Thankfully I had an appointment the day my doctor returned, and an induction set up for 2 days later. At my appointment, I think my doctor sensed my frustration and exhaustion, and asked if I would be open to an earlier induction. Even though my mom and my sister weren't due into town until the following night, I was ready to have this baby, and starting to feel that he wasn't going to come on his own, no matter how long I waited.
Our good friends the Jakeman's offered to take our kids for the night, and also fed us a delicious dinner of french bread pizza. The hospital called, and Sam and I headed off. At this point I felt contractions again, and so I was hopeful the labor would progress quickly, and without too much intervention.
When we checked in to the hospital, and they hooked me up to the monitors, it showed I was contracting every 4 to 5 minutes, but then they would slow down. They took me off the monitors to allow me to walk around, but all that did was stop my labor all together. I'm not sure why, but my body really likes to be laying still in order to have contractions. So I gave up, and got back into bed. Sam had gone home to make sure the kids had everything they needed for the following day, and I made arrangements over the phone for them to play at friends houses until Sam or my mom could take over.
Pitocin was started at 10 PM, but my labor seemed fruitless until they gave me an epidural at 1:30 AM. My doctor came in right after and broke my water, and predicted he'd be back about 5:30 to deliver me. Sam tried to settle in for the night, and I tried to get some rest as well. But I couldn't sleep at all. I was hooked up to monitors, and I could still feel contractions, and they took my blood pressure every 15 minutes. I also had to turn from side to side to help make sure the epidural would be even.
We hadn't officially decided on a name yet, but I think we were both pretty sure his first name would be Levi. But we really hadn't come up with a middle name that stood out to us. It was while I was lying in bed, numbed up from the epidural, watching the contractions on the monitor, that I thought Levi Nathaniel was a good name. About 3 am my nurse came in. I was thinking that she was also worried about my progression, but all she said was that she wanted to check me. I was shocked when she reported I was at a 9.5, and just needed to switch sides again and I would be ready to deliver really soon. I was a 10 by 3:30, and the doctor came in soon there after.
Before I knew it, I was giving 4 or 5 good pushes, and little Levi's head emerged. 2 more to get the shoulders out, and he was out and up on my chest. I could hardly believe he was there. He let out some loud screams, and then settled down on my chest. He was beautiful. Looked a lot like Noah and Olivia to me. Lots of dark hair, and huge chubby cheeks. He had no interest in nursing, but was making the cutest little faces. He kept his eyes mostly closed, and let out some yells here and there, but was content to lay there next to me while they finished up. Sam cut the cord, and then sat back down quickly to make sure he wouldn't end up on the floor.
They let me hold him for quite a while. We all guessed how much we thought he might weigh. I was thinking somewhere around 8 pounds - my doctor had said he didn't' think this baby was going to be big like Olivia and Noah. Sam, however, thought he was going to be over 9. I was pretty surprised when they declared he weighed 9 pounds 5.5 ounces!
He scored a 9 on his apgar test, his coloring not quite pink enough for a 10. The nurses diapered, dressed and swaddled him, and gave him back to me. He was ready to nurse now, and did a whopping 20 minutes on each side.
Sam and I enjoyed the quiet morning with Levi, and marveled at his tiny parts. 10 perfect little fingers and 10 perfect little toes. A nice round head, and a strong neck, just like Olivia.
We called the kids in the morning, and it was so fun to hear their squeals of delight at hearing their baby brother was finally here. Their first question was, "When can we see him?" Sam brought them to the hospital that evening, and they were each so excited to hold him, look at him, and constantly comment on how cute he was. One funny side note, the kids were all pretty disappointed at our name choice. We hadn't decided for sure on a middle name yet, but Levi was his first name. The kids had been rooting for Isaac, and I think Olivia threw a bit of a fit in the car on the way to the hospital. Thankfully the fit was so good it put her right to sleep. But once they saw him, they got over that, and quickly warmed up to calling him Levi.
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