We are so excited to announce the arrival of our sweet baby boy, Benson Wyatt Jeffery!
I want to share his birth story and get it written down before I forget.
Monday the 22nd I had my what would be my final appointment with my OB and last NST. Everything checked out perfectly and I was already dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced at this appointment. We decided on an induction for the following Monday, Leap Day, and I left the appointment feeling so excited! At the same time, however, I had this underlying feeling that I wasn't going to make it another week.
That night, I woke up multiple times to some pretty uncomfortable contractions. They weren't painful enough to keep me awake so I tried to just shrug it off and sleep through them. The following morning, I woke up a little earlier than normal and couldn't go back to sleep. I had been texting tessa and let her know what was going on. We joked that the baby couldn't be coming right now and I said that he needed to stay put for at least a few more days.
Tessa and I decided to go to Walmart with all the kiddos in tow. This helped distract me from how uncomfortable I was feeling and killed some time before naptime. I got some last minute items I was going to need before the baby came and called it a productive trip.
After we got home, I put Tucker down for a nap and decided to rest. Around 5 I remember telling tessa that my contractions had died off for the most part since Walmart.
On Thursday of that week I had an appointment to go and get my eyelashes done. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to keep this baby in, so I texted my eyelash girl, Meili, and asked if she had any openings that night. To my luck, she did! So I was planning on heading over around 6. Right before I walked in, I remember my contractions had come back and I was having killer lower back pain. I decided I'd tough it out and have a couple hours to try and relax and pamper myself. The whole time I was sooooo uncomfortable. Being pregnant makes it nearly impossible to lie on your back, but because I was contracting, any position just hurt. Luckily, I was able to kind of push it out of my mind and we just chatted the whole time while she did my eyelashes, which helped take my mind off the pain. Occasionally I would notice that the contractions felt regular, but I didn't have the ability to time them then. (Side note- before Tucker was born, I had gotten my eyelashes done the day before he was born! So what are the odds that the same thing would happen again?) She finished up with my lashes around 8 or so and I got in my car and texted tessa, called Taylor, and called my sister. Tessa told me that I should start timing them as soon as I could and I let shayla know that she might be needed go watch Tucker if we were to go to the hospital.
I got home and decided to lie down and start timing them. An hour later, they were consistently coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting more than a minute. We decided it was in the best interest of the baby and I to head in. We finished packing our bags and shayla arrived at our house and then we headed towards to hospital.
The drive to the hospital was stressful and i thought i was going to be having a baby in the car at one point. We got to the hospital around midnight and it was so quiet. We headed up to labor and delivery and got set up in a room. The nurse came in to check me and to my surprise I was still at a 3! I was so bummed that all that pain and those contractions hadnt dilated me any further. And I was absolutely terrified of being sent home in this amount of pain. The nurse said that they were going to keep me for an hour to see if I would progress and if I did, they would let me stay. So for the next hour, I spent a lot of time swaying back and forth, breathing, walking, watching the contraction monitor and saying lots of prayers. She came back an hour later at about 1:20 and checked me again. I was alllllmost at a 4 and about 80% effaced. She said she would go and ask the doctor what he thought and then let us know. She came back in and said “Good news! You get to stay and you're having a baby!” I was so happy I could have cried!
They then moved us to another room and the anesthesiologist came at about 2:30 to get me my epidural. It felt nice to not have to feel all that lower back pain anymore but I was still able to feel some of the pain in my sides and ribs. The doctor arrive around 3 to break my water and at this point I was at a 4. They told us to rest and i made taylor make up a bed and take a nap. I of course couldnt sleep, so i thought someone should at least be getting some rest. They checked me again around 4:10 and I was still only a 4 so they decided to start a little pitocin.
An hour later at 5:20 I was at a “5 plus” at which point they brought in the peanut shaped yoga ball. I put it between my knees and it was supposed to help drop the baby and get him ready for the birth canal. The monitor started wigging out a bit at this point and the nurse decided shed check me again, even though she had only checked 20 minutes prior. I was now at a “6 plus” at about 5:45! Everything was moving really quickly. The nurse just kept saying “I don't think it's going to be much longer!” even though I was only a 6 at that point. She even started setting up for the delivery and bringing in all the tray and equipment.
Around 6 I decided I needed to wake Taylor up because our baby was probably going to be there really soon! The shift change in nurses was coming up and she was filling in the next nurse on my information. She wanted to check me one more time before she left because she was curious. So at 6:15 she checked and I was fully dilated and effaced! And she said she could feel his head! She wanted to stay but had to get home to her husband so the next nurse was hopping on right when it was baby time!
The doctor showed up and I started pushing barely after 6:30. I was still really numb from the epidural and i was feeling like my pushing wasnt doing anything. I was pushing while watching the mirror and i could see his hairy little head! The next thing i knew, he was out and i felt complete relief. He was born at 6:35- they said I only pushed 3 and a half minutes total! And he was posterior (face up, and you want babies to be face down). The doctor said I would have done it in one push had he been the right way.
He came out screaming and I was so grateful to hear that precious sound- his lungs were working perfectly! They wiped him off a little and then placed him on my chest- something I never got to do with Tucker. I had tears in my eyes from the moment I saw this big boy of mine. Fresh from heaven, and right on my chest. In that moment, every single ache and pain was forgotten.
We got to stay skin to skin for about an hour before we got moved to the mother and baby unit. My friend Hillary showed up right before we went up and we were able to get some really special pictures of those first few hours after he was born- in the delivery room, nursery for his first bath, and back in our room for snuggles. I will cherish those moments captured forever.
Our hospital stay was so short! Only one day and we were out of there! It was bizarre leaving the hospital all together WITH our baby- something we didn't get to do with Tucker either!
Being home and being a family of four now has been an obvious adjustment but it is going well so far! We are all obviously tired but so very happy. Tucker is still getting used to having someone else stealing his thunder, but he is incredibly sweet and kind to Benson…mixed with a little bit of boundary pushing, of course.
Benson is a sleepy sleepy babe and is so snuggly and perfect. He is sleeping well and nursing like a champ (another thing I never got to experience with Tucker). I am finding the hardest part of two babies so far is dividing my time to make sure no one feels neglected. Obviously that is going to happen more often than not, but finding a schedule and rhythm that works for us will be what I'm working on for the next (long) while. All of my prayers regarding this pregnancy and delivery and so far in post delivery have been answered. God has really blessed me and really blessed this little family of mine.
We are so grateful for all of the family and friends who have reached out to us and helped with watching Tucker, feeding us, cleaning for us, and just loving us and our little family. We are really, really lucky!
Benson Wyatt Jeffery
2-24-2016
9 pounds 14 ounces
21 inches
6:35 AM
I have taken a million pictures since he was born, so I will be sharing them as time progresses.
We love you, baby Benz!
