Double the Love: Introducing...Jeffrey Charles III

I know I haven't blogged in way too long but I promise I will get caught up! I have some blogs in my drafts just waiting on pictures or to be finished up. But, I couldn't keep putting off introducing our newest addition!

Jeff took my maternity pictures about 10 days before Jeffrey was born.

Jeffrey was born Wednesday May 18th, 2011 at 2:55pm by vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean section)! He weighed 7lbs 13oz and was 20 inches long. I am still in the process of writing my (unnecessarily long) birth story. I will post it when I am finished, but I will give a few details for now.

I woke up on Tuesday morning with contractions that were mild and felt sort of crampy. They were very regular though, always 5-10 minutes apart. The boys and I went on about our day going to the park and the store. By the time I got them down for a nap about 2:30ish, I was not able to talk through my contractions. Our doula came over about 10:30pm and we did some new positions and took a walk. We left for the hospital at 2:30am on Wednesday and when we arrived I was having contractions that were about 4 minutes apart (and painful). I was disappointed to hear that I was only dilated to a 3, but I was 100% effaced. I had a very detailed natural birthplan that I had gone over with my doula and had approved by my doctor before hand. I went over this with the nurse after getting settled. Throughout the remainder of the morning and afternoon several of the desires from my birth plan were proven to be "not meant to be". I was a little disappointed, but I wanted what was best for myself and my baby and I just wanted the end result to be a healthy mama and baby and preferably a vbac.

My water broke somewhere around 8:30am. I was not progressing very quickly but continued to have contractions one on top of the other. Jeffrey's heart rate was not responding well to the contractions so after several others attempts to correct this they thought his cord was wrapped around something or he was laying on it. So, after my water broke they filled my uterus with saline water and this fixed whatever the issue had been. By 11 or so I was dilated to a 6-7, but I had been there for several hours. Jeffrey's head needed to be turned just a little for optimum delivery positioning and I was having involuntary pushing. Between all of this and the fact that I had been having contractions for well over 24 hours now, they found that my cervix was swelling. This could be dangerous for both of us and my nurse and doula were afraid if we didn't get this corrected I would be headed for a c-section again. They both felt that the best option was to get an epiderial. I had warned Jeff not to let me get one, but this situation had not crossed my mind. I again wanted to do what would lead us to our end result so I agreed. I went from hours of very painful contractions to feeling nothing very quickly. At 11:30am the procedure was over and the nurse said she would give us about two hours to get some rest and she would come back to check on my progress. At 1:30pm when she returned I was dilated to 9 3/4! I was so excited! She said she would update my dr and give me about an hour, unless I felt the urge to push before then. My epidural was wearing off and I was able to feel the contractions some starting at about 1:30 also. I was getting ready to page my nurse just after 2pm when she walked through my door. I was fully dilated and his head was very low so it was time to push! She called my dr and returned to get started. My dr was there about 15 minutes later. I didn't push great until he got there because I was a little nervous about Jeffrey coming before the dr! With the help of my amazing husband, two great doulas and a wonderful dr and nurses, and after 31 hours of contractions, Jeffrey arrived at 2:55pm as perfect as could be!

He continued to do well in the hospital during our short stay. There was a little worry about him not peeing, but I think it just got missed. Anyway, after having to have a catheter to remove his urine and then him soaking me and the bed with pee....it was no longer an issue! My recovery was a breeze and I was up walking around right away (such a change from last time around!). We came home to some very excited three year olds on Friday! No, they were not excited to see mama and daddy...they were excited to have their baby brother home! They love to play with him, lay with him and kiss and love on him!

Katie, our amazing doula

Nana's first glimpse

Papa's first glimpse

Big brothers' first visit

Gigi's first glimpse

Ayden loves to give him kisses

Ashton lovin' on him

Papa's first glimpse

Grandma's first glimpse

Such a pretty baby

The three Jeffrey's

He is now 5 weeks old and is growing like a weed! I couldn't ever really say that with Ashton and Ayden because they were slow growers. Jeffrey on the other hand went from 7lbs 15oz at birth to about 11lbs at 4 weeks! We won't have any official numbers until next week but I bet he will be 12lbs by then! We got his one month pictures and the older boys' 3 year pictures taken this week so we will be showing those off in a couple weeks!

first "real" diaper

first bath

4 weeks old

I plan to get back to blogging and update about our family and the growth and milestones of our new addition right away! Until then I will leave you with a few pictures of "our 3 boys"!