If you’re interested, here’s the long story of Finn’s birth. It’s going to be more personal than usual, so be prepared. If you want to just skip ahead to the pictures, I more than understand. Who doesn’t want to check out a cute baby? :)
Oh, where to begin? Honestly, the best place to begin this story is with Jack’s birth. He was quite the uncooperative baby, which resulted in me having to have a c-section. After he was born, we found out that he had a condition called craniosynostosis, which, in simplified terms, means all of the bones in his head were already fused together. If you know nothing of babies (which I didn’t) the bones in their head are supposed to be soft & not connected yet. Hence, the “soft spot” that every baby-phobe is terrified of sticking their finger through. What? That was just me? Oh. Anyway. It’s pretty difficult to deliver a baby with a fully formed, hard head, so that turned out the be the reason I needed a c-section, although we didn’t know that was why until after he was born, obviously. I don’t normally talk about Jack & his “special head”, because basically, it’s been fixed through a pretty scary surgery, and so it seems pointless to bring it up. The reason I did, though, is to set the stage for why I had to have a c-section the first time around. To say that I hated having a c-section would be an understatement. The recovery was miserable & I was so upset that I didn’t get to experience a traditional childbirth. It took me awhile to get over the disappointment, but I did, so that’s that.
Fast forward 3.5 years to when I found out that I was expecting another baby. I knew that if it’d been 18 months or more, you could attempt a “traditional” birth (VBAC). I knew without a doubt that I wanted to go for it. There’s an 80% success rate, so the odds were pretty good. Plus, and this is the reason for disclosing Jack’s ordeal up there, my reason for a c-section in the first place wasn’t that my body couldn’t do it, but instead that it was a special circumstance. The only part that stressed me out was the fact that I had to go into labor on my own. If you’ve already had a c-section they can’t induce you or give you any drugs to move labor along. So, if you don’t go into labor naturally, you have to have a c-section. Jack was 10 days late, so that made me pretty nervous. I tried really hard to just let it go & realize there was nothing that I could do about it. Easier said than done, but I tried.
My last scheduled doctor’s appointment was on Wednesday, July 28th & my due date was that Saturday, July 31st. Just like every other appointment, there was no news. Again, I tried not worry about it, but it was definitely getting harder. I didn’t want to schedule the c-section just yet, so I made an appointment to come in the next week & if there was no change, I’d schedule one then. I started to be a little proactive & try to pick a “fun” date to have for his birthday. We’d decided on either August 9 (8.9.10!) or the 13th, which was a Friday. We got engaged on the 13th of September, so I associate good things happening on that day. I figured, if I can’t have the birth I want, at least I can try to enjoy picking the date. Trivial, I know, but it gave my mind something to think about.
Well, along comes Thursday & I felt kind of sick & run down all day. Jack got to watch a LOT of tv while he snuggled on the couch with me. Later that evening, I started having my nightly contractions. This time, though, they were pretty consistent in their timing of 9 minutes apart. Plus, something just felt different. As the night progressed, the contractions got closer together & were around 5-7 minutes apart when we went to bed around 10:30-11 ish. I just knew that this was it. Dustin fell asleep, because, honestly, who knows how long something like this will take. Plus, I’m pretty sure he thought it was nothing. By midnight, my contractions were about 3.5 minutes apart & definitely getting stronger. I knew without a doubt that this was it. So, I finished up a client order & got it ready to ship out & then took a shower & made sure I had everything packed. I called my Dr. & told her what was going on & she said I could either wait it out a little while longer or come in. Considering I live 25 minutes from the hospital & we still had to get someone to come stay with Jack, I told her that I would be heading in. I DID NOT want to deliver this baby anywhere but in a hospital
At this point, it’s 1 am, so I sit on the bed & wake Dustin up. ”It’s time”. He looks me up & down, notices I’m dressed & says, “Are you sure?” After I assured him that I was sure & that I’d talked to the Doctor, he said, “Are you sure you don’t want to try to relax and sleep for another hour?” What this really meant was “I really want to sleep for another hour”. I informed him that there was no way I was going to sleep & we needed to GO. I also let him know that the birth story had already begun & therefore his comment asking to sleep another hour would forever be immortalized along with it He laughed & got up. I swear, I thought the man was supposed to bolt out of bed & be all excited. Not Dustin. I always knew he was cool under pressure, but this was crazy! We called Dustin’s brother, Ian, to come stay with Jack & by the time he got to the house, it was DEFINITELY time to go. We called Dustin’s mom on the way & told her we’d let her know what was going on once we got settled in.
By the time we got to the hospital, contractions were 2.5 minutes apart & I wasn’t talking at all when I would have one. So we get checked in & I’m all hooked up to everything when the nurses inform me that I’m only 1 centimeter dilated. WHAT?!?!?! How is that possible? Finn’s heart rate was really erratic though, so they let me stay. If he’d been perfectly normal, they would’ve sent me home. Needless to say, I would’ve just sat in the parking lot until I could come back in Well, it turns out that it’s a very good thing we didn’t leave, because half an hour later I was at 5! At least I knew then why the pain had suddenly become nearly unbearable. I told Dustin he’d better call his mom, because they live half an hour away. At this point, I didn’t know if they’d even make it. And to think, I was worried about not going into labor on my own &/or not progressing. Ha.
Since I’d gotten to 5, I was tapped up with a sweet, sweet epidural & spent the next few hours in a much more comfortable state. Unfortunately, Finn’s heart rate was not being cooperative at all. Every so often a nurse would come in & I’d switch positions in hopes of getting his heart at a better number. A baby’s heart beats around 140 beats per minute & Finn’s was dropping into the 40′s. Scary, but at the same time, it seems like it happens ALL the time in labor nowadays. I just tried to rest & stay calm in hopes of transferring it to him. By about 8 o’clock, I was allowed to start pushing. I was so happy that I’d made it this far that I wanted to cry. Unfortunately, every time I would push, his heart rate would drop & we’d have to wait 5 minutes until I could push again. Even though the nurse said he was so close, the Dr. came in & said we needed to think about a c-section. I couldn’t even look at him. He said we’d wait it out a little bit more, but if Finn’s heart didn’t start cooperating, they’d have to do the surgery. Unfortunately, his heart rate never improved, in fact, it got really, really slow, almost to the point of sounding like it was going to stop. The Dr. came in & said we had to do it. Even though I knew he was right, I was still so upset. I felt bad for the Dr. because, again, I couldn’t look at him. I just cried. BUT, like I said, I knew that it had to be done. In fact, once they told me they were going to do it, it seemed to take way too long for them to get it all set up & get him out.
Once they got him out & I heard that sweet little cry & knew that he was ok, I was so grateful. He was perfect. At the end of the day, I ended up not being nearly as upset about the c-section as I thought I’d be. Maybe because I got to have almost the whole experience? I don’t know, I’m just grateful that I have a healthy baby. He’s been nothing short of perfect these last 2 weeks. He sleeps like a dream & eats like a pig. And did I mention how freaking cute he is? Ohhhh, yeah. Seriously.
If you read all this, thank you, you’re a trooper Really, I think I wrote it all out more for myself than anything. It’ll be nice to look back upon someday. Now for the part that you really came here for…. The PICTURES!!! It’s a combination of point & shoot & fancy camera, so there’s a little inconsistency. I’d much rather have a moment captured less than perfectly instead of missed.
The most important thing to note about this picture is that it was post-epidural. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I’d look like a completely different person. I can guarantee that I wouldn’t be smiling.
Dustin’s self portrait waiting to go in to the operating room. He has an almost exact copy of this shot from when Jack was born
Only seconds old
About half an hour old
Hello, world
Here’s Finn meeting his cousin, Tristan, for the first time. Believe it or not, Tristan is only 2 months older than Finn. I’m pretty sure he’s thinking about eating Finn for a snack here
The Grandmas & Auntie meeting Finn for the first time. I love this picture SO much.
There’s nothing better than a cuddly baby to nap with
Jack & Finn finally meet. Jack was SO excited & he’s proven to be a perfect big brother. I seriously could not ask for a better kid. It’s completely true what people say, though. Jack seems absolutely huge to us now. It was unexpected & it actually makes me pretty sad. He’ll always be my baby, but he sure doesn’t feel like a baby anymore. I’m sure this would please him immensely, but it kind of breaks my heart.
One of my favorites
Dustin took this of me, while I was taking the above picture of Finn. PS – Thanks to my sister, Courtney, for brining me the delicious Starbucks you see there. Seriously, that was one of my favorite things
While I was setting up the camera to get a self -timer shot, I caught this. Love it.
The first family photo (sans Jack).
Can I just say how weird it is to post photos of myself on here? Nevertheless, I absolutely love this one that Dustin took.
We came home to Welcome Home signs all over the place. Cute!
So, the name change? This is Vicki, an extremely close friend of the Smith family. So close, that she’s Granny V to all of the Smith grandkids. Well, it turns out that Finn was born on her late son’s birthday. Not only that, but Jack was born on the day (different year) that her (wonderful) husband passed away. Their last name? Elliott. We’d really loved the middle name Rowan, which means “little red haired one”, but Finn somehow magically came out with black hair (thanks, Grandpas). Now, if we’d never realized the connection to Vicki’s special days, we would’ve stuck with Rowan. It was still a great name & nobody had to know it’s origins. However, once we realized the specialness of the day, we thought of how great it would be to use Elliott for his middle name. Plus, Elliott’s just a great name anyway. Here’s Vicki right after we told her. Love it.
Here’s Jack giving Finn his present & card that he picked out for him. We’d never even told him to do it. We were at the store one day & he came up with a book that he wanted to “buy for Baby Finn”. Ok. Then, another day, he wanted to buy a fire truck card. No problem. He never said the card was for Finn, but when we got home, he asked how to spell Finn’s name & wrote it on the card. Then he licked it, sealed it & put it all in a bag. He left it there for over a month until this day. I told you that kid was awesome. Finn’s very lucky to have him for a big brother.
Our welcome home sign from Jack & Grandma along with our first real family picture. I’m so happy Jack’s wearing his favorite boots here. Man, he loves those things. PS – I’m not floating, I’m standing on the top step
So, when Jack was born, I took this picture from the hospital bed. It’s always been a favorite, so we had to recreate it with Finn. So, do you think my photography skills have improved? Egads. Although, to be fair, I was pretty drugged up & lying in a hospital bed, but still….
Jack
Finn
Thanks so much for indulging me in the overload of baby info! Mark this day, ’cause I guarantee I’ll never write another post this long again! :)
by April
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