Party of five. 3 kids. 2 sons. These are collections of words I never imagined would be in my vocabulary. Saying them now feels strange, yet strangely complete. The fact that we had always talked about having 3 kids left me feeling unsettled when it was just Jacob and Maddie and constantly wondering if we would go the rest of our lives feeling as if we should have taken that plunge to have a third child. When the surprise came, it settled me, as if this is the way it was always meant to be. And he's here.
HE IS HERE!
Declan ("Dex") Eric Broxterman was born March 2, 2016 weighing a whopping 9 lb 2 oz and 22 inches long (although the 22 inches is debatable). As history repeated itself, I had to be induced when he was 39 weeks and 4 days old. This baby didn't show any signs of appearing on his own and since he was following his brother and sisters footsteps and tracking to be a large baby, my Doc said it would be best to induce again at 39 weeks. And THANK GOODNESS for that!
We arrived at the hospital at 6 am and they got us checked into a room. The nurse started the IV (after blowing a vein on her first attempt -- the same thing happened with Maddie) and Pitocin was started at 7:45 am. I arrived already dilated to 3 cm. The morning was slow and uneventful. I was feeling the contractions but they were tolerable. We could see each one charting on the machine and I knew once my water was broken, I would feel them in a whole different way. My Doc had originally said he would stop by after lunch time to break my water, so we were surprised to see him come in a little before 10 am. Apparently, he had another induction that was moving much more quickly than he thought so he was at the hospital anyway. So, to speed things along, he ended up breaking my water at 9:53 and ordered the epidural at the same time. OH HOLY CONTRACTIONS. As soon as he broke my water, the pain was intense and the contractions were one on top of the other (the downside of pitocin -- no breaks between contractions). I was so thankful he had requested the epidural because the pain went from 0 to 90 in a matter of minutes. We waited. And waited. And waited. When finally our nurse said that the anesthesiologist was next door and I was next in line for the epidural. This gave me comfort and strength to get through the contractions which felt, at this time, like they were ripping my body in half. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. Nurse came in and said she was so sorry, but that he got pulled into an emergency c-section. OH DEAR GOD. I started to panic. And scream. So much pain. I started to fear that he would not make it back in time for me to get it and that I would deliver this baby without anything. My arms gripped the sides of the bed with each contraction and I just could NOT believe how bad the pain was.
At 11:20, Dr. Nelson, the anesthesiologist finally walks in and I have never, ever been so happy to get a huge needle in my back. As soon as that needle went in, I started to feel relief. I really have no idea how women do this naturally. I applaud you women. And think you are all raving lunatics.
The interesting thing (that turns out to be the absolute worst thing) about this epidural was that it was very high. I was numb right underneath my chest down to my abdomen. I could completely move and feel my legs which was never the case in my previous 2 deliveries. This worried me so I asked the nurse about it. She said "Oh honey, that's a good thing that you are numb higher, so you won't feel it if you have any back labor". And for a fleeting moment, that eased my fears.
But what about the FRONT LABOR? You know, where the baby COMES OUT?
By noon, I had dilated to 7 cm and by 1:00, I was at a 10. The nurse called the Doctor and told him I was ready to push. I was terrified. This was all happening so fast and I could feel the pressure and pain down below. I did not want to push. Because pushing HURT. I've never felt the pushing before - because my epidurals in the past had numbed my entire lower body! On my first push at 1:10 pm, I was NOT pleased. This was way more painful than it was supposed to be and I knew this was not going to be as easy as it had been for Maddie. With each push, the pain became more intense and I could not imagine doing it again. Yet there they were, telling me to push again and again and again. The whole time I think I was yelling "THIS HURTS!" and "I FEEL THIS!" Again, kudos to those crazy women that do this by choice! I knew we were nearing the end when they just kept telling me to push over and over and over and over and over again and then. The ring of fire. Oh my goodness, I felt it all. All of it. His head made his way into the world and then more pushing and he was here. His perfect little body, now a part of this world at 1:39 pm. I heard him crying, they laid him on me and I remember thinking, "he has no hair!" and "he is HUGE!" I couldn't wait for them to weigh him because I knew he was bigger than everyone had thought he would be. Sure enough, he was 9 lbs 2 oz. He definitely would have been a 10 pound baby had he gone as long as Jacob had in utero.
Nanny, Papa and Grandpa were all there to meet him. My heart hurt when they came in, knowing that my Mom was missing this moment. But, I have to believe she was there with me the whole time. Watching over us and making sure he entered this world safely. I prayed for that over and over again.
The whole day seemed to be a blur. I still can't believe how fast everything went and before we knew it, we were being wheeled to the post partum room. WOW.
We still didn't have a name. Our top choices were Chase, Dex and Grayson. Dex had been our front runner for a while but we didn't love the formal name Dexter. When we learned that Dex was also short for Declan, we both really loved it. So, Dex it was. Eric was always going to be his middle name after Mark's amazing brother. I really love how the two names go together just perfectly.
Nanny and Papa brought the kids to the hospital after school and I'll never forget Jacob saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" over and over again when he saw him. They couldn't wait to hold him and couldn't stop staring at him. It was the sweetest thing ever.
As the day turned into night, I remember thinking how crazy it was that our family was expanding again. I couldn't wait to bring him home to start this new adventure.
Dex, you are loved beyond measure. You were an answer to a prayer. A gift we never knew we even deserved. We can't wait to see the little man you become. Welcome to our world baby Dex!!
