Declan's Birth Story

On my last post, I spent a lot of time talking about how different this pregnancy was from my pregnancy with Alex.  Well the differences continue on with the birth story.  It is amazing how one woman can go through such COMPLETELY different experiences bringing a child into this world.  These children are always keeping me on my toes!  To read Alex's one week late, induced and very calm birth story, click here.

Declan Curran Vogt came into this world on Thursday August 15, 2013 at 10:10pm.  He weighed 6lbs 13oz and was 19.5 inches long.  Here is his birth story:

I had been having contractions for a couple weeks but it was nothing painful and there was no consistency to the contractions at all.  However on Wednesday, August 14th, I started getting some mild discomfort with these inconsistent contractions.  I took notice of it but didn't think too much of it.  I had been a week late with Alex and I was still a little over a week away from my due date with this one, so surely this couldn't be the real thing.  I took some Tylenol PM so I could sleep that night and boy am I glad I did!  

I slept great that night, but woke up feeling extremely crampy.  As I got Alex ready to go to his grandma's house I definitely started feeling the uncomfortable contractions again.  I took Alex over to Grandma Gerry's house and I told her how I felt.  I told her I plan to start timing the contractions to see if there is any pattern to them.  Dr. Bale told me I should come in if the contractions were 5 minutes apart, lasting one minute, for one full hour.  When I got home I signed into work and while I was working I started timing the contractions.  There was definitely a pattern starting to form with the contractions.  After a little while they were about 4.5 minutes apart and they were lasting one minute each.  They were still not very intense, so I didn't panic, but I figured I should probably start packing my hospital bag.  I had an appointment with Dr. Bale at 12:45 so I figured I would just show up for that and he could tell me whether or not I needed to head straight to the hospital.

I called Matt to let him know that he may want to come home and pack his own bag.  I don't think he quite understood that this baby was coming soon.  He said to just pack him a shirt, pants and flip flops.  I stressed to him that if I was not going to Dr. Bale's office, I would have him take me into the hospital at this point.  It still didn't sink in.  So I just let it go and finished packing my own bag.

I arrived at Dr. Bale's office and nothing much had changed with the frequency or the intensity of the contractions.  When the nurse called me back she asked how I was doing.  I told her I was fine, but I that I think I might be in labor.  I asked if Dr. Bale would know for sure and she assured me that he would.  Keep in mind that I never actually went into labor with Alex, so I wasn't quite sure myself that this was really it.  When Dr. Bale came to check me he asked me to tell him when I'm having a contraction.  I didn't even have to tell him because he felt my belly tighten up.  After that contraction he checked my cervix.  I was dilated to 3cm and was 90% effaced.  He said it looked like I was indeed in labor but it was still very early labor.  He manually stretched out my cervix a bit (ouch!) and then he suggested I go home and wait for the contractions to get more intense.  I was confused since the contractions were the right amount apart and had been for a couple hours.  He basically just said to give it a bit more time and once the contractions start to get more painful, go to the hospital.  

I didn't want to go home by myself so I went to my mom's house instead.  She agreed that I should't be alone and was happy to hang out with me as I labored.  She was watching Will and Harrison too so I thought that would be a good distraction.  When I got there I signed back into work and started warning people that this could be it and that my back-ups should be ready to take over my work starting tomorrow.

My mom kept an eye on me and she began to notice when I was having a contractions even when I didn't tell her I was.  She kept saying, "We have to go to the hospital!"  I kept telling her that the contractions were really not that bad yet and I wanted to wait a bit.  I did call Matt to let him know that he needed to leave work soon and go home and pack a bag.  He told me he would leave work in 15 minutes.  That was at about 4:00.  

In the meantime, I asked my mom to take some pictures of me.  I have pictures of me leaving my house on the day I had Alex and since I knew that ship had already sailed with this one, I figured we could at least get pictures of me at my parents' house - the place I did my laboring - for this one.  

Since we just needed to kill some time waiting till Matt got there, we decided to walk next door to Dorothy's house to let her know I was in labor.  Tom (her husband) died the day before, so we figured she could use the good news.  She was very excited.

I was definitely at a point where I was ready to go into the hospital at this point.  The contractions were still bearable, but getting more intense.  I was hoping I could get the epidural shortly after I got to the hospital so I wouldn't have to deal with much pain.  I called Matt again to find out how close he was and it turned out that he had just left work.  WHAT??  This was an hour later!  He was definitely not getting that we were having a baby that day!  I told him that I'm not worried about giving birth in the car or anything, but to hurry it up at least a little so we could get to the hospital.

Matt finally arrived at my parents' house around 6:15.  I gave my mom and dad hugs and kisses and told them I'd see them later that night.  We told them we'd call as soon as we were all checked in and let them know where I was in my labor.  

We arrived at the hospital a little after 7:00.  Things were a little confusing for a while as my doctor doesn't usually deliver at St. Luke's and I forgot to pre-register.  It took quite a while for them to get it all straightened out but finally I was put into a room to answer all the questions and sign all the paperwork.  The nurse checked my cervix and after all that I had only progressed to 3.5cm and was still 90% effaced.  The way the nurse looked at me, I swore they were gonna send me home.  She said she was going to call my doctor and see what he said.  

Matt and I waited a bit longer in the room and the nurse finally came back and told us that Dr. Bale was gonna "let" me stay and have a baby.  Thank goodness, because I did NOT want to go home and wait for some other arbitrary reason to come in.  I called my parents and told them the news and that they could take their time since I hadn't had much change from that afternoon.  I did tell them too though, that she said the baby's head is VERY low, so once I finally do start to have some change, it should go relatively quickly.  

Finally the nurse told me that they cannot give me an epidural until there is at least some sort of cervical change.  She gave me the option to walk around the hospital, have a doctor break my water for me or just sit and wait.  I opted to walk.  

By this time it was about 9:30.  Matt and I walked for about 15 minutes total.  Each contraction got more and more intense as I walked.  All I could think is, "Man, if this is how bad it hurts at about 4cm, I can't imagine how women do this naturally!"  At the end of the walk I had a contraction so painful I had to stop walking and talking and just brace myself against a desk.  At that point my parents got off the elevator and saw us standing there.  As soon as that big contraction was over I told Matt I was hot and wanted to go back to the room to get a pony tail holder.  It was about 9:45 at this point.  

When we got back to the room, I put my hair back and braced myself for another contraction.    I put the bed completely back to I could lay down and I white knuckled the bars on the side of the bed.  I wanted to call the nurse but was in too much pain to even grab the call button.  Rick and Gerry arrived at this point with Alex.  It was so great to see Alex, but I couldn't really enjoy it since my contractions started coming on top of each other.  All of a sudden we heard this "WOOSH!" sound.  Of course it was my water breaking.  It did not just trickle, it was as if the whole bag just burst and I was laying in a puddle.  I finally got the strength to push the call button and the nurse came in.  She was very happy to hear that my water had broken on its own and she told me we could call for the epidural now if I wanted.  I did!

She sent everyone out of the room (except Matt of course) so she could clean me up and change my bed sheets.  Everything from here on out was a bit of a blur.  My water broke at 9:58pm.  The nurse cleaned me up and called for the epidural just minutes later.  I got back in the bed and waited.  The anesthesiologist came into the room spouting out all the information she had to tell me.  I heard nothing except, "Do you have any questions?"  I said, "Yes, how soon can you get that in me?"  She laughed and we attempted to get me into the correct position.  The nurse wanted to check my cervix real quick before the epidural went in.  I was at 6cm.  So NOT expected!  

As I sat back up I started having another contraction and with this one my body started pushing!  I was in denial, so I tried to ignore it and get into position for the epidural.  Then my body started pushing again.  Finally I told the nurse that I felt like I was pooping.  Then my body pushed again!  I couldn't stop it!!!  She checked me real quick again and said, "Oh sweetie, you don't need that epidural, two pushes and the baby will be out!"  

Matt said that at this point I just had a look of panic and terror on my face.  I just said, "NO!"  I couldn't imagine giving birth without some sort of pain medication.  They assured me it would be over before the epidural could even kick in.  So the next thing I knew I was on my back pushing.  Matt said it looked like a big purple grapefruit coming out of me and he was so glad at that moment that he is not a woman.  A swarm of people rushed into the room with warmers and other stuff for the baby.  The house OB just barely made it.  As promised, one push and his head was out - one more push and he was sitting on my belly crying.

I was in shock!  I couldn't believe that just happened.  My whole body was shaking and I couldn't even pick him up to give him kisses, but let me tell you, it was love at first sight.  Next thing I knew they took him off my belly to clean him up.  I told Matt to get the camera.  Everything happened so quickly we didn't get any of that on video so I at least wanted to get some pictures and video of after the birth.  

  

With Alex I don't even remember Dr. Bale taking care of me after the birth.  All I could do is stare at my baby.  Unfortunately I was WAY too aware of it this time.  I kept staring at Declan, but I definitely felt everything that was going on down there.  I was numbed, but still felt it.  Dr. Bale showed up at this point.  He said he gets to the hospital fairly quickly, but it's hard to get there in time when they call to let him know the baby had been born already.  

Matt went out to let the family know they had a grandson (and brother for Alex).  They were all shocked too.  They thought they were just waiting till I got cleaned up and got the epidural.  They had no idea I actually had the baby.  (You can watch the announcement video here).

It was an unbelievable night!  My water broke at 9:58pm and Declan was out by 10:10pm.  I'm SO glad they didn't send me home!

(Notice the look of shock on my face)

Update on Baby #2

I realize I wrote every week updating on my pregnancy with Alex and have not with this baby.  Matt and I were realizing that with baby #1, you are just kinda sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for the baby to come.  Sure there are things to distract you like registering, baby showers, birthing classes, etc, but that is nothing compared to being pregnant and taking care of a toddler.  As I look back at my posts on my pregnancy with Alex, they were mostly just updates from BabyCenter.com anyway which are exactly the same with each pregnancy, so a weekly update would have just been more of the same.  There is not much new information there.

Anyway, I am currently less than 2 weeks away from my due date with this baby and I do have some updates.  This pregnancy has actually been COMPLETELY different from my pregnancy with Alex.  With Alex, everything was pretty uneventful.  I took forever to show any sort of belly at all, I felt amazing the entire time, the baby bump was all cute and round all the time and I never experienced anything even close to labor until I was put into labor at 41 weeks 1 day.

With this one, I started showing much earlier.  I know that is normal for subsequent pregnancies and don't get me wrong, I loved it!  But I definitely had a belly by 15 weeks this time (I believe there is a picture of me at 16 weeks in my last post about Baby #2).  Speaking of showing, I have also gained much more weight with this pregnancy.  The good thing is that I STARTED this pregnancy quite a bit smaller than I started my pregnancy with Alex, so the Doctor did tell me that he wanted me to gain more weight with this one.  Once I passed the 20lb mark (the amount I gained with Alex) I got worried.  Dr. Bale told me I would be in trouble if I only gained 20lbs with this one based on my starting weight.  I was on a sprint at first with the weight gain, gaining 5lbs per month!  Luckily I was able to curtail this a bit by getting more exercise (aka running around with Alex at the park etc.).  Now that I'm almost finished with this pregnancy, I am right in my target weight gain range (phew!).

With Alex I felt GREAT the entire time.  There were very few discomforts and absolutely no issues/worries/concerns.  With this one I had a very eventful second trimester - and not in a good way!  I found myself having some contractions off and on.  Although Braxton Hicks contractions are normal at this point in a pregnancy, they are not normal at the frequency I was getting them.  I was instructed to drink a lot of water and take it as easy as possible when I started feeling them.  Luckily I was not dilating or anything from these contractions and baby was safe.  We had another scare around 26 weeks.  I woke up and found that I was bleeding.  It was extremely scary!  My mom took me to the ER and I got checked out.  Thank God everything checked out alright.  But it definitely took a toll on my nerves.  I also got another ultrasound just to be sure everything was okay.  We never did figure out exactly what the cause of the bleed was, but baby was just squirming away in there and everything was closed and healthy on me.  Like I said, that was just more of a scary situation than anything else.

Now about the bump.  For some reason this baby likes to put him/herself into some strange positions.  Because of this, I often have a very strange shaped baby bump.  As far as actual movement, I really don't feel a ton with this baby.  It may be because I'm comparing it to Alex when he was inside and there was constant motion.  But this baby makes very subtle movements and then stays there and makes my belly look quite strange.  Here is just one example.  Matt took this this morning shortly after I woke up:

Kinda freaky and REALLY funny!  Most of the time I just have an extra little lump on my right side, but as you can see above, sometimes this child just likes to stretch out and stay like that!

Labor.  Oh how I was so blissfully unaware of what the end of a pregnancy was SUPPOSED to feel like with Alex.  I was 41 weeks along and barely even dilated at all.  People assumed I must feel awful and I thought they were crazy.  I was like, "Oh, it's really not that bad!"  Yea, that's because my body wasn't doing anything at all to get him out.  Now I understand why women are so uncomfortable toward the end of their pregnancy.  This baby dropped at about 35 weeks.  I distinctly felt the head slip slowly down and it has stayed there since.  Dr. Bale confirmed that the head was engaged at my next appointment.  It has only gotten lower since and I feel like I am walking around with a bowling ball between my legs.  I have also been having quite a few contractions.  These started towards the end of my 36th week and have only gotten more frequent as time has gone by.  Last Wednesday I woke up with frequent contractions and I started timing them.  They were 5 minutes apart, but were not getting any more intense and they were only 45 seconds long.  Eventually they started getting farther apart and then stopped all together.  This happens from time to time lately.  At my last appointment I was dilated 2 cm and was 80% effaced.  Dr. Bale gave me his home phone number in case I go into labor over the weekend.  THIS. JUST. GOT. REAL!  My due date is 11 days from now and if I do not go into labor on my own before the end of the month, Dr. Bale said we will schedule another induction.

Gender.  I have gotten a lot of questions as to what I'm "feeling" I am having.  I'm still going with boy.  I think it has more to do with the fact that I can't fathom having a girl after having a boy than anything else.  I just picture my experience with birthing Alex and each time I see a boy coming out of me.  I can't picture a girl.  However, based on how I have been feeling (so VERY different than with Alex) I would think it's a girl.  From what I hear from other women though, every pregnancy is different no matter if it's  a boy or a girl, so I am still going with boy.  For the record, Matt is on team girl.  At my last doctor's appointment, Dr. Bale asked me how I've been feeling.  I told him I have good days and I have bad days.  He asked what happens on bad days.  I told him my symptoms and he said, "Oh, pregnancy!"  Smartass!  When I explained that I didn't feel any of these things with Alex he said, "Well, it's probably an ornery little girl then!"  So Dr. Bale is also on team girl.  We'll see who's right soon!

Pictures.  I left off my last post with the news that we had just had our 20 week ultrasound.   So here are some pictures we got from that ultrasound.  I think they look a lot like Alex!

And here are a couple from my ultrasound at 30 weeks (after the bleed):

And no, I have not been able to take weekly belly pictures, but I have some.  Here are some from 32 weeks (compare to 32 weeks with Alex):

And here are some at 36 weeks (Compare to Alex at 36 weeks):

I also had my mom take some pictures at 38 weeks which haven't been emailed to me yet and my BIL, Jason, took some of me with Alex and Matt yesterday.  As soon as I get those I'll post some more.  But the baby is definitely getting big!

A couple people have asked me what I've been craving this pregnancy.  With this one, I have been craving more salty foods.  I have wanted Lion's Choice a lot and have been loving Chili Cheese Fritos!  I have also been really into pasta.  This craving has given our sweet little baby the womb name of Alfredo.  Of course I don't turn my nose up at sweets either!  I eat Ted Drewes quite often and haven't yet turned down Haribo Gummy Bears.  But I think my main craving has been watermelon.

I have felt very fortunate to be pregnant in the nicest summer that I can remember!  So not only is watermelon in season for this pregnancy, but I also don't have to deal with too much heat and humidity!  Also, I was able to go to a Cardinals game . . . in the middle of August . . . In St. Louis . . . at 38 weeks pregnant!

Okay, so that's about all I can think of to update for now.  If there's anything I missed or anything else anyone wants to know, feel free to call me and we can talk.  But try to do it soon because baby will be here soon!

Alexander's 2nd Birthday

We had such a fun day for Alex's 2nd Birthday.  I had been anticipating this day for a while and it didn't disappoint.  Matt was worried that I was too excited and that Alex wouldn't react the way I had hoped.  Nothing could be further than the truth!

We decided to have Alex's party in the evening after nap time.  Since he has not been the best at going down for his naps lately we thought it would be good to keep him good and busy during the morning so he wouldn't have any trouble taking a good nap for his party.  We woke him up with the Beatles Birthday song playing, and he woke up smiling . . . I knew it was going to be a good day from that moment on!

We decided to mimic the day of his first birthday starting off with Bread Co. for breakfast.  He really enjoyed his Egg Souffle!

After breakfast we headed to the Zoo.  Alex was not a big fan of the Stingrays, but he sure did love getting to wash his hands before going in to see them!  He LOVED the train!  He kept saying CHOO! CHOO!

We walked around and looked at many animals, but of course this little summer baby's favorite part was the fountains at the children's zoo!

After we dried off, we had to get a picture of him by the growth chart at the Children's Zoo.  He's grown so much since last year!

Alex's First Birthday:

This year, Alex's 2nd Birthday:

After the Zoo, we headed to Adriana's for lunch.  It was delicious as usual!

Back in the car, Alex was fading fast as it was getting close to nap time, but before he fell asleep (YES!) he was telling us how old he is today:



Minutes later:

Once we got home and put Alex in bed, it was time for mom and dad to get things ready for the party.  I decorated the cakes and put up all the decorations and Matt started making the BBQ and icing down the drinks.  We had just about everything ready when Alex woke up (after a 3 hour nap - Woo Hoo!).

Alex was pretty pumped to wake up and see all of the George decorations, but even moreso, the CUPCAKES!  Since it was his birthday and all I saw no reason why he couldn't "pre-party" a little so I gave him one.  He thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake while watching his "A's" show and waiting for the guests to show up.

The party was great!  All the food Matt made was wonderful and everyone seemed to like the cake too.  Alex had so much fun playing with his cousin, Alyssa and hanging out with his grandparents and aunts and uncles.  The only downside was when one of Alex's balloons got caught in the fan.  Alex was not a big fan of that and he kinda broke down a bit at the singing of Happy Birthday:

Although he was pretty upset, it was nothing that Poppy and another cupcake couldn't cure.  (Oh and Poppy and Dad got the balloon down so all was right in his world at this point).

Alex also got a lot of AWESOME gifts this year!  Everyone really knows what he likes and he plays with and LOVES every single toy he got.


By the end of the night, Alex was just exhausted and a bit overwhelmed by everything that took place that day.  So I decided to put him and Alyssa in my bed to watch some Curious George and just relax a bit.  It was much needed relaxation at the end of a very busy and very fun filled day!

As I said earlier, I had been looking forward to this day for a while and as you can see it didn't disappoint.  I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my little Sugar Pot!  I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with my sweet little guy!  Happy 2nd Birthday, Alex!