First of all, Cooper was a lazy boy. He was determined to spend as much time on the inside as possible. Based on his measurements, the fact that I went 6 days early with Ryleigh, and that he is a boy, I NEVER thought I would make it to my due date. But Cooper had other plans. We waited...and waited...and waited. Christmas came, and went. New Years came, and went. My due date came, and went. I went to the doctor on January 10 (my due date) and we decided to go ahead and schedule the induction. The doctor didn't seem too worried since he believed Cooper had yet to reach 9 pounds, so that relaxed me a little bit. We scheduled the induction for January 14...no way I would make it that long. Wrong. At 5:30am on January 14 we were on our way to the hospital ready to evict our little tenant.
I was really nervous about being induced. Other than a c-section, it was the only other thing I did not want to happen. I was petrified that being induced meant my labor was not going to progress and I would be holed up in the hospital for hours, days even waiting to have a baby only to end up having a c-section anyways. Much to my surprise and relief, once I was hooked up to the monitors the nurse informed us that I was already having contractions. Looks like Cooper decided there was no way he was getting forced out.
My contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart, but I was still only 1cm dilated, so around 7:30am we started pitocin. At about 9am the doctor came and broke my water and informed me I was only 2cm. We were all prepared for a long day of "laboring". 10am, cue the Anesthesiologist. My contractions were out of control. Every minute with only about one minute in between. I could not believe how intense they felt. About 20 minutes after getting the epidural I called the nurse back in. I could still feel my legs, I could still feel my contractions, I could still feel everything! She went ahead and checked my progress and I was at 6cm already. She assured me the epidural would kick in and every 10 minutes she was clicking the machine trying to pump as much medicine into me as possible. Unfortunately for me, baby Cooper was moving faster than that machine. Another 20 minutes went by and I called the nurse back in. She couldn't believe how much pain I was in, so she checked my progress. 9cm. I had gone from 6 to 9 in 20 minutes! I was fully dilated to 10 within the next 15 minutes and by 11:45am I was pushing for dear life.
Cooper still had a good amount to travel, but since my epidural was never able to get ahead of the pain I felt every glorious contractions and all that wonderful pressure. I swore he was right there and all I needed was a few pushes to get him out. Sadly, the doctor informed me that this was not the case. After a little over an hour of pushing, Cooper arrived sunny side up at 12:53pm. If you want to know what pushing out a 9lbs 6oz baby au natural feels like....it hurts, and it was definitely NOT in my birth plan. I clearly remember looking at my doctor and saying "You tell Dr. Holland he needs to work on his skills! He assured me this baby was not 9lbs yet!" Luckily, about 20 minutes after having Cooper the epidural was able to catch up and I was gloriously numb from the waist down for the next half hour. I at least got some relief out of it ; )
By 2pm we were in our recovery room with our new little bundle of joy. 6 hours of labor. Half of what it took for me to have Ryleigh. Even though I had to do it natural, I felt like I was going to vomit with every push and contraction, and I had to deal with a raging case of heartburn throughout the pushing process, I really think I would take 6 hours of labor over 12 hours any day. I guess Cooper decided that after 40 1/2 weeks, why prolong it anymore?
So that's Cooper's story. Like I said, a much different, much more intense story than his sister that's for sure. But I wouldn't change it : ) Now lets get to what everyone really cares about...the pictures.
leaving for the hospital...one last shot of the belly
before starting the pitocin...clearly we haven't reached the height of the contractions yet
after getting my epidural & realizing it was not going to help me this time...i didn't even get to enjoy a popsicle this time around!
Finally here!
not a happy camper
Coopers first cry
getting that magic number...9lbs 6oz
Daddy having a little heart-to-heart
Cooper's first meal
with Yaya
2 hours after delivery...everyone resting up
Ryleigh meets baby Cooper
Ryleigh meets baby Cooper...and brought him gifts!
this adorable moment lasted about 10 seconds
our new family of 4
Yaya with her babies
25 hours after delivery, we were ready to get outta there! Getting Cooper ready to venture out into the world.
all decked out, looking quite handsome
Preparing to leave
safely inside the car
kisses from his big sister to welcome him home
"here, you have some and I'll have some"
Lucy approves too : )
Here are a few pictures from Cooper's first week at home. I will post the pictures from his visit with Poppi, Uncle Jason, Aunt Bekah and baby Olivia soon!
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