Read {Part 1} here.

7:10 AM - The Pitocin worked quickly, and I had dilated to 5 cm. The contractions were coming hard and fast now, and I told the nurse I was ready for my epidural. (Just so you know, I had done a natural child birth with my second child, Conner. Although I am glad to have done it once, I didn’t feel the need to do it again.)

The anesthesiologist arrived quickly. As soon as she walked in the door and introduced herself, though, it was obvious that she was suffering from a bad cold. Even the nurse looked uncomfortable with the anesthesiologist’s unhealthy state. I’m a bit of a germaphobe anyway, but I was especially wary because I knew I was going to be bringing a pre-term baby into this room in a matter of hours. She thrust her hand out to me to shake, and I hesitated a bit, before remembering that this lady, head cold or not, was going to make the terrible pain of these contractions go away and was, therefore, my best friend in the whole wide world. She was also going to be shoving a giant needle into my spine. I shook her hand. She prepared my back, and I was instructed to sit sideways on the bed, with my legs dangling over the edge. I faced Dan and the nurse, who steadied me. I was still being slammed by the contractions, and they were coming faster and faster. Let me tell you, it is no fun having someone insert an ice-pick into your spine while, at the same time, you are having to breathe through super-painful contractions. There was a lot of praying going on. The anesthesiologist had to make three attempts at inserting the epidural, and poor Dan finally had to step out of the room so he wouldn’t pass out. (Funny story… As Dan was out in the hall sprawled in a chair to steady himself, another couple observed him and commented to their nurse how calm he looked. The nurse thought it was because this was our fourth baby, but, really, Dan was trying not to faint!)

7:45 AM - The epidural was in! The pain of my contractions dulled quickly, and, in what seemed like no time, I couldn’t even tell if I was having them anymore. (Hallelujah!) I was totally numb from the waist down, and it was such a strange feeling. I could wiggle the toes on my left foot a little, but my right leg was totally dead weight. I ran my fingers over my right thigh, and it was eerie because I could feel the skin with my fingers, but my leg didn’t register any touch at all. There was a total disconnect in my brain. Even though I couldn’t feel them anymore, the contractions continued to come hard and fast. Because I was feeling relaxed from the relief the epidural provided, they came even faster.

8:45 AM – I had finally dilated 8 cm, so the nurse called my doctor to tell him it was time to deliver our baby. She chuckled as she hung up the phone. I looked at her quizzically to see what was funny, and she said that my doctor had said he was, “excited and delighted” by the news. Ba-ha-ha-ha! I love him so much.

Dan and I watched as the nurse brought in a warming bed contraption (I so don't know the technical term) for the baby. She also opened up a big bag of equipment and carefully laid out the tools on a round table in case the doctor would need them during delivery.

When my doctor arrived, he checked my progress and declared that I was fully dilated (10 cm), the baby was at stage 1 (I’m not sure what that means), and I was ready to push. I had to rely on the nurse to tell me when I was contracting, because I had no idea. During the first contraction, I got three pushes in, and pushed the baby’s head halfway out. We didn’t have to wait very long for the next contraction, and after my fourth push, at 9:06 AM, Theodore David Brellen was born. They placed Theo on my chest and began to wipe the waxy vernix from his body. (Since he had only been 36 weeks along, he still had a good amount of the skin-protecting vernix on his skin.)

For my previous babies, I had requested delayed cord clamping, but, this time around, the standard protocol had changed. It is now considered good practice to clamp the cord after the placenta is delivered, so I didn’t have to request anything special. The doctors eventually clamped Theo’s umbilical cord, and Dan cut it.

Theo and I snuggled for a good while, and I finally handed him over to the nurses and pediatrician for his evaluation. He weighed 7 pounds, 9.3 ounces and measured 21 inches long. Theo started nursing right away (on both sides!), and several of the nurses commented that he did not act like a baby born at 36-weeks (pre-term) at all. So many people said this, that Dan and I began to wonder if my due date had been incorrect, but the pediatrician assured us that she could tell that he had been 36-weeks along because of the amount of vernix and the creases on his feet.

I was doing really well too. I was exhausted, of course. But as for pain, I wasn’t doing too badly. I hadn't required any stitches, but my back was really sore from the three epidural attempts, and the tops of my hands were bruised as well. When I regained feeling in my legs and could walk, I took a long shower while Theo was out for tests or some kind of procedure, and I felt so much better.

Because Theo was four days shy of being considered full-term, he was treated differently from our other babies. For example, every three hours, a nurse pricked his heel and tested his blood to determine his blood sugar level. After a few of these tests, it was clear that Theo’s blood sugar was well above where they wanted it to be, so Dan and I requested that they no longer continue the testing. He also had to sit through an hour-and-a-half-long car seat test, to make sure it would be safe for him to ride in a car seat. Both things were totally new to us.

Later in the afternoon, my mom and dad brought Shane and Conner to see their new baby brother. The boys were so excited to hold Baby Theo, and we could tell it was love at first sight!

A short time later, Dan’s parents arrived with Logan. A big smile spread across Logan’s face as he held his brother for the first time, but he seemed to be equally impressed by Mommy’s cool bed that went up and down with the touch of a button. 🙂

Sunday, October 16, 2016

When our first son, Shane, was born, we stayed at the hospital the maximum time allotted by our insurance. We were terrified to be on our own with our little one, because we felt like we didn’t know what we were doing. Since we’ve gained confidence as parents, though, we have been eager to leave the hospital as quickly as possible. We’re just so much more comfortable at home. Our initial discharge date was set for Monday, October 17, but, since both Theo and I were both doing so well, we requested an early discharge. Both my obstetrician and the pediatrician approved our request, so we headed home on Sunday, October 16 shortly after 4:00 PM. The Packers were playing the Cowboys as we traveled home (Theo supported his team with a green and gold striped knit hat), but it was an awful game. We were very grateful for the distraction of our sweet baby!!

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10/25/16 - Theo is now 10 days old, and we are all totally smitten with him. I weighed him today (you know, super-accurately, by weighing myself on the bathroom scale, weighing myself again while holding him, and then doing the math), and it looks like he's regained his birth-weight and is 8 pounds! Dan and I can't wait to see how his personality will unfold as he grows. We are just so humbled and in awe that God chose us to be the parents of this sweet baby boy... of all our sweet boys. Parenthood is sanctifying. As hard as we will try to bring our children to His feet, we know that God will use these boys to continue to change us and mold us in His image as well. We are so thankful. And sleep-deprived. But mostly, thankful. 🙂