Hooray!!!! He is finally here!!!! Benson was born on Day 1183 (November 25th), and what an amazing and wonderful day it was!
The Thursday before Thanksgiving at my doctor's appointment they scheduled an induction for the next Tuesday. Once the induction was scheduled it was such a relief to know that there was an end in sight, but I still was having anxiety about him actually being born. I was also a little mad that I needed to wait another 5 days to have the baby, but at least there was a definite end in sight. Aniston's labor and birth and recovery were not fantastic, and I was worried about that pain and those problems combined with having a newborn and a 2 year old and my intense fear of breast feeding. Of course once others found out that I was being induced I pretty much heard every single horror story of induction possible. I heard about the longest labors possible, I heard about emergency c-sections having to be performed, I heard about calling in on your induction day and not being able to go in until days later because the hospital was too busy, I heard everything! Not so reassuring. My doctor told me to call in at 5:15am the day of the inductions as opposed to the 5:30am that the hospital asks for in order to make sure I got in on that day. I'm not gonna lie. I really kind of enjoyed knowing when I would be going into the hospital. I was able to clean the house spotless the day before, with Spencer's help of course. I was able to spend the day with Aniston knowing that it was our last day as a family of 3. I just felt prepared and that part was awesome!
I called in at 5:14am Tuesday the 25th, I just couldn't wait until 5:15. And I happened to be the first one to call in and they told me to come on in at 6:30am. Of course I hadn't slept at all the night before, so I had made a to do list in my mind of all the little things that needed to be done before we went to the hospital. I called my Mom to let her know that she could come pick up Ani. I woke Ani up and got her ready for the day and spent some time just talking with her. My babies are 868 days apart and I was feeling so incredibly thankful for those 868 days and for that time that I had to spend with just Aniston as my only baby. She was such a great teacher and such a wonderful first child. I was so nervous about how she would react once the baby was actually here and I really just wanted this experience to be a good experience for her.
When we got to the hospital, my doctor had 2 surgeries scheduled so they hooked me up to pitocin and said that once he was done he would come in and break my water. That didn't happen until 1pm. The pitocin really didn't do much for me. I generally have terrible, awful, so painful you throw up cramps during my period anyway that those early contractions really don't phase me much. So Spencer and I watched a lot of HGTV and he worked on homework. Our nurse was fantastic and super helpful. I'm pretty such that having a good nurse is the key to having a good labor. Spencer had to leave to go to a workshop on campus for an hour and of course during that time the doctor came in and broke my water. I was dilated to a 5 at the time and we didn't expect much. With Aniston, after my water broke it was 11 hours and 33 minutes until she was actually born. We were even thinking that he could be born on my Dad's birthday which was the next day. The contractions really started getting intense really quickly, and I asked for my epidural. HEAVEN! Seriously, good for all those people who do the natural thing, but I am all about getting the drugs. It didn't really matter this time around however. For about 30 minutes after my epidural I was feeling good and took a short nap, but then woke up because I was having a really sharp pain in my groin. This was not something that I ever felt with Aniston and I wasn't sure what was going on. The nurse came in and checked me and said I was at an 8 and probably in about an hour or two it would be time. The doctor informed me that the sharp pain that was so intense that it was making me shake in pain, wouldn't go away until I had the baby because it was the position of his head that was causing the pain. 5 minutes later I told Spencer to go get the nurse because something wasn't feeling right. She came in and checked me and said it was baby time. 13 minutes later at 4:35pm, my 7lb 10oz 19 1/2 inches long baby boy was born. With Aniston I pushed for 1 hour and 33 minutes, so 13 minutes was AMAZING! I was shocked at how quickly everything has happened. From water breaking to birth it was 3 hours and 35 minutes. The doctor told me never to tell anyone who had ever been induced my story because it was totally unusual to have such a quick and easy labor with an induction and they would probably not want to be friends anymore. He told me that I should always be induced. Definitely if labor and delivery could be that great. While they were washing my baby up all I could think about was how he looked EXACTLY like Aniston did when she was born. Apparently I have cookie cutter babies, and I am 100% okay with that! Benson did have his cord wrapped around his neck twice, but he is a tough little man and it didn't cause any problems at all thank goodness!
The after birthing pain was so much better too. With Aniston I couldn't even stand up or shower on my own due to the pain. After this birth I was up and walking and shocked at how much better I felt. It is crazy the difference between my two labor and deliveries. The second time around was such a better experience!
And I have to say, just a side note, that I'm pretty sure I did not have Gestational Diabetes. I actually had stopped checking my blood sugars and staying so strict on the diet about 4 weeks ago and Benson has had no blood sugar problems in the slightest. He was even an ounce smaller than Aniston who was born 12 days early and Benson was only 3 days early. And there have been no problems at all that I was told would occur from having Gestational Diabetes. I'm pretty sure it's a fad right now to be diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. It seems like everyone has it and blah blah blah. It's like beanie babies or cross fit. It's just a fad and it won't be the big thing forever.
Aniston came to visit her baby brother about 3 hours after he was born, and she has been in love ever since.
She is such a good big sister! We had a present for her from baby brother when she came to visit, and she carries that school bus around with her everywhere and tells everyone that baby brother got it for her. We were really worried about this transition, but there was absolutely no reason to be worried. She actually could be defined as "too helpful".
When we first met our baby we both felt and liked the name Benson, but we didn't commit to it. But over the next 24 hours Spencer began to have second thoughts on the name. Eventually the hospital kept asking for the insurance forms and birth certificate form so we sat down and really thought about the name and agree on Benson Richard. We are obsessed!
For those of you wondering, I gave breast feeding a second try. OUCH! But now, 10 days later we are exclusively pumping and I love it. Benson does too. I love that Spencer can help with middle of the night feedings and that I'm not in pain but still giving my baby what I couldn't give to Aniston.
We are so in love with our new addition and we feel so blessed that we have this sweet new spirit in our home. Going from on child to two has been easier than I thought. The days go by more quickly and my house is a little more messy, but I wouldn't change it for the world!
Welcome to our family Benson Richard! We already love you more than words can describe!
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