Hudson is one week old today. Crazy how fast this week went. I have done a lot of crying this week. I am one hot hormonal mess. Hudson and I have been snuggling A LOT! I’m his favorite place to hang out. Who can blame him? I am pretty awesome.
Every time I stare at this tiny, adorable little miracle I cannot help but think of Quinn and Eleanor. It feels like yesterday that I was holding them and falling madly in love and now Quinn is 4.5 and Eleanor will be 2 in May. Where did the time go?
In spite of this nagging feeling that I need to blog, I have been choosing to live in the now. And truthfully I am exhausted. Completely exhausted. Not just tired-I-need-to-sleep-more, but my body is done! So let me back up a bit and give you way too much information.
Quinn (my first at 25) was a big baby. At 40 weeks and 4 days I went into labor all on my own. I labored for around 10 hours without medication. The thought of a giant needle in my spine was far more petrifying then whatever pain labor would cause. I was “failing to progress” and stuck at 8 cm for a very long time. Quinn’s head was not “engaging” and an epidural was suggested. I did the epidural and it did nothing to help labor progress. Eventually I ran a fever and Quinn’s heartbeat was too fast and my chances of a normal delivery were over. Quinn was a c-section and ended up being 11 lbs. 15 oz. 23.5 inches. Well that explains why he wasn’t coming out–or even engaging.
Moving on to baby number 2, Eleanor (I was 28). At 40 weeks and 1 day with absolutely no progress or signs that my body was readying itself for labor we (me, the hubs and the doc.) decided to do a c-section again. This was a very, very hard decision for me. Recovering from a c-section is tough, it has higher risks and I wanted to be mobile for the little guy I had at home (Quinn was 2.5). The fear was that if I sat and waited to go into labor, the baby would grow larger and I would labor and then need a c-section. Kind of a worse case scenario. The scheduled c-section was much easier to recover from versus the labor/c-section. It still wasn’t a walk in the park though. Eleanor ended up being 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 inches.
By the time we got to baby number 3, Hudson (I’m 30), there wasn’t a whole lot of deciding left to do. A vaginal delivery after two c-sections and no successful vaginal deliveries isn’t really much of an option. So we scheduled the c-section for 39 weeks, May 16th, at noon and the count down began. It was pretty surreal to have it all planned out. It resulted in me taking on way to many projects before baby, none of which were actual baby projects “because we had time”. Hello bathroom remodel!
The morning of the c-section I did want anyone about to have a baby does– I ran to Target….and Kohls. It is true. First I woke up at 6 to pack my bag and whatnot, then I decided I desperately needed a nursing nightgown. Yes, somehow I made it a combined 2+ years nursing the other kids without a nursing nightgown, but there was no way I was going to make it through a hospital stay with baby #3 without a nursing nightgown. These things happen…especially when pregnant. For the record Kohls had a few option. I also needed to grab a gift for Eleanor–from Hudson of course.
I got home, showered with my pre-op soap, snuggled with babies and tried to wrap my head around the fact that I was going to have a baby in a matter of hours. My mom (bless her heart) took the week off of work to be the mother to my babies. When she arrived I preceded to tell her things like, “don’t lose my kids” and “keep them safe”. All things she knows and quite obviously didn’t need to be told. I was just a nervous wreck about being cut open, my baby, my health, and not being with babies for the next 3-4 days. She knows how we roll around here so I knew they were in good hands and the kids were super excited about spending time with their Gigi.
We strolled into the hospital around 10 am. I got changed into a gown, got tucked in and waited. IV’s were started, paper work was signed, nurses and doctors came to talk to me. They shared more information then I wanted to hear and I was a nervous wreck. The c/s ended up being an hour later due to my doctor being pulled into a meeting. He is the Medical Director and these things happen. I absolutely love my doctor and I know that he would have been on time if he could have. One thing I can tell you is: a great way to kick nerves is to replace them with annoyance from waiting.
Then we got to the absolute worse and scariest part of it all–the start. Ross has to wait outside while they prep me. I have to hunch over and get a spinal block. Then I lay down while all the sterilizing happens and drapes go up. Finally, Ross gets to come in. Him there holding my hand is quite literally the only thing that gets me through. I can feel, but no pain. Kinda weird. My chest tightens and I panic. Every.single.time. This little stinker was still tucked up pretty high and it took A LOT of pushing to get him out. The docs kind of push down on me like you would on an end of a toothpaste tube trying to squeeze the toothpaste out. As soon as Hudson was out I heard crying.
That crying is priceless to a new mom. For me, it is the moment where I know everything is okay. I am flat on my back with drapes all around me so I cannot see a whole lot. They held him up for me and then went right to all that brand new baby prep. He was a 9 on the apgar right off the bat. Hudson Thomas weighed in at 9 lbs. 8 oz. and 19 inches. Hudson means the son of Hugh and in this case, Great-grandson of Hugh. He is named after my grandpa, Hugh Ambrose. While I laid on the table getting put back together–well as back together as I could ever be–Ross brought him over and I of course burst into tears. No matter how many times you do this it is a complete and utter miracle.
The kids met their baby brother moments after we returned to our room. They were beyond excited and unbelievably adorable. I really just cannot believe how much love they had for him. They quite literally loved him before they knew him. The kiddos haven’t missed a beat and it is like Hudson has always been here.
Shortly after meeting brother the kids received gifts from Hudson. Quinn got a camera, a hand-me down, and Eleanor got a guitar. They were the perfect gifts for them.
I convinced the docs to let me go home early. I really missed my kiddos and I was tired of the never-ending interruptions in the hospital. Since baby and I both checked out, we got the green light.
We returned the following day to meet up with the lactation consultant. Even though this is my third time nursing, Hudson and I were struggling with the latch. Just 30 minutes with the lactation consultant and we were up and running. I cannot wait until Hudson’s check up to see how he has been putting the weight on.
All in all everyone is adjusting well. Hudson is doing what a new baby does. Eating, pooping & sleeping. The kids love their baby brother and absolutely love having daddy home. I am sore and exhausted and hormonal and if I even begin to think about next week when Ross is back to work, I panic. Three kids on my own isn’t what has me panicking. The fact that I am still recovering and cannot pick up my kids or keep up with them that has me worried.
I’m struggling to get blog posts out, bare with me. I am blowing up Instagram and Facebook with pics of my little guy. Partly because I am so use to sharing my life with y’all and this is my life and partly because he is just so freaking cute.
Let me leave you with baby feet. Because everyone loves baby feet, right?
Want FREE printables and more. Join my newsletter!
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.