Friday, February 15, 2013

Maverick's Birth Story


Wow! Maverick is already 3 months old and I haven’t updated my blog since his birth. We’ve been super busy with 2 and I’m already back at work- only making matters worse. Who’s got time to work when you have 2 children to raise?! We are so lucky this time around, though! My retired MIL is keeping Maverick while I work and although Danica is still at Greenhouse now- we plan to enroll her in a ½ day program in the fall so she can spend some time with Mema and Maverick as well. I’d still like to tell my birth story so it’s documented here. It took me a year to type Danica’s story, so I don’t want to get too far behind.

Maverick was actually due on the 11th, but I decided that since Danica came on her due date- I couldn’t be so lucky. I woke up at 2 a.m.  November 12 with cramps, but I didn’t have any contractions so I went back to sleep. I woke up again at 4 a.m. with stronger cramps, so I got in the shower. I should have stayed there, because just as soon as I stepped out of the shower and got dressed- my water broke. Ha! Joe rushed to grab my things and we headed to the hospital. By the time we got there, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. After thousands of questions, I settled into the room and got to see my mid-wife. I continued having contractions, but was only 4 cm dilated. So while I waited to dilate more, we began preparations for an epidural. After receiving it, I still felt every contraction. They asked another anesthesiologist to come and he had to replace it. I then felt the urge to push. 2 and a half hours later, there was still no baby and I was in so much pain. The mid-wife offered to get a doctor to help- but he was half an hour from being able to come since he was assisting someone else. I’ve never been so happy to see a doctor! He tried using the vacuum extractor, but it popped out 3 times. He decided a C-section would be best, so they rushed around to get me ready. I’ve never seen Joe and my dad so worried. Once I was in the operating room, I had to get another epidural placed. I was numb from chest down and was able to stay awake the whole time. 3 epidurals and hours later, Maverick Paul was born at 3:44 p.m. weighing at 9 pounds and 9.8 ounces. Even our mid-wife stated that at that weight, she knew why I wasn’t able to push him out. My big boy was precious! Joe brought him to me so I could see him and give him some sweet kisses. He stayed in our room the entire time I was at the hospital. Dad and his wife were there when he was born and came to meet him when I was in the recovery room. My dad stated that his worry came from my not having surgery before and because he had never known a woman to have a C-section (not my mom or either of my sisters had one). Mema brought Danica to see him that night. She was so excited at first, but a little bit of jealousy began settling in. We prepared the room for her to stay with us, but she decided to go home with Mema. She came back the next day and when it was time, Joe took her to ballet and video-taped her dance for me since I didn’t get to attend parent observation night. She was also there when it was time to take him home and rode with us in the car. I asked her to keep a close watch on him and make sure his little head didn’t fall over. Once we got home, it was a tough first week. Danica craved attention from us and would go to great lengths to get it. I’ve never seen so much wildness or heard so much loud singing as I did from my daughter that week. But things settled down soon after and she loves her baby brother.

3 months later, my sweet boy is 16 pounds. He is wearing 6 month separates, but 9 month sleepers. He never made it into newborn things and was out of 3 month sleepers within a week! He is also in size 2 diapers. I’ve got a whole box of size 1 that we never opened!  In the meantime, Maverick is so alert. He was already swatting at toys in his play gym at 2 months old. Before he turned 3 months, he can hold small toys in his hand and put them in his mouth. He is very interested in hands and looks with amazement when you show him yours. He is trying so hard to roll over and he can hold his head up when you lift him up gently by his arms (he loves to do that). He started smiling right after I took his one month picture. He has such a sweet smile! We’ve got him on a 3 hour eat, play, sleep schedule and he is such an easy baby. Although he requires a bit of rocking and singing, he will sleep in his crib. He doesn’t sleep through the night yet. There was one 6 hour stretch overnight when he got his first cold, but that hasn’t happened since. It’s been tough overnight since I’m now back at work, but Joe takes him early evening so I can go ahead and get some sleep before his nightly feeds. I’m so lucky that he goes right back to sleep after his feeding so I can get some rest before getting ready for work. And the mornings are easy since all I have to do right now is feed him and love him before I leave to go to work. We are still with Mema, so I don’t have to get him ready to go. That has been really nice, especially since it takes every ounce of our energy to get Danica ready! LOL!

Here are some pictures of my sweet boy. 




We love you Maverick! You are truly a blessing!

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