Still Cross Photography: Introducing our lil miracle!

So I'm way behind on blogging yet again! I'm hoping to get back into the routine of it very soon!! More for me than for my readers, I don't know who all still follows this blog but I am not a scrap book person so this is my book of our life!

Ry took some pictures of me 10 days before our son was born. This is my absolute favorite, isn't it amazing!?!?!

We would like to introduce to all of you the newest member of our family, Abram Jon! As most of you know, we have a 3 year old son already that we never thought we would have and now we have a 2 week old that we were told would be a miracle if we were to conceive after trying for 5 years.
My pregnancy was wonderful! I had no complications other than having to take additional Iron so for me being pregnant was wonderful!

Now onto the details - I might be too detailed, but this is more for my record so I'll never forget the details, so if you would like to read on, please do! :)

I went to the Dr on Tuesday, April 12, for my weekly appointment. April 12 was my due date! I was dilated to a 3, the 2 weeks before I was a 2! I was more effaced also that appointment which was an improvement from the 2 weeks prior. My Dr stripped my membranes and also took measurements of the baby. My Dr turned the monitor so she could see better, which she later told me was so I would not be able to see he was a he! :)
Well the baby looked great and she was estimating the baby to be 7 pounds 4 ounces, so she had me schedule a non-stress test for Friday however she thought I would go on my own in a day or two. I had always had Wednesday in mind as the delivery day, not sure why!

I had a burst of energy Tuesday night, and got a lot done around the house! I woke up around 2 and was having some contractions, but they were similar to the ones I had been waking up to since Thursday night. I fell back to sleep and later woke up around 3/3:15 and knew these were the real contractions! I started timing them and woke Ry up around 4:30 to tell him he was not going to work that day. I told him to go back to sleep, thought it would be a good idea so he would be rested to be able to help me through the day!
I finished packing our bags, snacks and the baby's bag. I also decided to try to take a shower, which helped the contractions. I woke Ry up around 6:30 so he could take our son to daycare.
When Ry got back, my contractions had been very close and were getting very strong, so around 8/8:15 I told him it was time to go to the hospital.

We got checked in and I was dilated to a 4 and was definitely in early labor! So, we got settled into our room and decided to help with my back labor to walk the halls. I only made it around 1 time! We tried the birthing ball, sitting backwards on a chair and the only thing that helped during contractions was to have Ry press on my lower back. Ry was amazing the entire time! He was very supportive and knew what we both wanted throughout the process, so he helped me stay focused and reassured me the entire time I could do this! I love you so much hon!!

About lunchtime, I was getting ready to go into the whirlpool tub (since my water hadn't broken yet), when my Dr got their to discuss with us about breaking my water. After talking it over, we decided to not break my water and I got in the tub! It helped but again during every contraction, Ry had to press on my back! After being in the tub for awhile, I was dilated to a 5 and the effacement was 80% or 90% by then.

After a few more hours of laying down on my left side trying to rest between contractions, sitting in the chair, etc it was getting more intense! I was discussing with my amazing nurse my options for pain. I did not want stadol and am terrified of an epidural. Although, I wanted something to help with the pain! After discussing with the nurse my options, she suggested I sit in the position I would need to be in to get an epidural. I could not bend over my belly like I would have to and there was no way I could sit through more than 1 contraction, so I decided to keep going without any medication!

After awhile of being in this position, I dilated to a 7 and soon to a 9! They called my Dr and she said I could start pushing, which was great because of all of the pressure and pain from the contractions. Abram was born at 3;44 pm on Wednesday, April 13! I am still amazed that I made it through with no medication and I pushed for only about 1/2 hour!!

I am very thankful for my husband, nurses, and my Dr! Thank you all so much for helping me through everything!!!

Here are a few pictures of our lil miracle!