Jack's Birth Story

I love birth stories and so I have to write all of my own. So, if it isn't your thing, feel free to skip ahead to the pictures at the end. For all the rest of you who just love reading them as much as me, here you go.

Jack was born in a HURRY on Saturday morning. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for the last few months of pregnancy and a week before the 10th I actually had about an hour of pretty steady contractions before they let up, but besides that I felt nothing. I was expecting this boy to be induced just like his sister. So, Saturday played out like any other day. I did have a bout of nesting, which allowed me to get all the dishes and laundry done (thank goodness), but that was the only sign that labor would happen that night.

I went to sleep as usual and then at about 3:00a I woke up to the most painful contraction. Naturally, I thought I was in early labor so I went and took a bath. The contractions continued through the bath. Then I decided to time them. My first two I timed were like 2 minutes apart. In disbelief, I tried to keep timing the next ones, because I thought for sure I had done it wrong. They kept at their steady pace, but I kept second guessing it. Finally, after the pain was super bad, I texted my neighbor. At this point is was like 3:20a. I think the text said something like, "I think i'm in early labor, can you come over in like 30 to 60 minutes." Haha...what a joke! I most definitely was in full-fledged labor as I realized shortly after that.

I woke up Morgan, told him what was going on and then started packing my bag. Now because Eva had been late and I was sure that this guy would be, I hadn't even packed a hospital bag. I just thought, "Hey, labor lasts a while i'll do it when i'm in the early stages." Well, that was a big mistake as well. Note to self: Pack hospital bag in advance. So, I started throwing things into my bag and handed Morgan my phone and told him to time my contractions (because I still couldn't believe that they were coming so close together). Well, he timed them and sure enough, they were 3 minutes apart and 30 seconds long and I could no longer stand through them. I asked Morgan to call our neighbor's who would be watching Eva as I tossed a few more things in my bag. I was stressed at this point because I didn't know if they would hear their phones to come over and watch Eva and I felt like I was in a race against the clock and I ABSOLUTELY did not want to have this baby at home. My sweet neighbor Christina came over shortly, thankfully, and Morgan and I headed to the hospital.

The drive was fast (yay no traffic). Martha Jefferson has valet parking, so we pulled up to the curb and tried to hurry inside, except that I had a contraction just as I started to get out of the car. A lady saw me from inside and rushed out with a wheel chair. Morgan wheeled me back to labor and delivery where we were met by a nurse. She had me stand and took my height and weight then she led us back to a 'preliminary' room to be checked and handed me my gown. I quickly put it on and waited a few minutes until another contraction hit and then I called the nurse back. I think at this point she realized that this labor was happening faster than normal so she just led us straight to a labor and delivery room. Another nurse got me situated on the bed and then asked if I wanted an epidural. I said yes and she said that I was in luck because the anesthesiologist was still at the hospital finishing up withe someone else (this my friends was a miracle). They got me hooked to an IV and heart monitor. My doctor came in at some point during all of this to check me. I was dilated to a 7. This was at around 4:40a.

After my IV was in, the nurse asked if I would like some sort of drug to take the edge off, which I did. Then someone came in to do my blood work so I could get my epidural. Everything just kept moving so fast. The contractions were now about 1 to 2 minutes apart and were starting to hurt a TON. I was the groaning, yelling, crying lady through this labor and I didn't care at all. The nurse on duty did keep laughing at me as each contraction would stop, I'd suddenly perk up again and talk and joke like normal. They checked me again at about 5:10a and I was at an 8. I then got my epidural which was the best thing! There was just no way with how fast things were moving that I was staying on top of the pain.

Once my legs started to numb up, I told the doctor that he could break my water. He then waited about 15 minutes and checked me one last time. I was fully dilated and ready to push. The only problem was that the nurses had all stepped out so we needed to wait for one to get back. He flipped on the light and got everything situated. He positioned Morgan to hold my right leg and foot and then had me hold the other leg. He then had me push just a little to see how things were moving a long. Baby Jack's head started moving right on down, so he had me stop and wait, because we couldn't do anything without a nurse. At this point I think it was 6:05ish. The nurse came in and then I started to push. I pushed about 4 times and his head was well on the way. The doctor then had to do an episiotomy because the cord was wrapped around little guy's head and his heart beat was dropping. Then about 5 more pushes and he was born at 6:18a. So, crazy and SO fast.

The doctor had me reach down and grab Jack. I pulled him up to my chest and snuggled him. They dried him and cleared his lungs right their on my chest. I didn't have to let go of him for about an hour. They let us just snuggle and do skin to skin. I even nursed him on both sides. We were just in heaven at this point. It definitely felt surreal because it had all happened so fast. About an hour after he was born they took him and weighed him. I was SO surprised to learn that he was also 9 pounds 11 ounces just like Eva! I don't know why I make huge babies, but I guess it's meant to be. His weight also explained the incredible pain and pressure during the contractions. After two hours in the labor and delivery room (after birth) they moved us to a recovery room. Martha Jefferson hospital is just gorgeous and my room had an amazing view.

Now for recovery, because I want to remember this part. With Eva I was super sore and out of it in the hospital. I remember needing my full dose of drugs every time they were available and just hurting SO bad. This experience was night and day. I only took Ibuprofen the whole time I was in the hospital and the day after Jack was born I hardly hurt at all. Now, writing this, 4 days later I feel almost completely healed. So, he came in a hurry and I recovered in a hurry. I hope this is a trend for future babies. Now for a picture overload. :)

 After he was born and they had weighed him. 

 Look at that sweet little face!

 I look SUPER tired in this picture.

 Daddy's first time holding his boy!

 This little guy is a contemplative soul. He usually had his brow furrowed like this. 

  Eva meeting little Jack. She absolutely adores him!

She grew bored of the hospital room really fast and so started to unload my stuff. 

 Since all our family is out west, we FaceTimed everyone to show them the baby. This is Morgan talking with his parents and Stephanie. 

 The beautiful view from my room.

 Oh, one other weird detail. Jack was born with the LONGEST nails ever. This was taken a day after he was born and a few of them had already worn down considerably.

 First family picture!

 Two more views from the room. 

Welcome baby boy!

Welcome to the newest addition to our family:

Jack David Lyons

He was born October 10th at 6:18am
He weighed 9 pounds 11.5 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.

Birth story coming soon!

Day to Day Life

 Morgan reading "A Wocket in my Pocket" to Eva. She is all about reading these days. It is super fun.  These next few pictures are from the last merry-go-round carousel (it's a merry-go-round that looks like a carousel, so you push it instead of it being motorized) in the US. It's at the downtown mall in Charlottesville and Eva LOVES it. 

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of Eva's hair up in a pony tail. Also, we watch "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" a lot.

Morgan and I went on a date night to Zocalo. It is a latin american restaurant. It is pretty good, not our favorite, but worth a try. The part of the meal that was incredible is this first picture of our appetizer. It was a shrimp dish with fresh salsa and popcorn on top with a side of fresh potatoes chips. It doesn't sound nearly as good as it was, but take my word for it--it was amazing.

Eva has always loved shoes, but she just recently has started trying on my shoes and actually managing to walk around in them. This was her combo the other day. It made for an adorable waddle-walk.

Today we went to the Charlottesville Fire Department for a birthday party tour for one of Eva's friends. I don't know how much she actually loved seeing the trucks, but she loved hanging out with her friends and especially loved seeing the station's dog.

Master Bedroom Makeover

Our bedroom setup/furniture has never been what I would like in a master bedroom. But when your just starting out, you find what you can and do the best with it. Well, i'm happy to say, with our most recent redecoration that I have a bedroom that I could gladly use for years to come. Thanks to craigslist it didn't break the bank either. Our first edition to the room, and what really sparked the redecoration was a new TV. It needed a home, so we needed something to set it on which caused me to turn to craigslist and find this beauty: 

Our huge master bedroom has one tiny closet, and so last winter we bought a dresser. It still wasn't enough space, so we have been looking for a second dresser to add to the room for a while. I was so excited when I found one that matched almost perfectly. That never happens. 

Then I decided that I might as well peruse the queen bed frames on craigslist just to see what they had. To my delight we found a sleigh bed that also matched our dresser. It was like Christmas. 

The next day we loaded them up using our friend's van (thank you Murpheys) and brought them home. I love redecorating so I happily threw myself into it for the next couple days. I made pillows and even a bench for the end of the bed. Now just to give perspective, this is what the room looked like before: 

 I gladly said farewell to this squeaky old bed frame. It was time for it to go. 

And here is the after (it is SO much better): 

 I have been wanting to sew pillow cases for our bed pillows for a while, but just couldn't find fabric cheap enough. Here's my great tip: use curtains from Walmart. I got two curtains for $10 each and made four pillows and a bench out of them. 

 This bench was made from an old organ bench I found on craigslist. I spray painted the bottom brown, glued the foam to the top and then staple-gunned the fabric to the top. It was a fairly simple and inexpensive project. 

 The two matching dressers.

I absolutely LOVE this new set-up and I actually spend time upstairs now.

Nursery Makeover Reveal

Remember this post about how I had plans to redo our nursery. Well, I finally have it finished and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Here is the bad news: I sadly did not take any 'before' pictures. So, just imagine this room looking a whole lot more boring and we are set. Here is it post-makeover.

This is the only shelf in the room. It makes a huge difference to have some vertical decorating in this space. 

 These are the paper flowers I made. The paper was super cheap and the vase was like $3 from Michaels. 

Here is my favorite part of the decorating process. I wanted some fun artwork in the room, but I wanted it to be personal. I recently have dabbled in watercolor painting and so I figured I'd just paint some pictures myself. I plan to have lullabies for each of my kids, so 'Baby Mine' is Eva's and "Hushabye Mountain" will be little boy's lullaby. Here are some closeups. 

 These are the DIY pom-poms I made to hang over Eva's bed. I love the whimsy they add to the room. 

And that's it. I'm super please with how everything turned out and I'm SUPER glad I actually took the time to put together the nursery finally. It definitely took long enough.