Cody

I just realized I blogged about Nate's birth story, but I haven't yet about Cody's. So here's the whole scoop...

On the Saturday night before Cody was born (Jul 11) I suspected my water broke. When I woke up in the middle of the night at 3am, I was sure my water broke and called the hospital. Having gone through this when Nate was born, I knew I was in no hurry to get to the maternity ward if I wasn't having any contractions. So, leaving Nate at home with Monte's parents, we made our way to the Abbotsford hospital at 6am Sunday morning. I laid in the assessment area for hours while the nurses struggled with their phone lines being down and with several emergency deliveries that morning... in addition to being short-staffed. They finally admitted me sometime after 9am, after monitoring Cody's heart rate and watching it drop dangerously low several times. I waited for news of being induced all day Sunday, but since they were swamped they kept pushing it back. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of labour; Sunday consisted of very little eating, no rest, and lots of anxiety, stress and fear. It didn't help that I got to hear every other woman in the ward giving birth while I waited... Not exactly the sounds that will help calm an expectant mother!

Sunday night they promised me that the following morning I would be induced. I begged for some drugs to help me sleep, which they gave me... And I slept for a whopping two hours that night! I woke up at midnight with contractions occurring every 10 minutes, and that lasted until 6am when they abruptly stopped. I was so discouraged that morning. I was so badly missing Nate, and I was extremely tired from almost no sleep or food over the last two days. The nurse assigned to me that morning was sympathetic enough to listen to me cry and complain.

Then I was induced around 10am, and the nurse I had for my labour was awesome! For those who aren't familiar with labour that's induced, you are assigned a one-on-one nurse who just sits by your side your entire labour and delivery. And I was so thankful to have such a great nurse by my side. Cody's heart rate dropped several times throughout my labour, and near the end I was very worried I'd have to have an emergency c-section, but everything turned out to be okay. The delivery was extremely exhausting for me this time (I remembered Nate's delivery as going VERY differently... I would say way better, even though I pushed for two hours). I only had to push for about 15 minutes, but I had absolutely no energy and so I really struggled through it and remember feeling at one point like I just couldn't do it. It's amazing how your body just kicks into high gear and does what it has to do! I'm thankful for that. And then he was born at 2:58pm on Monday, July 13th. He weighed 7lbs, just like Nate. But he measured 58cm long (almost 2 feet!) so he was extremely long and skinny. The irony of this is that I went in for two extra ultrasounds during my pregnancy because they were very concerned that his thighs were measuring far too short. It was something I worried about for quite awhile. It just goes to show that unborn babies are "under construction" up until the minute they are born and that God's got it all under control, especially when we feel completely helpless.

And for those who just can't help but ask that pesky little question: will you have any more kids? The answer is I hope so. Both Monte & I picture our family with at least three kids, but at this point I can't say I'm planning one way or the other. It's just too soon! I did say to Monte, however, that if we have a third, I want in writing that I'm guaranteed an epidural! Twice now I've wanted an epidural and never got one. It's my one stipulation that Monte will have to work out with an anesthesiologist before I'm game for a third kid!