Jared+Jesse+Sam+Gabe: Birth Story

I guess I should update the blog about my miracle boy. So, here we go! Then I'll post loads of pictures, the best part.
On Tuesday, the 18th, I went in for my appointment and no progress, again, for a month. My mom had just been sent home from the hospital after being in ICU for almost a week. She's home on hospice. She had decided, since the cancer isn't treatable and is terminal, there was nothing they could do in the hospital that hospice can't do at home. She was still struggling and we weren't sure if she would make it to the baby. So we talked to our doctor about inducing since I was two days away from my due date. There was a spot open at the hospital, so the next day we decided to try and be induced. Sometimes an induction won't work if the mother isn't far enough along, so we weren't sure it would work, but felt we needed to try. So 5am on Wednesday the 19th, we showed up at the hospital to start the induction process. My IV was in about 7am and they started the pitocin, or so they thought. At about 9am they came in to check on me and up my pitocin. Well, my contractions had started...but they never hooked the bag up to my IV, so I was actually contracting on my own. Once they really started the pitocin then things started right along. My epidural was put in about noon and everything was going great. After a few hours I started to feel my contractions really strong, and so they checked my epidural and it has come unhooked from the medicine. So by the time they got it back in my system I had really progressed. I went from like a 3 to an 8 in that amount of time. By about 7 I was ready to start my practice pushes they called them. So we did that for a little bit. Then by about 7:30 ish they called in the doctor and I started pushing for real. My epidural was working perfectly at this point. I could feel pressure but it wasn't painful. After about 30 minutes I think of pushing things were going great but the baby wasn't able to get past a certain point. The doctor took out the scissors and made a little cut, then a couple pushes later he was out! The reason why he wouldn't come out was because the cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times, and it had 2 knots in it. However, he didn't show any sign of stress, wasn't blue, and no marks were left by the cord. He really is a miracle in more ways than one! So at 8:12pm on June 19th, my sweet baby boy was born! They put him right on my chest, and his hello to me was pee. He almost instantly peed on my, twice. It ran down my neck. I never got the chance to cry of happiness because I was laughing. Labor and delivery were actually easier than I imagined. I guess I always imagine the worst, so when it's not as bad I feel grateful and relieved. The nurse told me I had a very high tolerance of pain. Jared watched the whole thing and was so excited and involved. Seeing him hold him and follow him around the room as they weighed him and cleaned him was wonderful. I fall even more in love with him everyday seeing him with Sam. Oh yeah, his name is Samuel Jared. Same was 8 lbs 8.3 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. He's been able to hold his head up since the day he was born. He's so strong. I was really wanting to nurse him, but he really struggled. He wouldn't latch well and couldn't get enough milk. I had to supplement the first couple days. I finally reached out to a lactation consultant who took one look at Sam's mouth and told me he was tongue tied. So she got me set up with a pump. We finally got his tongue fixed last Friday, but he still struggles latching. He primarily feeds from a bottle, but I'm blessed and am a milk making machine. I could probably feed twins. So my compromise is pumping and feeding with a bottle.
Anyway, back to the hospital. Things went great and we got permission to leave after 24 hours since my mom still wasn't doing well. So she got to meet him late on June 20th when we brought him home. It was a beautiful moment. My mom has bounced back enough to spend a few weeks with us. It's hard to know when she will pass. It's been a very bitter sweet time. Losing my mother, who I've been extremely close with, is more difficult than I can express. My life since April was been caring for her 100%. Now I care for her and the baby. Luckily I've had incredible family and friends and ward members help. I couldn't have done it without the help. Now I'm enjoying my sweet baby boy. As much work as it is caring for both, having my baby gives me so much joy during such a sad time. Anyway, below I've posted pictures. Enjoy!