Rylan Savannah Hust is Here!

While I was not happy about deciding to be induced, for several reasons already listed in another post and how the events of Tuesday, January 28, 2014 turned out, I think it was the right decision. Here is the play-by-play.

We ate dinner at Tacos El Norte Monday night with the hopes my water would break like it did with Kyleigh. Unfortunately, when we went to bed at 11p Monday night, my water was still not broken :( I felt some mild pain in the middle of the night, so I thought there was still hope for water breakage prior to arriving at the hospital. At 6a when we arrived, it still had not broken and I was really disappointed. However, there was no turning back!

We walked up to the Labor and Delivery Floor and were assigned Room 428 ( I was slightly bummed we didn't get room 415 because that's the room both Reagan and Kyleigh were born). My first nurse was Kathryn and she was great, but she was still part of the night shift, so we only had her until around 7a. My day nurses were great also-Caroline and Diana. They started the pitocin right around 7a. I was also checked at this time and was still only dilated to 1-2cm...grrr!!

Nothing was really happening, even though they continued to increase my dosage every 15 minutes. My contractions were irregular and not painful at all. Around 9:15a Dr Weiss came in and broke my water. A side note here, Diana mentioned and showed me the "small" stick used to break water. Holy cow, that thing is over a foot long!! Anyway, Dr Weiss broke my water and checked me again-only progressed to 3cm. I started having regular and more painful contractions shortly after my water broke. 

I asked for the epidural even though the contractions weren't too bad. The day was super busy and I wanted to make sure I got one before it was too late. Dr Jen gave me the epidural at 11:15a and around noon, I had progressed to 5-6cm. Labor felt great from here on out :-)

A little after 1p, they checked me again and I was about 8cm and 90% effaced. I was beginning to feel more pressure, but knew it wasn't time. They came in at 2p because I was feeling a lot more pressure. Before checking me, they decided to get the room ready for Dr Weiss, just in case. Well that was the right thing because I was dilated to 10cm and ready to go. They called Dr Weiss (and Ryan-more on that in another post) to come into the room. I started pushing around 2:25p and she arrived at 2:32p with only 3 sets of pushes! She did have the cord wrapped around her neck, but it was loosely wrapped and they weren't concerned at all.

Dr Weiss allowed Ryan to make the announcement that she was a girl!! I was in complete shock-very surprised, because I had just been assuming all along the baby was a boy. She weighed in at 7lbs, 15oz and was 21" long. The smallest of all three, but still good size. I got to hold her right away and after all her vitals were taken, they gave her back to me to nurse. NCH changed their policy-now babies don't leave for their bath, they stay with Mom until we're both transferred up to Mother/Baby floor. Ryan left to be with Reagan and I went up to my new room, 529, around 4p.

Katie stopped by, but she wasn't able to see her because she was leaving to get examined. We talked for awhile and then Katie left. At this point, she was still not named. I couldn't decide between Rylan and Kalyn and it was really bothering me she wasn't named yet. Ryan came back and we both got to watch her first bath together. That was very special for me because I didn't get to see Reagan or Kyleigh's baths. I had finally decided and told Ryan I liked Rylan better (his first choice), so we came to Rylan Savannah. Finally!

Shortly after the baths, Ryan left again to be with Reagan. Both Sue and Holly stopped by for a short visit. Ironically, just before walking in, Sue thought her name was going to be Savannah (she told me this after I told her Rylan's full name). So strange! Anyway, I spent time with these ladies and then had the rest of the night with just me and Rylan. I sent her to the nursery around 11p so I could get some rest. After all, it had been a very long and emotionally exhausting day.

Hard Decision

I went to my doctor appointment this morning hoping for some good news and did NOT get what I wanted. I did want to hear my amniotic fluid was ok and that the baby is just fine, which they did confirm.  However, after having the NST (which was also fine), I went in to see Dr. Weiss hoping to hear I've dilated to at least 3 or 4cm. She gave me the unwanted news that I hadn't made any progress since my last appointment 6 days ago (still between 1-2cm, but not quite 2cm). Needless to say, I was NOT thrilled with her news.  My goodness, I'm already 4 days late!

Ryan and I talked last night and while his preference is that I schedule an induction for Tuesday, January 28, it is totally up to me. That's just his preference.

Since the beginning, I have NOT wanted to be induced. It just seems to go against what our bodies are telling us should happen. If the baby is healthy and thriving inside the womb, then why should I force it to enter the world because I want it to come out?  Whenever I've thought about going into labor and giving birth, I always imagined having contractions and my water breaking and then heading to the hospital. I didn't think it would be like, "Ok, get up at 5a, head to the hospital at 5:30a, walk upstairs to the L&D floor, and start getting medicine at 6a so I can have a baby. Something just doesn't seem right about that scenario. 

Yet, that's the decision I'm facing today. Dr. Weiss is on call tomorrow, my least favorite Dr of the practice is on call Wednesday, and the other female Dr is on call Thursday. They won't schedule inductions on Friday this week because their partner practice is on call (I haven't met any of those Drs) and if I wait until next Monday, I will be 41 weeks, 4 days. That's going past my due date quite a bit! Plus, my mom arrives on Thursday and her primary reason to be here is to help me with R & K while I have a newborn. If I wait too long, then I'm wasting valuable time with in-home help from Mom. So, what should I do?

I'm left with the decision to schedule induction for tomorrow (Dr Weiss is my fav) and be released to come home the same day Mom arrives or to wait it out and let the baby arrive whenever it dang well pleases! I've been praying (and having others pray too) that my water breaks on its own between now and tomorrow morning so I don't have to face my struggle with being induced as well as having the process play out the way I've always imagined! However, based on several logical reasons, I'm leaning toward scheduling the induction for tomorrow morning. In fact, I have a call into the doc's office now to schedule but I'm waiting to hear back if the time slot is still available.

What are my logical reasons (no particular order here):

1. Ryan prefers I schedule it for Tuesday

2. I like the sound of the birthdate 1-28-14

3. I pretty much guarantee Dr Weiss will deliver the baby (unless something g terrible happens and I don't actually give birth until Wednesday)

4. I will come home the day Mom gets here, optimizing my "helper" time

So, we'll see what the person says when I get the phone call back from the office. In he meantime, I will continue to walk around like crazy, get on my hands and knees to scrub floors, and eat at Tacos El Norte tonight with Ryan. That's what did the trick with Kyleigh and I'm praying for the same with this little one!! I'm hoping the spicy food tonight will work some magic again!

My Worst Parenting Moment

I want to preface this post by saying it is extremey difficult for me to write, but I feel the need to work through what happened by writing a post about it. I also want to say that, fortunately, this turned out okay and I truly believe it was the work of The Lord.  It could have been so. much. worse.

Ok, here goes it....

Saturday, January 25, 2014 is a day that will forever mark my parenting. It started off on the wrong foot altogether. The kids were up early, Kyleigh was extremely needy (crying unless I was holding her), Reagan was very disobedient, and to top it off, Ryan was at a Men's Breakfast and Safety Committee meeting all morning. So, I was on my own. And very frustrated, how by 8:15a, I was already at my wits end. Katie had invited me the night before to meet at the mall to let the kids play at 10a. I was non-committal initially, but after how the day started, I decided to make a go of it and headed to the mall at 10a.

Katie was running behind, so the kids and I walked around for a bit. We had a very unique encounter with this elderly lady. Long story short (since this is already a long post),  she stopped me and prayed that The Lord would bless me, my delivery, my kids, and then hugged me. It was the strangest encounter, but I walked away smiling (and laughing a little) about how she felt compelled to stop a young mom to pray for me. Maybe that prayer affected what was to happen next.

I met up with Katie and Steph around 11a. I sent Reagan into the play area and then dropped Kyleigh off with Katie so I could get a pretzel (I was so hungry)! After coming back, the kids all played well together in the play place. It was very busy; probably the busiest I've ever seen it. But the kids were having fun, and I got a chance to just talk with Katie and Steph.  All 3 of us would check on the kids and make sure they were all accounted for. Everything was just fine and around 11:45a, we decided it was time to leave. I was focused on getting Kyleigh ready to go when this lady walks toward me with Reagan leading her. She very calmly said, "He was walking around in Macy's. I noticed his shoes were off, so I figured he wandered out of the play area." The moments immediately following this brief conversation are a complete blur. I think (I pray) I said thank you, but I was in such shock that he got away and that far away, I didn't know what to say or do. I honestly feel like I froze, like I didn't believe she was telling me the truth about where she found him. If either of my kids were to leave the play area, it would be Kyleigh, but Reagan knows better. That's what was going through my mind as she was talking to me.

I gathered the kids, said goodbye to Katie and Steph, and made my way out to the car. I headed home, still in a fog about what happened. I even texted Katie and asked her if I said "Thanks" to the lady. We told Ryan what happened and then didn't talk about it the rest of the day. Looking back today, I honestly think I was in denial about the whole incident, so there was no need to discuss it.

Then, for whatever reason, I awoke at 12:40a this morning thinking about what happened. The gravity of the situation finally hit me and I lay in bed thinking of all the things that could have happened. "What if she wasn't a decent human being willing to return a child to his mother? What if he made it all the way to the front door and walked out into the parking lot? What would I have done if I noticed him missing before she brought him back? Where would I have looked for him?" Then the questions of my parenting flooded my mind. "How could I not know he left the play area? How could I not see him walk by? Am I negligent parent? How could this have happened?" Instead of dwelling on those horrible thoughts, although every one of them was very real, I decided to praise God for keeping Reagan safe through this process. I prayed The Lord would somehow let the lady who returned him know how appreciative I was for what she did. Reflecting on my interaction with her, I'm sure she thought, " This mom was too busy talking with friends to notice her son is missing. She didn't even seem that concerned I found him wondering around a huge department store." All I could do at almost 1a was thank The Lord that Reagan was safe and that I'm not a parent who is at the police station filing a missing person report. That may sound dramatic, but it's true. Reagan could have easily been taken by someone and I wouldn't have known when it happened. But, God is good and He protected Reagan.  Maybe the elderly lady's prayer for blessing was just what I needed that morning.

How has this impacted me for the future? For starters, Reagan and I (and my other two kids for that matter) will always talk about staying inside the play areas and not leaving unless he (they) have my permission. I know I'll have a closer eye on the kids. And forever I know what happened that Saturday morning, will affect how I view the play place in the mall. I'm sure there are more lessons I learned from this incident, but it's been hard enough to re-live what happened by typing it all out.

I would like to get one thing on record. I don't believe I'm a negligent mother. Although I don't know when Reagan escaped, I had been keeping my eye on him and would locate him every five minutes or so. Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better that this happened to me.  I don't know.

I am so thankful Reagan is safe. Gosh, even thinking about the other possibilities are difficult to grasp. Thank you, Lord, for keeping Reagan safe. I am so blessed.

D-Day!

Today is the day-well it was supposed the day. January 23, 2014, Baby Hust #3 was expected to arrive.  However, I really didn't think he or she would make an appearance.  And, unless something crazy happens in the next 4 hours, I was right. Apparently, Hust children like to make their parents wait!

I've been riding an emotional roller coaster the last few weeks of this pregnancy.  Some weeks (or days), I am totally ready for another child; I'm excited and can't wait to meet this little one. And then there are days when I can't imagine how I'm going to handle 3 kids under 3!!! I think these feelings are very normal, but when your 9 months pregnant, emotions run rampant! The bottom line is that I know The Lord had this planned and this is how our family is supposed to be. I'm not claiming it will be easy (that's foolishness!), but I can rely on His strength during the tough times.

It has also been very emotional because Ryan and I have continued to struggle with deciding on names for this little one. We just couldn't agree on names for either gender. I was starting to panic and felt a lot of stress.  I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about names. You can't just feel "eh" about the name; you have to love it. We finally found 2 names for each gender that we've agreed on; however, we don't agree on which name we like best (go figure). Ryan is so frustrated with this process that he said whatever name I pick if it's a boy, he's ok with it. I just need to decide (and as of this exact moment, I don't know which one I'd pick). I thought we were on the same page with the girls name, but learned last night that we're not. So frustrating and I don't know what we'll do if this little one turns out to be a girl.

I've asked Reagan several times since Saturday which boy's name he likes better. He's been consistent, so maybe in the end, I'll pick the name Reagan likes.

All in all this is a very exciting time for our family. It's going to be an adjustment, but I have been reminded several times that children are a gift from The Lord (Psalm 127:3). Despite the craziness that will begin very soon I am blessed to be a mom.

When is your birthday, little one? We'll find out soon enough!!!!

Reagan and Kyleigh - December 2013

Here are my notes from this month:

Reagan:

• Starting to get an attitude with us ("I just told you, what's the problem" are phrases he's using)
• Prays after me or Ryan every night at the dinner table; often prays for very specific things on his plate or in the house
• Exercising independence!! He wants to do everything himself
• Trying to be the parent to Kyleigh: puts her in timeout or gives her discipline
• Learning how to dress himself
• Learned how to eat cereal with milk in it
• Favorite movie is Day of the Diesels
• Quit napping cold turkey for about 2 1/2 weeks (from Thanksgiving to mid-December); now naps once every 4 or 5 days
• Likes to ask me if it's okay to "break his sandwich" (ie, pull it apart)
• For a week, he came out of his room every morning and into my room and said, "Good morning, mom.  Good morning." And then climbed in bed with me
• Often tells Kyleigh about sharing or her need to share with him, but doesn't like to share with her.  Go figure
• Loves, loves, loves the snow!
• Says "Hallowed by my name" when reciting the Lord's Prayer before bedtime
• Gets very excited to do the Bible reading and calendar for Advent every night
• Using the favorite toddler words of "mine" and "why?" a lot

Kyleigh:

• Learned how to say her name
• Forward facing in the car (whoo hoo!!)
• Very sassy
• Likes to help unload the dishwasher
• Watches Reagan intently and wants to do everything he does
• Very much into books - especially Big Fire Engine (her pronunciation is "faht-ting"), Red Truck, and Brown Bear
• Loves to pick things up and then gives them to us: cat food dishes, phones, books, remotes (phones are her favorite)
• All things are purple
• Favorite phrase is "candle, hot"
• Says "poop" every time she farts, but also often correctly identifies when she does poop
• Loves to give big hugs, especially when she knows you're going to put her down.  It's like she holds on for dear life!
• Says "hock" for "socks"
• Calls Reagan either "Re Re" or "Ray Nay"
• Starting to say "Ok, mama" or "Tay-too (thank you), mama"
• Talking a lot
• Runs everywhere - rarely walks
•