He's Here!

Tyson Alexander Stoddard is here!

The short version: He was born on June 29th at 4:45 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs, 15 oz, and was 21 inches.

First picture with mom and dad

The long version: I had been having lots of contractions for the last couple weeks, including 2 nights in a row of false labor on Saturday and Sunday. I tested positive for group b strep, and with my quick labor and delivery with Brynne, my doctor advised me not to labor too long at home this time so I would have time to get the antibiotics before the baby was born. So after having pretty regular contractions on Monday afternoon, I called Alex and he left work early so we could go get checked at the hospital. My mom flew in last week, so we just left the kids with her. I was hopeful this was the real thing, but was really expecting to just get sent home.

We got to the hospital around 4:30 and got monitered for an hour. I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced when we started, and after the hour of monitering, I was a whopping 2+ and still 70%. The nurse had us walk around for an hour to see if I would change anymore. After the walk I was still the same. The nurse was getting ready to send us out to get dinner and come back to get checked again, but decided to give me the first dose of penicillin in case something crazy happened at dinner and the baby came really fast. While I had the i.v. in me, I went from a 3 to a 3+, and the nurse decided I was in early labor and probably shouldn't leave. So dinner plans were scrapped and she had me walk around L&D again until the doctor could come to break my water. I got admitted into my room at 9:00 and the doctor showed up at 10:00 to break my water. From this point I expected things to go fairly quickly because of how fast Brynne's labor went once my water broke. No such luck. The next many hours, from 10 p.m. to around 3 a.m. were slow and frustrating. Every time the nurse came in to check me with her knife-like fingers, I expected to hear progress, but it was inching along so slowly. Because of how quickly Brynne came and how much better recovery was, I decided to go without an epidural again this time. Note to self: going natural is way harder with a 12 hour labor than it is with a 3 hour labor. Lesson learned.

In between contractions . . . baby number 4!

By the time 3:00 a.m. rolled around, I was FINALLY at a 7. The nurse kept telling me that with it being my 4th kid, I could easily go from a 7 to a 10 in a matter of a couple contractions. I kept waiting for that magic contraction to happen, but it didn't. Around 4:30 a.m. the doctor showed up, checked me, declared that it was a big baby, and decided I was still a 7. He also discovered that the baby was face up, so he had me roll over as far onto my stomach as I could in hopes that the baby would flip. He left to get a drink and said he'd be back in a few minutes to see if my cervix changed at all. I had one contraction while on my stomach, and that was all it took to go from a 7 to a 10 and frantically tell the nurse that I needed to push THAT SECOND. She had Alex push the call button while she yelled for the doctor to come back. They got all ready to deliver the baby. It took one pathetic effort of pushing before they believed me that I had no energy left to pull my legs back far enough to grab on to the back of my knees. So on the next contraction Alex and the nurse each pulled a leg back to me and I managed to muster enough strength to push him out in 2 pushes.

The next few minutes are a little hazy because I was so exhausted, but the baby was having a hard time breathing right, so I got to hold him for about 30 seconds and then Alex went down to the nursery with him and the nurse. They hooked him up to a cpap machine and tested his blood sugar. It came back at an 18. Alex said the nurse thought it had to be a mistake and retested him. Still 18, when it should be at least 40. So he got an i.v. with sugar water. By the time I got cleaned up and sent to the Mother/Baby unit, he was already doing way better. The took him off the cpap and retested his blood sugar, which was now at 118. He had to stay in the Level 2 nursery until 4:30 that afternoon while they weaned him off the i.v. His levels continued to stay good.

Hooked up to the cpap with his i.v. and other moniters. It looks worse than it really is!

It took us until Tuesday night to pick his name. Tyson was a name we had talked about occasionally, but had never really been on our list. Alex brought it up again after he was born and we both stewed on it for a couple hours before we decided it was a perfect fit. After calling him "baby brother" for so long, saying Tyson doesn't come naturally yet. I still want to call him "the baby" or "baby brother", so I have to be very deliberate about saying his name so it will become easy.

We stayed in the hospital until this morning. He is doing really well. Once again, I feel so blessed to have such healthy kids and an amazing support system. I'm so thankful to have my mom here. She spoiled my girls rotten while I was in the hospital! She shares her anniversary with Alli, and now her birthday with Tyson. Lucky lady! I'm also grateful for Alex's parents who are also very supportive and will always help in any way they can. We have such great families.

Here are a few (okay, a lot) pictures from the hospital. Enjoy!

My girls, my mom, Tyson, and I.

First family picture!

Proud sisters!

My FOUR kids. Holy cow.