Charlie's Birth

Charlie is 1 week old today! In honor, today I'm going to tell Charlie's birth story. I want to be able to look back and remember myself, and I'm always interested in hearing other people's stories, so I thought I would document my own on the blog. I've tried to keep it entirely "non-gruesome", but it is a labor and delivery experience, so just be prepared!! Another word of warning--it's kind of long! Pictures are at the end, if you just want to jump to that part :)

If any of you were following my blog just prior to Charlie's arrival, you know that I was REALLY hoping to NOT be induced this time around. Even Thursday night, after we dropped Abram off at Shayne and Emily's house, I was still hanging on to a small hope that I could start during the night or my water would break!

Well, our alarm clock went off at 4 AM, no labor, and we prepared to head to the hospital. The drive to the hospital was full of excitement and anticipation as we looked forward to meeting our new little boy soon! The induction was scheduled for 5 AM, and at this point, I was very okay with being induced....just excited!

By 5:45 AM, we were settled in to Labor and Delivery Room #15, and the pitocin was starting to drip into my I.V. line. It was a huge, beautiful room, equipped with a large jacuzzi tub, a wall full of different massaging shower head options, and a birthing ball....perfect for someone opting for a natural childbirth experience! But, Ryan and I had decided that we were going to have an epidural administered this time. With Abram, we really wanted to go through the experience naturally, and it was a wonderful thing--we both actively worked together to bring Abe into the world! Ryan was truly my partner and coach, and he helped me through every contraction. As much as we enjoyed the experience, we thought it might be really special, in a different sort of way, to go through labor without all the pain. This time, we looked forward to just sitting together, spending time just the two of us, while we talked about the future and our soon-to-be family of four. As I talked with the nurse who was starting my IV, she expressed her own experience as being just that--she just kind of "hung out" until it was time to push! That sounded so wonderful! It was that type of experience that I was mentally prepared for this time.

From 5:45 to 7:15, I had a few small contractions, and my cervix only dilated 1 centimeter during that time. I remained only 3 centimeters dilated, so we prepared for a baby by early evening. We had expressed that we wanted an epidural, and the nurse asked if we would be okay with them breaking my bag of waters before administering that epidural. Because of the snowstormthat morning, the anesthesia team was understaffed and would not be able to come to give the epidural until 8 AM. We said, "Yeah, that's fine!" We reasoned that after they broke my water with Abe, the contractions picked up immediately and he was born 4 hours later. But, my pitocin was already up to 20 mu per minute (the maximum dosage). With my pitocin currently only at 7 mu/minute, we felt like it would be fine to go ahead and break the water and allow labor to hopefully pick up a little...I could handle a few tough contractions before the anesthesiologist came at 8!! At 7:30, the resident on staff came and broke my water. Immediately, I was in a tremendous amount of pain. The anesthesiologist came to do the epidural at 7:45, and after just 15 minutes of intense contractions, I was so ready for the relief! She said it would take about 20 minutes to administer, and I should feel the effects right away. The relief would reach its full effect within 20 minutes. They asked Ryan to step out and began to prep me.

Half an hour later, at 8:15, the anesthesiologist was concerned that I was feeling no relief from contractions. In fact, they just kept getting worse. The nurse checked me, and I was dilated to a 5. She was impressed with my progress (2 cm in an 45 minutes) and told me we would probably have a baby by lunch. At this time, the pain was so intense--I asked if Ryan could come back in the room, and they called him in. He was starting to get worried, because they had kept him out for so long, but the nurse and the anesthesiologist were just preoccupied over the poor effects of the epidural. When Ryan came back in the room, I was clinging on to the side of the bed rail, crying out in pain. He had completely expected to come in to see a happy, relaxed wife, ready to enjoy the rest of the labor, and instead, I was crying, writhing in pain! He rushed to my side and tried to calm me down. At this point, I was nearly out of control. I was contorting my body in all sorts of strange patterns trying to find relief--I cannot imagine what this scene must have looked like to a bystander!! At one point, I remember screaming, "Somebody please help me!" Ryan started crying too, as he was completely unprepard for this and hated seeing his wife in pain. Looking back, I think it was definitely a "mind-over-matter" sort of thing. Because I had been "promised" relief in just 20 minutes, I was now hoping/expecting every contraction to get better, and they were only becoming more intense.

The anesthesiologist returned with another bolus of pain medication; because my body was progressing so quickly, the epidural wasn't able to get a hold over the contractions, so they had to play catch-up. She quickly ran all of the medication into my line. The nurse checked me again, and in just 15 minutes, I had gone from a 5 to an 8, hence the seemingly never-ending, super-strong contractions. They quickly called the doctor who was just pulling into the parking structure. Right as the doctor ran into the room, I felt the full effect of the medication hit me like a truck. I lay on the bed completely motionless, unable to move. The doctor checked me and said, "Okay, let me get my gown on and we'll have a baby!"

With the epidural finally working and the labor behind me, the actual delivery experience was so incredible. Unlike the chaotic whirlwind of my previous pushing experience, this time was very slow. Even with the epidural, I could still feel enough to push effectively; but, because I couldn't feel the contractions any more, the nurse told me when to push. Ryan and I were both able to see what was happening this time, and it was SO emotional! Just a few minutes later, at 8:55 AM, Charles Ryan Funk was born.

Okay, now rewind to the beginning when I said I REALLY wanted to NOT be induced...after the delivery, the doctor said, "Wow, I'm so glad we ended up inducing you, and we were in a controlled setting!" He went on to explain that because my pitocin was only at 7, my body was right on the verge of labor and only needed a little jump start. Had I gone on my own at home, by the time I realized that it was the "real deal" it could have been highly likely that we wouldn't have made it to the hospital on time, as the active portion of my labor was only around 45 minutes. Because Charlie came through the birth canal so quickly, I suffered quite a bit of damage, including two major blood vessels, causing me to lose a significant amount of blood. While the unknown obviously cannot be known for certain, there could have been potential for a very dangerous outcome.

It just caused me to pause a moment and be thankful that God had everything planned out. There is no reason to ever questions His ways, though sometimes (oftentimes) they are different than our own. On top of the medical aspect of it all, it worked out wonderfully with family being able to come up and with Ryan's school schedule. We have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy, and my heart just swells with joy when I think about it all! I feel so unworthy. Who are we, that God is mindful of us? That he would not only just care for our needs, but that He would give us rich blessings on top of it all? It's all just very overwhelming as I consider it all. Thank you Jesus! We praise Your Holy Name!

And now for the pictures:


Me and Abe before we took him to Shayne and Emily's:



5:45 AM--ready to go!



Daddy's arm reaching out to cut the cord:



Meeting my baby boy:





Daddy and his boy:



We made it!



Abe meeting Charlie for the first time:



Our family of 4:



Good morning Charlie!



Ready to go home!!

Charlie is Here!

Charles Ryan Funk was born this morning at 8:55 AM.

7 lbs, 2 oz., 19.5 inches long--we think he's just perfect!

We give God all the glory and just cannot cease to praise Him for His rich blessings.

Birth story and more pictures to come soon!

Children's Museum

Last week, we went downtown to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum with Emily and Brady. Emily has a pass from Shayne's work with the Children's Hospital, so we were blessed with the opportunity to go for FREE!! Abe had a wonderful time! He was a little young to do everything, but he gave most everything a try at least! The set-up was really neat--one half was more hands on, motor skill type activities, and the other side was all sorts of different occupations, where the children could play the role of the worker/customer (for example, there was a store, a bank, a mechanic shop, a post office, etc.) Abe's favorite, by far, was definitely the train he got to "drive"--he has developed a bit of an obsession with trains as of late. After he got home, he told Ryan he wanted to go to the "moo-zeem" with Daddy someday too! Here are some pictures of our outing:

Playing trains with Brady (unfortunately, the only picture I have of them together!):




Driving the train:




I thought this was so creative yet simple: they had a counter with all sorts of craft supplies the kids could pick from--tissue paper, foam squares, yarn, squares cut out of magazines, markers, and glue sticks. The kids could then glue those on to sheets of construction paper. Abe seemed to really enjoy the activity, and we had everything on hand at home, so we copied the idea!




One of Abe's creations he made later at home:




Jungle Gym:




Mini Golf:




Semi Driving:




And lastly, I just have to share this video of Abram learning to ride his tricycle, because it makes me laugh every time I watch it! I think it's hilarious that he is so serious, and he keeps going backward--when he finally moves forward, he crashes into the wall! Obviously, we're still working on riding the trike a little better!

Total Randomness

Today's post has absolutely no cohesiveness, but hopefully you'll find it enjoyable nonetheless. I apologize in advance if it just sounds like I'm rambling :)

Food and Fitness: Lately, I've really been into reading food and nutrition blogs; it's become a new hobby of sorts! Having successfully made it through the difficult high school years where body image is a large issue, having discovered my love of cooking as I had to do it all on my own during college, and now being 'employed' as personal chef to our growing family, food has become hugely important to me. The health and nutrition of our family currently rests squarely on my shoulders, and realizing that the food we eat will impact our health, even our very lifespan, I have found it to be a daunting yet incredibly enjoyable task. For the most part, I make nearly everything from scratch and try my very best to feed our family a completely balanced diet on a daily basis. However, Ryan and I have talked about our need to increase our physical exercise, and we hope to tackle this need head-on over the next year or so. I hope to give you periodic updates (hopefully positive ones!) on our progress. Wish us luck!

Next, we finished our taxes for this year! Woohoo! What a mess that was, having our year split in half between two different states. Wisconsin is quite a bit pickier than Illinois in what they require you to input for their state taxes. What took us just a few hours last year took a few days this year. But, we're finally done, another tax season behind us!

Ryan's Summer Plans: Though we found out a few weeks ago, I think I failed to post that Ryan has secured a research position for this summer! We had hoped he would get a 12-week spot, and he only got a position for 8 weeks. Still, this is income we had not calculated in to our initial budget when we began medical school, so we are so thankful! One area of the budget we neglected to cover when we did our calculations was the application fees and travel accomodations when it comes time to apply to residency programs. This won't happen until Ryan's 4th year, but it will still be nice to have some extra money set aside for this purpose. And, because he got an 8-week position, he'll actually have a summer break (as opposed to working the whole summer with the 12-week), so we might get a little family vacation in as well! We're so thankful for the Lord's provision!

Next, here is an embarassing yet rather funny 'something' that happened the other night at our home: Ryan was lying on the living room floor studying, and he suddenly looked up at me, sitting on the couch reading, and said, "I just found a Nerd on the floor, and I ate it." I started laughing and said, "Don't worry, I did that earlier today too!" We both then started laughing at our mutual disfortune. You see, Abe received a Valentine care package from Ryan's parents, and it contained some Nerds. His little 2-year-old fingers must have had difficulty holding the teeny little candy pieces, because I've been finding them on the floor, sprinkled here and there. And yes, I confess, I've EATEN some of them! And my husband did the SAME THING!!! Is that a parent thing? Are there any other parents who do that sort of thing? I've yet to decide if it was because I really wanted the Nerd or because I was too lazy to do the alternative: take it to the kitchen and throw it in the garbage. I definitely wouldn't do it outside of my own home, nor even in my own home with many other foods either, but a little piece of candy? It seemed harmless enough!

Last, baby update!! I had my 39-week appointment today (that means just 1 more week!!!), and it went well. No additional "progress", but baby and mommy are both hanging in there. We discussed the option of induction versus going naturally, and my doctor is a big proponent of spontaneous labor rather than using drugs to coax it along. Ryan and I also are definitely hoping my body will go on its own (especially because we were induced last time with Abe). However, should I go all the way to 41 weeks, it puts us smack-dab in the middle of the week. This proves more difficult for family to make the trek up and is just two days before a huge exam for Ryan, followed by additional exams starting the next week. SO, we've decided that if I'm still pregnant by next Friday, the 24th (2 days after my due date), we will be induced that morning. I hope this doesn't have to happen! But we also think it's the best option given our circumstances.

Next post: our trip to the Children's Museum! Or, if I'm lucky, New Baby Boy post!! We'll have to see which comes first :) Thanks for reading my rambling!

Our Golden Weekend

We're nearing the end of our first golden weekend this semester, and it's been just wonderful! If you remember back to last fall when I posted about our 'Amazing Weekend', a "golden weekend" is one that follows a week of exams. With no new material to study over the weekend due to testing all week, Ryan is completely free and doesn't touch a book! It's very freeing for all of us. I kind of thought it would be the perfect time for Baby Boy to arrive, but it looks like he wants to hang out inside a little longer. I'm glad to have had this special time with just the 3 of us though--we've had so much fun just hanging out together!

Truthfully, we didn't really do much of anything. No special activities or festivities, but it's been great all the same! On Friday, I spent the morning with another mom from church--she came to our place and the kiddos played while we chatted. After Ryan got home, we just rested while Abe napped in the afternoon. After he woke up, we got things rolling for our celebration dinner! As in the past, we grilled some steaks, ate in the dining room, and used our fancy servingware and glasses. Kind of corny, I know, but so fun!

Saturday we had a leisurely morning and then headed out to run some errands. The day was SO gorgeous, almost like spring! It felt so good just to be out and about. We went to Sam's Club, and though we didn't plan on it, we ended up eating our "lunch" there--I've never seen so many samples out! They were mostly appetizer-type foods, so I think they must have been doing a special for the Superbowl Game. On our way home, we went to Starbucks and used up our holiday gift cards. Ryan and I each had hot cocoa, and Abe had a Horizon Vanilla Milk. He thought it was pretty special to have his own little milk box!

After we got home, we played outside for a bit and installed the infant seat into the car. When it was time for Abe's nap, we again took advantage of it and rested ourselves. In the evening we watched a family movie.

Church was this morning, a message on the Psalms, and now as I write, Ryan is trying to figure out how to hook up our television so we can watch the Superbowl. We normally only use the TV as a video monitor, so we'll see if he can even get it going! We splurged on a take-and-bake pizza and soda pop to celebrate the event, which, dare I be honest and say that I don't even know who is playing tonight? Yep, it's true--I have not a clue! We had a few party-options, but we decided to fore-go those for a quiet evening at home. It's not often that we get this sort of uninterrupted time!

Here I am at 37.5 weeks--Abe wanted to be in the picture too!



I'll be sure to keep the blog updated regarding little one's arrival. At my last appointment, I was dilated to 2 centimeters and 80% effaced, so I'm excited to know that my body is getting ready! Contractions have become quite frequent and even painful, something I never really experienced with Abe. I really only had the tightening Braxton Hicks with him, but with those that I've been feeling with this baby, the painful sensation has actually been preceding the tightening sensation and is throughout my back and tummy. My doc said he won't let me go past 41 weeks before he induces me, which means we will definitely have a baby this month! Ryan is rooting for a week overdue so he'll be born on Leap Day. I, on the other hand, think that would be just dreadful, both for the fact of having to be pregnant for 3.5 more weeks and for our little boy only having his real birthday every 4 years! I guess only time will tell. We know God will bring this little man to us at the perfect time, and we're so excited to meet him!