Welcome Baby Russell!

Because Spencer had been so big, my doctor did an ultrasound about three weeks before I was due to check the size of the baby. If he was looking big, we would have scheduled an induction a week early. He was actually looking pretty small--an estimate of about 6.5 lbs at 37 weeks. I was also measuring small the last few weeks of my pregnancy. So we thought Russell was just going to be a small baby.

After a week of having contractions, my due date came, and Russell hadn't arrived. Both Aliyah and Spencer were early, so I never thought I would make it to the due date. And after all the contractions and "discomfort" of the last few weeks of pregnancy, I was ready to be done! I saw the doctor on my due date, August 1st, and she scheduled a tentative induction for Friday the 3^rd. Because I wasn’t 41 weeks yet, it couldn’t be a specific induction appointment, but I was just on a waiting list to be called in whenever there was an opening. They could call me in anytime on Friday starting Friday morning at midnight. So I got most of my stuff ready Thursday evening.

While getting things ready, my water started to leak. I called the doctor and she said to go to the hospital. We took the kids to my parents and headed to the hospital about 10:30pm on Thursday night. I got checked in and tested—yes, it was amniotic fluid. We were relieved and excited. We were finally going to have this baby! (If it wouldn't have been amniotic fluid, we would have been sent home, because I was only dilated 3 cm and not having very serious contractions. And the maternity ward was pretty  busy, so I might not have gotten in for my induction until Saturday.) They monitored my contractions and after an hour realized they weren’t really increasing, so they had me walk the halls for an hour but that really didn’t increase them too much. By this time it was about 1:30 or 2am. I just kindof laid there for a few hours, in the triage unit (they were apparently pretty full in the delivery area).

At 4am the nurse said they were going to transfer me to the labor and delivery room and get me set up on pitocin to help accelerate the contractions. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural. Then they hooked me up to the pitocin. By this time it was about 5am. The contractions started coming quicker and stronger, but luckily I felt nothing.

At about 7:30 the nurse came in to check on me and I was already 8cm dilated. About 10 minutes later, I started to feel like the baby was coming very soon. I told the nurse and she said the doctor was on her way. Although the epidural  worked perfectly to block the contraction pain, it didn't help the delivery pain. And after a few minutes, I was feeling some intense pain and was very worried that the doctor wasn't going to make it in time. Finally, my doctor arrived and I was so relieved. During the delivery, the pain kept getting more intense that I had a hard time following the directions to breathe, and push, but after about 10 minutes, little Russell was born! (Funny sidenote: At one point when I was pushing, the doctor told me to hold my breath. Apparently Bill held his breath too, not realizing it. The doctor said, “Dad, don’t hold your breath, you need to breathe.”)

Russell John Aaron was born at 8:21am on Friday, August 3, 2012. 

He was 9 pounds 5 ounces and 22 inches long. 

A few hours before leaving for the hospital

Just Born

Family Visitors 

 The rest of his first day...