Introducing....

Okay, so I'm a little slow getting this up.  The adjustment to having three kids is kicking me in the behind right now.

Matthew Thomas Myers

Born April 14, 2011 at 5:05pm

8lbs. 12 oz., 21 1/4 inches long

I went in for induction at 9am on the 14th.  Started at 3cm dialated so I had a good start.  I've always responded well to induction (this is my 3rd).  Got me going and things progressed nicely.  At 4pm, I was at 6cm.  They let my Dr. know it was probably going to be a couple of hours.  At 4:45pm, they decided to check me again and I was fully transitioned and ready to push.  She had me do one small push to help get the baby down since he was still riding high.  Worked great.  The nurse was going to hold off and let my Dr. finish his afternoon appointments.  No big deal here.  I'd hate to be the one with a 4:45pm appointment that had to wait until 6pm to see the Dr. because he ran off to the hospital when he didn't really have to.  Around 5pm, the nurse came in and wanted to have me push once to see where I was.  When my next contraction started, I took a deep breath to push and just when I was going to start pushing, the nurse yelled, "Stop!  Don't push!!"  Uh, okay!?  There she was with only one glove on and the baby's head halfway out.  She was going to hold him in until the Dr. got there, but the baby's heartrate disappeared from the monitor.  She called for help.  Three other nurses came running in.  Kelleigh (my nurse) put on a second glove and let the baby come on out.  Yep, that's right.  He arrived without me doing any real pushing.  Guess he was in a hurry.  Good thing they didn't wait either.  He was just a tad on the blue side when he arrived.  Within 5 minutes, he was perfectly pink and healthy though.  The good Dr. arrived about 10-15 minutes after the baby did...flushed and embarassed that he hadn't gotten there in time.  Not that any of us could have imagined the baby coming on his own like he did.  He was a little embarassed about misjudging the baby's size, too.  He didn't figure Matthew was going to be as big as my other two.  He missed being the biggest by .5 oz. 

From induction start time to delivery was just over 6 1/2 hours.  Not too shabby, I'd say.  Luke was just over 10 hours and Andrew was just over 12 hours. 

The boys are excited for a baby brother, but have been thwarted in their attempts to bond with the baby.  Luke had some kind of respiratory infection and Clayton had to take him to the Dr. while I was still in the hospital.  Then Andrew developed pink eye.  It's probably not a bad thing in the grand scheme of things.  They are both awfully rough and this will give Matthew a little more time to gain some strength before he gets mauled.  :o)

Matthew had been doing his best sleeping during the day and was up most of the night the first week.  Thank goodness Clayton was home to help me out.  But he's been sleeping better at night this week...thank goodness.  He's a pretty happy baby.  He only cries when he's cold, wet, or hungry - of course, he's hungry a LOT!  He LOVES having his hair washed under the faucet.  And he's got a headfull, let me tell you. 

I'll post more pictures...hopefully this weekend while Clayton is home to help wrangle the boys.

Scared....

I don't often admit out loud when I'm scared, let alone put it in writing so it lasts forever.  But I'm scared. 

I went to the OB yesterday for my weekly check up.  I joked that I was ready to serve an eviction notice to this baby.  I'm tired of my back, hips and other things being in constant pain.  I'm tired of sleeping on the couch.  I'm tired of the swelling and the inability to comfortably reach my feet.  I'm tired of being tired and winded all the time.  And honestly, I'm tired of sharing my body with another human being.  I want to get healthy and having a baby in my body doesn't help that quest any.

I wasn't expecting him to even consider induction since he doesn't think this baby is as big as my other two were.  But he offered to schedule me a week from my due date, which is the 22nd.  So, he looked at the calendar and said he'd call and see if he could get me in on the 15th.  I'll find out for sure at my appointment next week what's going on.  I was really excited to finally see the light at the end of this pregnancy...until I talked to Clayton about it.  His response, "That's a week from this Friday!"  Holy Cow!  That's only 9 days from now.

And to make things just a little more freaky...I'm already dialated to 3cm.  I've never been this far dialated this early in my pregnancy.  When I went in to be induced with Andrew, I wasn't anything...not dialated, not effaced.  With Luke I was 2cm dialated and 50% effaced.  They both came a week and a half early thanks to induction because they were both measuring on the big side.  And they were.  8lbs 13oz for Andrew and 8lbs 9oz for Luke.  The Dr. told me that I may go into labor on my own before he can have me induced.

Am I ready?  I have the baby's bag packed for the hospital.  The car seat is ready to go in the car.  I have all the baby's stuff put away and the bed ready.  I still need to pack me a bag.  I'm a little worried about going into labor on my own.  I'm on my 3rd pregnancy and am not sure I'll know when it's time.  Even if I do, will I make it to the hospital on time?  Andrew was born 12 hours after my water broke.  Luke was only 2 1/2 hours.  If my water breaks, I'm a solid 45 minutes from the hospital - not including loading up the kids, etc.  What if I can't drive myself and Clayton is at work?  I know there are people I can call, but it still kind of freaks me out.

I'm terrified that I'm not going to be able to handle three kids.  Two already try my patience to its limits.  And everyone I talk to tells me how hard the transition from 2 to 3 was.  It doesn't help that when I'm stressed out I tend to take it out on my kids.  The poor kids probably think I'm some kind of monster right now.

I'm sure it will all work out fine.  I'm trying to take a deep breath and just realize that I just have to have faith that it will all work out.