Landon's Birth Story

Now that I have a free second (Carter's running errands with Tyler and Landon's content in the bouncer) it's time for the birth story! *WARNING* It will be long...this is more for me to have a record of the event since I'm not so good at writing in my journal at the moment. We went in to my last doctor's appointment on Monday afternoon and as I told the NST nurse and my doctor's MA that we were getting induced that day, they all seemed to think I didn't know what I was talking about...luckily the doctor confirmed I was getting induced that night. We then went out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was so nice to have a "last meal" and have a little date with Tyler! Then we headed in to the hospital to get induced at 7pm...well, apparently they forgot about us so when we went to ask what was going on at 9pm they were like, "Ohhh sorry!" Let's just say we were not happy. Then as the myriad of doctors came in, we realized no one knew what the plan was for my induction! I was extremely frustrated and felt like everyone was putting us completely last. Finally around 12:30 at night they decided they'd start with some cervadil to try and shorten my cervix...well, the cervadil stays in for 12 hours, so the next afternoon (after only getting 1 1/2 hours of sleep) they took it out and we had to wait around AGAIN to switch rooms. They finally started the pitocin at 5pm. They'd originally told me I'd have my baby by midday, but since the induction didn't start until 5, they predicted I'd have Landon by about 3am. I did NOT want to wait another day for my baby. Luckily, the pitocin kicked in really quickly and I was only in labor for 4 1/2 hours!

During my contractions Landon's heartrate was continuously dropping. It'd be fine and then as my contraction picked up his heartrate would drop dangerously low, but then recover after the peak of my contraction. We were all really worried and my doctor was watching things really closely. Fortunately I dilated from 4 cm to 10 cm in about an hour and was finally ready to push. Even though I had the epidural, the pressure and pain at the end was pretty extreme! It was really cool, though, because I got to watch the entire birth in the mirror. I know I had my reservations about this doctor but he was AMAZING. He really helped coach me through the pushes and after just a few easy pushes Landon was out! We were so lucky that he didn't have to use the forceps or vacuum like he was planning. It was so amazing to see everything and I only ended up with a very minor tear. I really credit my doctor with that and helping the whole thing go so smoothly. The whole thing was just incredible! I even said after he was out, "Man, that was fun!" and the whole room just laughed...I don't think they hear that from many laboring mothers. My doctor even made the comment that I was "born to birth" which I never would have guessed after my experience with Carter :)

Landon John Wallo was born at 9:43pm, weighed only 5 lbs 14 oz, and was 19 1/2" long. He's super little but really healthy...I found out later he got an APGAR score of 9/10! Good job, Landon! Carter has had a little bit of a rough time getting used to things. He refused to go near Landon or me at first, but is now more interested in him and likes to try and say "Landon" and has been really gentle touching him, too. He's going to be a great big brother!

Tyler's sister Jamie and our nephew Connor just went home today. They came out to watch Carter while we were in the hospital and we appreciated their help a lot!

Here's some pictures from the past few days. I decided not to add all the rest of the ones from the birth/bath since the ones I have on the last post sum things up pretty well. Enjoy!

My last pregnancy picture...almost 40 weeks!

Aunt Jamie, Landon, and Cousin Connor

First family picture!

Daddy having bonding time with Landon

All ready to leave the hospital and head home!

Showing Carter the new baby after we got home

Carter did very well at being gentle

I'm bummed this one turned out a little blurry...but it's me and my boys :)

I realized after this one uploaded that I have almost the exact same picture of Carter

All of our newborn size clothes are HUGE on Landon...we bought him some premie diapers, too, and he's swimming in those as well!

Mommy/baby cuddle time

Carter was really excited to see Landon this afternoon