seen me broken. If my pain had been like that the whole time, this gal would have had an epidural like 20 hours before. So I blame no one with long, intense labors for their medication decisions! In fact, that last hour or two when I decided I wasn't strong enough to handle the pain, I wished I had taken something! It was good and bad. Bad because it was too late for even an IV med and good because I was almost done, even though the end felt so far away.
My mom told me later that I "wasn't myself" when I asked for something at the end because of the pain. Oh no, I knew exactly what I was saying. In fact, it was a very rational train of thought, I think. Two things were going through my mind between those ridiculously painful contractions at the end: 1) "I can't keep going like this! If my progression doesn't speed up with this amount of pain, then surely I am going to pass out! People can pass out from too much pain, right?" 2) "Oh my God! What happens if I pass out?! Will my baby be okay if I pass out before I need to push him out?!"In case you are wondering, I didn't pass out. Nope. Instead, even more pain came, but as a sign that it was almost over! I knew I was ready to push when I felt my cervix burn when I was fully dilated. I started shouting at the nurses, "I feel the ring of fire!" You mamas know what I'm talking about. Haha, they laughed at me but quickly checked me once more before calling my doctor in. I don't know what took that man so long, but I had to make it through several more contractions before he showed up. If he had taken any longer, I would have told someone to just get down there and catch my baby because I needed to push, danggit! After some screaming and shouting, "He's coming! He's coming!" the doctor finally showed up in jeans and a concert tee and suited up. I was in quite a bit of pain at this point so I couldn't help but be a little vocal. The baby nurse actually told me to stop screaming because I was going to waste my oxygen. I told her I'd waste some oxygen punching her in the face if she didn't shut it. She was probably right and we were friends after, but I did not need a reprimanding at the time. I need to push!
Before I knew it, my legs were up in the stirrups. I did a small first push, the doc told me I was going to feel some burning because of the stretching (um, duh), then we waited for the next contractions. It came and with it came Waylan! My doctor actually told me to slow down on that second push, but I couldn't help it. I just pushed as hard as I could and out he came! He squalled while Jeff cut his umbilical cord, then the doc set him on my chest and he went silent and just looked up at me. It was crazy. He knew exactly who I was. And he had long fingernails! He as scratching my chest with them. That moment right there is what I will never forget. My sweet, quiet little boy looking up at his mommy and scratching me hello. He was all waxy and coated in vernix like Bennett had been, but he was just as beautiful. I don't mean to brag (okay, maybe I do), but I have had the cutest newborn babies I've ever seen. I suppose the world looks a little different through a mom's eyes, though.Waylan was born on January 4, 2015 at 11:00 pm (just missed his brother's birthday by an hour!). He weighed 6 lbs 14 oz (exactly the same as brother) and was 19.75 inches long.
And yes, he was worth the wait. :)
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And he shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
~ Psalm 27:13-14
