Noah's Birth Story

Noah's baby story can only be described as crazy. Literally 10 minutes after I finished typing the previous blog on Sunday evening the chaos started at our house. I heard Aidan whining in his bed and went to go check on him. He had vomited in his bed. Cliff and I quickly transferred him into the tub and stripped his bed and cleaned him off when Ryla started crying from her crib. I went to check on her to find her laying in her own throw up as well. We put Aidan on the couch and started some TV for him while we dealt with Ryla. Thankfully I was able to clean up Ryla and get her back down for bed pretty quickly. She thankfully slept through the rest of the evening. Aidan continued to get sick 2 or 3 times before we got him in his bed. I suggested to Cliff that he sleep in his bedroom. So we blew up the air mattress and put it in Aidan's room.

About 11 that same night I started feeling sick to my stomach. By one in the morning I had also started throwing up and the wonderful other form of the flu that you typically get. Aidan continued to wake up 2 to 3 times every hour getting sick. By the next morning Cliff and I had each gotten about 2 hours of sleep. Around 9 a.m. Cliff also began throwing up. We were beyond stressed by this point. Ryla seemed okay and Aidan wasn't throwing up for the time being but now Cliff and I felt absolutely HORRIBLE. We had our induction scheduled for the next morning and at this point had no idea if that was even going to be possible. We decided to call our sitters for the hospital to update them on what was going on. We thought that since Ryla was feeling better and hadn't gotten sick in the last 12 hours that they might take her a little early so we could get better a littler easier and also deal with Aidan. However, when we talked with Bethany she offered to take come get Ryla and Aidan as well. I told her that was a very nice offer but that this stomach bug seemed to be very contagious. She said that she didn't mind and that it was more important for us to get better quickly so that we weren't sick when we had the baby. I couldn't believe she was offering to do this. Cliff and I talked it through for a very long time and decided to let her being that I could go into labor at any time and they would have to go eventually and it would be easier if we could get some rest first and hopefully get over whatever it is that we had. It had also been several hours since Aidan had gotten sick so we agreed to it.

After we said our goodbyes to the kiddos Cliff and I literally slept for about 8 hours straight. We both still got sick a few times but mainly we were just really drained from the previous night and had no energy whatsoever. By 5 that evening I was still feeling really bad and called my doctor to let him know what was going on and to tell him that I thought it was best to cancel the induction. He told me that I should hold off canceling it until the next morning because with a stomach bug like this I could feel completely fine by the next morning. He also said that he could not get me into the hospital for another induction for several more days. Cliff and I felt at odds on what to do because in a few days the kids could be even more sick or we could get worse. We thought by keeping the induction at least we have some things planned out. So I decided to wait it out to see how I felt the next morning. Cliff and I prayed before we went to sleep that God would show us what to do tomorrow morning. Cliff was able to sleep all night. Unfortunately I only got 3 hours of sleep because I had slept so much that day.

By the next morning we woke up and found my doctor to be right. We both felt that the virus was pretty much gone except for that fact that we were both still a little tired and had the normal aches you get after having the flu. We decided to proceed. We called Bethany to let her know we were going ahead with the induction and to check on the kids. She said that Aidan had thrown up once but other than that everything was going great. This was a huge relief for Cliff and I.

At the hospital they gave me my IV within the first hour or so. Oddly enough, this was probably the worst part of my labor experience. I have never taken IV's well. I got really light headed and felt very sick to my stomach. Luckily I did not pass out like I did when I got it with Aidan. Next I got my epidural. This took a little longer than expected because they wanted me to get a couple of bags of fluids in me through the IV before since I was so dehydrated from being sick. The epidural was also not a pleasant experience. I don't know if it was because I had been sick or what but it made me very nauseous as well. I actually did pass out during this procedure but only for a couple of seconds.

About an hour later my doctor came to break my water. While trying to do so he stated that he felt Noah's hand which meant that he had it raised up by his head and that he couldn't break my water. This didn't make sense to me. He explained that the birth canal was too small for a head and arm to go through at the same time and if I got fully dilated when he was still in this position that he would have to do a c-section. So he started me on the pitocin in hopes that contractions would make him uncomfortable and he would move his hand away........It worked! A couple of hours later he checked me and was able to break my water.

So for the next few hours we just waited. My friend Amanda was there for the majority of the day which was really nice. We watched about 6 episodes of Friends and You, Me, and Dupree. Cliff and I said later that the labor process was probably the most relaxing time of the whole week!! There was about a 30 minute period when my epidural wore off on one side and I could feel the contractions. I tried not to complain much because these were the only contractions the whole time that I felt. I did feel weird to only have them on one side though. Around 3 I told my nurse that I was starting to feel some pressure and asked her to check me. I was dilated to a 9. We waited another 45 minutes and I was fully dilated and ready to push. They called my doctor down while they had me do a practice push. When the doctor got there we were ready to go. The pushing went about as fast as it did for Ryla. I believe it took about 4 good pushes and our little Noah arrived!!!!!!!

He was perfect!!!! One of the first things I noticed about him was that he had a very good set of lungs. LOL. As soon as the nurse saw him she commented on how big he was. This was funny to me. When he finally got weighed I couldn't believe that he was 8 pounds and 10 ounces. Aidan was only 7'9. I told Cliff that I had a feeling he was going to be our biggest but this I was not expecting. He was 21 inches long. Aidan and Ryla were both 19 and a half inches. Another thing we noticed right away was his dark hair and the fact that he actually had dark hair. All around a totally different baby then the other two. I found this very fitting considering the circumstances of his conception.

Noah did very well in the hospital. We found that he HATES to have his diaper changed and for the first day or so only wanted to sleep if he was being held. Of course this wasn't a problem for us since we couldn't get enough of the little guy!! That evening we each got a couple of hours of sleep again so I was running on about 5 hours for that 2 day period. The nest morning we called to check on Aidan and Ryla and found out that both kids were still pretty sick. We decided to get them into the doctor. Cliff left at 8 that morning. He called later to tell me that our pediatrician wanted to do x-rays on Aidan's belly because he was so swollen. The x-rays were in the same building as the maternity ward so he brought them up to see me. It was really sad. They were both so weak that he had to wheel them around in a wheel chair. He got back around 2 that afternoon. It was different being in the hospital without Cliff there. Just didn't seem right. We asked to get discharged early so we could go be with our kids. Ryla ended up sleeping another night with the sitter but we had Aidan stay with us at home because he was so sick. Noah and I stayed locked up in my bedroom for the next couple of days while Daddy took care of the other two. This was probably one of the most stressful weeks I have ever been through but we have definitely grown as a family because of it. I could not have done it without my amazing church family!!!!! It is Saturday night now......Noah is 4 days old and we still have a sick household but things are getting better.

I had Noah's 3 day check up yesterday and he was down to 8 pounds. He does, however, have jaundice. They delivered the billiblanket to our house last night. So that has not been fun but we are making it through. Aidan continues to throw up so we are hoping that goes away soon. Thankfully Noah is a great sleeper and we usually have to wake him up to do his feedings. It will be nice when we are all well and can be in the same room! God has blessed us by helping us get through this week. I know he will continue to bless us and feel so thankful for my wonderful surprise in Noah! He is such a wonderful addition to our already blessed family!!


39 Weeks and READY!


Watching Friends and waiting!




Proud Daddy!

Smooshed nose Noah

I FINALLY get to hold him!!!!





Amanda (on left) was there the whole day and for the delivery. Laura just missed it coming at 20 minutes after. She was sad!

Cute Toesies!

Semi-Family Pic!

With our amazing doctor!

Heading home. He didn't like going in the car seat but he was instantly silent when the car started!
Finally made it home!