Todd Aaron Chandler

On May 5, 2014 at 11:16 AM our little Todd came into the world. I'll get to all the details, but for now, some pictures:

 

I told them I wanted baby right away, and they definitely followed my wishes.  I actually helped pull him right up onto me.  Pretty amazing.  He wasn't much of a crier.  Just whimpered a bit.

 

We got to watch his first bath in the nursery.

 Later, the boys came to meet their new brother. 

They were all pretty excited and cute with him.



 We piled all the crew onto the bed for our first family photo.

The boys loved seeing their brother.

They were pretty excited when we unwrapped him and they got to see his little toes.

After being on grandchild duty all day, my mom got to spend a little time with me at the hospital that night.  Aaron whisked the big boys off to a BBQ.

 And before the night was over Aunt Amy came for a visit.

It was quite the day.  I was so exhausted by the end and yet I couldn't sleep -- craziest thing.  They eventually gave me something to help.  As for the labor details, here they are.  I want to document them for me, so you can stop here if you're not interested ;)

My induction was scheduled for 7:00AM.  I was instructed to call at 6:00 to make sure we were still good to go.  Between contractions, achey hips and anxiety about all the excitement, I had a really hard time sleeping and was pretty much awake from 3:30 on.  Not a good way to start things.

We got to the hospital and got checked in.  Dr. Lowder was at the hospital so as soon as I was dressed he came in to break my water --  around 7:45. I was dilated to a 2 and 80% effaced.  As soon as the water was broken I started feeling contractions more regularly.  By 8:00 we had the IV in and Petocin going.  With each contraction came more fluid.  They had to change the bedding and mop up the floor and my belly suddenly deflated quite a bit.  The nurses were impressed.  No wonder my belly was so huge. 

Contractions got intense pretty quick, but they weren't super close -- 4-5 min apart.  I was uncomfortable enough though, that I accepted the offer for an epidural.  (Around 9:30 -- dilated to a 4)  I was glad we did it when we did as the contractions were getting worse. The epidural took the edge off but I still felt each contraction.  It was actually a good level. I got the shakes pretty bad on and off.   By 10:00 I was dilated to a 5 and 5 1/2 by 10:30.  By 11:00 though I started feeling a lot of pressure and was fully dilated. When I heard this I suddenly got emotional thinking about what was about to happen. They quickly called the doctor. I felt more during pushing than with my last deliveries -- ouch -- I think I maybe even yelled out once.  My first push wasn't real productive but by the second we were making progress.  A couple pushes and we got the little head out.  One more to help the shoulders and the doctor had me reach down and grab our little boy and pull him up onto me --11:16.   Pretty amazing. Good news is I didn't tear which has really helped with recovery.

He was super sweet.  He didn't cry much.  I love that I was able to focus 100% on him while the nurses and doc worked to make sure everything was alright.  I felt super tired from pushing but was just so grateful to hold him, which I did for a while before they eventually took him for just a minute to check him out completely and get a weight -- 8 lb 9 oz., 22 inches-- my biggest baby by far.  Everything was done in the room though, so he never left my sight :)

Childbirth is an incredible experience like nothing else.  I'm so grateful for a pretty smooth delivery of a healthy baby boy.

Recovery has gone pretty well.  Between my big baby and tons of fluid, I lost 22 pounds in one day!  Feeling a lot lighter.  A couple more pounds have come off since I've been home.  My milk is in and I'm pretty tender there, but that has improved in the last day or so and hopefully will continue.  I think I'm done bleeding and cramping too, which never got too bad.  Todd has been a great baby.  He sleeps a lot and although it takes him a minute to settle down at night, he usually does pretty well after midnight.  I'm up for feedings every 3 hours, but he usually goes right back to bed. He spits a lot, so we have to keep burp cloths close. I wish I could bottle the softness of his little cheeks.  I could rub those all day! He's a perfect addition to our family!!  So grateful!