I was convinced that Andrew was coming early. I was prepared for him to make his debut up to three weeks ahead of time. I had been an early baby, Laura was early, and I was having TONS of Braxton-Hicks. I was just hoping I'd be able to make it to the hospital before he decided to pop out. However, the days went by and nothing happened. Each night I went to bed wondering if it would be THE night. I was so sure he was coming early that when I hit December 1st and was still pregnant, I felt as though I was a week past my due date!
We had a routine doctor's appointment on December 1 and I was discouraged to find out that the baby was big (estimated at 4kg!) and that I wasn't dilated at all. We went home with an appointment for induction on Tuesday (it was Thursday), a prescription for a 'contraction cocktail' and various other snippets of advice on how to get the baby moving! That afternoon, my parents, Laura and I headed downtown to search out the odd ingredients for my cocktail and to walk around. We found a few of the ingredients, let Laura play on the playground, stumbled across a practice run for the St Nicolas parade on Saturday, and enjoyed some yummy coffee at one of my favorite cafes.
A friend of mine had made us a pan of eggplant parmesan for dinner and I ate a huge helping - thanks, April - and then had some of my raspberry leaf tea - thanks, Marti! Then Tom and I got distracted playing a computer game together, so it was 12:30 when I finally got to bed. At 12:50 (before I had had a chance to fall asleep and well after Tom started snoring), my first contraction started. I started timing them just out of habit and they were coming every 10 minutes and preventing me from falling asleep. I got in and out and in and out of bed - I kept thinking I'd be able to go to sleep. Finally around 1:45 I decided to take a shower to see if that would take care of them. I still didn't really think I was in labor and was paranoid about going to the hospital in error! The shower didn't really help and the contractions were now every 5 minutes. Sleep was impossible as I found myself gnawing on the bed sheets every time a contraction came along. So I just got up and found my What to Expect When You're Expecting book and the sheet from the hospital on when to call. I devoured the false/real labor symptoms in the book and still didn't know what to think, and the hospital's information said not to call until my contractions had been 5 minutes apart for an hour. So I walked around and read and waited until 2:50 when I finally woke up Tom. He did really well this time - it only took about 5 minutes to get him to full awareness and get him to listen to me! (With Laura he went back to sleep after I told him my water had broken) We called the hospital and they told us to come "gently" to the hospital - meaning we didn't have to hurry. We got dressed and went upstairs to let my parents know that we were going. I still wasn't sure my labor was real, so didn't make any promises to them!
We got to the hospital about 330 and walked from the parking lot to the ER and then walked ourselves up to the maternity ward through the deserted hospital. It took a little while because I had to stop every 5 minutes, but we made it with no problems! The midwife met us and started our paperwork. Everything was nice and relaxed. Then she check to see how much I was dilated. She had a funny look on her face, so I was convinced that I was at 0cm and was just having false labor. She then told me I was already at 9cm! She was shocked and so were we! Things weren't relaxed after that. The midwife started moving at 100mph. She called a bunch of people, got my IV started and moved us into the birthing room. I think we freaked her out just a bit :)
We got settled into the birthing room about 430 or so and things slowed down. (I think it's that goofy medicine (oxytocin?) they give me to increase contractions...it was the same time with Laura...anyway...) The midwife calmed down when the doctor got there and everything was ready for the baby to arrive. I was free to push when I wanted to, but wasn't having any urge to push. We waited, and waited, and I stood up for a little while and waited some more. I got tired of the waiting and just decided to try pushing to see what happened. Tom was a great coach and 20 minutes later at 5:30, Andrew Paul Holst entered the world! I couldn't believe that he'd arrived so quickly (with Laura I pushed for 2 hours), but was happy to be done with it! My work was finished and I could just admire and caress the sweet, wet, beautiful new baby in my arms. The first think I noticed was his back - it was hairy! "Tom, he's just like you!" I said. He was quiet and precious and content just to rest on my chest. He was worn out from the birth, too!
The doctor and midwife finished taking care of me and an hour later (not a very fun hour) the three of us were finally left in peace. We called our parents with the good news and sent a dozen texts informing the world of little Andrew's arrival. We were excited to reveal his name. Andrew was my father's father and a wonderful man. He loved the Lord and served Him quietly and faithfully for as long as I knew him. I pray that our Andrew will grow up to do the same. Paul is the name of Tom's brother as well as the second name of my mother's father - both of whom are also worthy namesakes. We pray that our little guy will love the Lord and serve his family like the men before him.
All in all, it was a quick and easy delivery. It's hard to believe that only 2 hours after getting to the hospital we were holding our new baby. He's a sweetie and growing growing. We had our one-month appointment yesterday and he is already 5.2kg...Laura didn't weight that much until 2 months! He goes 3 hours between meals except once at night where he's gone up to 6hrs! There are some advantages to having a big baby! I've really enjoyed the 4 hour stretch of sleep that I occasionally get from midnight to 4. Life is rather hectic with a newborn and a toddler, but I think we're doing ok. Laura LOVES her baby brother and only acts out towards us as she copes and not towards him for which I am thankful. She just loves to hold and hug and kiss "Baby An-Drew". Today I showed her that he would grasp her finger if she gave it to him. She was tickled pink and kept trying to get him to hold her hand the rest of the evening. Tonight was the first time I had to put her to bed while also having to manage Andrew (Tom is out of town for 3 nights - so far, so good!). After I turned the lights off to sing and pray, her hand started roaming. I thought she wanted to hold my hand, but no, she was searching for Andrew's. She held it the entire time and had to search for it if she lost it. Too sweet :)
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