Avery’s Birth Story

I was scheduled to go into the hospital at 6 am on May 18th to be induced with Avery. The nice thing about being induced was that I could have everything packed and planned out. My parents took the day off to work to watch Mason for the day and they were keeping him overnight too. It was really hard for Mason to be away for so long, but my family bought an air mattress and had a movie night with him in the living room. I’m forever grateful for everything they do for us!

I dropped Mason off at their house around 5:30am and they we headed to the hospital to get checked in. After getting settled in our room and doing the initial check, I was able to get breakfast because I didn’t eat anything yet and I wasn’t close to anything happening yet. I got started on pitocin and just hung out with my husband talking and watching TV for most of the day. I couldn’t eat lunch and I had Sean leave to go get lunch for himself. I was feeling contraction for a while, but not too bad yet. I was able to breathe through it, but while my husband was gone I asked for the epidural. I held off for as long as I could, but was ready for it. My husband got back right before they were going to give it to me so he was able to sit with me and hold my legs. The epidural was so much better this time around because I wasn’t in as much pain, but I could still feel when I was having contractions which is what you want to happen.

I remember texting with my family and saying that things weren’t moving along and the baby might not come until the next day. When I first got the epidural, things seem to slow down a little. I sat on the bed watching Friends and talking with my husband. All the sudden, around 5:30 pm, when I was talking to Sean, I just froze. I was laying on my side and I felt a huge amount of pressure as if he was coming out right at that second. I couldn’t even move. I told Sean he needed to come over and press the nurse call button and joked that he might be grabbing the baby. The nurse walked in and I told her I felt a lot of pressure, she was so calm and I kept thinking please hurry up, she checked me and said he was coming and called the doctor. The on call doctor came in with a bunch of nurses to get everything ready for the baby. She told me that she called my doctor on the way over and that she was running across the street to be there and I could either start pushing now or try to wait for her. Luckily my doctor came in the room right after because she was literally running and told me to start pushing as soon as I was ready. Sean had just texted my mom to let her know in case she wanted to be there. I pushed 5 times and he was here. It all happened so fast, I couldn’t believe it! Right when I saw him, the first thing I said was ‘he has hair’. Mason was bald and Avery had a lot of really dark hair. I got to hold him and have some skin on skin time before they took him to weigh him. Sean took a picture of us right when I got to hold him for the first time and this picture is so special to me. Sean texted my mom ‘he’s here’ along with the picture and she couldn’t believe how fast it happened, especially compared to last time.

Avery was born at 5:56 pm and weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces.

My parents came to see him that night and then went home to take care of Mason. Sean and I both stayed the night there with Avery. The next day Mason was with his grandpa and uncle while we tried to get Avery’s tests done to go home that night. My parents brought Mason to the hospital to meet him that night, but we were still waiting to be discharged and Mason needed dinner. He was also unsure of his brother at first and just really missed mom and dad. We had gifts for both boys that were from each other and Mason played with his new toys, but was ready to go home. We finally got discharged after 9pm and had to go to a drive thru to get food and then get home to take care of our dog and get Mason to bed and get through our first night as a family of four. We all slept in the same bed that night and it was very crowded, but I was so happy to be home and to finally Avery with us. He is so precious and a great addition to our family. 🙂